Castle Episode 5 Review
A Chill Goes Through Her Veins
This week’s episode of Castle had a welcome return of the macabre murder scene, unlike last week where the murder had been pretty standard. Today, Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) and Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) were called out to a construction site where a woman’s frozen body had been found, thawing in the early morning light. It was a particularly eerie sight, the white garment bag she was wrapped in hanging from her metallic blue body like a tattered wedding dress. The investigation that eventually followed would stir up old feuds, hidden crimes and a veritable cold-case.
Frozen Body Found on Construction Site
Castle and Beckett, teamed together once again, discovered the woman was Melanie Cavanaugh, and a bit of digging revealed she had been missing for five years before she had been found, albeit frozen and dead. Initially, Castle and Beckett were drawn to the theory that her husband, Steven Cavanaugh, had killed her; until they found out he had been murdered a year ago.
But then a startling revelation came to light. A former Detective, Sloane (Peter Jason), who is now Sherriff Sloane, had been investigating Melanie’s disappearance, and certain members of her family believe he didn’t do a good enough job. Using what Sloane had gleaned, Castle and Beckett had more to work with, uncovering an affair Steve Cavanaugh had been having, and questioning his closest friend, Kevin Henson (Charles Malik Whitfield), revealed Steve and Melanie’s murder may have been somehow connected.
Again, this was a dense, labyrinthine plot, which is typical of Castle despite it being only five episodes old. The narrative hit some slow points, as the investigation, and the audience’s interests, laboured, but it picked up near the end and had a surprisingly sombre and mature finish that demonstrated the series can portray serious matters as well as those of a lighter tone.
Kate Beckett is Batman
This was a very Kate Beckett-centric episode and helped to further flesh her out as a character, not only for the audience’s benefit, but for Castle’s, as well, providing him with more inspiration for his books.
Beckett was impressive in this episode, dogged and driven in her investigation, disgusted by how cynical Sloane had been in his, afraid of cases that didn’t follow conventional patterns. It was also revealed that Beckett had lost her mother when she was young to a senseless act of violence, and that had first inspired her to join the police. Castle's remark that she was a lot like Batman was both funny and poignant.
What was most successful about this week’s episode was how it juggled the serious and the funny without ever dropping one or the other. As mentioned, the episode had a particularly strong finish, as a man whose methods had been wrong but whose heart had been in the right place revealed he had been withholding information. Beckett reminds Castle that this is the real world, not a book where happy endings thrive, and the man would have to pay for his crimes.
Castle and Alexis Play Laser-Tag
To offset the depressing nature of certain scenes, there were some very funny ones, especially when Beckett turns up at Castle’s house, only to find he and Alexis in full Laser Tag gear, replete with plastic rifles and LED-lit suits. The show is also adept at surviving clichés by being very self-referential and aware of its genre. Castle being an author and referring to many overused storytelling techniques helps greatly, although it will be interesting to see how long the series can rely on this.
A Chill Goes Through Her Veins
Overall, a very strong fifth episode of Castle, balancing the sombre and the hilarious with admirable ease, and developing Kate Beckett as a character considerably. She being Castle’s muse meant he learnt a lot more about her as a character, too, and his fascination, both for her real self and her fictional self, Nicki Heat, is growing.
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