# Am I the only one who's given up on Castle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 6, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585 "2014-10-06T20:38:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585/1 "2014-10-06T20:38:04Z")
Or am I the last one? Last season’s cliffhanger and the season opener have stuck in my craw. The entire episode, not one chuckle. Not even a smile. What the hell happened? I don’t know if it’s a new writing staff, the producer wanting to go in a different direction, demands for stupid by the network…but they seem to have forgotten what we liked about the series. it sure wasn’t the ‘drama’. It was _fun_. It was silly fun. Nathan Fillion’s playboy sleuth irritating Stana Katic’s by-the-numbers control freak. Their developing friendship, the banter, even the banter with Ryan and Esposito. Hell, I could even take the Castle\Beckett hookup. What the hell happened to Perlmutter? Because it was fun. Now BS conspiracy drama, Kate’s doubts and relationship drama, grrrrrrr. Everytime the shoot for drama, they just end up pissing me off. [sub]Yes, I am aware that this is not my first Castle thread. It will probably be my last[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585/2 "2014-10-06T20:46:48Z")
I agree, the drama episodes are bad through and through. But they are always followed by a return to the light-hearted funny stuff, and I am amazed by how many offbeat murders that give Castle scope for theories about supernatural entities, aliens, and the like they are still able to find. I watch the shows later, skip the drama eps, and only watch the one-off funnies. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585/3 "2014-10-07T01:11:33Z")
It’s you. I love every style of episode they do. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585/4 "2014-10-07T01:33:58Z")
I hated the first two episodes this season (or however many there’ve been). I didn’t like much of last season either. I’ll probably keep watching it because it’s on, but I can see dropping it soon. The arcs and mythology episodes are the worst. The one-off whodunnits are what make the show tolerable to any degree, and they’re less common now. Castle’s been kidnapped? I. Don’t. Care. I really don’t. Slap on the “writer” vest and let him make pithy remarks to suspects, mkay? ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585/5 "2014-10-07T01:57:04Z")
I gave up on it last season. The Mythology (or whatever we want to call the long-term story arc) episodes were just too excruciating for me to watch. At that point, I was willing to confess to Beckett’s mother’s murder just to get them off the same fucking topic for 5 years. I would totally watch a series consisting only of Murderer of the Week episodes but I just don’t care quite enough to sift through them. I still love Nathan Fillion but the charm to slog ratio just isn’t there anymore. ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585/6 "2014-10-07T02:00:40Z")
I gave up soon after the episode where Castle and the cop went to bed together. It lost something really big there, I thought. Although, if the cop had been a guy I might have stayed around. Bob ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585/7 "2014-10-07T02:01:05Z")
I quit two years ago when Beckett kept making Castle “prove” himself to her every week. ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585/8 "2014-10-07T02:08:52Z")
I’ve all but given up. It’s just gotten rather boring. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585/9 "2014-10-07T08:02:40Z")
To my considerable surprise, I’m actually kind of intrigued by the new mystery. I thought it would take them quite a bit longer to get back in my good graces after that dumbass cliffhanger, but I genuinely want to see where they’re going with all of this. And if their investigations into his disappearance just happen to mean increased appearances by Tory the good-looking computer tech, that would be just fine by me. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585/10 "2014-10-07T08:44:23Z")
I can’t remember when I gave up, but it was after they got together. It just got boring for me. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585/11 "2014-10-07T13:50:36Z")
After the first season. Beckett annoyed me. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585/12 "2014-10-07T14:23:04Z")
I have been an obsessed fan, but last season, while it had its moments, was definitely a bit off. Can anyone summarize the first two episodes of this season (in spoiler boxes, of course)? I missed both, and haven’t bothered to pirate them from my usual sources yet. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585/13 "2014-10-07T15:14:00Z")
We skipped the season ender, and still haven’t watched the two new ones. They are in limbo. Maybe we’ll watch them, maybe not. The “mytharc” is just stupid. Why can’t Beckett’s mom have just been murdered the usual way? Not as part of a ginormous all powerful “conspiracy”, but just a simple murder? Why does everything have to be “shadowy forces behind the scenes”? Is it a post-9/11 thing? But we slog through the mytharcs. Sometimes you don’t know it’s one until it’s half over, so we finish it but never watch the rerun. And the 3XK arc? That’s even worse! A super villain! Who doesn’t work for the Conspiracy! He can’t be caught or killed! And Beckett not knowing she was married? That was stupid on Bones, and it was worse here. Maybe we’ll wait until this hopefully short lived miniarc has passed and watch again when the regular mysteries come back. We quit Burn Notice several weeks before the end. When you skip the crappy episodes, you can pretend they never happened!🙂 ---
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585/14 "2014-10-07T20:44:52Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > … the banter with Ryan and Esposito. This was one of my favorite parts of the early seasons, watching Castle’s friendship with these two develop, and all the side jokes they had with each other. That seemed to really drop off last season, and Ryan and Javi just became errand boys. I stopped watching sometime in the middle of last season, it was getting a little boring. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585/15 "2014-10-07T20:55:01Z")
We caught up on DVD, but stopped at the hookup cliffhanger. The first few seasons where Castle used his writerly talents to help solve the murders were great. The conspiracy - not so much. From the above it sounds like watching the later seasons isn’t going to make it better. In the books, btw, they solve Nikki Heat’s mothers murder, and the conspiracy is (at least to the point I’ve read) a lot more believable. The books are fun since the stuff that happens in the series gets reflected in what Castle writes. One scene is set pretty close to the tiger house and the street is given - a few blocks from where I grew up. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585/16 "2014-10-07T22:15:05Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I quit two years ago when Beckett kept making Castle “prove” himself to her every week. Same here. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585/17 "2014-10-08T05:12:09Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > And Beckett not knowing she was married? That was stupid on Bones, and it was worse here. It was also stupid on _The Big Bang Theory_ and every other show that has used this plot device. For a Vegas wedding to be legal you must obtain a marriage license from Clark County, NV beforehand. You can’t just get drunk and say “Let’s get married!” and go to the chapel and have a legal wedding. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585/18 "2014-10-08T10:53:24Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > And if their investigations into his disappearance just happen to mean increased appearances by Tory the good-looking computer tech, that would be just fine by me. She was on _Agents of SHIELD_ this week. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585/19 "2014-10-08T11:48:35Z")
We’ve always been big Castle fans here, but yeah, our interest level has dropped off significantly last season. Saw the first episode of this season, missed the second, and frankly I couldn’t care less if I watch the third. We went through this same thing with NCIS, btw. I like calling it “procedural fatigue”. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585/20 "2014-10-08T15:03:43Z")
> [@kiz](#): > > We went through this same thing with NCIS, btw. I like calling it “procedural fatigue”. I think that makes sense. Shows like this have a natural lifespan. Eventually they either get repetitive, bogged down in doing the same things (there are only so many imaginative ways to murder someone), or they “shake things up” so much you can’t stand the changes. You can try wholesale cast changes, like Law & Order, but if you get a bad set that can damage the brand. I wouldn’t say it is a hard and fast rule, but seven years seems to be a good stopping point. If Castle goes on much more, the basic format probably would have to change. It might have to morph into a family drama. The only way to sustain it is to put artificial roadblocks (such as Beckett’s “marriage”, the all-powerful conspiracy, or the 3XK) in the way. And that gets annoying fast. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-given-up-on-castle/700585.md?page=2)