After a strong start to the series, Castle picks up where it left off. Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) has put pen to paper on an agreement that means he can now tag along with Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) and rest of homicide as they seek to solve suspicious murders. Castle’s career had been steadily declining, but these murders, and Beckett in particular, are breathing new life into his writing.
Nanny Found Dead In A Dryer
This week’s suspicious murder sees the body of a murdered nanny found tumbling in a washing machine. Evidence suggests her murder was accidental, but Castle and Beckett sense something much darker. Together they question several probable suspects, the nanny’s former boyfriend, and the Petersons, the married couple who employed her. Clearly, the Petersons have secrets to keep, but do they relate to the murder?
The plot itself is hardly original, but it’s well-told and unpredictable, and keeps the audience guessing. Every time it appears Castle and Beckett have found their culprit, another suspect is thrown into the mix and they must realign their investigation accordingly.
Richard Castle The Investigative Novelist
It’s great to see Castle putting his unorthodox investigative skills, forged from a career crafting similar mysteries, to good use, but one of the main problems this has is it makes the detectives look quite incompetent. When Castle first proposes who the suspect probably is, the police react in a wide-eyed, oh-now-it-makes-sense way, as if they couldn’t have put the pieces together themselves.
The focus of the show is obviously Castle and Beckett’s tense relationship. In the first episode, Beckett fiercely resented having Castle partner her on investigations, and yet this episode she seems almost fine with it. She obviously doesn’t quite know what to think of Castle yet, but she accepts him a lot more than she did in the past episode. This was always going to happen, but it feels too sudden. Their frosty relationship might be thawing a little too quickly.
This episode also highlighted how good a father Castle is. Beckett’s surprise when Castle reveals he used to take his daughter, Molly, to the playground when she was a child was quite funny. For a moment, she was obviously thinking that maybe Castle isn’t the man she first thought he was. But then he goes and ruins it by claiming the playground is the best place to pick up single mothers. It’s a very funny show, overall, but it may lean a little too heavily on Fillion for its humour. Beckett can be amusing in her obvious contrast to Castle, but the show could do with some more charismatic characters.
A Solid Second Episode Of Castle
The second episode of Castle continued the strong start it has made to its debut series. The murder of the week was dense and gripping, if a little anticlimactic at the end, but once again the highlight was the relationship between Castle and Beckett and what it is slowly building towards.
 |
