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.

Season 10 of Bones Begins And I’m Already Annoyed

The tenth season of Bones began on Thursday, September 25, 2014 on FOX.  I have mostly watched the show since the first season, though there have been several times when I have gotten very, and I do mean very, irritated with the show.  I have stopped watching a few times, and even felt close to that point again last year.  I kept watching, though there are a couple episodes I still haven’t gotten to.  I was surprised by the finale.  It was very good and is the best finale the show has done in years. 

Things I have read or heard about the premiere recently started me to get concerned again.  The only thing this show has truly been consistent in is screwing stuff up in some way.  More often than not, this show has disappointed or ticked me off in some way.  That is why I have stopped watching more than once.  I guess I still hold out some sort of hope, which is why I have returned to the show time after time.  I don’t feel as, invested in the show as I use to be, so I end up feeling ambivalent about watching the new episodes at times.  I wasn’t completely sure that I was going to watch the new episode live before hand, but I did.  I am not happy.  

From here on, there could be spoilers, both for a few things from the last few seasons as well as from the premiere.  Read at your own risk.

After dealing with the super villain/hacker Pelant - a horrible character that I loath - for far to long, the show finally dealt with him in season nine.  Or at least they seemed to.  Then more complications surfaced when Temperance started having bad dreams about Pelant and became convinced that he had discovered a serial killer that has been active for years when he was mucking around to torment her and Booth.  I didn’t like the idea of that, even after evidence was found to prove that the Ghost Killer - what they started to call the killer - was real.  When it turned out that the Ghost Killer had recently been killed, I got more irritated because it seemed stupid to me to set up some new big serial killer, only for them to already be dead.  Then they discover that there is a huge cover up and conspiracy going on and it includes at least one person at the FBI.  Booth and Temperance keep digging, which makes them targets.  Season nine ended with some sort of black ops type team going into Booth and Temperance’s home to take him out.  When that doesn’t work, Booth is framed for the murder of three FBI agents.

The premiere episode picks up several months after the events of the finale.  I honestly don’t remember hearing how long in the episode, but I have read that it is supposed to be four months later.  Booth is in prison and it looks like he in general population.  Temperance and everyone at the Jeffersonian are working to prove that Booth is innocent by tracing back to the origin of the cover up.  They got a body dug up, but something was done that makes it almost impossible to fully examine the bones.  Temperance takes matters into her own hands to get Booth out of prison.  He seems more ticked off than anything by that.  It does seem to have been very risky for her to do, but he probably wouldn’t have been safe there much longer. 

Booth is having some issues, which makes sense given what he has been through recently.  Sweets is involved in helping as well.  Daisy turns up and it seems that not only are the two of them involved again, she is very pregnant.  I had read about that sometime last week I think it was.  The actress who plays Daisy is pregnant, but since Daisy is usually only in a few episodes a year, I didn’t get why it was written into the show.  I think I do now though, and I’m not really liking that either.  I’ll get to more on that in a minute.  Anyway, the team keeps working and they do manage to uncover some things and it is looking like progress is being made.  Then something goes horribly wrong.  Sweets was doing something related to a new search warrant - I can’t remember exactly what now.  Anyway, that went way wrong, someone beat the crap out of him, though Sweets made a point of saying he fought back and Booth would have been proud.  It seems there are some kind of massive internal injuries and he dies - with Booth and Temperance at his side - before the paramedics get there.

I am still in bit of shock over this.  It certainly surprised me since I never thought anything like that would happen and there were no hints of it in the stuff I have read over the summer about the new season.  Sweets wasn’t my favorite character, but I didn’t dislike him.  I didn’t like him that much when he first showed up, but he has grown on me and become more likable.  I am not happy about this at all.  Right now, I don’t know that I want to watch the next episode. 

I already read an interview with one of the producers that was up online right after the episode ended.  In it, the producer - I can’t remember his name, but I think it is the same one who adored Pelant as a character - mentioned how John Francis Daly, the actor who played Sweets, has also being writing and working on other projects, including directing new the National Lampoon’s Vacation movie, so some conflicts were coming up.  I can understand that, but I still don’t like that Sweets has been killed off, and in this way.  It was very clear immediately that Booth is going to be feeling extremely guilty about this, and the short preview of the next episode enforces that.  With the final scene, it is clear they are setting it up to be a mission for everyone at the Jeffersonian to find his killer.  While it may work for the story they are doing, I still don’t like it.  Booth was already moodier, which I get because of being framed and everything, but now it will be so much worse.  I am not looking forward to that.

