The Castle "Countdown" Blog: Because It Had To Be Done. Again.

[effie214]

(making this and the "Knockdown" blog public, not that I think anybody else but the f-list will get my humor.)

Previously on "Castle":

Mr. Natalie Maines was not ready to make nice and sadly did not say "DAMN IT" a la Jack Bauer as I was so ridiculously hoping he would.  The Syrian Consulate Guy reminds me of somebody and I can't for the life of me remember who it is, and it's pissing me off.  Castle and Beckett ripped off one of my favorite episodes of "NCIS" and got themsevles "Boxed In."

• Black helicopters still make me think of "The X-Files."  Thanks for that, Chris Carter.  I swear I will be old, unable to remember to put my teeth in, but will still be humming my national anthem, AKA your theme song.
• Quoting the great philosopher Steve Miller:  "Really love your peaches, wanna shake your tree."  Is that wrong to be saying during a VERY SERIOUS MOMENT WHEREIN MR. MAINES IS YELLING SO WE UNDERSTAND IT'S A VERY SERIOUS MOMENT and I feel like there should be a blip, bloop, blip, bloop yellow clock in the corner?
• And after you put the aluminium foil on your dead fake terrorist, just pop him in the oven on 300 for 30 minutes, and you'll get a lovely, crispy dead fake terrorist souffle.
• I'd say trying to shove the door open with your shoulder would leave a mark, but at least they have ice ready for any injuries.
• There are so many fun shots in this thing -- Alexis backlit behind the movie screen is one of them.  Way to go, Bill Roe!
• I love the slow descent into frozenhood for them.
• Ziva tried that in "NCIS", Kate.  Didn't work out well for her,either.  Just an FYI.
• I knew it was Alexis calling Ryan.  One Beckett Hair Point for me.
• This is SO MUCH A FUCKING CALLBACK TO SEASON EIGHT OF "24" WHEREIN THEY KILLED MY BELOVED RENEE WALKER AND I HATE THEM FOR IT OH MY GOD YOU STUPID SHOW AND NOW YOU'RE AFFECTING MY NEW FAVORITE SHOW, YOU BASTARDS AND I HATE YOU EVEN MORE.  RAGERAGERAGERAGERAGE.
• I want to get you alooooooooone...how do I get you alooooooooooone?
• BTW, Montgomery, you have a bit of douchebag on your chin.  Just there.  G'head and wipe it off and find your big boy pants ("Knockdown," I'm talking to you) and be a better leader, mmkay?  Thanks.
• BILL ROE YOU ARE A MOTHERFUCKING GENIUS AND I MOTHERFUCKING LOVE YOU FOR IT.  This entire sequence is my new definition for gorgeous.
• ANDREW MARLOWE YOU ARE A MOTHERFUCKING GENIUS AND I MOTHERFUCKING LOVE YOU FOR IT.  This entire sequence is my new definition for epic.
• "I'm sorry for being me."  Oh, Castle.  And then her little shushing of him?  They're Taio Cruz (featuring Ludacris) and breaking. My. Heart.
• Fandom might hate me for this, but I seriously think the whole "Thank you for being there"/"Always" is far, FAR more significant than anything that might have come after "I just want you to know how much I --"  Do I think she was going to say "love"?  I don't know  If she was, she may have added "working with you," because they both know how important and influential her work is -- it's no longer a job but instead a mission -- and her acknowledgment that he's been there for the thing into which she puts the most energy, time and faith is far more encompassing than just a simple "I love you" could ever hold.  (And props to missymeggins , with whom I screeched via Facebook about this very topic.)
• AND THEN THE QUIET OPENING.  OH. HOLY. TOLEDO.
• Kris and I were wondering just how cold it was in there.  I know, for example, in "The Exorcist," they actually turned the thermostat way down to get the reactions and natural foggy exhales/shivers from the actors the director wanted.  In the "Amy's Choice" episode of Series Five "Doctor Who" (now available on iTunes for your Matt and Karen ARE THE CUTEST THINGS EVER OMG viewing pleasure), I think they just filled the TARDIS with ice crystals and Makeup put "frostbite" on the actors WHO ARE THE CUTEST THINGS EVER OMG.
• To quote the great philosophers Thin Lizzy, the boys are back in town!
• I'm probably the only one who wishes they had pulled a soap opera "the part of Josh will now be played by Michael Trucco".  Because there is not enough MIchael Trucco on my television set.  USA on Thursday nights at 10 PM EST, watching his hit show "Fairly Legal",  is not enough for me.  (That was my subtle way of telling you to watch that show.  This is my not subtle way.  "FAIRLY LEGAL" IS OMGADORBS.  WATCH IT.  SERIOUSLY.  WATCH. IT.)
• Our first long-term pause of this rewatch occurs now, when the epic battle of Mars versus Kris takes place in the bathroom.  Here, the commentary as given by our Beloved Leader:  "Stop trying to open the cabinets!"  "Stop eating the toilet paper!"  "Why are you running away from the bathmat, you bloody idiot?!"  Apparent winner in this showdown:  the bathmat.
