by Michael SeeseQuite a lot of changes on Castle. Beckett is now Mayor of New York. Alexis is married. And Castle is a grandfather.
OK, I'm kidding. It only SEEMS like it's been that long since we've had a new episode. (77 days.. but who's counting?) Of course, it's taken me nearly that long to write this.
I thought "Tone Death" was a pretty good episode. They took a simple idea -- a faux fight between Castle and Beckett -- and ran with it.
(And they got in "lividity," as in "Based on lividity and body temperature, I estimate time of death...")
It all starts with Castle and Beckett talking on their cell phones as she arrives at the precinct.
"It means I love you, but right now, I'm going t have to yell at you." Then she walks in, and, "Castle! We talked about this! You can't be here." The ensuing spat was terrific.
Later, they have another run-in:
Castle: "Oh, I'll decide how short my leash is."
(slap)
Esposito: "Hey, bro. You OK?"
Castle: "Yeah. No. Ow, man. She hits hard."
All this, naturally, leads to Ryan and Esposito estranging themselves from Castle.
Ryan: "Beckett's family. You cheat on her, you cheat on us."
And where would this episode be without the great singing...
The opening scene gave us Martha delivering "a classic love song from back in the day." That would be, "The Things We Do For Love," but done à la William Shatner.
Tops, though, was all the a cappella music. The setup for the discovery of competing singing groups came via a great misdirection. Castle and Alexis walking through a creepy, abandoned warehouse in a seedy part of town. Shadows dash about on the periphery. A noise. They follow it though a clownface curtain to...
"Take me dancing tonight..."
And you HAD to love Esposito's musical interrogation of Hunter in the dressing room.
"You best be straight / 'cause you're gonna hate / to feel the steel of my handcuffs."
A few other noteworthy lines to wrap up:
Hunter: "We couldn't compete with their feel-good orange is the new singing sensation backstory."
Hunter: "Can you keep a secret?"
Beckett: "No. But you're going to tell me anyway."
Ryan: "Apparently, she's the Paris Hilton of Long Island."
Castle: "You say that like it's a good thing."
Castle: "Honestly, how did you guys solve murders without me?"
And now we have two to watch from last week before yet another new one on Monday. Let me know what you thought of "Tone Death."
By Michael Seese
This was perhaps the most inventive episode of Castle. Last week, I said the show was "funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny." "Swan Song" gave us a more subtle form of humor. Most of the comedy came from the players as they "acted" in front of the cameras. In essence, this episode took the form of one long "look." Castle's mugging; Beckett's alternating stewing and disbelief; Esposito's macho "Cops" impersonation; Ryan's thinking man's officer; Captain Gates's fawning; and Lanie's cleavage.
Building on that (the looks, rather than the cleavage), I loved the scene where Gates said, "Everyone here is more than accommodating," and the camera showed a squad room full of dour faces. I busted my gut at that.
If I may dig up last week's review again, in addition to lines and looks (my standard two citations) I added references. In "Swan Song," most of the prime lines were references.
- Castle: "Pure speculation would be Swan purchasing thermonuclear technology and having a scientist make him an amplifier that went all the way to 12." I suspect that was an homage to This Is Spinal Tap.
- Castle: "And they weren't about to let him play George Michael to their Andrew Ridgeley."
- Esposito: "Andrew who?"
- Castle: "Exactly. So they pick up a guitar, and [of course] Wham!
- Castle: "Detective Beckett is not an unfriendly person. She's just got walls. Let's call them layers. Layers upon layers of ... well... walls." Clearly, that's a reference to the Pink Floyd album... Never mind; I'm stretching.
- Zeke: "We're finally about to hit it big, and he wants to Pete Best me? For some roadie?"
- Castle: "You know, Pete Best was a drummer. I think Stu Sutcliffe would have been a more apt comparison."
Trivia Aside 1: The tale of Stuart Sutcliffe really is an appropriate analogy. If you don't know it, I won't bore you with the whole story. The short version is that Sutcliffe was recruited by John Lennon to play bass for the early Beatles, even though he was an artist, and not a musician. He travelled to Hamburg with them. Despite the fact that they logged several hundred gigs from August to December of 1960 and April to July of 1961 -- often lasting eight hours each -- when he left the band he still couldn't play worth a darn (like Zeke). And yet, Outliers author Malcolm Gladwell cites Hamburg as where the Beatles put in their "10,000 hours" on the way to mastery.
Trivia Aside 2: In Hamburg, the Beatles adopted stage names. Sutcliffe's was Stu De Stijl; Jack White borrowed that surname as the title for the White Stripes' second album.
Trivia Aside #3: Paul McCartney took the stage name Paul Ramon, which is where the Ramones got their name.
I thought the sing along at the end made for a great conclusion. And Beckett tricking the camera crew into a closet served us a definitive final chord.
Four other things I found noteworthy:
1. Unlike most episodes, in this one we actually got to see the victim alive, albeit on video.
2. When the show went to the first commercial break, the Castle theme was more rock-and-roll than the usual ear-piercing guitar riff.
3. Ryan and Esposito bickering as they drove to Silva's (Butterfly's father) house was so well choreographed.
4. I smiled at the reference to a musician buying drugs as the "Monday morning crossword." I got it...did you?
And two picky complaints:
1. At times it seemed as though there were three cameras running, based on the quick cuts from character to character.
2. "Holy Shemp" is an up-and-coming band, and yet each member travels in his own plushly appointed motor coach? Nope. Sorry.
At this rate, we may soon be caught up!
Feel free to share your thoughts, and especially any otherwise uncovered musical references.
Oh, and have a safe and happy Thanksgiving, my friends.
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