Castle Season 7 Episode 7 - Once Upon a Time in the West

Overall, I have been very happy with season seven of Castle, especially with episode six.  I really enjoyed Once Upon a Time in the West, the seventh episode of the season.  It is another fun, entertaining episode.

Like usual, there are spoilers ahead for people who haven’t seen the episode yet.  Read at your own risk.

Rick and Kate have Lanie, Esposito, and Ryan over the loft and tell them they got married.  The three are a bit upset, especially when Martha goes on about how perfect it was, even saying you should have been there.  Lanie goes off on Kate briefly, talking about not eating carbs for months so she would fit in her dress, and then she hugs Kate in happiness while pushing Rick away.  The guys hold on to their disappoint, saying they had plans for the wedding, including a song, and now there is no song for Rick, not even at the reception/party that will be coming up.  Kate gets a call about a new murder, and Ryan and Esposito refuse to go, saying that is another call they didn’t get.

At the hospital, they discover that the victim got sick on the subway, was taken to the hospital, said diamondback just before she died and she had been poisoned.  At the precinct, Ryan and Esposito discover that the woman had just been at Diamondback Dude Ranch.  Kate contacts the local sheriff who says he can’t do anything with any concrete proof and he’s unwilling to go to the ranch to ask questions since the ranch brings in a lot of tourists to the area.  Kate is aggravated, but thinks there is nothing else she can do.  Then Rick comes up with the idea that he and Kate should go to the ranch and honeymooners to investigate.  Surprisingly, Gates agrees with Rick, so the two head off to the ranch.  Rick thinks they might as well try to have some fun too since they won’t be able to take an actual honeymoon for a while because Kate used her vacation days looking for him when he was missing. 

Rick is having fun from the moment they get to the ranch while Kate is trying to focus on finding out what happened to the victim.  They do some shopping, getting some western clothes and Rick wants to get guns, but Kate says they need to head to their room - she managed to talk their way into them getting the same room as the victim.  They talk to the guy in the room next door who also shares the bathroom and learn some things about the victim, including that she may have been involved with a married ranch staff member.  Rick comes up with a way for them to try to figure out which staff member by them doing various activities around the ranch.  He of course goes for the poker game in the saloon while signing Kate up for something like calf or hog roping.  They learn that the victim had been asking a lot of questions and they keep hearing about lost gold. 

Back in New York, the guys are working on the case as well, while continuing to whine about not being at the wedding.  Rick and Kate go looking for the lost gold, with Rick tracking trash through a field instead of tracks.  They find what Rick thinks is the treasure, only to discover a dead body instead.  There is a suspect in New York, though he turns out not to be the killer.  When Rick is drinking with the owner of the ranch, he gets a call from the guys.  They figured out that the owner of the ranch is the killer and Kate isn’t answering her phone.  Rick and the guy almost get into a shoot out, but Kate arrives to deal with the situation just in time.  At the precinct, the guys are still complaining about not being at the wedding when Gates decides that she has had enough of that.  She points out that real friends would just be happy for their friends, especially when they have been through as much as Rick and Kate have.  The important thing is that Rick and Kate are happy and married.  The guys see the light and follow through on an idea from Gates and each give a few of their vacation days to Kate so she and Rick can have a short honeymoon.  They are staying at the ranch for those days, but Kate gets a promise of a real honeymoon for sometime later.

This is another fun, entertaining episode that I really enjoyed.  Yes it does get a little silly a few times, but it works for the episode and makes it more entertaining in my opinion.  The case is interesting and it serves as a way to give Rick and Kate at least a short honeymoon, which is nice.  I’m not the biggest fan of westerns, but the western theme works well here.  The episode does use some of the cliches of the genre, like shootouts and someone shooting a gun out of someone else’s hand.  Those things all worked to make the episode more fun and entertaining.  Castle has done other episodes sort of like this and those episodes also did the same thing.  I tend to like these type of theme episodes.

Once Upon a Time in the West is very closely tied to the last episode, well, at least the ending of the last episode.  It isn’t said for sure, but I don’t think much time has passed since Rick and Kate got married and the beginning of this one when they are telling Lanie, Esposito, and Ryan.  I got the impression that Rick and Kate weren’t home that long before getting them to the loft to tell them.  It is clear that they are happy to share their news.  I get why the three were disappointed or even upset at first.  I think Lanie was the best, with how she sort of told Kate off, and then was hugging her and happy for her friend in less than a minute.  The guys held on to their issues longer, and while some of that was amusing at first, like when Rick just hands his wallet over to them when they say he owes them for the tux rentals, but it got old for me when they wouldn’t drop it.  Even when calling Kate about the case, they brought it up again.  They were being childish and it got old for me fast.  I was very glad when Gates decided to have a talk with them and I agree with everything she said.

Overall, I really enjoyed Once Upon a Time in the West and think it is one of the more entertaining episodes for this season of Castle.  The next episode looks like it will be one of the more serious episodes.

Once Upon a Time in the West is available to watch on the ABC website and other streaming services.  I think it is also available through ABC On Demand.

Castle Season 7 Recaps/Reviews
Driven ~ Montreal ~ Clear and Present Danger ~ Child's Play ~ Meme is Murder ~ The Time of Our Lives ~

Castle - Season 7 Episode 6 - The Time of Our Lives

After having to wait an extra week, Castle fans finally got the episode we have been waiting for, The Time of Our Lives.  Overall, I am very, very happy with the episode.

There are spoilers ahead, so beware if you haven’t watched the episode yet.  You have been warned.  Read at your own risk.

First, before I get into anything else, I want to clear up one thing.  The wedding does really happen.  It is not a dream or something in an alternate world.  It happens.  It is beautiful and wonderful.  I will go into more detail with that in a bit.

The episode begins by showing a man riding in the back of a vehicle with a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist.  He seems a bit nervous, and it turns out he has reason to be.  His car is ambushed, he and the driver are killed, and the killer uses a rather unpleasant method of getting the briefcase.

At the loft, Kate is putting together breakfast when Rick joins her in the kitchen.  He hasn’t been able to sleep the last few nights for some reason.  Martha is considering whether she should audition for a new play.  He sees that Kate had gotten an invitation to Will Sorenson’s wedding and that gets the two of them having short talk about how they would be different if they hadn’t met.  Kate then gets a call about a murder and they head off.  The victim is the man that was ambushed.  Rick notices something that makes him think an abandoned coal plant might be involved and he convinces Kate to stop there to check it out. 

On the way inside the plant, Rick asks Kate if she wants to go to Will’s wedding and she says she isn’t ready to see someone else’s perfect day, something that clearly upsets Rick.  Inside they find evidence that seems connected to the murder including some kind of amulet that Rick picks up.  Some kind of alarm goes off, alerting the bad guys that they are there.  There is an explosion, Rick is thrown through a door, falls through it or jumps through it as an odd light washes over him.  When he gets up, Kate and all evidence that anything was going on there is gone.  He rushes back to the 12th, telling Ryan and Esposito that Kate is in trouble.  They call out the captain, who is Kate and she says she has never met Rick before.

Rick is surprised but tries to convince everyone that he knows them.  He knows things about a current crime scene, which raises suspicion so they take him into interrogation.  Kate eventually goes into interrogation and mentions wild things that Rick has done, like jumping onto a float during the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade and singing a duet of Let it Go - he would never sing a duet of that song.  She wants to know when they met, and he mentioned the book party six years before when she had short hair that was cute.  Kate says that didn’t happen and that a different detective contacted Rick about the murder that was similar to his book.  Rick did help with that case, but he didn’t continue to work with the police and never wrote the Nikki Heat books. 

Rick ends up calling Martha to pick him up and is surprised to see her signing autographs in the precinct.  Her career has done very well on the stage and she is in final preparations for a revival of Mame.  Rick is in for even more shocks when they get back to the loft.  Since Martha co owns the loft - that happened after Rick lost most of his money - she went a bit wild in the decorating department.  Alexis is home for a few days to see the opening of Mame.  She moved to California three years before and dyed her hair black and she and Rick don’t have a great relationship.  When he can’t make himself wake up, Rick decides he is in some alternate world and sets out to find a way back home.  Rick manages to talk his way into observing Ryan and Esposito - mostly in exchange for good seats to Mame.  Ryan is a huge Martha fan.  Rick tries to find the amulet again but manages to get himself in trouble with the guys and Kate and he is kicked out.  Rick is persistent though, and he sneaks his way through the precinct to watch another interrogation, only to be caught and thrown into holding.  Kate shows up and lets him out, saying she doesn’t want to do the paperwork.  She also admits that they met years before at a book signing.

Rick returns to the precinct again, and he asks Kate out for a drink.  She accepts and shares that she isn’t sure that being a detective was the right job for her since she never solved the case that set in down that career path to begin with.  They are able to catch a suspect that closes the case, though the amulet is still missing and they don’t know the whole story.  Kate is satisfied but Rick isn’t.  That night Rick and Alexis talk, with her sharing that when he gave up on writing after a badly received book, she felt like what she isn’t making a difference either and that she shouldn’t bother anymore.  He tells her that everything matters, which makes him determined to get through to Kate.  The next morning he picks up coffee to take only, only to be taken at gunpoint.