• Anyway.  Regarding Josh: he's canon.  I'm a canon whore.  Therefore, I accept it, just as Castle does.  I could go into this whole thing about how Beckett chose him because he's an available version of Castle:  good at and passionate about his job with just a little bit of a badboy streak.  I could go on about how she's still in the mindset that her time has passed with Castle; all these mismatches have made her even more gunshy (despite her trying to blast her way out of the storage container.)  But I won't, because my experience with half this fandom is that when I try and use the psych degree for which my father paid an exorbitant amount of money to explain our Daring Duo, they hear the Charlie Brown teacher and "womp, womp, womp."
• Our second long-term pause of this rewatch occurs now, because Kris just found new pictures of Mariska Hargitay.  This is National Holiday occurrence in our house, so go enjoy your day off.  (I am in SO MUCH trouble for that one.)
• RYAN AND ESPOSITO, I WOULD GO STRAIGHT FOR YOU AND MY GIRLFRIEND WOULD NOT MIND.  Just sayin'.
• "He came back."  I will not point out that this was the second line in the epilogue of "In Medias Res."  Instead I will say that that  line is perhaps the most telling of this whole bloody episode regarding the Castle/Beckett relationship*.  Because Castle DIDN'T come back.  In the premiere, he'd been back for weeks and hadn't called, let alone physically seen Beckett.  That's why she doesn't push Josh away at the end of the episode.  Great foreshadowing, Mr. Marlowe. (* I refuse to call them Caskett, because that's motherfucking stupid.)
• Kris somehow knows I made fun of her a few bulletpoints ago, and is incessantly singing the "Indiana Jones" theme song as I pause the episode to write these words of wisdom.
• I will pause a moment to let you all howl with laughter at that last comment.
• "Fallon wants to debrief."  Yeah, and Castle wants to debrief you, Beckett, but sadly, this show's on ABC, not Showtime.
•  Is Castle going to pull a Nikita and change his voicemail to "Hi, this is Richard Castle.  I'm out saving the world right now, so leave a message"?  (That was for you, muzzy_olorea !)
• Don't be mad at them, Mr. Maines.  They were just taking the long way around.  (This would be the start of me referencing Dixie Chicks songs.)
• Kris' take on Castle's "And they were shooting":  "In case you missed the memo, there were GUNS.  And they had BULLETS.  And they were flying by my HEAD."
• "Describe the counter for me, Mr. Castle."  "Sure, Mr. Maines.  It goes BLIP BLOOP  BLIP BLOOP and then Chloe does something AMAZING and Renee is still alive."
• That white/black van is a sin wagon, is it not?  (OH!  That's three DXC songs.  Mmhmm.  I am indeed THAT good.)
• Castle watching Josh and Beckett together is heartbreak town.  (Four.)
• Molly Quinn's FACE in this scene.  OH MY GOD.
• Well, no, I'm pretty sure "The Event" is dunzo.  Crappy show.
• SeriousDad!Castle and Worried!Martha...dear GOD, it's a religious experience for me.
• Even after being pretty much frozen to death, the hair is still orgasm worthy.
• I wish they had tried to de-bastardize Fallon much earlier than now...say, the first episode?  It feels too little, too late.  I like the revelation about his wife that comes up later, but perhaps when Castle insisted Alexis go with Martha in "Setup", this whole "I wonder what it's like to walk a mile in his shoes" introspection could have happened.
• I love the touch of the scarf around Beckett's neck.  A thousand BHPs to whomever thought that up.
• Well, there's your trouble!  He stole a guy's identity.  (Five.)
• Oh, Monica Keena, you have not aged well.  Sorry, sweetie.
• All this talk about the travelin' soldiers (six) really does stop and make you think.  Obviously the Hayes character is going about showing his anger completely the wrong way, but it's still an interesting point to make.
• I kind of wonder if the choice of words Fallon uses when they go to find Hayes -- "let's roll" -- is a nod to the heroes aboard Flight 93 on 9/11.
• I'm sorry, I just don't buy you as a SERIOUS BADASS INTERROGATION GUY, Mr. Maines. Sorry.  And apparently neither does Hayes, given the easy silence (seven) he's created in that interrogation room at the beginning of this scene. 
• Esposito should have gone in there to interrogate him, soldier to soldier.  Would have held a lot more credence in my mind.  I think my biggest problem with this episode is it completely ripped off the plot to Ye Big Olde Casefile Fic I've been working on is how subordinant the 12th seems to be to Fallon.  In the last two-parter, Shaw, Beckett and Castle worked together as the Triangle of Terrific.  Here, it's Fallon and his hilarious asking about whether or not people want to be heroes (for just one day).  It's just...blergh.
• Mike and Mike today did a "Traded or Traitor?" game, wherein they asked callers whether they thought a name was a traded hockey player or a traitor. I loved it.
