Before “47 Seconds” even started, I knew it was going to be a “really big episode” of Castle. Like everyone who watched last week’s episode, I saw the previews that teased Castle/Beckett relationship happenings … but I also was told it was a “really big episode” no less than three more times today, via IMs and emails and … bears, oh my! I like it when shows do important episodes at non-standard (read: season premieres and finales or before big breaks) times in the season. But other than a great case, this was the opposite of a “big episode.”
A couple of weeks ago, I posted a piece about showrunners’ hesitance to complete the pairing of “will-they/won’t-they” couples. Despite the protestations of Brett, who used to review the show here, I’ve always felt that Andrew W. Marlowe had a good plan. The recent panel at Paleyfest, where he and the cast specifially addressed the relationship, reassured that feeling. So how does that trust stand up against a practice – the manufactured obstacle – I generally rail against? Well, as Eli Stone once sang to me, “You Gotta Have Faith.” And I do have faith that Castle and Beckett’s relationship will work out in a way that will satisfy fans despite this obstacle; which is as cheap and clichéd as the come – Castle gets once piece of information and jumps to only one possible explanation. C’mon, guys! This is Rick Castle, king of the crazy theories we’re talking about!
I still feel this season will be the turning point for the two of them, and believe that something significant will happen between them before or during the season finale. At least that’s what my buddy George Michael tells me.
I complain, from time to time, about the operational security of the detective’s work. I don’t do so to be nitpicky, but if it is a detail that jumps out to me, it has to be pretty egregious. This week, it was Beckett and Castle showing the street performer Andrew Haynes’ picture … even if he was already going in a different direction, wouldn’t they want to not bias the witness in any way? And why would Ryan, if they suspected Bobby to be a bomber, open his backpack if that’s how the original bomb was delivered?
I found something curious, and I’m hesitant to mention it, but I figured you, fair readers, could help me work through it. This team, the cops and Castle, deal with death on a daily basis, but were all struck by the bombing considerably more than they usually are. I decided some time ago that I would never question the reaction of New Yorkers to a bombing, in either a real or fictional setting, but this seemed different than an “echoes of 9/11” thing, at least to me. Was their reaction that, or was it more about the difference Castle mentioned at the beginning, that deaths with logic – twisted logic – is easier to reconcile in one’s head?
The :45 Minute Guess: Considering they identified who the backpack/bomb belonged to, trying to play this game this week requires a different approach. The guess could be “why” and perhaps “who” Jesse was working with. Considering we’ve seen Christine Woods’ reporter featured prominently off and on, but not really focused on, then she’s got to be involved somehow, right? Creating the bomb to get a story?
The Answer: Her “roger that” should have been a big clue, though the character not even getting a name until the final act speaks to my frustration about not having the clues in advance.
Notes & Quotes
Clacked by Ivey West 
on Mar 27, 2012 @ 09:19 EST5EDT