One of the bad guys takes Rick back to the factory.  Marcus Lark, a wealthy man, has the amulet and believes that Rick is from an alternate world and wants to know how the amulet works.  He is less than pleased when Rick says he doesn’t know how it works.  Kate shows up just in time to save Rick.  Then another armed person shows up, and Rick jumps in front of Kate, saving her from being shot.  Kate asks why he did that and he says it was because he loved her.  The medallion activates again, sending Rick home.  He wakes up to Kate wanting to know if he is all right.  Once he sees the engagement ring, he knows he is back home.  Rick tells Kate about what he went through before saying it helped him figure out a few things, including why he hadn’t been able to sleep the last few days.  It is because they didn’t get their wedding day.  He thinks they are ready now and he asks Kate to marry him now.

They head to the Hamptons with Martha, Alexis, and Jim (Kate’s dad) and have a ceremony outside at sunset.  Kate has a new outfit that is different than I expected but fits her.  I am almost 100% sure that she is wearing the earrings that Martha gave her the last time.  Their vows are sweet and beautiful.  The episode ends with Jim, Martha, and Alexis drinking champagne while Rick and Kate dance to a song he plays on his cell phone with Kate proclaiming it to be perfect.

Like I mentioned earlier, I wasn’t completely sure what to expect from the alternate world type of story.  I first read a little bit about that a few months ago I think it was.  At that point, there was basically no information shared other than it would be an alternate world story and I thought it sounded interesting.  Then I saw the first preview, at the end of the fifth episode, along with another short clip that had the story idea making less sense to me at that point.  I think the story ended up working well.  It was entertaining and interesting to see the different versions of characters - some more different than others.  Kate was definitely successful in her career, but had no personal life and didn’t seem to have much in the way of happiness.  She even doubted her job choice because she hadn’t been able to solve her mother’s murder.  Kevin and Jenny’s relationship fell apart after he and Javier had to work longer hours when Kate was promoted.  Javier and Lanie still have a history, but things went wrong there too and they didn’t work it back out.  Rick’s reaction when he saw a very pregnant Lanie walk through the precinct was rather funny.  Javier seems to have some lingering issues about the former relationship as well.  Seeing the different version of Kate - either in a dream or alternate world - along with hearing about himself did make Rick realize a few important things. 

There was a good amount of build up to Rick and Kate getting married last season in Castle.  I was fine with that at the time, along with their decision to have a big wedding that seemed to just keep getting bigger.  Then the finale happened which, as far as I am concerned, screwed up the wedding.  They were minutes away from it when Rick is run off the road and the episode ended.  I still have not watched that episode again.  I really do not like it for multiple reasons, including some that have nothing to do with the non wedding.  I am now referring to that episode as The Episode That Shall Not Be Named.  I have also had issues with the first few episodes of this season, but I have been liking the season overall.  I am very happy with The Time of Our Lives, but I still don’t like The Episode That Shall Not Be Named.  Honestly, I don’t know that I ever will like that episode, but it didn’t drive me away from the show. 

There was speculation online even before the new season began about when the wedding would be.  Many people have thought that it would happen in the sixth episode for a few reasons, including the fact that Terri Edda Miller wrote the episode.  She is married to the creator of the show and one of the producers.  I wasn’t sure what to think when I first heard about this episode having some kind of alternate world story, especially once it became more clear that the wedding would be in this episode.  The few previews that came out - it seemed like there were fewer clips and pictures released this time - just confused me more.  I was still looking forward to the episode though.  I was a bit anxious while watching as things unfolded even though I knew the wedding was supposed to be coming.  There were several call backs to moments in earlier episodes, though I may have missed some since I was a bit distracted waiting for the wedding.

All along, I didn’t care if Rick and Kate a big, huge, extravagant wedding or something smaller.  I tried not to have many expectations for the wedding and I did well, until the last week before The Episode That Shall Not Be Named aired.  Some of the promotional things at that point really built up the wedding, so my expectations grew.  And then it didn’t happen.  Even if I had kept my expectations more under control, I still would have been annoyed by how the episode ended.  Last season, as they discussed the wedding plans a bit here and there, it did seem to be growing a bit out of control.  I definitely remember Kate saying at one point that she didn’t want a huge guest list and Rick agreed, but the guest list grew and grew until it reached several hundred.  I wasn’t crazy about Kate’s first dress and I loved her mother’s dress that she was wearing when everything went straight to you know where.  The creator and new show runner both said in interviews over the summer that a wedding was still coming.  I still wanted to see a wedding of course, but I kept the expectations down.  Yes I did get very happy and even excited when I watched a short interview with Nathan done on set and I spotted him wearing a wedding ring, but I still kept my expectations under control.  That is probably part of why I am so very happy with the episode overall now.  I have watched the episode again already, and the wedding specifically many, many times.  The rewind feature of my DVR got a work out.  I honestly don’t know how many times I backed it up to watch again last night.  I will more than likely be watching that part of the episode again tonight.

I was not expecting the entire episode to be focused on the wedding or even most of it.  Really, I just wanted to see the wedding, no matter how long or short it was.  The wedding is short, taking place in the last five minutes or so of the episode.  I am not the least bit disappointed that the wedding wasn’t longer.  What we got was sweet, beautiful and perfect.  I like that only Jim, Martha and Alexis were there.  Yes it would have been nice if Kevin, Jenny, Lanie, and Javier had been there, but I’m not upset or disappointed that they weren’t.  I actually think that if more people had been there - even if only those four - it would have lost something and it wouldn’t have been as perfect.  It would have been nice if Jim had gotten at least one line, but that is a minor thing for  me.  Hopefully there will be some extended or deleted scenes on the season seven DVD release. 

Before watching the episode, I wasn’t sure where the wedding would take place, though I had a few ideas.  I didn’t think they would go to the Hamptons again because of the mess that happened last time, but it works and I like that they went there.  I do think that shot of the house was pulled from Murder He Wrote, the season five episode when they spent the weekend there, with the background adjusted with effects.  I remember reading before that the location for that house was very, very expensive, so I don’t think they really went back there.  I think the shot was reused, and the actual ceremony, set outside on the grounds, was on a set with green screen.  At first, the sunset does look odd and even a bit unnatural.  On rewatch, I didn’t even notice it.  Filming on set also allowed them to keep any pictures from leaking before they were ready to release something.

Rick and Kate both look so happy during the entire ceremony part of the episode.  Kate wears a white pants outfit that is different but works for her.  It is a simple, elegant look which fits her perfectly.  I did like her mother’s dress, but I get why she didn’t wear it again.  Their vows are touching, beautiful, and absolutely perfect for them.  I love when Rick called Kate Mrs. Castle and how they started to dance while the others were drinking champagne.  It was a very sweet moment between Rick and Kate, especially when she says that it was perfect.  When she says that, Rick gets such a happy look on his face.

I am very, very happy with The Time of Our Lives overall.  The alternate world story is interesting and entertaining and the wedding is beautiful, touching, and perfect.  Yes they could have devoted more time to the wedding, but I honestly don’t think it could have been any better than this.  Last year, Booth and Brennan got married on Bones and most of the episode was focused on the wedding in some way.  There were nice moments in the episode, but once it was over, I was left thinking is that it?  I haven’t felt that way at all with The Time of Our Lives at all.

The episode is available online at the ABC website as well as other streaming services.

Season 7 Castle Episode Recap/Reviews
Driven ~ Montreal ~ Clear and Present Danger ~ Child's Play ~ Meme is Murder ~

Castle - Season 7 Episode 5 - Meme is Murder

The fifth episode of season seven of Castle, Meme is Murder, is another entertaining episode.  I feel like it stands alone better than the first four episodes of the season since there isn’t anything that ties back into previous stories.  While that does mean there is nothing new to the mystery surrounding Rick’s disappearance, I am all right with that. 

As usual, there will be spoilers ahead, so proceed with caution.

Rick, after receiving some last minute coaching from Martha, films his first ever internet commercial for his new book.  As he tells Kate when they are on the way to a new crime scene, the internet and social media is the future and he has decided it is time to make it work for him, at least for publicity for his books.  The victim, Abby Smith, is a young woman who because famous online through posting funny things on social media.  Shortly after the investigation begins, someone going by the user name Netslayer posts pictures of the crime scene and Abby’s body on Snappamatic, a photo sharing site.  The photos aren’t the ones that the cops took, so they decide that Netslayer is the killer.  The investigation leads to a retired police detective, Bill Garrett, who worked in the cyber division who now owns a store that sells vintage furniture.

Ryan and Esposito pick him up, but it soon becomes clear that Bill is being framed.  Netslayer decides to taut the police by posting a picture of Ryan and Esposito picking up Bill along with a message saying that the police are wrong and he’s still out there.  Netslayer then posts a collage of images that seem unrelated.  Rick and Kate decide that it is a clue to who the next victim will be.  Tori discovers where one of the images came from, but the woman who posted it has nothing in common with Abby.  Rick finally figures out that the clue is referring to a recent story about a group of spoiled rich kids who flood Snappamatic with pictures of their lavish lives.  Kate then finds another picture on the site from the collage and it points them to Tatiana Fischer as the next potential victim.

