Castle
I thought it was about time I made a post about Castle.
I am absolutely LOVING it.
In case you've never heard of it, it's the new show airing Monday nights on ABC, starring Nathan Fillion (of Firefly fame). We're five episodes in, and I'm already completely hooked.
Richard Castle is a successful murder-mystery writer who has just killed off his main character and is experiencing a bad case of writer's block. However, it seems one of his fans liked his books just a bit too much when a copycat murderer starts running around killing people as described in Castle's books. After being questioned by the police Richard joins forces with Detective Kate Beckett to solve this case and, fascinated by her, he gets the inspiration for a new character (and a new book), and obtains permission to tag-along on Beckett's team in order to get more background information. The two become partners and begin working together to solve other murders in New York.
Castle knows the ins and outs of his chosen genre, and he comes to be a great help to the police department not only for his knowledge of the proceedings, but also because of his insights of human nature and behavioural profiling. He's good and he knows it. With Fillion's characteristic wit and humour, he comes off as cocky and maybe a tad arrogant, but we're also shown that he's a good man with a big heart, through his relationship with his daughter and his mother and the gentleness he shows as he comes to uncover more about Kate Beckett's past. The detective (played beautifully by Stana Katic), with her no-nonsense attitude and firm determination, is at first glance the consummate professional, strong and smart, and may even appear cold. But we're shown, through small details like glances and body posturing at key moments in her conversations with Castle, hints of an hidden vulnerability and of past experiences that led her to become who she is. She is a fan of Castle's books, but not in the sycophantic way everyone else in town seems to be, she doesn't believe he belongs in her investigative team and she constantly fights his presence, though she comes to tolerate it and even value his insights.
The episodes are structured in a similar way: a murder is uncovered, Beckett gets called on the scene and Castle tags along and is generally annoying. They discover clues by working together and in the end they solve the murder. Scenes of "detecting" are sandwiched between scenes that allow us a deeper look into the characters, through conversations between Castle and Beckett, or snapshots of Castle's family life with his teenaged daughter and his alcoholist mother that are sweet but not over the top, dysfunctional and real.
The show is built on the bantering relationship between Castle and Beckett, and the two actors do a splendid job, and have chemistry in abundance. The criminal cases seem almost like an afterthought, like the frame needed to help us discover more about these characters. One of the things I love most about this show, is how we're shown things, we're led to deduce characterization and character development all by ourselves, and we're not hit over the head with unnecessary unending nauseating dialogue. The UST makes the air so thick you could cut it with a knife, but it's always simmering under the surface, as a subtext to everything. Everyone, even the minor characters like Castle's daughter and mother and the other cops, are complex and well-developed and the need to peel off all the layers keeps me coming back week after week after week.
I don't get why this show has been accused of being a rip-off. Yes, it's about a writer, single-father with a daughter (Californication) and it IS largely based on the banter/chemistry opposites-attract of the male and female leads (The X-Files, Bones), but that's as far as it goes. It's a light-hearted, mistery-romantic comedy between a writer and a cop, it's funny, it's witty, and it's original (as far as anything can be original after almost anything has been done over and over and over), and a well-written and perfectly acted fresh breath of air on a topic that's been beaten to death with all the CSI, NCSI and whathaveyou. Plus, the characters are natural and real and multi-faceted.
It's exactly what I needed to balance out all the dark, angsty shows that I've been watching lately. (TSCC, anyone?)
Tune in, you won't regret it!
I am absolutely LOVING it.
In case you've never heard of it, it's the new show airing Monday nights on ABC, starring Nathan Fillion (of Firefly fame). We're five episodes in, and I'm already completely hooked.
Richard Castle is a successful murder-mystery writer who has just killed off his main character and is experiencing a bad case of writer's block. However, it seems one of his fans liked his books just a bit too much when a copycat murderer starts running around killing people as described in Castle's books. After being questioned by the police Richard joins forces with Detective Kate Beckett to solve this case and, fascinated by her, he gets the inspiration for a new character (and a new book), and obtains permission to tag-along on Beckett's team in order to get more background information. The two become partners and begin working together to solve other murders in New York.
Castle knows the ins and outs of his chosen genre, and he comes to be a great help to the police department not only for his knowledge of the proceedings, but also because of his insights of human nature and behavioural profiling. He's good and he knows it. With Fillion's characteristic wit and humour, he comes off as cocky and maybe a tad arrogant, but we're also shown that he's a good man with a big heart, through his relationship with his daughter and his mother and the gentleness he shows as he comes to uncover more about Kate Beckett's past. The detective (played beautifully by Stana Katic), with her no-nonsense attitude and firm determination, is at first glance the consummate professional, strong and smart, and may even appear cold. But we're shown, through small details like glances and body posturing at key moments in her conversations with Castle, hints of an hidden vulnerability and of past experiences that led her to become who she is. She is a fan of Castle's books, but not in the sycophantic way everyone else in town seems to be, she doesn't believe he belongs in her investigative team and she constantly fights his presence, though she comes to tolerate it and even value his insights.
The episodes are structured in a similar way: a murder is uncovered, Beckett gets called on the scene and Castle tags along and is generally annoying. They discover clues by working together and in the end they solve the murder. Scenes of "detecting" are sandwiched between scenes that allow us a deeper look into the characters, through conversations between Castle and Beckett, or snapshots of Castle's family life with his teenaged daughter and his alcoholist mother that are sweet but not over the top, dysfunctional and real.
The show is built on the bantering relationship between Castle and Beckett, and the two actors do a splendid job, and have chemistry in abundance. The criminal cases seem almost like an afterthought, like the frame needed to help us discover more about these characters. One of the things I love most about this show, is how we're shown things, we're led to deduce characterization and character development all by ourselves, and we're not hit over the head with unnecessary unending nauseating dialogue. The UST makes the air so thick you could cut it with a knife, but it's always simmering under the surface, as a subtext to everything. Everyone, even the minor characters like Castle's daughter and mother and the other cops, are complex and well-developed and the need to peel off all the layers keeps me coming back week after week after week.
I don't get why this show has been accused of being a rip-off. Yes, it's about a writer, single-father with a daughter (Californication) and it IS largely based on the banter/chemistry opposites-attract of the male and female leads (The X-Files, Bones), but that's as far as it goes. It's a light-hearted, mistery-romantic comedy between a writer and a cop, it's funny, it's witty, and it's original (as far as anything can be original after almost anything has been done over and over and over), and a well-written and perfectly acted fresh breath of air on a topic that's been beaten to death with all the CSI, NCSI and whathaveyou. Plus, the characters are natural and real and multi-faceted.
It's exactly what I needed to balance out all the dark, angsty shows that I've been watching lately. (TSCC, anyone?)
Tune in, you won't regret it!