2.02 The Double Down

Summary and spoilers

The full moon brings out a parade of crazies, including a murderer who scrawls grammatically incorrect warning on the face of their victim. This victim is Ashley Cosway, a couples therapist; logic points to one of her patients as the murderer. There is another, possibly related murder nearby on the same night – a retired middle school math teacher. Cosway’s girlfriend shares information that Cosway had trouble with someone – assumed a patient – and wanted to take out a restraining order. A patient with priors is found and becomes the lead suspect. This suspect has an alibi, but he heard the previous patient, Evan Hinkle, arguing with Cosway. Hinkle wasn’t there that day, but Cosway’s husband was.

Just to make things more interesting. Esposito and Ryan take the case of the murdered school teacher, and a wager is made with Castle to see who can solve their case first. But if Kate finds out about the wager, she will shoot them – or worse.

Comments

Since Kate and Castle pinpoint the husband as the most likely suspect at around the halfway point in the episode, we know – as has always happened before – that he can’t be the killer. So this points us back to the girlfriend. But no – this is one of the best – and most difficult to solve – mysteries ever presented on Castle. The show has definitely improved incrementally in season 2.

I would be remiss if I didn’t make light of the essential element that allows Castle and Beckett to solve these cases. What were the odds that these two murder cases would end up being handled by these two groups working so closely together? And if they hadn’t decided to have a competition about it, they still never would have made a connection. The forensic connection was paper-thin.

Castle Quotes

Kate: Her husband calls before six, and the food’s picked up at 6.02. She knew who she was having dinner with.
Castle: Someone with bad grammar.

Esposito: Hey, uh – warm milk nightcap, with your lady. That is sad, bro.
Ryan: It helps her sleep.
Esposito: How ‘bout the sound of your voice – works on me.

Ryan: Loser also shaves his head – or are you chicken?
Castle: You’re on – honeymilk.

2.01 Deep in Death

Summary and spoilers

Kate and Castle are still working together, but only because Kate’s boss – and the mayor – want it that way. Kate is still very angry that Castle investigated her mother’s murder, and she’s turned others in the department against Castle as well.

They need to put their squabble aside to solve a murder. A man is found dead in a tree, thrown from a nearby building. The plot thickens when armed men wearing balaclavas stop the van on the way to the morgue and steal the body.

Comments

Season 2 of Castle feels more confident and self-assured, and with more of an edge. The cast chemistry is intact; the occasionally overbearing background music is gone.

I’m not sure if it’s such a good idea for Castle to jump out of the back door of the unmarked surveillance van – in Chinatown – when he is about to go undercover in Chinatown. He should have approached from a completely different direction than the van.

I noticed Rene Echevarria name in the credits as EP. It’s good to see this talented Star Trek alumni still getting work.

Memorable Moments

• Castle having a go at competitor show CSI
• Writer Stephen J. Cannell at the poker game (the guy’s a damn good actor, too!)

Castle Quotes

Esposito: [after watching a scantily-clad model leave the room] Hey, Beckett, how come you don’t wear a uniform like that?
Kate: ‘Cause I don’t wanna get paid in singles.

Martha: They remade Fame and A Christmas Carol; has Hollywood totally run out of ideas?
Castle: Well, they just optioned, uh, Asteroids, the Video Game, so my guess is yes. But Ryan Reynolds is playing the Wii Triangle, and he’s good.

"You want me to put on some music? Whenever they do this sort of thing on CSI, they always do it to music in poorly lit rooms. Kinda reminds me of porn."
- Castle (watching Dr. Parish trying to get a fingerprint from the inside of a glove)

Stephen J. Cannell: You must really like her.
Castle: Who?
Stephen J. Cannell: That police detective of yours. Look, Ricky…there’s only one reason that you’d be dumb enough to go down there and that’s to impress a girl. Why don’t you cut yourself a little slack and just buy her some flowers?

Kate: [in Russian accent] Sometimes when I am bored I go to Gleicha Café in Little Odessa and pretend to be Muscovite.
Esposito: Now, that’s kinda hot.