Kate and the guys find Tatiana and try to take her into protective custody, but she refuses, claiming that she has a party to get to and that Netslayer wouldn’t dare to target her.  When she gets to the car, she discovers her boyfriend, Cam Magani, another rich kid who is also popular on Snappamatic.  Almost immediately, pictures of Cam’s body are posted to Snappermatic, along with one of Rick and Kate looking happy while drinking coffee.  That was actually from when they were on the way to the first crime scene, but Netslayer is using the picture to try to make Kate look bad at her job.  While Rick thinks it will blow over, Kate is upset, especially since the higher ups at the police department expressed concern to Gates about the photo, who stands by Kate and won’t take her off the case. 

Ryan shares that they figured out how Netslayer got in Cam’s car.  When Cam got the car, a Rolls Royce, he posted a picture holding the key.  Netslayer was able to use the picture to make a copy of the key with a 3D printer.  Talk about freaky.  Anyway, they figure that Netslayer did the same thing to get a copy of Abby’s apartment key, so footage from surveillance cameras on her street are checked and Tori manages to find a shot of his face.  Kate and the guys decide they need to talk to Bill again to see if maybe Netslayer was connected to one of his old cases. 

Bill recognizes him immediately as Adam Lane.  While still in high school, Lane was severely bullied, including a humiliating video being posted online.  Bill was able to get the video taken down, but the damage had been done and was just made worse when the DA wouldn’t press charges.  Lane seems to have vanished, but they manage to track him to the basement apartment of the house where he use to live with his mother.  Just as Kate arrests him, Esposito calls with the news that something has just popped up online showing the owners of Snappamatic, Kent and Orin, restrained somewhere, hooked up to some kind of electrical device that will kill whoever doesn’t get the most votes by the time the counter gets to zero. 

At the precinct, Kate tries to reason with Lane.  When that doesn’t work, she changes tactics, using insults to get to Lane’s insecurities.  He lets a few clues slip that point to where Kent and Orin are being held.  Ryan and Esposito are able to get them just in time.  Soon after, Rick happily gathers Kate, Alexis and Martha in his office to watch the finished web commercial.  To say that it wasn’t what he expected would be an understatement.  The ad is mostly made up of the bloopers from the filming, with creative editing and a lot of auto tune going on.  It is hilarious.  Rick is upset while the women point out that it has already gotten a lot of hits, which was the point.  Kate tries to reassure him that people will forget since it is just the internet before deciding that they need to watch it again.

This episode is a bit more serious overall than the last two even though there are some funny things here and there.  People who felt that the last two episodes went too silly may like this episode more.  Most of the funny stuff is tied to the commercial.  Yes it is a little silly in spots, but it is very funny and I think it works.  I do wonder if his agent and publisher are a bit ticked at him about something - perhaps being missing for two months - and decided on the blooper commercial as revenge.  I have no idea if something like that would be released as an official commercial for anything.   

The case for Meme is Murder is interesting and it deals with things that are more current and relevant in the world today.  Social media has gotten extremely popular in recent years, and there are people how have huge followings on the various social media sites for basically doing nothing.  Abby becoming famous for posting her silly “reviews” seems believable.  Bullying has taken on a whole new unpleasant angle tied to the internet.  Bullies can now torment their targets around the clock by posting nasty stuff online and to make it worse, other people can, and do join in, adding to the taunting or even just watching things unfold.  As Kate says during a bit of a rant at one point, being anonymous on the internet means people aren’t accountable for their actions and cowards who would never do anything in person become bullies.  Cyberbullying is a very real problem and I think the episode deals with it decently.  Kate also points out how once anything is posted to the internet it is there forever and that people can take things, like the picture of her and Rick, out of context.  During his questioning, Lane shares his belief that the people who started to follow him because of the murders and the ones voting for Kent and Orin are the ones who are really sick.  He may have a valid point on that and it is a bit disturbing to think that people would sit by and watch something like that.  Unfortunately, there probably are people that would do that.  I do think it is believable that someone who had been bullied like Lane with nothing being done to the bully could flip like he did. 

The episode also brings up something else that Lane does in committing his crimes that I think is very unsettling.  Lane is able to create copies of keys just from taking pictures of them and uploading the pictures to a 3D printer.  I’ve heard of 3D printers before and different things they can create, but I guess I didn’t realize that something could be made just from a picture without some sort of design or something.  That is a scary thought.  I know that criminals had ways of getting copies of keys before, using impressions or something like that, but they had to actually get their hands on the key for at least a short period of time.  I do think it isn't as likely for the keys to a newer car to be copied in this way, especially one for a Rolls Royce.  I do know that several car companies have started to put microchips or use special laser cutting for the keys.  When my mother got a new Camry in 2007, she was told that she couldn't just go get a copy of the key made for a spare because it wouldn't work.  A copy would have to come from Toyota.  It seems more believable that taking a picture of a house or apartment key could work.  

Lane’s victims were all popular because they shared a lot online.  Lane was able to track them through the pictures they posted online, which reinforces the idea of how it isn’t safe to put too much on the internet, something Rick himself tried to convince Alexis of back in season five, only to have his concern brushed off.  The pictures may look innocent enough, but there are things in them, included hidden GPS information connected to where they were taken, that people can track.  I actually first heard about how GPS information can be found in pictures taken on smart phones a few months ago.  There are ways that criminals can find that GPS information.  The idea that an innocent picture of a pet or flowers, or whatever would have that sort of information in it does freak me out a bit.  This makes me glad that I have never been comfortable posting pictures online and haven’t jumped on the bandwagon of taking a selfie every time I do anything.  In fact, I have never taken a selfie and have no plans to do ever do so.

It seems like Martha and Alexis have been around a little more this season than they were last season.  That is fine with me since I like them.  Martha tends to be fun, and she is again in this one when she decides that Rick needs to go through some last minute warm up exercises right before filming his commercial.  Her reaction to the finished commercial at the end is fun as well.  Alexis is only in the last scene.  It was fun to see her reaction to the commercial too.  I like that things are back to normal between her and Rick after their issues in season six.  Ryan and Esposito each play important roles in solving the case.  Captain Gates is in a few short scenes.  I really like that she backed up Kate with the higher ups at the department and didn’t pull her off the case after the picture was posted.  I really didn’t like Gates when she first showed up, but she has grown on me. 

Meme is Murder is one of the more serious episodes.  I think it works very well.  It is another entertaining episode that is worth watching.

Rick’s internet commercial has been posted on several websites if anyone would like to watch it again.  Meme is Murder should be up on the ABC website by now.  I think it is also available through other streaming services. 

Unfortunately the next episode will not air until November 10th.  There isn’t even a rerun next week because the time slot is going to some special connected to the music award show that is airing on ABC on Wednesday the 5th.  Going by information that has been online about the episode and from the teaser at the end of this episode, the next one should be good and make a lot of fans happy.

Season 7 Castle Episode Recaps/Reviews
Driven ~ Montreal ~ Clear and Present Danger ~ Child’s Play ~ Meme is Murder ~

Castle - Season 7 - Episode 4 - Child’s Play

The fourth episode of Castle of the season - Child’s Play - is another one that is a bit lighter overall even though a few more serious things come up.  The episode stands alone fairly well, there are a few small connections to earlier episodes.

Once again, there are spoilers, so people who haven’t seen the episode yet will want to proceed with caution.

At the loft, Rick, Kate, Martha, and Alexis finish a big dinner that Martha and Alexis fixed, complete with a huge sundae with potato chip fudge ice cream.  When Kate tries to say that she and Rick will do the dishes, Alexis takes the plates away.  Kate is a bit concerned with how Alexis is acting, but Rick isn’t bothered and thinks he should enjoy it.  They get called to a crime scene where there is a dead man inside an ice cream truck.  They soon figure out that someone was hiding in a cabinet in the truck and it looks like it was a second grade student since there was a field trip permission slip from a near by school in the cabinet. 

When Kate and Rick talk to the principal the next day, he says that none of the kids have said anything.  Kate then gets the idea that Rick should go into the classroom, as an adult who can act like a kid, and try to find out who was in the truck.  Rick claims he’ll have no problems, but a few of the kids do present a bit of a challenge.  He does come up with the idea of having the kids write stories, hoping that something in them will point to who the witness is.  As Rick tells the teacher, he believes that witnessing the murder will come out in the writing some way.  He thinks he finds the potential witness, but it turns out the boy was writing about a scary movie.  A little girl named Emily seems on the verge of telling him something at the end of the day, but then her mom interrupts, so Rick promises that he will be there the next day.

The next morning, Alexis actually feeds one last bite of breakfast to Rick while giving him a lunch that she packed him.  After that, he agrees that he needs to talk to Alexis.  Back at the school, Rick has a princess tea party with Emily during recess that is very sweet and she does confide in him.  Unfortunately, it is that Jason is a bully.  Rick does tell her something that I think is very good related to her inner strength.  Emily interprets it in a different way, punching Jason who then goes running to the principal.  Since Jason’s parents are lawyers who threaten to sue at the drop of a hat, the principal sends Rick on his way.  As he is leaving, Rick finds a drawing in his coat pocket that is of the ice cream truck.  Kate, Ryan and Esposito have been following other leads in the case.  Rick lets Kate know about the drawing and she goes to the school where they discover that Jason drew the picture.

