Castle – That was so awesome

Actually, the episode wasn’t so awesome. It was solid. Another interesting case for the team, and another chance for Castle to prove his worth. Captain Montgomery even had a little more to do this week. With that line though, and particularly the delivery of it, I realized exactly what it is that keeps me coming back week after week. As great as Beckett and the rest of the team are, it really is all about Castle.

There really wasn’t anything groundbreaking about the mystery of the week here. If you have been watching crime-time for any length of time, you have no doubt seen this story many times before. The rich family covering up a murder. Even the angle with the victim being Blake Wellsley’s daughter didn’t come as a shock. The closest thing to a surprise was that they hired Gregg Henry, and his character didn’t do it. It’s hard to put a new spin on the traditional stories.

Where Castle succeeds while treading those familiar grounds is in the writing of Castle, and the performance of Nathan Fillion. He really is well cast here. And those moments, like tonight, where he sits quietly by, observing something big and then reacting, are what really sell it. When he popped up after Montgomery shot down Blake’s proposal with, “That was so awesome!”, it really was. Both from the standpoint of the case, and the episode we were all watching. He’s as giddy about what he just saw from Montgomery as I am about what I saw from Castle.

If not for Castle, and all the peculiar charms he brings to the show, I could very easily dismiss this one and go about watching something else on Monday nights. I still have a Canadian speed-skating event on the DVR from the weekend, after all. And you know what that means … Catriona Le May Doan! As long as Castle keeps being Castle though, I’ll keep tuning in.

Clacked by Brett Love
on Nov 10, 2009 @ 09:00 EST5EDT