"Is it just my imagination, or did you change?"
- Castle (after seeing Kate dressed as a tramp girlfriend)

"You dredged up my past for you Castle, not for me, and you’re too selfish to even see it."
- Kate

1.10 A Death in the Family

Summary and spoilers

A body is found in an illegally parked car a week after the actual murder took place. The victim is Dr. Leeds, a young plastic surgeon who was just about to be married. Initially, Leeds appears squeaky clean, with no enemies or secrets. But Ryan and Roy discover that Leeds had just done a clandestine operation for the Government as part of the Witness Protection Program. Organized crime killed Leeds while trying to find the whereabouts of the witness whose face he changed. Now, Kate and Richard have to find out the identity of that witness and catch the killer.

Behind the scenes, Richard has tasked his friend the forensics expert with finding out more information about the murder of Kate’s mom. When Martha finds out, she insists that Richard tell Kate that he is pursuing this. Kate makes it clear that he must stop or "we’re through," but Richard continues anyway. Richard’s friend discovers that her murder was made to look like that of a crazed killer – except the first stab wound was lethal and the others were just for show. What’s more, there were three other murders around that time with the same MO. As the episode ends, Richard is just about to give this information to Kate.

While all this is happening, dad Richard has to watch his little girl trying on dresses and growing up. Alexis is going on her first date – to the junior prom.

Comments

Considering Kate’s negative reaction to reopening her mom’s case, Richard probably was right to stick to his original plan to look into the case behind her back, rather than asking her for her permission, getting a ‘no’ answer, and then continuing anyway. In any case, we will wait to see how Kate reacts. Obviously, she is not going to enforce her "we’re through" verdict, or the TV show would be over.

It was nice to see that quite a few arcs are being following throughout the series. Alexis is growing up, Martha is more than a cardboard character there for humor, Kate’s mom’s unsolved murder is an important plot point, and Sorenson reappears as the former lover.

Star Trek alumni Robert Picardo guest stars as Richard’s forensics expert friend.

Memorable Moments

• Richard’s initial plan for initiating Alexis’s prom date
• Richard’s Christopher Walken imitation

Castle Quotes

Richard: It’s her first real date.
Ryan: And you’re worried he’s a serial killer? You should be more worried he’s a teenage boy

Richard: Why don’t you want to investigate it?
Kate: Same reason a recovering alcoholic doesn’t drink. You don’t think I haven’t been down there? You don’t think I haven’t memorized every line in that file? My first three years on the force – every off-duty moment was spent looking for something someone missed. It took me a year of therapy to realize if I didn’t let it go, it was going to destroy me. And so I let it go.

Kate: What is it with men and boobs, anyway?
Richard: Biological. We can’t help it.
Kate: But doesn’t it bother you that they’re so obviously not real?
Richard: Santa’s not real; we still love opening his presents.

Richard: Used to be all she needed to feel beautiful was a pink tu-tu and a plastic tiara.
Martha: We spend out whole lives trying to feel that way again.

Richard: I know a guy who owes me a favor.
Kate: You know a guy? What is this, a Mamet play?

Alexis: Dad! No – no severed heads!
Richard: That’s – I – it’s time honored!

Richard: [as Christopher Walken] Hi, Detective Beckett. I’m so glad you called. Regale me.
Kate: Castle?
Richard: It’s my Chris Walken, what do you think?
Kate: Needs work.
Richard: In all fairness, part of it’s visual.

Richard: Did you have fun?
Alexis: As a matter of fact, I did. This dating thing’s kinda nice.
Richard: How was Owen? Don’t worry; I closed my eyes for the kissing part.
Alexis: Yeah, me too.

Castle Renewed for Second Season!

The TV Guide and others have reported that ABC will renew Castle for a second season!

Click here to read the full article at TV Guide

1.09 Little Girl Lost

Summary and spoilers

A two year old child is abducted while his painter dad is next door in his studio. Beckett (and Castle) are called in; complications ensue when Beckett has to work with FBI agent Sorenson, a former lover. There is pressure for Beckett and Sorenson to avoid the result of their last child-abduction case, where they got the perpetrator but the child was already dead. For a time, Castle is excluded from the case, but his role becomes vitally important when he is nominated to make the ransom drop.

At the same time, the investigation is ‘enhanced’ by Castle and Sorenson’s competition to solve the case and vie for Beckett’s affections.

Comments

This more serious episode is another step up for the show. I prefer the somber mood episodes over the flippant ones. There’s that feeling that things could go terribly wrong – even if they never do.

