Tim and Rachel Review: Castle Premiere, Season Six

207475_504894361990_2072345_nI have been married to  Rachel Ward for 50… months, yes we still celebrate monthaversaries, they’re awesome, and monthly. We are both a little geeky with our TV and movie tastes. I like post-apocalyptic movies with quality story and action, and she just wants the girl to get the guy in the end.

Other titles we’ve reviewed: TV show Touch (Season One) and movies John Carter and Star Trek: Into Darkness.

Today, we’ll review Castle’s Season Six premiere, (watch on ABC.go.com/shows/castle or Hulu.com/castle) where we get the answers to last season’s cliffhanger of **spoiler** Castle’s proposal and whether Beckett takes the job promotion in Washington D.C..

Photo from EW.com

Photo from EW.com

Tim:

How do you think they handled the reveal of Becket’s answer to Castle’s proposal? What do you think about this new direction for the show?

Rachel:

I enjoyed the reveal of Beckett’s answer. I like how it left off exactly where it ended last season. However, she probably should not have said yes, she wants to focus on her career and maybe she should have said, “let’s wait until I figure out what I want.” I would not have liked that answer, but would not have been surprised if that was the direction the show went to keep the tension.

I really like the new direction the show is taking in D.C. I thought it was getting a little stale in New York, and thought they needed to change it up. I do question though how long they can keep it in D.C., and anticipate Beckett coming back to NYC after only a few episodes. They have to keep Castle and Beckett together on cases and the rest of the team’s interaction is crucial to the show.

Tim:

I was glad to see the show go in the direction of showing how Castle and Beckett can make their love work, in spite of difficult career situations. This is a problem many marriages in our society face, and I’d like to see this show be entertainment that can also encourage couples to not give up on their marriage.

Sometimes people fall in love who, on paper, probably shouldn’t. You and I, for example, are opposites in a lot of ways. I’ll admit to wondering some times how much better our relationship would be if you were also into fiction and could edit my stuff like Robin Sullivan does for Michael Sullivan. Then I quickly remember how amazing you are with your gifts to give me time to do all the reading, writing, etc I need to do when I’m home, not to mention how great it is to be married to a non-artist with the mood swings that I struggle through. I wouldn’t pass up your joyful presence for any editing skills or writing interest.

What was I talking about again? Oh yeah, Castle. I’m curious to see how Castle and Beckett’s relationship works out if their careers go separate ways.

As I mentioned while watching this episode, I look forward to seeing how the writers find a way to logically get Castle and Beckett back on the same team solving cases. The writers are doing a good job, not great, so far of citing the law on why Castle can’t help her (Beckett just so happened to drop a key picture…). It was one thing for Castle’s relationship with the Mayor of NYC to get him a shadowing job with the NYPD, but it will be another for the writers to create a plausible scenario where Castle’s skills give him clearance to work alongside Beckett in DC.

And then there’s getting the old sidekicks from NYPD to join them in DC… as you said, I have a feeling it won’t be long before Beckett goes back to New York. If Castle, Alvarez and (what’s the other guy’s name, slick white guy?) all end up working with Beckett in DC, I’m afraid it will feel contrived in order to please the fan base more than a plausible scenario.

Rachel:

Yes, I agree, I hope they continue to point out positives in making a relationship work.

I am glad you brought that back around to being a good thing. 🙂

Yes, I am intrigued to see what plausible scenario the writers come up with. Sometimes they make it too easy and not believable, and I’m inclined to believe that will be the case in this situation if they want to keep her in D.C. There is no possible way Castle could get clearance to help her if they lived in the “real world.” Going back to New York is much easier to facilitate. Characters seemed to change their mind about their career moves all the time in TV shows at the beginning of a season after they leave at the end of the season before.

It’s Javier Esposito, and Kevin Ryan. 🙂

Nathan Fillion in Castle. Image © ABC

Nathan Fillion in Castle. Image © ABC

Tim:

Not, Alvarez, huh? I’m so awful with fictional character names.

Of course I brought my discussion of our quirks to our relationship back to it being a good thing, I love you. I was just saying that our relationship has shown me that two people don’t have to be exactly alike, or possess a kind of ideally perfect match in career aspirations for the relationship to work. As I told your dad when he interrogated me, I mean allowed me to ask for your hand in marriage, my first reason for why was because I love you. He said, “That’s not enough,” but I countered with, “But it’s the right start,” which silenced his probing for the moment ;).

So, what did you think about this first episode, in summary?

Rachel:

Exactly. 🙂

I actually really loved it. I liked that it was not the same old investigate a murder in New York, interrogate people the same way, etc. Yes, all those elements were in it–it’s still a crime drama–but I liked that it was different. Like I said before, I doubt that will stay, but I’m intrigued for the next couple episodes. 🙂 I was entertained with this first episode of new season. 🙂

Tim:

Great comments, Love. I didn’t love it, actually. It ends on a cliffhanger, so maybe it’s hard to evaluate, but there seemed to be very little to it… answers wise. It seemed obvious that Beckett would say yes, though not enough that I wasn’t excited to see, but most of what happened was predictable. I don’t like Beckett’s new team, and it seemed like it’s in a bit of a holding pattern until the old gang can be reunited. Oh no, Castle has one day to live, I haven’t seen that one before….

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Timothy C. Ward
Executive Producer

Former host of the AudioTim podcast, Timothy C. Ward took over Adventures in SciFi Publishing in June. His first publication, Cornhusker: Demon Gene (A Short Story), is available on Kindle for $.99. His novel in progress, Kaimerus, is described as “Firefly crashes on Avatar and wakes up 28 Days Later.”

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About Timothy C. Ward

Timothy C. Ward is a former Executive Producer for AISFP. His debut novel, Scavenger: Evolution, blends Dune with Alien in a thriller where sand divers uncover death and evolution within America's buried fortresses. Sign up to his author newsletter for updates on new releases.

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Comments

  1. I love the show, but really only watch it in replays on TNT – all I have time for these days, and even that is rare, like while I’m having lunch in the afternoon. 🙁

  2. Glad to hear your taste favors this show as well, Lane. I’m not really a fan of any other police procedurals, but love the characters and the combination of humor with quality mysteries. I can’t wait for your break from publishing so you can relax and get back to your sequel.

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