The producer was laughing in the interview about a few things and talked about how fun this is going to be for the show, showing how the characters deal with the death and all that.  He basically said that the main reason Daisy is pregnant in the show is because they were killing Sweets off, so that will offer some fun story possibilities.  Ummm..no.  It isn’t fun when a likable character is killed off out of the blue like this.  It was also brought up in the interview about Wendell’s illness and how his fate may improve now..  He is one of the rotating interns and last season they decided to give him some kind of horrible bone cancer that is almost always fatal.  Since that happened, I have had a feeling that it was just a matter of time before they killed him off, something that would tick me off.  The producer sort of confirmed that had been the original plan and now, since they killed Sweets, Wendell’s fate will change.  That irritates me too.  

So once again, I am annoyed and aggravated with Bones.  I really did figure something in the episode would at least slightly annoy me, but I didn’t expect anything on this level.  I thought it would be a bit later in the season before I got this irritated again.  I should have known better, especially since they actually managed to have a good finale last season.

Forever - An Intriguing New Show From ABC

With the beginning of the fall tv season, new series are starting.  So far I have only seen a few, though I have another on my DVR.  One new ABC show, Forever, aired the premiere episode on Monday the 22nd, with a second episode following a day later.  I am a bit irritated that Castle is delayed another week by this, but I did watch Forever.  So far I am enjoying it.

The show is focused on Dr. Henry Morgan, a medical examiner in New York City.  Henry is also basically immortal and has been alive for over 200 years.  He can technically be killed, and he has many times, but he always comes back to life, in a body of water, naked.  I’m guessing it is the Hudson River in New York, though I could be wrong since I am not familiar with that area.  I’m not sure if he is coming back in the same general spot each time or not at this point.  I think the show is a drama with a touch of supernatural.

One person, Abe, knows the truth about Henry, and he helps and supports Henry as he tries to figure out why he is immortal.  There is a good relationship between Abe and Henry so far, though only the surface of it has been scratched.  I am looking forward to seeing more of that aspect of the show unfold.  Ioan Gruffudd handles the part of Henry well.  I like Judd Hirsch as Abe. 

Henry begins working with detective Jo Martinez when he becomes a person of interest in a case.  By the second episode, they already have a decent working relationship and a few things about her have come out.  She and Henry actually have a few things in common.  I think it will be interesting to see how their friendship develops.  Alana De La Garza is good as Jo.  A few things from Henry’s long life, including his connection to Abe are shared.  It does seem like a longer story arc is being set up along with the case of the episode.   I have seen that a few people aren’t liking what seems to be getting set up, but I am intrigued by it.

The show is a bit different with Henry’s situation, but that is what intrigues me the most about the show.  It does make it different.  I just hope that difference doesn’t keep people from checking the show out because it is worth watching.  While it isn’t the most believable that Jo would work with Henry when he was sort of a suspect or that she would charge into a building they thought had poison in it, those things didn’t keep the show from being entertaining.  Henry is a medical examiner, so it does make sense that he would be involved in investigations.

Forever is entertaining and a bit different with a lot of potential.  I hope people give it a chance so it will be around for a while.

The Big Bang Theory Season 8 Gets Off to a Good Start

The highly popular CBS comedy The Big Bang Theory began season eight on Monday, September 22, 2014 with two new episodes.  The show is temporarily airing on Monday nights because of football being on CBS on Thursday nights.  The rest of the Thursday night shows won’t be starting up until after Thursday night football is done. 

The Big Bang Theory has been one of my favorite shows since it first began to air.  While I haven’t liked everything that has happened over the years, I have continued to watch the show.

I may mention a few things that would be spoilers for people who haven’t seen season seven of the show, especially the last few episodes.

