100 TV Shows-#36-Castle
Castle
One fic-written for MMOM.
Quick non-show related rant before I proceed: What the heck is up with all these Youtube clips for various TV Show credits in the style of other TV shows? Is this some weird competition thing? Is it a Tumblr thing? What kind of a "thing" is it? Where did it start and when will it go away. Wherever possible I want the ACTUAL OPENING CREDITS for the shows I'm blogging about in this challenge. These "in the style of" things are pissing me off.
Meanwhile, back to the blogging in progress.
I heard about this show when it first came on, but it didn't sound THAT interesting, everybody kept telling me it was "fluff." Then I needed something new to watch with Hubby on weekends, so I tried the first disc...hubby LOVED it and so....
As we discovered in the previous entry: Setting up UST and then attempting to resolve it with a relationship-Bones, you did it wrong.
Castle-you did it right.
Obviously, two very different shows, although amusingly both starring amiable actors who made their "bones" (heheh) in Joss Whedon shows and who therefore are fully capable of bringing the snark.
Right now Castle is my #1 "uninvested" show, where I can completely enjoy the ambiance, wit, dialogue, fake NY locale, massive amounts of "Hey, It's That Guy!" and completely unbelievable mysteries without it setting off my bitch bone as it were.
Things that in their variations on other shows might get me frothing, I tend to let completely bounce off me including the cute kid, the beta couple, and the "NO HOMO" buddy cop pairing. In fact, I genuinely smile at Alexis relationship with her father, appreciate the way they DIDN'T draw out the Esposito/Lani stuff and didn't even mind the "getting the couple back together" arc for Ryan and Esposito, which with just a slightly different infusion of angst (House/Wilson cough cough) might have driven me bonkers, you know, if I actually cared about any of it.
We did the first three seasons on DVD and then started Tivo-ing so we've mostly seen the new season in real time.
That's the part where you really have to give the kudos. The writers let relationship develop...and yes we went through a few too many misunderstandings and "fear of letting someone in" moments....but they didn't do what Bones did. They didn't create bullshit retcons and completely unbelievable relationships to keep the couple apart. They found a credible (within the non credible verse of the show) to make Beckett vulnerable enough to reach out and then they let it happen.
Then they brought us back to that moment and let us have all the ensuing awkwardness....cringeworthy as some of it has been. It's still better than the alternative.
As an (unsuccessful) mystery writer, I think the actual plots mostly suck, especially when they require supposedly smart characters to be stupid (the bit with the collectible doll was really egregious) but I do love the poker games with the real writers and the way they kept Stephen J. Cannell's seat empty...*sniff*
I WISH they weren't ticking off quite so many of my non-favorite tropes for procedurals, especially "framed for murder" "omnipotent serial killer" and "this time, it's personal" but I manage to let it go with an eye-roll.
They've even managed to do a character death and replacement that doesn't make me hate the replacement. (Except in that stupid doll episode...so out of character!)
I even liked the "special 40's noir" episode, although Ryan's "Boyos" were definitely starting to get on my nerves.
One thing I would like to say to the writers: MORE PERLMUTTER! (Lani's awesome, but Sid needs his own episode, preferably NOT one where he gets framed for murder, or his wife/daughter/girlfriend/gardener gets killed and THIS TIME IT'S PERSONAL.)
Click to viewOne fic-written for MMOM.
Quick non-show related rant before I proceed: What the heck is up with all these Youtube clips for various TV Show credits in the style of other TV shows? Is this some weird competition thing? Is it a Tumblr thing? What kind of a "thing" is it? Where did it start and when will it go away. Wherever possible I want the ACTUAL OPENING CREDITS for the shows I'm blogging about in this challenge. These "in the style of" things are pissing me off.
Meanwhile, back to the blogging in progress.
I heard about this show when it first came on, but it didn't sound THAT interesting, everybody kept telling me it was "fluff." Then I needed something new to watch with Hubby on weekends, so I tried the first disc...hubby LOVED it and so....
As we discovered in the previous entry: Setting up UST and then attempting to resolve it with a relationship-Bones, you did it wrong.
Castle-you did it right.
Obviously, two very different shows, although amusingly both starring amiable actors who made their "bones" (heheh) in Joss Whedon shows and who therefore are fully capable of bringing the snark.
Right now Castle is my #1 "uninvested" show, where I can completely enjoy the ambiance, wit, dialogue, fake NY locale, massive amounts of "Hey, It's That Guy!" and completely unbelievable mysteries without it setting off my bitch bone as it were.
Things that in their variations on other shows might get me frothing, I tend to let completely bounce off me including the cute kid, the beta couple, and the "NO HOMO" buddy cop pairing. In fact, I genuinely smile at Alexis relationship with her father, appreciate the way they DIDN'T draw out the Esposito/Lani stuff and didn't even mind the "getting the couple back together" arc for Ryan and Esposito, which with just a slightly different infusion of angst (House/Wilson cough cough) might have driven me bonkers, you know, if I actually cared about any of it.
We did the first three seasons on DVD and then started Tivo-ing so we've mostly seen the new season in real time.
That's the part where you really have to give the kudos. The writers let relationship develop...and yes we went through a few too many misunderstandings and "fear of letting someone in" moments....but they didn't do what Bones did. They didn't create bullshit retcons and completely unbelievable relationships to keep the couple apart. They found a credible (within the non credible verse of the show) to make Beckett vulnerable enough to reach out and then they let it happen.
Then they brought us back to that moment and let us have all the ensuing awkwardness....cringeworthy as some of it has been. It's still better than the alternative.
As an (unsuccessful) mystery writer, I think the actual plots mostly suck, especially when they require supposedly smart characters to be stupid (the bit with the collectible doll was really egregious) but I do love the poker games with the real writers and the way they kept Stephen J. Cannell's seat empty...*sniff*
I WISH they weren't ticking off quite so many of my non-favorite tropes for procedurals, especially "framed for murder" "omnipotent serial killer" and "this time, it's personal" but I manage to let it go with an eye-roll.
They've even managed to do a character death and replacement that doesn't make me hate the replacement. (Except in that stupid doll episode...so out of character!)
I even liked the "special 40's noir" episode, although Ryan's "Boyos" were definitely starting to get on my nerves.
One thing I would like to say to the writers: MORE PERLMUTTER! (Lani's awesome, but Sid needs his own episode, preferably NOT one where he gets framed for murder, or his wife/daughter/girlfriend/gardener gets killed and THIS TIME IT'S PERSONAL.)