Fatherhood and parenthood are important recurring themes on Castle; the relationship between Richard and Alexis is an important backdrop to the case of the week. This week’s case, involving a loveless marriage and a neglected child, works well against the healthier family relationships on the show.

Castle Quotes

Kate: Six months.
Richard: Six months what?
Kate: We dated for six months.
Richard: I didn’t ask.
Kate: Yeah. I know. You were not asking very loudly.
Richard: I know, I’m like a Jedi like that.

"Sweetheart, as your life coach, I have to urge you to say nay to your inner nay-sayer."
- Martha to Richard

Richard: What are you doing up – stressed about finals?
Alexis: American Lit’s today; I was having nightmares about Hester Prynne.
Richard: Ah…the irony for you is not getting an ‘A’ would cause you shame.

Richard: Nice guy. I can see how it wouldn’t work, though.
Kate: Really.
Richard: Sure. Handsome, square-jawed, by the book -
Kate: And that’s a bad thing?
Richard: He’s like the male you. Ying needs Yang, not another Ying. Ying-Yang is harmony. Ying-Ying is…a name for a panda.
Kate: Any more wisdom, Obi Wan?
Richard: Nope. That’s it for today. What say we celebrate by going out for a drink?
Kate: I can’t; I got a date.
Richard: A date? You date? Who?
Kate: That’s why it’s called a private life – because it’s private. Unlike you, I don’t live my life on page six.
Richard: Well, you’re a mysterious woman, Detective Beckett.
Kate: Maybe there’s a little more Nicki Heat in me than you think.

1.08 Ghosts

Summary and spoilers

A married woman is drowned in a bathtub full of motor oil. But she’s no ordinary wife. She’s an FBI fugitive who’s been on the run - and living under an assumed name - for years. Cythia Dern, the fugitive, took part in the environmental protest bombing of an oil tanker that left one of her co-conspirators dead and the captain of the ship paralyzed. Recently, she had hired a ghost writer to publish her memoirs prior to turning herself in. But someone from her past caught up with her before that could happen

Comments

I found myself interested in this week’s story. Cynthia’s backstory - that she planted a bomb to blow up a unmanned tanker as a protest against the Exxon Valdez spill - and that she tried to back out when she found out that the captain was still on board - made her a somewhat gray area character.

Castle Quotes

Richard: Did someone say ‘murder’? Hold one, I’ll get my coat.
Roy: Look at him all excited.
Kate: Yeah, like a kid at Christmas.
Ryan: With a dead body under the tree.

“Look Who’s Stalking.”
- Richard

Kate: If you’re looking for a happy ending, you’ve come to the wrong place.
Richard: Next time I’ll just try that massage parlor on Second Avenue.

Richard: Now we’re even, so what do you say to a little showdown? Head to head; toe to toe; winner take all, mano e mujer.
Kate: Hand to woman?
Richard: Whatever it takes.

1.07 Home Is Where the Heart Stops

Summary and spoilers

A series of home invasions and high-end jewel heights have been perpetrated by a dark thief who tortures and/or kills his targets. Kate takes a more personal interest when the daughter of the last victim gets emotional about losing her mother. There seems to be no connection among the four targeted families until Kate and Richard discover they have all attended the same organization’s charity function. Going undercover in black-tie dress, Kate and Richard discover an inside man who is feeding detailed information to the real killer.

Comments

Castle is sticking to its formula of not revealing the murderer ᾦquot; and also not revealing any meaningful clues as to who the murderer is ᾦquot; until the final third of the episode. There’s no point in trying to solve the mystery, so you can just sit back, let your mind relax, and enjoy the slowly burgeoning relationship between Kate and Richard.

The death of Kate’s mother at the hands of a murderer is once again worked into the plot. Kate takes a special interest in the latest in a series of home invasion crimes when the mother of a young daughter is murdered. Kate is not only passionate about solving the case, but she also offers consolation, guidance, and friendship to the victim’s daughter.

Memorable Moments

• Richard and Kate walking the red carpet
• Richard using the windshield wipers to knock a baddie off the hood of the police car

Castle Quotes

Richard: [fires gun, misses target] Shot too soon.
Kate: Yeah, well…you know, we could always just cuddle, Castle.

Esposito: Man, these guys are guilty of tax evasion, not home invasion.
Ryan: [sees Kate walking down red carpet] Yeah, well…appearances can be deceiving.
Ryan: Nice dress.
Esposito: Yeah, what there is of it.
Kate: I’d let you borrow it, Esposito, but you stretched out the last one.