Jason mouths off a bit to Kate when she first starts to talk to him, but he eventually starts to talk.  He insists he wasn’t in the ice cream truck but that he knew who was and that he wasn’t supposed to tell.  It was his older half sister who also was the graphic art teacher of the victim.  It turns out that they, along with one of the victim’s childhood friends from Russia and a former cop had been making fake passports to help Russians being taken advantage of go back home.  One of their clients is actually a wanted criminal who is now killing anyone who has seen his picture.  Kate and Rick go after an actual picture Jason’s sister has, only to figure out that the picture is in the classroom.  Just as they find it, the bad guy shows up, a fight ensues, and Rick ultimately stops him by dumping marbles on the floor.  Rick discovers that Alexis put a tracking program on his cell phone when she texts him to come straight home.

Rick again agrees that he has to talk to Alexis.  Rick arrives home on a scooter to Alexis freaking out a bit because she thinks he is late.  They talk about her being afraid that he will disappear again and how he felt after she was kidnapped.   He also points out that part of being a grown up is realizing that you can’t protect someone you love every minute.  Rick convinces Alexis to be a kid by bringing in another scooter and the two head off for pizza. 

While this episode isn’t one of my favorites, I still really enjoyed it.  Rick and Kate spent most of the episode investigating apart, something that I generally don’t like as much.  I just tend to enjoy the episodes more when they are together more.  I did like Rick spending time with the children .  While it was perhaps a bit silly, it was fun and I think worked overall for the episode.  The princess tea party was absolutely adorable and gives the audience a hint at how he was when Alexis was that age.  It takes a confidant man to pull of fairly wings and a tiara, and Rick pulled it off perfectly.  I just wish that Kate would have shown up then for some reason - maybe to have lunch with Rick or just to check in - and seen the tea party. 

Rick has always been a bit of a child inside the body of an adult man and that one of the things that I like about him.  It makes him more of a fun character.  He isn’t exactly immature, at least not all the time, but he will take time for fun and to enjoy things.  Yes some of that can be a little silly, but I like it.  Rick in a classroom full of children is very fun.  He thinks he will have no trouble at all, only to quickly see that he is wrong.  It seems mostly realistic even when it is a little silly.  Rick has a way of connecting with children without talking down to them.  I thought it was fun to see him with younger children after seeing him with Alexis for the last six years.  Nathan Fillion is wonderful in the episode and it nice to see him get a bit more to do.  The case is interesting, though I enjoyed the parts with Rick in the classroom more than Kate, Ryan and Esposito following other leads.  I think I would have enjoyed that part more if Rick had been more involved in it as well like usual. 

There are no new developments connected to Rick’s disappearance, but the episode does address how Alexis is afraid that he is going to vanish again.  It even refers back to when she was kidnapped and how overprotective Rick felt afterward too.  When that happened, once Alexis was back home, they didn’t really deal with that again except very briefly when Rick didn’t want her to go off to Costa Rica.  They really didn’t talk about things at that point, so I think it is good that they did this time.  I think it is completely believable that Alexis would be worrying more about Rick and even kind of over protective.  It is kind of cute to see her fuss over him in that way, though she is going overboard.  Last year when Rick and Alexis had their issues, Kate didn’t bring it up, she just waited until Rick said something.  This time, she points it out early in the episode.  I think this is a way of showing that Kate feels more comfortable as a part of the family that includes Alexis and Martha.  I also think there is a bit of a clue in what Rick says to the teacher about how it would come out someway in writing of the child who witnessed the murder.  I think that is a clue that whatever happened when he was a child has already made it into his writing at some point in his past.  I’m also thinking that it is possible that something from the missing two months may start to come out in his future writing, once he is working on another Heat or Storm book. 

Overall, I really enjoyed Child’s Play even though it isn’t one of my favorite episodes.  I liked Clear & Present Danger better, but that one is hard to top.  This one is still very fun and well worth checking out.

Castle Season 7 Episode 3 - Clear & Present Danger

I have had some issues with recent Castles episodes, mostly the season six finale and the season seven premiere, but I have continued to watch.  The second episode was a little better, with a few more answers being discovered, but something was still a little off.  For the most part, I was all right with that since I know that the writers have started what they are calling a new mythology connected to Rick.  I didn’t expect everything to be resolved in one or two episodes.  I did want to see the beginning of some resolution, and I do think that happened in the first two episodes.  For me, Clear & Present Danger, is the most entertaining episode of the season so far and it feels like things are back on track between Rick and Kate.  While some of what happens is more silly, to me, it feels more like a classic Castle episode.

Like usual, I will be sharing things that will be spoilers for people who haven’t watched the episode yet, so read at your own risk.  You have been warned.

A man is alone in his apartment playing pool when there is a knock at the door.  When he checks the peep hole, no one is there, but he opens the door anyway and walks into the hallway.  He then freaks out and rushes back inside, slamming the door behind him.

Rick and Kate are settled in at the loft, on opposite ends of the couch, using their tablets.  They have a short discussion about doing something that night, deciding against the idea of a movie because they have watched a lot of them recently.  The discussion takes a more personal turn, with each of them admitting that they thought the other wasn’t ready for certain activities again just yet.  They each state clearly that they are ready and just when they are ready to head to the bedroom, Kate’s phone rings.  They have a murder to deal with.

Will Fairwick, the man from the first scene, is dead in his apartment, stabbed in the chest with a pool cue.  Ryan shows up to the scene a little late, smelling of alcohol that he said someone spilled on him when he and Jenny were having dinner.  They discover a stash of cash in the apartment and it looks like Will worked for an insurance company.  His neighbor Henry shows up long enough to say that Will was a pool hustler and that was how he made his real money.  Henry says that he and Will sometimes played video games together and he didn’t hear anything because he had been playing with headphones on.

Rick and Kate talk to the owner of a pool hall where Will has won a lot of money.  The owner claims that Will talked about having made a deal with the devil to be so good at pool.  He also said that Will was acting nervous recently and started to say that his time was up.  Back at the precinct, they look at the video footage from the hallway outside Will’s apartment.  It shows the door opening and closing, after the time of Will’s murder, but no one is visible on the footage.  Rick decides that the devil showed up to collect while Kate tries to find a more reasonable explanation, like a draft from an open window - even though all the windows were closed and locked from the inside.

They follow a few clues, which leads Rick and Kate to Tom Talmadge, a man in the hospital recovering from being attacked.  When he talks to Kate, Tom says he was attacked by some kind of unseen force and he briefly blacked out.  When he came to, a stranger, that he now identified as Will, was standing over him.  Tom believes that Will saved him from whatever attacked him.  Back at the precinct, Kate wants to look at the video footage again, only to discover it missing from the evidence and the officer on duty says no one has been there since she originally brought it in.  That makes Rick decide that the suspect is an invisible man.  They do discover that Will had been dating Donna, a biology professor that he originally knew from college before he had a break down and dropped out.

Kate and Rick head back to Will’s apartment to get the keycard for the insurance company that he worked for.  Rick does make a joke or two about the Invisible Man again.  After Kate picks up the keycard and they are leaving, she is attacked by something or someone that they can’t see.  At first Rick thinks she is teasing him, but he quickly realizes he is wrong and tries to help her.  He does manage to get the attacker off Kate, only to be attacked himself as soon as he picks up the fallen keycard.  Once the attacker seems to leave, Rick shares that he managed to keep the keycard.  Kate comes up with a creative explanation for the encounter when telling Captain Gates what happened.

Back at the loft, Rick and Kate attempt to follow through on their plans from earlier, but first Rick and then Kate get the feeling that they are being watched.  Rick then gets what looks like every pot and pan in the loft and strings up a homemade alarm.  Unfortunately, they are interrupted again when Martha, who thought they weren’t home yet and wanted some dental floss, got snared in the trap. 

Esposito spots body glitter on Ryan and wants to know what is going on.  Ryan is still worrying about being able to pay for everything connected to Sarah Grace.  Specifically, he is worrying about college that he says will cost a quarter of a million dollars just for a state college.  He has a second job working as a bouncer at a strip club.  A male strip club.  Tory does some work with the keycard, but she is unable to find any information.  Another clue takes Kate and Rick to what turns out to be a secret government facility working on cloaking technology.  Will was working on the project which has been set back by his death.  His boss suggests that the Chinese may be behind his murder.  She also believes they are behind a recent computer attack that damaged all the files for the project. 

Rick notices something that points to Henry being involved in the attack.  He was a talented programmer who has been in trouble with the law before.  Will and Henry had been working in secret on the cloaking suit and managed to get it to work.  Henry used it to try to find proof that Talmadge had stole code from him.  Things didn’t go as planned and he ended up hurting Talmadge instead of just scaring him. 

Kate and Rick then realize that Will got back in touch with Donna because he wanted her research to use for the cloaking suit.  When Donna figured that out, she was ticked off and used the suit to attack and kill him.  She manages to get in the suit again, but Rick and Kate trap her in a room where they then get the idea to use fire extinguishers to find her.  Will’s boss shows up at the precinct to take possession of the suit.  Esposito gives Ryan the gift of a speedo, claiming he needs a proper uniform for his new job.  Back at the loft, Rick and Kate are able to pick up where they left out before earlier.