When season seven ended, Sheldon had a bit of a fit or breakdown tied to the fact that he was not dealing with various changes going on in and around his life.  He basically runs away from home, deciding he is going to travel around the country while trying to figure out how to deal with everything.  Newly engaged Leonard and Penny are supportive, while Amy is ticked off that Leonard let Sheldon leave. Stuart moves in to take care of Howard's mother after the comic book store burns down.

Based on something a character says during the first episode, it seems like around a month has passed when Season eight begins.  Something has gone wrong with Sheldon’s trip and he calls Leonard to come get him.  Amy goes along, again ticked off, this time because Sheldon called Leonard instead of her.  Penny goes on an interview to be a drug rep at Bernadette’s company.  Amy’s anger is sort of addressed, and while she seems fine again, Sheldon ends up being annoyed.  Howard has issues about Stuart still living with his mother, with the two getting into an argument about not being each others father.  In the second episode, Penny and Bernadette clash a bit over how Penny is preparing for her new job while Sheldon deals with work issues as well since he still doesn’t want to return to the same type of research he was doing previously. 

Both episodes are funny and entertaining.  They do touch on things that happened at the end of season seven while also moving forward.  Certain things really aren’t brought up, like if Leonard and Penny have started to make any sort of wedding plans, but that didn’t bother me.  I won’t have a problem with them having a longer engagement.  I just do not want to see the show go down the road of breaking them up for some stupid reason again or even adding in some sort of drama and tension between them because of her new job.  Not to much seems to have changed overall with Sheldon and Amy’s relationship either which may disappoint some people.  Overall I was satisfied with both the episodes and will probably rewatch them later in the week since they are on my DVR.

There have been different stories online over the summer about how Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting cut her hair really short.  I didn’t see the new short hair cut until just over a week ago when I learned that she cut it for a movie.  In the interview I read, she said that the writers loved the short hair and it got written into the show.  Her hair is mentioned once or twice in the first episode and that is it.  Nothing is said about why Penny would have decided to chop off all her hair.  Personally, I don’t care for the short hair cut.  I think it is too short and isn’t flattering to her.  I’m not saying that she is suddenly hideous or ugly or that I will stop watching the show because of it.  I just don’t like the hairstyle.  If her hair was a little longer, I might like it more.  I just don’t think that many women can really pull off a hairstyle that short.  I didn’t like it on Anne Hathaway, Emma Watson, or Jennifer Lawrence either.  They are all still pretty, but I don’t think hair that short is as flattering. 

Bernadette first showed up in season three when she and Howard started dating.  Since they got engaged, she has been around more.  I have liked both her and Amy being around more, partly because of it giving Penny friends that the audience actually sees.  Bernadette starts out seeming very nice and sweet, but a sort of darker side has been shown at times with how she reacts to certain things, like losing at a game or not getting her way in something.  At first, it just seemed like she was a poor loser, but it goes beyond that in my opinion.  She is basically a bully in certain situations, and Penny was on the receiving side of that in the two new episodes because of her new job.  The more that sort of thing happens, the less I like it.  Again, it isn’t something that will make me stop watching.  It is just something that I am less fond of.

So far, I am happy with what has happened in the new season of The Big Bang Theory.  Hopefully that will continue for the rest of the season.  There really have only been a few developments here and there over the course of the show that I haven’t liked.

Holy Limited Edition Boxset Batman!

                 

Many television shows, including older, classic shows, have been released on DVD over the last several years while some other shows have yet to be released.  One of the shows that has not been released is Batman, the somewhat corny series that aired from 1966 to 1968.  I have seen some episodes of the show over the years, along with the movie, and I have enjoyed them.  I have checked a few times to see if it was available on DVD, but it was always in vain.  That has changed now.

On November 11, 2014, Batman The Complete Series on DVD and Batman The Complete TV Series Limited Edition Blu-ray will be released.  Both versions are available for pre-order now.  Both sets do have a somewhat high price tag right now, but there are a good amount of extras with the sets along with all 120 episodes of the series.  Right now, Amazon has both for less than the list price, and it is possible that the price could drop more by the release date.  From what I can tell, the main difference, other than one being DVD and one being Blu-ray, is that the Limited Edition has some extra goodies.