Kate: Did you know that they call you ‘the white whale’?
Richard: The white whale?
Kate: Uh-huh.
Richard: Not Moby -
Kate: No.

Richard: What happened to the dress?
Kate: You didn’t think I was gonna interrogate him in it, did you?
Richard: We were kinda hoping.

Joanne (victim’s daughter): How do you get over it?
Kate: You don’t. Well, one day you’ll wake up and you’ll find you don’t mind carrying it around with you. At least, that’s as far as I’ve come.

1.06 Always Buy Retail

Summary and spoilers

An African-American man is ritualistically murdered amid elements of the vodoun religion. Further investigations, and a second murder, reveal a connection to a stall on Canal Street that specializes in copycat women’s accessories. At first, evidence points to a young Nigerian illegal alien, but there’s something more sinister – and profitable – that is driving the murderer. Can Kate and Richard find him before he kills again?

Comments

One change Castle needs to make is to shake up the structure of solving the mysteries. Every week, at around the halfway point, Kate and Richard find the most obvious suspect. All the evidence they have found so far points to this person (this week, the suspect du jour is the young Nigerian man living with other illegal aliens). And every week, this person is innocent and further investigation and evidence proves this. They need to shake up and change up this formula; all the suspense is being drained because we know the first person they find is always innocent.

The last episode of Castle took a more somber, thoughtful approach to serious personal emotional matters (for example, Kate’s back story and why she’s a cop). Unfortunately, this episode returns to a more flippant, sitcom mood. As always, the murder investigation is treated seriously, but the sub-plot (Richard’s ex-wife Meredith is in town for a visit, and is about to move back) is treated purely for risque jokes. Only Alexis gets a couple of brief chances to show a sincere emotional response to this. Richard, on the other hand, seems bothered by the logistics and wackiness that would ensure, but otherwise is emotionally unaffected. It’s an entertaining episode, but I hoped for a little more depth.

On a related note, I question whether your ex-wife is the ideal ‘wild casual sex partner’. Not many people would claim that they spend a wild night every couple of years with their ex. In fact, ex-partners are generally the worst candidates for such trysts, simply because of the history that would accompany it. That’s why people seek out strangers or acquaintances for this sort of thing.

Castle Quotes

Kate: If she’s so bad, why’d you sleep with her this morning?
Richard: Let me tell you something about crazy people: the sex is unbelievable.

Richard: We know he hasn’t found what he’s looking for.
Roy: How do you know?
Richard: The charm in her mouth. Still needs the spirits to guide him.
Roy: Chapter 10.

Meredith: You know, I was his inspiration once.
Kate: Were you now?
Meredith: Still am, from time to time. Right, kitten?
Kate: Kitten?
Richard: I had this dream once, only I was naked, and – far less embarrassed.

Kate: Bailor’s gonna make it. You okay, Castle?
Richard: My first gun battle.
Kate: Your last gun battle.
Richard: You shouldn’t be so pessimistic; I think I handled myself pretty well.
Kate: Yep…probably saved my life.
Richard: Probably? I definitely saved your life, and you know what that means, don’t you? It means you owe me.
Kate: Owe you what?
Richard: Whatever I want. And you know – exactly – what I want, don’t you? You know what I really, really, want you to do? [moves closer, whispers in ear] Never, ever – call me kitten.

Martha: There wasn’t a little part for me in the artsy -
Richard: No.
Martha: No.

1.05 A Chill Goes Through Her Veins

Summary and spoilers

Melanie Cavanaugh is found dead – and frozen - at a construction site; the investigation reveals she disappeared five years ago, was assumed to be on the run, and was murdered soon after – then frozen until the present. Her husband is the main suspect, even though he was killed a year ago in an attempted robbery. Though both the victim and the suspect are dead, Kate is driven to solve this mystery by her disgust that the case was so haphazardly investigated at the time of Melanie’s initial disappearance.

Comments

This episode has a different, more serious and somber mood. There are still some light, humorous moments, but Richard and Kate have begun to respect each other; together, they make a formidable interrogation team.