While some people may find this episode too silly, I thought it was really fun and entertaining.  It was nice to have a more lighthearted and fun episode again after the last two episodes that were more serious.  Nothing new tied to Rick’s disappearance comes up, but that doesn’t bother me.  While I do want answers to what happened, I am fine with it taking a while, as long as there is no lingering or long term damage to Rick and Kate.  Things definitely look to be back on track in that regard, which makes me happy.  It is nice to see them more natural with each other again and back to teasing each other a bit.  They even have one of their mind melds as Rick calls it moments late in the episode when they both get the same idea at the same time.  I am happy that they are getting back to their normal even while still not having all the answers.  There was at least one point in the second episode when it seemed like Kate still had doubts about Rick.  I didn’t see anything like that in this one, which I liked.

I have always really enjoyed the episodes that have Rick fully embracing one of his somewhat wild ides - he’s been cursed by a mummy, attacked by a vampire, abducted by aliens, a ghost is a killer, the killer is a zombie, he is going to die because he watched a cursed DVD, there is a time traveling killer, Bigfoot is real, or there is a ninja assassin running around.  The fact that it looks like an invisible person killed Will is just that type of case.  Rick and Kate’s reactions to what is going on is very entertaining.  It was kind of creepy but also funny when Rick was getting beat up by the invisible woman.  I’ve already watched this episode twice, and the second time, I swear I heard something when Rick did before he set up the pots and pans.  It is rather freaky to think that someone could be around that you couldn’t see.  It was very funny to see Kate try to explain what happened to Gates, especially when Rick started to say more but was stopped by Kate.  The cloaking technology stuff that is part of the story is based on real research that is being done by the military and/or government. 

The episode has several funny moments.  Some come from how Rick and Kate react or deal with things connected to the case.  It was really funny how Rick rigged up the homemade alarm in the bedroom.  It looks like he not only got every pot and pan from the kitchen, but that he got donations from the neighbors as well.  He has a lot of cookware.  It was really funny how Martha got caught.  Kate looked mortified, but Martha was fine, mentioning how she didn’t think they were home and she just wanted to get some dental floss.  I also found it funny that she didn’t question why there were pots and pans hanging from the ceiling.  Esposito’s reaction to Ryan’s second job is very funny, as is the gift and the way Ryan reacts to it.  I don’t think anyone else knows yet, so it will be interesting to see how Rick and Kate react.  I also don’t think that Esposito is done teasing Ryan about it yet either. 

This episode of Castle is the most entertaining of the season so far for me.  It is a bit silly, but it works.  Things between Rick and Kate are well on the way to getting back to normal even though they don’t know what went on when he was missing.

Fall TV Season 2014 So Far

I usually look forward to new seasons of tv shows starting back up in the fall each year.  This year, I was mostly looking forward to The Big Bang Theory and Castle, my two favorite shows.  I am current with some of the shows I watch, and behind on others.  This seems to always happen to me.  I’ve decided to write a bit about what I have watched so far this fall, along with mentioning what is sitting on my DVR waiting for when I get around to watching.

I will mention things that have happened on different shows.  While I’m not going into as many details as I have when I have written about specific episodes, there could be some spoilers ahead.

The Big Bang Theory is on Monday nights right now, but will go back to Thursday nights after football is done.  The show is still going strong in the eighth season and I still find it funny and entertaining.  I love that Stuart is living with Howard’s mother even after her health is better.  They seem to have sort of adopted each other and it is hilarious to see Howard flip out about it.  Hopefully this will continue since it is so funny.  The relationship between Sheldon and Amy and Leonard and Penny are still going on.  Raj has finally found a woman that can deal with his issues in Emily.  She seems nice, though there is some kind of tension between her and Penny.

Scorpion is an hour long drama on CBS that airs after The Big Bang Theory.  So far, the show has had fairly high ratings.  I do wonder if they will stay that high once The Big Bang Theory moves back to Thursdays.  The show is about a group of geniuses who don’t function well in normal society who work together.  Walter runs the company and has a history with Agent Gabe Gallo of Homeland Security and the two men still have issues.  Gabe recruits Walter and his team to work on national security problems.  Walter befriends Paige, a waitress, and her genius young son.  Paige ends up working for the company, helping them deal with the real world while they help her interact better with her son.  The show says it is inspired by true events, but I have no clue what is true and what is exaggerated for tv.  The show is entertaining but really nothing special.  A lot of over the top stuff has happened in every episode so far and Paige becoming part of the team does seem a little odd.  I just ended up leaving it on after The Big Bang Theory because I had my DVR set for Sleepy Hollow.   Right now, I don’t know how much longer I will keep watching.

Sleepy Hollow is in the second season.  I really enjoyed the first part of the first season last year.  The show has a different take on the Headless Horseman that I think is very interesting.  The first season did have fewer episodes, and there was a break in the middle of the season.  I’m not sure why FOX decided to do that instead of airing all the episodes.  By the time the show aired again, work was really crazy for me, and I missed most of those episodes and I haven’t gotten caught up yet.  So far, I have seen the first two episodes of the second season.  There is one more on my DVR, soon to be joined by another one.  While I still really enjoyed the show, I was a little confused about a few things, including if one character was good or bad, since I missed the last episodes. 

Castle had a cliffhanger to resolve in the premiere.  While that mostly happened, I still have major issues with the finale of season six - I honestly don’t think I will ever be happy with that particular episode - but I am feeling much better about things now that the new season has started.  There are still a lot of questions connected to Rick’s disappearance, but there have been a few things resolved.  I am all right with things not being completely figured out tied to that yet.  I did not like the way this story line, which is supposed to explore Rick more, was started or even the direction it was going for much of the premiere.  Exploring Rick is fine.  I’m just not completely happy with how it is being done.  Things are better by the end of the second episode.  The third episode was great.  I more detailed post about that episode is coming soon. 

NCIS is a show that I’ve watched off and on for years.  I do tend to enjoy it, but I don’t worry if I miss an episode..or two...or more.  I have mostly watched the first few episodes this season, but I have also been doing other things at the time, so I haven’t caught everything that has happened.  I sometimes watched NCIS: Los Angels.  This year, that show changed time slots and is airing at the same time as Castle, so I haven’t watched any of it.  I also don’t have it on my DVR.  I wasn’t too bothered about seeing it.  I have started to watch NCIS: New Orleans, but my attention keeps wandering.  The show seems ok.  I just haven’t been hooked I guess.

Marvel’s Agents of Shield is one that I watched off and on last year as well.  So far, I’ve seen the first episode this season and have the others on my DVR.  I have seen bits and pieces of the other episodes because I’ve flipped back and forth between this and NCIS: New Orleans.  From what I have seen, there are interesting things going on this season.  I do enjoy the show and plan to catch up.

Forever is a new show that I am really enjoying. The first few episodes set up what is going on with Henry - that he is over 200 years old - and that he is searching for answers about his condition.  The fact that there is also someone else out there with the same condition, who is much much older, is set up during the first few weeks.  Things are done to make it seem like this guy, who calls himself Adam, is a villain of some sort.  He hasn’t been in the other two episodes, though I think he will pop up in other episodes.  A little more of Henry’s past is shared in each episode and I find that very interesting.  I also really like the relationship he has with Abe and exactly how they are connected.  I am really like this show and I really hope it lasts.  It is probably the new show that I am enjoying the most this year.

Criminal Minds is mostly like it has been in previous seasons so far.  There is a new agent played by Jennifer Love Hewitt that is the only change.  The first few cases this year have been suitably creepy. 

Stalker is a new show that airs after Criminal Minds.  The show has potential, following the detectives of a special unit that deals with stalking cases, but I’m still not sure what I think yet.  Both of the main characters have issues, with Beth attacking a rich kid who has been stalking his former roommate.  Jack is basically stalking his ex.  He moved from New York to take the job so he would be in the same city as her again.  She discovered he is in town, and in the second episode, she tells him to leave town or else she will get him fired.  I guess it is kind of bothering me that Beth and Jack are both showing criminal traits when they are cops.  I have watched other shows where eventually a cop character bends the law or crosses a line, but never right from the beginning.  I still haven’t decided for sure about this show.

Bones has really annoyed and irritated me already this season.  That has happened with the show previously at times, even to the point where I stopped watching for a while more than once.  I’m honestly not sure why I am still watching.  They did do a conclusion to the over the top conspiracy story that got started last season, but the conclusion seems kind of too convenient.  Honestly, I didn’t expect much with that story because I didn’t care for how the show handled other attempts at longer stories.  The third episode has everyone trying to get back to normal after the murder of Sweets.  Booth is back full time at the FBI, but he has trust issues.  While that is understandable after he was framed for murder, the way it has been handled has been to make Booth grumpy while avoiding trying to deal with anything.  A grumpy Booth is not pleasant to see.  Temperance does get him to realize that he can’t shut himself off from everyone and it seems like he is back to normal by the last scene.  Again, that is a little too easy for dealing with what the writers put Booth through.  It won’t surprise me one bit if the writers decide to make grumpy Booth return every so often throughout the season.

Gracepoint is the US version of the British show Broadchurch.  I was able to see Broadchurch on BBC America in 2013 and I really enjoyed the show.  I have been interested in seeing Gracepoint since I found out it was definitely being made even though I had concerns with it being on FOX.  So far, the show has been very good and stayed very true to the original.  I have seen some complainants about that, but I like that it has stayed so true to the original.  Broadchurch was excellent and if too much was changed, the show would lose something.  There will only be ten episodes.  I know a second season of Broadchurch is planned.  I have no idea if Gracepoint will get a second season as well.

