You are all burying the lead here! This season premier episode produced BIG NEWS!!!
Yes, we can now proclaim that CASTLE DOES DEEP SPACE NINE!
Becket’s new boss is played by Penny Johnson (aka, DS9’s Cassidy Yates) and her shrink is played by Michael Dorn (aka, DS9’s Worf). That is HUGE news!
It can’t be long before Avery Brooks shows up. Can it?
When Castle was complaining that Beckett had taken too long to get back in touch with him, I couldn’t help but wonder why she didn’t bring up how he had pulled a similar disappearing act in the not-so-distant past, and he hadn’t even been shot and nearly killed as the reason for it.
Should Alexis be at Stanford by now, assuming she was following through on that plan, or could she still be on the verge of going?
I have to imagine that we all knew that Beckett would have a redeeming moment involving firearms and a perp after freezing up early on, but I didn’t realize that the writers would troop her back to the very same location in order to have it. And speaking of firearms, doesn’t anyone ever have a “pretty good” firearms test? They are always either unbelievably precise or ridiculously awful.
This was not a great episode, but it did have a lot of heavy lifting to do. I’m more than willing to give this the same kind of leeway that I would give to a pilot.
This ep was a little too heavy - but at the end I think it’s obvious the Kate’s mother’s murder plot is going on the backburner so the goofiness can resume. I think they will find the right balance of heavy & light. was still fun to watch. and I just knew Kate hear Castle say ‘I love you’; otherwise why would she dump the hot doctor boyfriend?
I was pretty disappointed in this episode. Basically they hit a big reset button except now they have a new captain and an arc-plot they can draaaaaaag out the whole fucking season. Not interested. Don’t know if I will keep watching.
Agreed on both – I thought Castle was the selfish one, expecting her to hang on his whims, when she went through a shooting, open heart surgery, and extended recovery. Sorry, almost dying and then surviving trumps writer ego in importance.
I also wondered why Alexis was still around, and not in California.
But when Alexis says “Don’t grow up too much” and he replies “I’m still me”, it’s a promise they’ll get back to some of the light-hearted fun, even if the Castle character has matured a little bit.
I was kind of worried through this episode that the show had turned and was going to be annoyingly dark/heavy, with the season spent chasing this one story arch.
But I think Castle’s speech to get her to slow down a bit “we’ll find him, but not today,” along with the exchange with Alexis gave me the hope that they’ll relax for a few episodes and bring this story line back for sweeps.
Fingers crossed.
There was not even a smidgeon of humor in this episode. Felt like it was written by a soap opera team.
I hope it finds its center again.
Worf as the psychologist was pretty funny.
“Tell me about your … feelings (growl)”
That’s not really fair. He offered support, and she turned him down pretty harshly. He busted his ass trying to find some closure for her, and she brushed him off for three months.
In spite of what she went through, that’s a pretty clear message that you don’t want to be friends anymore.
His forehead looked so naked…
She probably didn’t know if she wanted to be friends anymore, and needed time to figure it out.
Dying, or almost dying and having to fight for your life, are extremely traumatic events. In hospice training, you learn that whatever the dying person wants, he or she gets. Dying is hard work, and the dying person needs to be protected from the demands of the living. Now, she wasn’t dying of a disease, but almost died by violence, at a time when she was full of grief over the loss of friend who turned out to be a bad man. If she had needed a year off, or five years off, rather than only three months, she was entitled to them.
That episode just wasn’t any fun.
Castle didn’t get to contribute in his normal “layman, but has helpful insight” way.
Too much drama in the “you have to requalify for your weapon” part. It’s a rule – why would Kate take it so personally and get so bent out of shape about it?
New boss is over the top asshole-ish. Threatens to screw over Castle if he pulls strings again? Hah! More like the mayor would ream her a new one if she tried.
And the heavy, eternally unresolved subplot about her mother’s death drags things down. As in “The Mentalist” with Red John, it’s at odds with the feeling of the rest of the show, adds nothing desirable, and actually detracts from the enjoyment.
I hope they get back on track.
I think that was supposed to show that Kate was super-eager to get back to work (and also was used to having run of the department) in order to contrast it later with her shaking hands when holding the gun on the suspect. Problem is, the whole gung-ho thing is at odds with her going off the radar for a few months. It’s wildly inconsistent behavior.
You could make the case that the inconsistent behavior is her having a minor mental breakdown about her mother’s case and dealing with Castle’s confession, but it’s still kind of tough to reconcile.
I enjoyed the episode since it’s the first new Castle in a while, but the characterizations felt pretty poor to me. I think they were definitely having to warp things to hit that reset button. C’mon, guys, being formulaic can be a positive, but not when you have to bend things to the breaking point to force them into the formula.
I am soooo sick of the “hero must be haunted by a personal tragedy in his past” meme. I tried out “Unforgetable” last. Guess what? Heroine is haunted by a tragedy in her past.
Can I have numbers for the Saturday Superlotto, elfkin477?
I thought she’d broken up with DrBoyfriend last season, but obviously, I misremembered.
I didn’t like this episode, but I think with Castle’s reminder of what made her a good cop (speaking for the victims and being nice to the families of victims) foretells a return to the funner episodes of the previous seasons. I also think we’re going to have to watch Castle emote over his personal murder board until he solves the case and breaks down Becket’s walls.
Our Tivo skipped this episode for some reason. Reading the comments, I’m beginning to think it knew what it was doing. I’ll pick up the show next week when it’s back to semi-normal.
And it’s stupid.
Who is it??
I can’t tell you. you’ll never touch him! I am trying to protect you.
You realize I will keep at it ad nauseum, right??
Give it up. I could just tell you the name, but I would rather face the professional killers! Unngh!!
I’m afraid not. My psych powers are all tied up right now predicting that Duke will be the one to kiss Audrey on this week’s episode of Haven.
I didn’t really like the season premiere. I get she’s going through some stuff, but she treated everyone, especially Castle, very shabbily. It looks like some of the humor should return next week, given the preview. Hope so.
What was with the brief appearance of the mystery guy (the one the Captain sent the package to before he died) dressed as a doctor walking past Castle in the hospital outside of Kate’s room? I thought that was going to turn out to be important, but then suddenly TWO MONTHS LATER so it just seems like nothing came of it. I suppose there will be a flashback to explain it at some point.
coming back in to say quickly that I think the “hero must be haunted by a personal tragedy in his past” meme mentioned by StarvingButStrong worked for The Mentalist (though how well they will follow up their season-ending cliffhanger we don’t know yet). works for that show much better than Castle, which should stay more light on its feet.