There are a number of powerful, poignant scenes: the scene with Melanie’s lover, Kevin Henson, when we find out why she had come to see him that last time features a quiet, understated performance by Channon Roe. There’s also an emotional half-confession by Bill Smitrovich as Melanie’s dad, Ben Davidson. And we get some of Kate’s back story; how her mother Johanna was murdered and her father became an alcoholic. Finally, Richard secretly obtains the file on the unsolved murder of Kate’s mother and begins the process of trying to unravel it.

I’ve branded Castle ‘stagey’ in the past; the word I was looking for was ‘theatrical’. While some crime shows aim for a more realistic feel, Castle goes for something skewed more toward fiction: a show where the accused might confess a little too easily. I’m okay with that, as long as the writing and acting are at a high enough level to skill make it entertaining, and in this episode, they are.

Memorable Moments

• The little ‘tweep’ punctuation sound effects that accompany Richard’s spoken words when he opens the door to Kate while wearing his laser tag gear

Castle Quotes

Richard: [deciding which lead to follow] Homeless…White Plains…homeless…White Plains.
Javier: There’s both kinda creepy.

Richard: She was gonna leave Sam. That’s why she came to see you.
Kevin: She found out he was having an affair. She thought he was gonna leave her and get custody of the kids, you know, because of the drugs. She wanted me to go with, take the kids, just disappear.
Kate: So what’d you do?
Kevin: Put her on a bus.
Richard: You sent her away?
Kevin: What she wanted I couldn’t give her. Checked into rehab the next day – I thought if I could get clean – that’s where I was when she disappeared. By the time I got out she was dead.
Kate: How could you be sure she was dead?
Kevin: ‘Cause she stopped callin’. If she was alive, she would have called.

Kate: [in Richard’s home office] Wow! I feel like…Alfred in the bat cave for the first time.
Richard: Hmm. Batman fan. Figures.
Kate: Why?
Richard: Similar origin stories: loss of a loved one leads to a life of fighting crime.
Kate: Yes, well, you are the multi-millionaire crime fighter.

Richard: Alright, so you and I are married.
Kate: We are not married.
Richard: Relax! It’s just pretend.
Kate: I don’t want to pretend.
Richard: Scared you’ll like it?
Kate: Okay…if we’re married, I want a divorce.
Roger: Are you two like this all the time?
Kate and Richard: [together] Yes.

Kate: Why’d you stop paying?
Charles: Look, I’m truly sorry about what happened to Melanie, but what was I supposed to do, keep paying for the rest of my life?
Kate: The D.A. will make sure of that, Mr. Wyler

Richard: You could just leave it like this. Sam’s dead. The Captain’s happy. Those kids look pretty happy.
Kate: That’s the difference between a novel and the real world, Castle. A cop doesn’t get to decide how the story ends.

1.04 Hell Hath No Fury

Summary and spoilers

A city council member named Jeff Horn is found dead in a rolled up rug. It’s a murder, sloppily covered up to look like a robbery. The main suspect is a sleazy club owner and developer, Calvin Creason, who clashed with Horn over a proposed mega-club, and lost millions in property because of it. Creason is openly happy that Horn is out of the way, but also denies involvement and has an alibi. Before long, Kate and Richard discover blackmail and scorn enter into the equation.

Comments

Castle’s exhilarating pace is used enhance the perceived need to move quickly to catch the murderer, and of course to cover up and gaps of logic (the faster they go, the less chance you’ll have to stop and think about what just happened).

Wouldn’t it be nice if real detectives worked as fast and were as clever as Kate Beckett, and had sidekicks as clever and witty as Richard Castle?

In previous episodes, I found the background music to be overwhelming intrusive. It is toned down throughout this episode, and it’s a major improvement.

I really liked this episode! It had the funniest lines, and yet it was also moodier at times – like when the detectives examine the murder scene while Lori Horn’s voiceover fills in the details. The supporting actors are also excellent.

Memorable Moments

• Kate showing up unexpectedly at the book reading

Castle Quotes

Richard: Can’t be easy breaking that kind of news.
Kate: Yeah, well – thanks for not making it a joke.
Richard: Hey, I’m a wise-ass, not a jack-ass.
Kate: I didn’t know there was a difference.

"So…what’s your next move? Last person to see him alive? Establish a timeline? Grab a doughnut? More really bad coffee?"
- Richard to Kate

Kate: That’s the rug! That’s the same rug! Don’t gloat, okay – ‘cause it’s really unattractive.
Richard: Now can we arrest him?

