Castle’s Nikki Heat gets a back story

I’m liking the direction Castle is taking. They are getting back to Castle as a writer, and even acknowledging that there is some cheese factor to his novels, which is funny. They are keeping up the fast pace, adding some back story to Beckett and keeping up the banter between Castle and Beckett.

My only disappointment this episode? No mention of a poker game. Please, please don’t drop this, oh Powers That Be; it is such a unique piece of the puzzle for this procedural… don’t become run-of-the-mill.

Let’s visit some of the other pieces of Castle that keep it from being a typical procedural:

The many gadgets of Rick Castle
We get it — part of Castle’s charm is that he’s really a big kid. Last week, we got the onion goggles. This week, the most awesome set of home laser tag weaponry I’ve ever seen. I hope they keep this up, because the obscure gadgets are so fun to see and fit in with Castle’s character perfectly.

Fast-paced twists and turns
I think Castle‘s scripts are probably twice as long as The Mentalist‘s. That’s not to imply that there’s anything sub par about Bruno Heller’s new procedural, just demonstrating the uniqueness of Castle’s fast pace and punchy dialogue, which I enjoy. I’m also finding the twists and turns to be believable and interesting. They are keeping me guessing, but not rolling my eyes, and I like that.

Beckett / Castle banter
Who doesn’t love a little good banter? The wiseass versus jackass conversation was great this week, and the brainstorming sessions, the way Castle and Beckett are bouncing things off each other and finding their groove is entertaining. It was also clever of the writers to highlight when they lost their groove this week, in Castle’s apartment — they actually stopped the background music when Castle and Beckett ran out of ideas. Very cute. And to add a bit of reality to the situation, it was refreshing to see Beckett be a detective and be the one who things don’t sit right with this week; until now, it’s been Castle with the ah-ha’s.

The quotes
Sometimes these come from the banter, but this week, they stood on their own, and they were spectacular:

• “Awesome right? It’s my first cold case. C’mon, it’s a little funny.” – Castle, about the frozen dead body they are investigating.
• “Wow… I feel like Alfred in the Batcave for the first time.” – Beckett, on visiting Castle’s apartment for the first time.

Keep them coming, writers.

Beckett’s back story
They really could have had Beckett be the one-dimensional, stick-up-her-butt, play-by-the-rules cop. Instead, she’s opening up to Castle while still verbally berating him (we need that!), but the writers are also giving her a back story. We know Castle’s family; through her story last night, we got to know Beckett’s a bit as well. Mom murdered, dad a recovering alcoholic, Beckett a sentimental mush-pot. It’s all good.

Now, I’m wondering: Is Castle going to try to solve her mom’s murder? Or does he just want to read the file for Nikki Heat’s back story?

Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Apr 07, 2009 @ 14:00 EST5EDT