The show is focused on the investigation into the murder of a young boy named Danny in the small town of Gracepoint where everyone knows everyone.  The first episode focused on Danny being found and the beginning of the investigation.  Time has been taken over the first two episodes to introduce the various characters, pretty much all of which are suspects at this point.  The show is slowing building things like was done with the original.  David Tennant is also in this version, another reason I wanted to see the show even though it is odd to hear him with an American accent.  I have heard that Gracepoint will have a different outcome than Broadchurch.  I think the show has been very well done so far.  I wouldn’t mind if it ended up with the same outcome if it continues to be this good.

CSI has been moved to Sunday nights at 10:00 P.M., something I still have trouble remembering.  If I hadn’t already had the DVR set for the show, I would have missed the first two episodes.  The first episode deals with a case that goes back to when Russell and Julie worked at the lab in Seattle.  The second and third episodes have had different cases, but still connect back to the first one slightly.  Julie has gone back to Seattle to look for more information and Russell is still going over the case as well.  In the third episode, Sara and Greg face potentially being exposed to a deadly disease at a crime scene. 

I still watch The Simpsons on Sunday nights.  The most recent episode has Marge attempting to start a franchise sandwich shop.  I know a lot of people say the show is horrible anymore, but I still enjoy it.  I do enjoy Bob’s Burgers when it is on, but it hasn’t been on every week because of football.  I have the first few episodes of Gotham on my DVR, but I haven’t managed to watch any of them yet.  I have watched the first few episodes of The Middle.  The show has grown on me since it started.  I don’t care for The Goldbergs, though I have left it on the last few weeks because there wasn’t anything else on then I wanted to watch.  It was basically background noise.  I did see the first episode of Black-ish and I didn’t care for it.  I have seen Mulaney on FOX as well and am not impressed. 

Honestly, right now, the only shows I plan to keep watching all the way through the season are The Big Bang Theory, Castle, Forever, Elementary (once it is on after Thursday night football ends), and The Simpsons.  The other shows depend on how entertaining I continue to find the episodes.  I will more than likely keep watching Criminal Minds, though it may build up on the DVR at times before I catch up.  Some things will change once The Big Bang Theory is back on Thursday nights and Elementary is back on.  I have no intention of watching Two and a Half Men.  Mom I can take or leave, and I mostly left it last year.  It will probably just be background noise if I leave it on.  I did like 2 Broke Girls during the first season overall, but it did start annoying me last year, so I’m not sure I’ll bother to watch it this year or not.  I like Mike & Molly and think it is pretty funny, but it isn’t on right now.  I’m pretty sure the show was renewed, but I don’t know when it will start airing.  It started later last season as well.

Castle 7-2 - Montreal - Some Answers Along With More Questions

After watching Montreal, the second episode of the seventh season of Castle, I do feel much better about what is going on with the new story tied to Rick that is being introduced.  I still very much dislike the season six finale and I’m honestly not sure what, if anything, will fix that for me.  However that one disappointing episode didn’t ruin the entire show and I’m definitely interested in what is going on.  I still have some issues about how things were set up in the premiere, but this episode does recover some of the backwards steps taken, and I am feeling more positive overall now.

Spoilers for this episode, as well as at least the premiere and possibly finale, are ahead.  There are actually probably more spoilers in this one than I have shared in previous posts about any episode.  You have been warned.  Read at your own risk.

I’m not sure exactly how much time has passed since the end of the premiere, but it doesn’t seem like a long time.  Rick does an interview tied to the release of his two newest books, but the woman conducting the interview is more interested in asking questions about Rick’s disappearance and if his relationship with Kate is still good.  Rick comes up with the idea of offering a reward for information leading to answers about what happened to him.  Captain Gates is less than happy when she discovers that Rick gave out the number of the precinct for the tip line.  Rick’s reaction to hearing that the phones have been ringing off the hook is shockingly hilarious.  

Rick is back for the first time helping Kate and the guys with a new murder, involving the owner of a toy company.  When they go to the office to talk to the employees, Rick quickly gets distracted playing with the different toys.  It doesn’t take long for Kate to discover that the victim had been keeping some kind of secret from everyone before his death.  The case is all right overall, but it isn’t as interesting as what is going on with Rick’s search for answers.  Alexis is helping Rick sort through all the calls, most of which seem to be from crackpots or women desperate to meet Rick.  Martha has started to go out with someone she met in a grief counseling group, and if Rick wouldn’t mind to much, it would help if he would pretend to still be gone.  Martha says that she and her new guy connected over their grief and it would mess things up if he found out that Rick came home.  It sounds like Martha logic.  When Rick gets a mysterious call on his personal cell phone, he decides to meet the caller even though Kate has misgivings.

At first, when Rick meets the guy who called alone, I thought it was fake Jenkins from the premiere.  Once I got a better look at him, I realized it was a different guy.  At first he seems to have information that may be helpful, but it quickly becomes apparent that the guy is one of the crackpots, something he doesn’t want to seem to admit to Kate.  Not long after a couple shows up at the precinct saying they may have information.  They think they found Rick in the background of one of their honeymoon pictures in Montreal.  With some help from Alexis, they figure out that Rick is standing outside a bank, which causes Alexis to suggest the key that Rick had hidden in his jeans when he was found was for a safe deposit box at that bank.

Kate agrees that going to Montreal makes sense in their search for answers, though she says she won’t be able to go until the weekend because of the active case.  Rick thinks he can go alone but Kate doesn’t think that is a good idea.  Alexis agrees with Kate and they decide that Alexis will go with Rick to keep him out of trouble.  They find the bank and Rick comes up with an idea to get into the safe deposit room.  Something seems a little off with the banker that Rick meets with, almost like he knows something.  The key does in fact open a safe deposit box.  Inside the box are envelopes addressed to Kate, Martha, and Alexis in Rick’s handwriting.  Each envelope contains a memory card.  When Rick is back in New York, he takes the one for Kate to her and has her watch it, saying the ones for Martha and Alexis have basically the same message on them.  The card has a video message Rick made during his two month disappearance in which he says that if  Kate is seeing the video then he is probably dead.  He also says that he did not leave on his own to avoid the wedding and says how he loves her, always.  Seeing that video does a lot to help Kate and it clears up once and for all that he was not trying to leave her.

Kate comes up with the idea of seeing if Tori can get any information off the memory card.  Rick decides to stay behind in case Tori finds anything when Kate and the guys head off after a new lead.  Tori has some sort of computer program that can analyze the faint images out a window behind Rick in the video to figure out where it was made.  When the program comes up with a location, Rick decides to head back to Montreal alone to check it out.  Once there, he finds the room where he made the videos and Fake Jenkins turns up again, this time with a gun, saying that Rick shouldn’t be asking questions and trying to figure out what happened.  Fake Jenkins then goes on to say that Rick wanted to forget.  When Rick objects, Fake Jenkins mentions something that happened when Rick was 11, that he hasn’t told anyone else before, claiming that Rick told him as a way to convince himself he really did want to forget. 

Once back home, Rick shares what he learned and is troubled by the thought of what he would have done that he would want to forget.  Alexis suggests that he had just seen something while Martha basically says maybe it would be best to let it go.  That night, Kate reassures Rick that she is not going anywhere while pointing out that they both need a little more time to readjust before getting married.  She also points out that Rick must have had a reason for wanting to forget.

There are a few answers provided during this episode, the most important coming in the video Rick made for Kate that makes it clear he was not trying to leave her and what happened was out of his control.  I’m glad that Rick made that video since it does a lot to help Kate with her concerns with what has been going on.  We also now know that for at least part of the time, Rick was in Montreal, though that doesn’t explain why he had antibodies to Dengue fever in his system when he was found.  It also doesn’t explain how he ended up in the dinghy. 

Personally, I don’t trust Fake Jenkins.  He is already a known liar who sounded very convincing in the premiere when he gave his story to Kate.  Too many things about his story don’t fully make sense, including the fact that he has a gun pulled on Rick.  The hint about what happened when Rick was 11 was supposed to be the proof Rick left behind to convince his future self to stop looking for answers, so the gun seems to be overkill.  I really don’t see Rick, even if he wanted to forget, being all right with the idea of Fake Jenkins threatening to shoot him.  I’m not that convinced that Fake Jenkins is telling the truth. 

If Rick wanted to forget something from the missing two months, that still doesn’t explain how he was shot, why he had the Dengue fever antibodies, not to mention how and why he ended up in dinghy floating on the ocean for days or why stuff was planted in the tent.  If the memory loss was Rick’s idea, then why wasn’t a better cover story concocted that didn’t raise as many questions?  It does seem odd that Rick doesn’t seem to be questioning if he can trust what Fake Jenkins said, probably because of the mention of the childhood incident.  Even with that, I think it is possible Fake Jenkins is lying.  It doesn’t mean that Rick willingly shared that story.  Some kind of drugs, like a truth serum, or hypnosis could have been used to get the information. 