Richard: I gotta hand it to Councilman Horny. He is incredibly flexible for a guy his age. [shows photo] Look at that – you ever do that?
Kate: Would you put those away?
Richard: I’m just saying, he’s gotta do yoga or pilates or somethin’.
Kate: Why is it always the family values guys that get caught with their pants down?
Richard: Because the universe loves irony – and because most people are hypocrites.
Kate: And what was that girl thinking – that he would leave his wife and kids for her?
Richard: That is so sexist!
Kate: How is that soo sexist?
Richard: You assume that just because she’s a woman, that she was after a relationship. Did you ever think maybe she was in it for the sex?
Kate: Yes I did – and then I saw him.
Richard: What was it that turned you off – that he was wearing a rug? [pause] Too soon?

Alexis: So by trying to look smart, they’re actually being stupid.
Richard: I think you just described the human condition.

 "You have the bridge, number one."
- Richard to Alexis

"Flavor country."
- Richard (describing the new coffee)

Roy: Stop running, bro…campaign’s over.
Richard: Ooh…yes.

Richard: Detective Beckett! To what do I owe this very unexpected pleasure?
Kate: I just figured if you were going to bother me at my work, I should bother you at yours. That was – quite a reading – very moving.
Richard: Are you making fun of me?
Kate: ‘Good, she thought, as the wind gathered up her hair. No one will see my tears.’ How does wind gather up hair? I’m just curious.
Richard: Oh, you’re telling me how to do my job?
Kate: Irritating, isn’t it?

Kate: What kind of a name is ‘Nikki Heat’?
Richard: A cop name.
Kate: It’s a stripper name.
Richard: Well, I told you she was kind of slutty.
Kate: Change it, Castle.
Richard: Hang on a second. Think of the titles: ‘Summer Heat’. ‘Heat Wave’. ‘In Heat’.

1.03 Hedge Fund Homeboys

Summary and spoilers

Donny, a rich private school senior, is found dead in a park rowboat. Richard and Kate, now working more as a synchronous team, discover quickly that Donny’s parent’s recently had an economic downturn that ostracized Donny from his circle of friends and pushed him toward using and dealing drugs. Initially, his circle claims that Donny is the only drug user, but other witnesses prove that Donny was shot and killed in the park and his friends were witnesses. But were they more than witnesses? Each time more information is unearthed, the circle modifies their story, and each time, they become increasingly implicated in the crime.

Comments

I like the murder mystery elements used in Castle – like Richard deciphering that Donny’s family recently moved by noticing the out of place oversized oriental screen in their current apartment.

The father/daughter relationship between Richard and Alexis, although undeniably stagey, is also kind of sweet (and would be sweeter if the show’s director and editor would PLEASE tone down the overbearing background music).

The weakest link in successfully creating and then solving a murder mystery within the time constraints of a 42 minute television episode is structuring how to find incriminating evidence and then get the guilty party to confess. Considering how ‘light’ Castle is trying to be, a commendable job is done here of using actual points of law to gain a supposedly binding confession from the murderer.

Quotable Quotes

Richard: Morning, mother. You’re dressed early.
Martha: I have class -
Richard: I believe that’s a matter of some debate.
Martha: - at the New School – funny man.

Alexis: Trying to figure out how to murder someone in their sleep again?
Richard: Not this time. Do you know when you were little, I used to watch you sleep every night before I went to bed – just for a few minutes. It was ridiculous how adorable you were. Who’d a thought all these years later you’re still adorable.

"You know, actually having to prove things is really tedious."
- Richard

1.02 Nanny McDead

Summary and spoilers

An apartment building nanny named Sarah is found dead in the basement clothes dryer of the building where she worked. With no standout suspects, Richard directs the police to investigate her neighbors. A late-night autopsy reveals that the victim had sex – most likely consensually with someone she knew – not long before she was murdered. Sarah broke up with her boyfriend about a month before the murder, and phone messages indicate he was quite angry about that, but he also has a water-tight alibi.

Sarah’s girlfriend reveals another possible suspect: it appears Sarah was having an affair with Mr. Peterson, the (married) father of the boy she was nannying. But this is a red herring; Peterson was having an affair, but not with Sarah – with a woman from his office – that’s why Sarah had to stay late on the nights he was supposed to be home.

