Castle and Criminal Minds this week
I have brief thoughts on these things.
Castle. Castle I enjoyed. Knowing only that Beckett and Castle got handcuffed together in this ep, I have to say, I wasn't expecting it to be anywhere near that dark and creepy, especially at the start. I enjoyed it. I thought it was fun.
I did like Esposito and Lanie sniping at each other, and Ryan trying to be diplomatic. That was hilarious.
There was one moment when I actually liked Gates in this ep ("Let's go boys"). I feel this is progress. She still annoys me most of the time, but still. Baby steps. (Seriously though, "What did he get her into?" Really? Shut up Gates.)
I did enjoy the combination of Beckett and Castle sniping at each other and working together to try and get out of the creepy room. I actually called smuggling exotic animals early on, so I was pleased to be right.
Esposito and Ryan's rescue was kind of awesome. Particularly, "Is that a tiger?" Followed by Castle's "Yeah!"
Also really liked Beckett's refusal to die via tiger after surviving being shot in the chest. That was excellent.
Castle trying to get the lock open was excellent too. As was the visual of them standing on the box while the tiger circled.
And I loved the ending. I did. Mostly because of their faces. So adorable. Particularly Castle's look of shock, cut to her grin, cut to his little smile. HIs reaction at the end there was perfect.
So yeah, I likedi it. Not groundbreaking, but really quite solid.
Except for ONE thing. (Apart from my general low level annoyance almost anytime Gates is onscreen.)
Beckett and Castle's meta-discussion about how Lanie and Esposito are both idiots because they both clearly want to be together but are just being morons about it? No, show. No. RESIST THAT URGE. Because yes, obviously there are parallels. But I do not want to be hit over the head with them. That is obnoxious. Every other show with a leading pair that is also the canon ship does this eventually. It's almost always tiresome.
I'm hoping the Castle writers have got it out of their systems now.
Now for Criminal Minds.
Oh, Criminal Minds. I liked most of it. I liked that the kid wasn't guilty. Kinda saw the Colonel having something to do with things (love that actor btw). I was generally okay with the case. It wasn't completely predictable, and I found it interesting.
That said, the Strauss plotline I dislike. I'm not sure why exactly, but something about it doesn't sit well with me.
Part of it might be that I actually like Strauss. Part of it might be that Morgan bugs when he gets like he was in this ep. I don't know, it just seems like a cheap stunt, or something. Couldn't Strauss have just been the team's sometimes-antagonist. Not because she thought they were doing a bad job, but because at her level, her job is more political (and as someone who's just started working in government, that's so very accurate. It's just a reality). I've really enjoyed Strauss ever since she dropped her agenda to get rid of Hotch in S3.
And also, Morgan? I get that part of this is latent issues over Hotch hiding Emily's death. I really do. But up until Strauss started drinking on the job again, Hotch didn't have to tell you anything. In fact, up until that point, Hotch shouldn't have told you anything. If Strauss had a problem with alcohol in the past, told Hotch about it so that he could cover things while she got help, and then came back when she'd gotten it under control (albeit only temporarily, from the sounds of it), but anyway, if that's what happened, then Hotch shouldn't have told you anything Morgan. That isn't Hotch's secret to tell, and it's a horrible breach of trust if he does tell you.
So, up until Strauss compromised things, Hotch didn't need to mention anything. Especially since I'm pretty sure he genuinely thought she had it under control. I would also at this point, mention that this is the team that, in the past, let Reid alone to deal with his addiction, and he did some pretty erratic things, so yeah... Provided Strauss was actually getting help... Yeah, when it affected the case, then things changed.
But I don't think Morgan gets to be mad at Hotch for not telling him about Strauss' personal problems. (I really do get that this is exacerbated by Emily, but it still bugs.)
And even apart from Morgan's reaction (I think; it's possible I'm conflating my annoyance with Morgan's reaction with the entire plot point), I didn't like.
It just sits wrong with me.
Maybe it's because she's a woman in power, which I'm guessing is pretty rare at that level in the FBI, and I dislike the drinking problem storyline. Maybe it's because I like Strauss as an occasional antagonist and don't want her to go. I think she's interesting, and this just seems like cheap melodrama.
I just don't like it
Okay, so this didn't turn out to be brief at all. Sometimes that happens..