Both versions have the uncut versions of all the episodes.  The original masters were used to create new transfers of the episodes instead of using the versions that have been used for syndication.  I did read that there was a panel at Comic-Con that showed footage from this release and it has been described as gorgeous.  There are new extras focused on different things like Batman collectibles or different aspects of making the show.  

As far as I know right now, only the Limited Edition Blu-ray will include a Hot Wheels replica of the Batmobile from the series, The Adam West Scrapbook, 44 Vintage Trading Cards, and an Ultraviolet Digital copy.  Right now, I’m not completely sure if there will be commentaries or not. 

It sounds like a lot of work has gone into these sets.  I don’t know for sure of course, but it seems like the sets have been planned and that the work has been going on for a while.  The fact that the series is finally being released on DVD and Blu-ray may be tied to the 75th anniversary of Batman.  I have already added it to my wishlist and it probably won’t be long before I break down and pre-order it even though it is pricey.

This review is part of elvisdo’s 7th Annual Funny Pages Write-off.

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.

Castle - One of My Favorite Shows

There are a few different tv shows that I watch every week.  With some of them, I don’t really mind if I miss an episode, or two, or three.  There are a few shows that I never miss - thanks to my DVR.  Castle is one of those shows.

I started watching Castle with the very first episode in the spring of 2009 and I haven’t missed an episode.  There are a few that I don’t like as much, but I have seen them all.  I decided to start watching Castle because one of the main characters was being played by Nathan Fillion.  I came to really like him from Firefly, a show that was cancelled much too soon.  I’m still annoyed about that.

** There could be a few spoilers included for people who haven’t seen all the episodes of the show.  You have been warned.  Read at your own risk. **

Castle is a comedy, drama, mystery show that airs on ABC on Monday nights at 10:00 PM.  The show is in syndication now, and a few episodes a day are on TNT during the week.  The first five seasons are available on DVD.  The last few years, during the summer, ABC has aired the show at different times.  The show is about Richard Castle, a successful mystery author, and Katherine Beckett, a homicide detective on the New York city police force.  The first episode has Kate and her team investigating a murder that is a recreation of a murder from one of Rick’s books.  That leads to Kate going to talk to Rick, who is immediately intrigued.  He uses his connections with the mayor to get to shadow Kate as research for a new series of books about a character based on her.  The two have clashed over various things from episode to episode, but they ultimately work well together.

The series is currently in the sixth season and I still love it.  Certain aspects of the show have gotten better over the years.  It isn’t a typical police show because there is a good amount of humor added in to most of the episodes.  The humor is usually provided by Rick and some of his wild theories - time traveling killer, mummy’s curse, ninja assassin, or aliens.  I really like that the show is a bit different and the inclusion of the humor and even silliness at times helps to make the show even more entertaining.  Most episodes can stand alone fairly well while also adding to character development and the ongoing relationship between Rick and Kate.  There are a few longer ongoing stories that pop up every so often and that have had a fairly large impact on the characters.  Most of the time, the episodes that deal with those ongoing stories tend to be more serious in nature, and sometimes, they are even a bit dark. 

While the show features a lot of murder investigations, as well as a few other types of crimes, at its core, Castle is the love story of Rick and Kate.  They met for the first time during the first episode, and their relationship has evolved.  Rick was interested in Kate right from the start, but Kate wasn’t.  She tried to keep her distance, but it didn’t take long for the two of them to get a bit closer and develop a friendship.  That friendship has been tested at times by other relationships or possible breaches of trust, but they have managed to work through all of that. 

In the last episode of season four, Kate finally realized she was ready to try a relationship with Rick and the two of them have been involved since then.  There were a few issues that they worked through and for all of season six, they have been happily engaged.  They have been so happy overall during the current season and their relationship has gotten even stronger.  A few little things have come up, which is to be expected, but now they talk to each other about those things instead of holding them in.  Now we are just days away from the season finale which looks to include the wedding.  If that gets messed up, I will be ever so pissed.  I have dealt with other things in previous seasons that I didn’t like too much, but messing up the wedding will really tick me off.  I love that Rick and Kate are together and that the writers and creator didn’t go the route of having them break up then make up who knows how many times.  I hate when that happens on a show.  I’ve stopped watching other shows when that nonsense started.  I like Rick and Kate together and think the show has only gotten stronger with the change to their relationship.