Eventually, Kate and Richard solve the case, and Kate shows, with her sensitive negotiation skills, that she’s more than just your average detective.

Comments

The first moments of each television episode are extremely important for luring viewers into the show before they turn away (especially when the show doing the leading is the highly rated Dancing With the Stars, as is the case here). Castle has a slick opening segment: a fly-through from an upper floor to the basement of an apartment building, where a bloody body slowly comes to rest as seen through the glass door of a front-loading dryer.

My first thought about the mystery was: it’s the boy – he was close to the nanny, and, in true TV fashion, they show the boy early on, so as to supposedly fool us longer. I won’t say anything else about it, but let’s just say I’m pleased.

Detective Beckett is finding out that Richard Castle is more than just a flirtatious, extroverted, misogynistic braggart – he’s also a loving, caring, single dad. Go figure. On that subject, the episode ends with Richard reflecting back on the early days of his life as a father, when he cared for Alexis as a little girl. It really is quite touching.

It looks like the characters are already feeling much more comfortable with each other – in particular, the relationship between Richard and Martha (his mother) no longer feels showy as it did in episode one – there’s some depth of feeling there, and a more natural way of playing off each other.

Memorable Moments

• Richard revealing Sarah’s boyfriend by surreptitiously dialing her missing mobile phone while in the guy’s apartment

Quotable Quotes

Police rep: Mr. Castle, be advised: if you get injured following Detective Beckett to research your next novel, you cannot sue the city. If you get shot, you cannot sue the city. If you get killed -
Richard: …my lifeless remains cannot sue the city?

Kate: Mrs. Peterson? Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about Sarah Manning.
Mrs. Peterson: Of course – please come in.
Kate: Thank you.
Richard: Richard Castle – just…N.Y.

Martha: I did an NYPD Blue once, remember.
Alexis: You were the crazy homeless woman.
Richard: And some might say still are.

"Don’t leave town?"
- Richard, trying his hand at giving the standard police proviso

Beckett: We’re running a test on the condoms we found in your medicine cabinet.
Richard: Whoa! There’s somethin’ you never want to hear.

1.01 Flowers For Your Grave

Summary and spoilers

Richard Castle is a successful and popular mystery writer, and a recent playboy, having just divorced his stunning literary agent / ex-wife Gina. His newest book is selling wildly, but he is not without his troubles. He is weeks behind on his next book, and his ex has heard rumors that he hasn’t written anything in months. What’s worse, he is about to get involved in a real-life murder mystery – a copycat killer has murdered a young woman and left the body in the same state as in Castle’s book Flowers For Your Grave.

Castle’s wisecracking free-wheeling approach to life is in direct contrast to the female detective he is paired with: Kate Beckett, a no-nonsense, hard-nosed woman – beautiful but almost anorexic; a hard exterior but with a troubled past that Castle expertly reveals. He may be a politically incorrect womanizer, but he knows people, and he knows murder. With his help, Beckett tracks down the killer, but it all seems too easy to both Beckett and Castle, and soon, they are back on the trail of the real culprit.

Comments

Series creator Andrew W. Marlowe is listed in IMDB as the writer of End of Days. I’m not so sure you’d want that to be on your resume!

There are some nice in-jokes about writers here; hopefully, these will continue throughout the series.

I’m watching and supporting this series purely because I am a huge fan of Nathan Fillion (who plays Richard Castle) from his work on Firefly and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. And even as I become aware that ‘Castle’ is little more than TV filler, I am also realizing that Fillion has enough style, charm, and talent to elevate this material and make it entertaining and palatable. The writing isn’t horrible, although it does go for that annoying Gilmore Girls speedy patter that I dislike. What is horrible is the annoying light-hearted music and the overbearing funky percussion that permeate almost every scene.

Memorable Moments

The producers must be applauded for assembling one of the largest collections of stunning female Castle groupies, all immaculately dressed.

Quotable Quotes

"You know, I already returned that advance – I spent it divorcing you."
- Richard Castle to ex-wife Gina

Richard: I’m working on this thing. It starts with a famous author. Some psycho starts staging murders like the way he does in his books.
Stephen: That’s pretty self-aggrandizing, isn’t it?
Other Author: This is Castle we’re talkin’ about.

"Bondage! My safe word is ‘Apples.’"
- Richard