by Michael Seese
Funny. Funny. Funny. Funny. Funny.
Did I make it clear that "The Wrong Stuff" had some humorous moments in it? It was a thigh-slapper to be sure, though it surprised me with some bonus depth at the end, specifically, Beckett comparing the astronauts' close-quarter plight with theirs.
As is typical, they seem to follow the dark episodes (in this case the deep dark Resurrection and Reckoning, back to back) with a light one. I filled a page with quips before the first commercial break.
Nice touch aside: Replacing the skyline of NYC with Mars.
(Bear in mind, it's not always the words alone, but the delivery as well.)
Castle: "You're playing laser tag without me?"
Castle: "Are those my pajamas?" And though I didn't write down the full line, I loved his follow up which noted that they were his softest pajamas, and now he had to "burn them."
Beckett: "We've got a murder. To solve. Not commit."
Beckett: "We're bound to step on each others' toes."
Castle: "Yeah, but there were a lot more toes tonight."
Beckett: "You signed up to go to Mars? When?"
Castle: "A couple of years ago."
Beckett: "Where was I?"
Castle: "We were fighting."
(And then reversing the conversation later.)
Beckett: "Even when you whisper, everyone can hear you."
Then four great cultural references:
Castle: "One small murder for man. One giant mystery for mankind."
Castle: "Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of Castle and Beckett. They're ongoing mission to explore strange, new motives. To seek out new witnesses, new suspects for murder. To boldly go... Oh, right over here."
Jansen: "She's more Siri than HAL."
Castle: "There goes my Rise Of The Machines theory."
(And to make sure everyone got in on the parade.)
Alexis: "Wow, you guys. Get a room."
Castle: "We would if there was any place left."
Castle: "I'm checking you for bites and scratches. Just making sure you didn’t somehow get impregnated."
Beckett: "If you think that’s how I’d get pregnant, we need to talk."
Whew! That's plenty.
Plus there was joy a-plenty. Castle's slow-mo Mars-hop, and Esposito's chase ("Where are you going to go?") come to mind.
SPOILERS NOW.
This may be the first time Castle ever had a triple homicide, though in this case, "triple" refers to the murderers.
I do have to mention my picky aside, since this dances right up to being such a gaping logical flaw that the whole enterprise (pun intended) falls apart. Simple question: why kill Richwood? No doubt the debriefing would include thoughts on the personnel. If everyone (or even 3 of the 5) said "This guy would drive us nuts," he'd be booted.
Oh well. I still enjoyed "The Wrong Stuff." How about you?
by Michael Seese
I think I have to christen a new category of Castle. There are the straight-up murders. There are the Scooby mysteries. And now we have Castle rescuing someone he loves, which is just a whole new level. Like Hunt several years back, Reckoning was a great episode.
Let me launch the SPOILER ALERT by saying I SO CALLED IT!
This episode was less about lines and looks -- in fact, I wrote down one funny line -- and more about exchanges.
It was great to see Captain Gates warming up to Castle when she spoke with him and told him what Beckett said she saw in him.
I loved the dialogue between Ryan and Castle. "I could have had him," Ryan lamented.
Castle was great when he met with Tyson's former cellmate and convinced him to share information. A minor kudos to the writers here. When they showed Castle driving out by himself, I screamed, "Idiot!" But then we heard the cellmate say, "When he sees the cops coming..."
The conversation between Beckett and Dr. Nieman was so cool, and cold. Of course, the Dr. Nieman character oozes creepy coldness. And I will cite a line here: "Please do not scream. It's tedious and no one can hear you."
Quick aside: a bottle of Malbec on the table at Tyson's hideout. At least he has good choice in wine.
And finally, the standoff between Castle and Tyson was just breathtaking. Here, I will gloat...
SPOILER
... that the minute they started talking, I said something to the effect of, "Castle set this up." My thought was that he was carrying an unloaded gun (which he knew Tyson would take) and had a loaded gun hidden elsewhere.
Major kudos for what I thought was a very cool camera trick. Specifically, the part where Captain Gates is briefing the squad, and Castle looks to his side and whispers, "We're not going to find her. Not like this," ostensibly to himself. Later, the camera pans around, and we see he was talking to Ryan and Esposito. They we get the quick fill-in on the plan.
I do need to serve up a few nitpicks...
- I know Ryan ran up and checked Tyson. Still, he's escaped death before. So I would have liked cold, hard closure, as in someone saying, "He's dead." (Though the red spot in the middle of his chest would largely clinch it.)
- So if I understand it, Dr. Nieman's plan was to cut off Kate's face and then... surgically remove her own, and sew Kate's on? And do this herself?
- I understand they wanted the "Hollywood ending." But Castle, Ryan, and Esposito were in the middle of nowhere. Unless Beckett was being held at the next farmhouse over, there had to be some other NYPD officer who could have gotten there first.
Still, these little gripes don't detract from the overall quality of the episode.
And let's close with the one funny line.
Castle: "I'm being un-banned?"
Next week looks like another Scooby episode.
So what did you think of Reckoning?
by Michael Seese
3XK is back! Or is he...?
I suppose I should start with SPOILERS! Proceed with caution.
One constant in the 3XK episodes is that there is more darkness, and less levity than usual. "Resurrection" fits the mold.
Quick slant rhyme aside: Lanie did say lividity, as in "Based on the lividity, she probably was put in the Dumpster after she was killed.
This was just an overall good show.
I really enjoyed the flashbacks to the previous 3XK episodes. I'm sure they were put in to benefit folks who didn't see them. But even though I had seen them all, I thought they added to the overall atmosphere by reminding us of just how bad he is. I also enjoyed Castle's bit at turning the tables, when he visited Tyson down in the tombs.
I did pick out a few good lines.
Martha: "Richard, it pains me to have to admit it, but I am in your debt."
Castle: "Yes. Deeply. But if you want to start paying rent."
Dr. Nieman: "I never forget a face. Especially if I cut it."
Beckett: "What did you expect? Dead animals? Shrunken heads?"
Castle: (pause) "No."
Castle: "Now I have a chance to put the genie back into the bottle. Which is a really terrible analogy. Because who would want three wishes from that guy?"
I really loved the tension at the end, as they kept cutting between Tyson in the interrogation room, Dr. Nieman in the waiting room, Captain Gates in her office, and the boys just outside as they waited for the DNA analysis to come back. Which leads to my...
BIG picky aside: So, they let "Michael Boudreau" go free because the DNA extracted from the tooth (known, or reasonably assumed, to be Tyson's) did not match the DNA taken from a beer bottle they just happened to find at the apartment. Hello! Maybe the real Boudreau did drink from that bottle, before Tyson killed him. But, hey, here's a wacky idea, NYPD Forensics: why don't you swab the mouth or take a hair sample from the guy you actually have IN CUSTODY! And, really, the DA is going to free some guy who looks exactly like a serial killer (and nothing like the man he purports to be) based on the claim that he got plastic surgery which just happened to make him look EXACTLY LIKE A SERIAL KILLER.
Feel free to share your thoughts on "Resurrection." And let's get ready for "Reckoning." Here is a prediction. If you saw the trailer at the end of "Resurrection," Castle finds Beckett tied up in a chair, looks at her face, and says something to the effect of, "No!" I think we are supposed to believe she is dead, or has been scarred. So here it is...
That wasn't Beckett. It was another victim, a woman who resembles Beckett, surgically altered to look like her. 3XK and Dr. Nieman still have Kate. And finding her is what will bring Castle officially back into the NYPD fold.
You heard it here first. Or not.