• Mmkay, see, here's a continuity issue.  Beckett slammed the table into Donnie Pfaster in "Home Is Where the Heart Stops," so her little gasp (and later the break room discussion) of surprise feels off to me.  That said, everybody knows (eight) her drawing her gun with that epic, epic hair flowing behind her is perhaps the hottest shot on television, so I'll forgive them for it.
• "I'm prepared to die for my country?  Are you?"  = CREEEEEEEPY good line.
• Beckett's shaking hand and Castle pouring her the coffee = AMAZING.
• That "yes, sir" is icier than the stuff she was sitting in earlier that day.  Love. It.
• The 9/11 revelation was heartbreaking, but too late to give depth and credence to the character for me.  Sorry, Misters Marlowe and Maines.
• So, let me get this straight.  The bad guys' names are JACK Cochran and Evan BAUER?!  REALLY?!  REALLY?!  GOD DAMN, MARLOWE, YOUR AWESOME KNOWS NO BOUNDS.  Time for a celebratory BLIP BLOOP BLIP BLOOP.
• Cracking knuckles gives me the heebie jeebies.
• Mr. Maines changed the entire way he played this character post-wife revelation.  I like him better here, but did we have to go from douchebag to sympathetic so quickly I got whiplash?  Couldn't you have, I don't know, layered it a bit?
• Terrorist Daycare!  (tm Kris) 
• I will not point out they did this exact same scene in S7 (with the baby) and S8 (with the van) of the BLIP BLOOP BLIP BLOOP show.  I will not point out they did this exact same scene in S7 (with the baby) and S8 (with the van) of the BLIP BLOOP BLIP BLOOP show.  I will not point out they did this exact same scene in S7 (with the baby) and S8 (with the van) of the BLIP BLOOP BLIP BLOOP show. 
• Syrian Consulate Guy is understated and creepy and I love him for it.  And it's STILL bugging me that I can't figure out who he looks like!  Argh.
• "You had her under surveillance, didn't you?"  So, what did you hear?  A silent house (nine)? VERY BAD THINGS THAT REQUIRE MR. MAINES TO BE SEVERELY ANNOYED AND TALK QUITE LOUDLY?  Though I suppose I can thank him for not requiring the use of Closed Captioning during this episode.
• Come back, Syrian Consulate Guy!  You're awesome.
• If you wanted them to tell you where Nazia was, MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE SHOT THEM, FALLON.
• Kris, channeling Beckett regarding Nazia:  Rut-roh!
• See, Fallon, when you use your words instead of get tingall angry and shouty mcshouterson, good things happen.
• It's times like these when I appreciate shows like "White Collar" who actually show New York as New York and not LA as New York.
• I like how Beckett says "don't tell me how to drive" and then ten seconds later when Castle tells her "Turn here!" she does without hesitation.
• Can somebody find a squeegee to get Castle off the passenger's side window?
• BLIP BLOOP BLIP BLOOP.  "DAMN IT, CHLOE, THE BOMB IS ON 55TH AND 11TH!"
• Kris:  No, we can't send a picture, because we don't have the pretty, special gloves with the funky, funny things on the fingers that make touchscreens work when it's cold outside. 
• The grabbing of the hands before The End is just fantastic.
• Him pulling the wires is perhaps the most epic thing Castle has ever done in this series, and you can't make me think otherwise.
• I am a dirty, dirty bird, because her little gasp/exclamation/"Castle!" kind of makes me think this is how she'd orgasm while in bed with him.  You're welcome, LJ.
• I sincerely believe the whole pointing/jumping for joy was a Fillion ad-lib, as was the Katic grin that came after.  Thank you, editor person, for leaving it in.
• Downtown LA New York is safe, whee!
• Okay, people, I am going to outright state that I love this bitter end (ten!  Thank you and good night!)  The callback to "A Deadly Game," starting with the beer in the side room, and then Fallon calling them into the hallway, and then Josh interrupting Castle and Beckett is MOTHERFUCKING GENIUS.  It brings this season full-circle.  It shows us just how much Castle has evolved as a person; he knows from the fact that she put up her mother's murder board while he was in the Hamptons ("Knockdown") that his departure hurt her, so he's accepting of the fact that she needed someone to clean up the mess he inadvertently made.  He loves her enough to let her go.  Furthermore, she's well aware of what just came full-circle; she knows exactly what Castle's feeling, and don't think that won't be addressed.  She hides as much as she can from him, but I doubt for a second she'd try to hide this.  It's a brutal ending, but it's an honest ending, and thank God Andrew Marlowe had the balls to go there.  I love you for the layers and double meanings and that you don't take the easy way out.  A hundred million billion BHPs to you, sir.
• By the way, if I see one more comment equating "Castle" with "Bones", I will lose my everloving shit.  Just an FYI.
• Fillion kills it in that final scene.  Absolutely slays it dead like Buffy used to.  (OH!  See what I did there?)

And thus ends our Blog of Doom, with cameos from Kris, Mars and apparently our bathmat.  Hope you enjoyed it.