While Rick may say he will deal with not knowing, I don’t think that will last.  He may manage for a little while, but the need to finish the story will become stronger and he will be back to looking for answers.  I also think that Rick, before he lost the memory of those two months, would have known fully well when he said he wanted to forget that he wouldn’t just give up.  If he truly wanted to forget, then why didn’t he do something else to try to convince his future self, like maybe leave himself a video or letter.  By the way, I think Rick made the videos without Fake Jenkins and whoever else was involved knowing and managed to get them in the safety deposit box.  It doesn’t make sense that they would have let him make the videos, leave them somewhere safe, or keep the key. 

After I thought about things from the premiere more, it seemed like there were more holes in the evidence discovered that pointed to Rick being behind his own disappearance.  Certain little things here and there that don’t fully fit.  Normally Kate is able to pick up on those things, though I can see why she didn’t notice those things as fast in this case since she is clearly more emotionally involved.  It would have been nice if it came out during the episode that Kate had started to pick up on the odd things, but that didn’t really happen.  Kate and Lanie have another little talk which is nice.  Esposito has a new ring tone on his phone thanks to Lanie that I found funny once I realized what it was.  Evidently the two of them have definitely gotten back together officially. 

There is a nice scene with Ryan and Esposito at the toy company office in which Ryan acts like Rick, picking up the various toys while he shares worries about being able to afford everything for the baby.  Overall, the episode has a good mix of humor with the more serious moments.  I liked Alexis in the episode.  She has shown an ability to point out useful things in the past.  She has shown that she has a bit of the same interesting in mysteries that her father has in previous seasons - that was mostly missing last season.  To me, it fits and makes sense that she comes up with useful ideas again and that she wants to go with Rick.  I really like that she and Kate are in agreement with Rick not going to Montreal alone.  His declaration that he is a grown man and doesn’t need permission followed by basically begging for permission is really funny.

With the premiere, while I felt better about where things were going by the end, there were things that I didn’t like about it.  With this episode, I feel even better than I did after the premiere.  Yes there are still a lot of unanswered questions, including a few new ones, but there has been a little bit of progress and the most important thing has been made clear to Kate - that Rick didn’t intend to miss the wedding.  I do think this stuff will come up again, though I’m not thinking it will be brought up in every episode.  I do think that the story has recovered a few of the steps back that were taken with the premiere.  From the short teaser at the end of the episode, it looks like the next one will be one of the sillier type of cases that Rick loves - along the lines of him thinking the killer is a zombie or that there is a vampire running around the city.

Recent episodes of Castle can be watched online at the ABC website.  I think they usually show up there a day after they air.  From when I looked before, the website will only have an episode available to watch for a limited amount of time. 

Castle Season Seven Premiere is Full of Twists

I have been ready for the seventh season of Castle to begin for a while now.  Really since the disappointing season six finale because I was immediately read for the story to get past what was set up then with the disappearance of Rick.  I have read different things about what would be coming in the premiere, and some of what I read did make me a little nervous.  In the past, I have had more faith in Castle than really any other show I watch.  The season six finale shook that faith a bit.  I did briefly consider waiting and watching the episode from my DVR later, but that didn’t happen.  I am mostly all right with what happened in the episode, though there are some things that I didn’t care for. 

I will be discussing events from the season seven premiere of Castle and possible some things from the finale of season six as well.  There will definitely be spoilers for people who haven’t seen the episodes yet.  You have been warned.  Read at your own risk.

Season six ended with the cliffhanger of Rick’s car in flames along the side of the road.  He had been on his way to his and Kate’s wedding at his home in the Hamptons when he disappeared.  The last the audience saw, a black SUV came up beside his car.  Then it jumps to Kate getting a phone call and her arriving at the crash site in her wedding dress.  I was much less than pleased with that episode and that ending in particular.

The premiere picks up immediately after that, with Kate running down to the car and trying to get to it.  Once the fire is out, she is able to see that no one is in the car.  A search is quickly started and Ryan and Esposito each find evidence that Rick was forced off the road and then taken from the car.  In no time, Kate and the guys follow a lead, seeming to get there too late.  Kate goes a bit extreme when questioning someone.  The FBI gets involved and the idea that it could be someone that Rick and Kate put away behind it is brought up.  New evidence seems to indicate that Rick was actually actively involved in his disappearance, a development that I absolutely do not like.  Esposito is quick to jump on that and decide that Rick was behind it all.  The FBI is willing to go with that theory and indicate that their involvement will soon be over, so Kate vows that she will find Rick.

Two months pass with no sign of Rick and Kate doing everything she can to find him.  Then Rick is found unconscious in a dingy by the coast guard.  He remains that way for a while, even once he is in the hospital.  His return does offer a new lead or two that once again points back to Rick voluntarily being gone.  This time even Ryan and Kate buy into it.  When Rick wakes up, the reunion isn’t overly happy since Kate is wanting answers.  Rick doesn’t remember anything about the time he was missing and is shocked to hear he was gone two months.  Kate believes that he is lying about not remembering and only changes her mind after it is learned that a witness turned out to be fake.  Rick is back home by the end of the episode, but there are a lot of things unanswered.  Kate is with him, though it seems like she still has at least a few doubts.

I just do not like all the doubts raised about Rick and how almost everyone lost faith in him.  Esposito was the first, which didn’t really surprise me given some of his actions in the past, but I still didn’t like it.  Then Ryan and Kate after some DNA evidence is discovered.  Ryan and Kate never once consider that the DNA could have been staged, much like it was back in season five when 3XK framed Rick for murder.  I don’t like that Kate didn’t believe Rick.  I don’t mind that not everything was answered by this episode, but it would have been better if more was done to erase the lingering doubt about Rick that some of the characters seem to still have.  Hopefully at least that point will be cleared up sooner rather than later.  The acting by everyone was very well done, especially Stana Katic as Kate.  I was very happy that there was no Alexis drama or fit.  There was enough of that to last ages last season,  though I think the possibility for it is still there.  I won't be a bit surprised if Alexis has a fit in a later episode, throwing up how Kate questioned what was going on.

I didn’t hate the episode, but it is far from a favorite.  I’m just not liking this story that much, at least right now.  I’m fine with the writers wanting to explore Rick more and do this new mythology thing tied to him.  I just don’t like the way the writers decided to set everything up.  I was a bit aggravated at times when watching the premiere, but I did feel better by the time it ended even though I was less than happy with certain aspects of it.  I haven’t forgotten the season six finale and I still don’t like it, but I’m not as annoyed and irritated as I was after that one was over.  From the short preview after the end of the episode, it sounds like they may be something else shared or figured out in next week’s episode.

Castle Season Six Finale a Disappointment

I know that I am a bit late in writing about this since the sixth season finale of Castle aired in May, but I haven’t gotten anything written before now because the episode was such a disappoint to me.  Since the season seven premiere is now less than twenty four hours away, I decided to go ahead and write about the episode.

I will be mentioning things that will be spoilers for the sixth season finale for anyone who hasn’t watched it yet.  Read at your own risk.

I really enjoyed season six overall and I was happy with almost everything.  In previous years, there were little things here and there I wasn’t as fond of, or even entire episodes I didn’t like much.  I didn’t like what went on with Alexis early in season six, but there weren’t any episodes that I completely didn’t like.  I was happy that Rick and Kate were engaged and I liked the little moments here and there when they were discussing wedding plans or are just together.  Then I watched the finale.  I still haven’t watched the episode again, something that is not usual for me.  I watch the show as it airs and also have my DVR set to record it.  I usually watch the episodes again within the first week, sometimes a few times.  I still have no desire to watch this particular episode again and I’m not sure when or if I will.

When Rick and Kate got engaged, I wasn’t expecting a wedding right away.  I thought it was a real possibility that the wedding wouldn’t happen until sometime in season seven, and that was fine with me.  Then later in season six, more and more about the wedding was coming up.  In the last week before the finale aired, ABC put out this video thing that was basically a montage of wonderful moments between Rick and Kate.  It also said something about how everything for six years has been leading to this or something like that.  Seeing that is what fully convinced me that the wedding was happening in the finale.  I never should have watched it.  I still would have been irked, but it wouldn’t have been as bad.

The episode starts off good, with Rick and Kate happily heading off to get their marriage license.  Things go wrong in just minutes though when the records show that Kate is already married as been for fifteen years.  Evidently she went to Vegas with her boyfriend and they went to a drive through wedding chapel as a joke.  They broke up a few weeks later, and Kate never once, in the years since, thought that it was a legal marriage, but she did remember doing it.  If she hadn’t remembered because she was drunk, that would have been more believable, never mind the fact that all the background checks that Kate has had to go through for her law enforcement career never found it.  That just doesn’t make sense, especially when the guy has a record that includes impersonating an FBI agent. 

Most of the episode is focused on Kate trying to track down her long lost husband to get him to sign the paperwork to end the marriage.  Most of the episode was just ridiculous, though there were a few good moments here and there.  As it got later, it became clear that the wedding wasn’t happening - or if it did, the most would we see would be the very beginning of the ceremony.  I would have been annoyed if that happened, but again, it wouldn’t have been as bad as what did happen.  Kate is in her dress and Rick is just twenty minutes away and it gets massively screwed up.  An SUV closes in on Rick on his way to the wedding and the next we see the car, it is in a ditch on fire as Kate runs up, still in her wedding dress. 

That ending was too much like what is done on soap operas, and Castle is generally better than that in my opinion.  The other season finales have been better and even when I wasn’t thrilled - like at the end of season two - it wasn’t as annoying, irritating, and disappointing as this.  My issue isn’t that I thought there was a chance that Rick would have been killed.  I never for one second thought that, just like I never for one second thought that Kate would die at the end of season three.  My main issue is that things were set up to make it look like the wedding was happening and we got to within minutes of it, only to have it ripped away.  I wouldn’t have been as irritated with Rick disappearing if they hadn’t been so close to the wedding when it happened.  I think it also added to my disappointment because the episode before, Veritas, was so good in so many ways.  I read interviews with Andrew Marlowe, the creator of the show who also co-wrote the episode, and he talked about how this was being used as an opportunity to introduce new things connected to Rick.  They could have still done that without messing up the wedding. 

I’m not saying that I’m going to stop watching the show or anything like that.  I was just very disappointed with this particular episode.  I am ready for the story to move forward again, though I am also slightly apprehensive about it as well because I just can’t help but be a tad nervous with how they are going to deal with what they set in motion.

The Story of Johanna Beckett

Johanna Beckett is the mother of Kate Beckett, one of the main characters in the television series Castle, which is now in season six. Johanna was murdered several years before the beginning of the series, so she has never actually been seen alive during the show. Despite that, her influence has still been felt. Things about Johanna and her murder have slowly been shared, a little at a time, over the course of the series. It has been an important part of the show without being the main focus. I have liked how the story has been told slowly, over six years and I think it was handled well.

Some of what I discuss will be spoilers for people who haven’t been watching Castle - or are just a few episodes behind - including the episode Veritas that aired on May 5, 2014. Read at your own risk.

The murder of her mother has really shaped who Kate is. She was in college, planning to become a lawyer, when her mother was stabbed. It was ruled a random act, and the case was never solved. Kate changed her career focus, eventually becoming a homicide detective for the New York police force. She has given many others the answers and closure she didn’t get. Kate tried to solve her mother’s murder, but was unable to. She finally moved on, deciding she couldn’t find the killer after trying to almost consumed her. She found a way to deal with her mother’s killer never being caught. Then Richard Castle came into her life.

Shortly after Rick started to shadow Kate, she told him about her mother’s murder. She also told him not to poke around in the case and that she would be through with him if he did. Rick went along with that for a while, but he ended up digging into Johanna’s murder. He brought in one of his contacts in, and they uncovered something new. Kate was furious when Rick told her, and their developing friendship and work relationship seemed to be over. That is how the first season ended. By the end of the first episode of season two, Kate accepts Rick’s apology and the two got back to working together.

From that point on, new things tied to Johanna’s murder pop up from time to time. Kate is blind sided when she is told that a victim in a new murder investigation was killed by the same person who killed Johanna. Kate, with Rick’s help, discovers the identity of the hit man who killed Johanna. Unfortunately, he takes Rick hostage, and Kate is forced to shoot him before finding out who hired him. Rick feels guilty for that and plans to leave, but Kate stops him. She wants to find and arrest the person responsible for her mother’s death, and she wants Rick there when it happens. That is a big change from when she told him to stay out of it.

The next potential break comes when John Raglan, the detective who investigated Johanna’s murder, contacts Kate, wanting to talk. Kate takes Rick to the meeting, but just when Raglan was going to say something, he is shot by a sniper. Kate, Rick, Ryan, and Esposito discover that Raglan and his partner Gary McCallister had been kidnaping members of the mob for ransom several years before Johanna’s murder. One of the kidnaping attempts went wrong, leaving an undercover FBI agent dead. The intended kidnaping target, Joe Pulgatti, was then framed for the murder. Seven years later, Johanna took up Pulgatti’s case, working to file an appeal. She was getting dangerously close to discovering the truth about the murder and who the dirty cops were when she was killed. When Kate talks to McCallister, he insists that someone else he refers to as the dragon hired the hitman that killed Johanna. He points the finger at drug lord Vulcan Simmons to try to hide his own involvement in what happened. While Vulcan was twisted and evil, he actually wasn’t involved in Johanna’s death.

By the final episode of the third season, the dragon seems to be trying to get rid of loose ends, including anyone connected to Johanna’s murder. McCallister, who has been in jail, is killed by the same man who killed Raglan. The killer then is sent after Kate, who is more determined than ever to track down who is responsible for her mom’s death. It turns out that a third cop had been involved in the mob kidnaping ring and that someone else more powerful learned about it - the dragon. Instead of turning in the cops, the dragon took the money from the ransoms. I was shocked when it came out that the third cop was Roy Montgomery, the captain of the 12th precinct and Kate’s supervisor. Roy was just a rookie when all of that happened, and he then focused on trying to make up for what had happened. He had evidence that he had been using for years to keep Kate safe from the dragon. He sent the evidence to a friend, Michael Smith, before making a stand, giving up his life to protect Kate. Unfortunately that didn’t stop the dragon from having Kate shot.

During the first episode of season four, Smith contacts Rick, explaining that there is information that can keep Kate safe, but only if she stops pushing to solve her mother’s murder. Rick reluctantly agrees to get her to back off. Things went back to mostly normal between Rick and Kate, though each of them were keeping things from the other. In the final episode of that season, another murder puts Kate back on the trail of Cole Maddox, the man who shot her. Rick tries to get her to back off again after being contacted by Smith, but she is determined to get Maddox even though she is in grave danger. Rick decides to end things when she won’t stop. She is almost killed again, but that makes Kate realize her feelings for Rick and she acts on them by the end of the episode.

Season five picks up with Rick and Kate being happily together, though worried for Kate’s safety. They decide to act and they find Smith after he has been beaten by Maddox for the file. Maddox is killed in his attempt to get the last remaining copy, the file seems to be destroyed as well and Smith dies in the hospital. Ryan shows up with all the little bits that are left of the file and he, Esposito, Rick, and Kate try to piece together enough to figure out who the dragon is. They are successful and figure out that the dragon is senator William Bracken who just happens to be in New York. Bracken used the money from the mob kidnapings to fund his first political campaign. Kate goes and confronts him, bluffing through the meeting, making him believe that she has a copy of the file that will go public if she or anyone she cares about is hurt. They come to an uneasy truce, though Kate tells the others that she will still get justice for her mother.

Kate and Bracken meet again later in season five when he is back in New York for a political event and is linked to a murder. At first, Kate sees him as a suspect, but she learns that someone has threatened him instead. Kate is forced to work to protect him and even save his life, causing Bracken to say that he owes her a debt. Nothing else happens until later in season six when Kate encounters Vulcan Simmons again and is almost killed on his orders. A female hired killer saves Kate, saying only that Lazarus didn’t want her dead. That makes Kate believe that Bracken is Lazarus. The believe is enforced when Kate learns that Vulcan has ties to a group that is funneling money into political campaigns. Kate is more convinced when she sees Bracken announcing that he has formed a committee to explore running for president. She remains focused on trying to find some kind of evidence to take Bracken down without letting him know what she is up to.

Kate and Rick spend six weeks on what they call their project, following Jason Marks, someone they believe will lead to evidence that will take down Bracken. Marks turns up as a murder victim, soon followed by Vulcan. When evidence points to Kate, it is clear that she is being set up for Vulcan’s murder, so she and Rick plan to go on the run. Smith turns up alive, talking about a tape there is supposed to be of Bracken admitting to having people murdered. Bracken shows up, along with two goons, and talks about how he is responsible for all the good things in Kate’s life because he had her mother killed. Talk about having a screw loose. Anyway, Bracken claims he is too smart to kill Kate himself, so he leaves his goons behind to handle it, but they underestimate Kate. She takes them out even though she is drugged and injured.

While passed out, Kate remembers the first time she met Montgomery. That memory convinces her that her mother had the tape and hid it where Kate or her dad could find it. Kate and Rick go through Johanna’s things, only to be arrested by IA who has been after Kate since the evidence turned up linking her to Vulcan’s murder. At the precinct, Kate is feeling like she failed when she notices the elephants on her desk and something clicks. They had been Johanna’s originally. Kate manages to open some sort of compartment in them and out falls the tape. Captain Gates, who has been filled in by Ryan and Esposito, plays the tape with the IA cops listening. Bracken and Montgomery are on the tape. Not only does Bracken admit to having people killed in the past, he talks about having Johanna killed too if she doesn’t stop poking around. Kate is then able to go to Washington, D.C. and finally arrest Bracken.

At this point, I honestly don’t know if things with Bracken are completely done or not. It wouldn’t surprise me if he tried to pull something else. He did kind of have a look on his face that he was thinking this isn’t done yet. I think the story was handled wonderfully well and like how it seems to be resolved. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if Kate’s dad was shown at the end as well. There really isn’t a need for much else to happen with this particular story. I would be all right if something is mentioned briefly now and then, like an upcoming trial or that Bracken was sentenced. The murder of Johanna has been the longest running story of the series, apart from the story of Rick and Kate’s relationship, even though it wasn’t brought up all the time. If things hadn’t been handled well, the arrest of Bracken could have been anticlimactic or even a let down. Thankfully, that didn’t happen because the story was handled very well. It took fifteen years (and six seasons of the show), but there is finally justice for Johanna and the truth about Bracken is out.