Fluke or Follow Through?

For background on this post, you should read two of my previous blog posts entitled, "A Theory" and "The Exception that Proves the Rule." This will make a lot more sense if you have, as I intend to analyze this week's episode of Castle, the second of its fourth season, as it relates to my theory. Is this second episode part of a truly great fourth season that makes it an exception to my rule, or was the premiere a brilliant fluke that will only serve to heighten viewer disappointment as the rest of the season starts its rule-required post-third-season decline. 

Let's start keeping score. 

The worst part of tonight's Castle was having to watch the last three minutes of Dancing with the Stars while I waited for the episode to start. That said, there were a lot of groaner puns, plot "twists" not worth the name, and idiotic character choices made for the sake of drawing out the plot. In fact, the only turn of events I personally didn't see coming in this episode was the one Castle himself admits, "I did not see... coming." I was convinced it that the 2nd to final mislead would be the comic book store owner. We'll call the score 1 in favor of an ongoing strong fourth season to 1 against (in favor of a downward spiraling fourth season with a fluke of a good premiere). 

Starting at the beginning, I'd like to mention a moment that I liked: the opening Castle family interchange. Not the whole thing, just the part with Martha in Shakespearean attire. As a theatre professional, I could really relate to the idea of an old actress, far too aged to get away with playing the young ingenue, trying to play Desdemona. Pretty hilarious, and far too accurate. The rest of the Castle family back and forth was awkwardly forced and unnecessary family drama dug up from the grave to give Alexis some screen time. When I say "dug up from the grave" I mean that in an all but literal sense. The idea of Alexis going to college early, and Castle freaking out about it was a plot point late in season 3 that was laid to rest when our writer protagonist came to terms with her departure. We'll call it 1.5 for to 2 against, because the B plot of this episode was terrible, but it referenced Shakespeare, so I had to give it something. 

When the episode first started and I realized we were dealing with a superhero-esque vigilante, I decided I would start keeping track of nicknames that they gave the masked swordsman. Unfortunately, they only came up with a couple before they learned the character's real name, and started calling him by it instead. What I should have been tracking were awkward sword related puns. After the initial "that is so Game of Thrones" comment, an intelligent reference to another book related popular television series, nothing said about the sword or it's owner DIDN'T make me roll my eyes. It wouldn't have been so bad if they came from the goofy Fillion character, but most of them came from Beckett. We'll call the score 2 for to 3 against, because the Game of Thrones reference earned the positive column another half a point, but the terrible one liners were a truly large step in the wrong direction. 

In case you were wondering... Vigilante Nicknames: Conan the Barbarian, Sword of Justice, Captain Permafrost. Ok, that was the Captain, but still...

Playing Ryan and Esposito off of each other to get both sides of the classic "is a masked vigilante a hero or a nuisance" argument was pretty inspired. The two already have a natural brotherly back and forth, and with both of them swapping sides of the argument regularly throughout the episode, it made the tired premise seem fresh and interesting. We'll give it 3 to 3. 

I should probably address the issue of the most stereotypical character in the episode, who also turns out (big surprise) to be the murderer. Seriously? The Mob? And Tony the Butcher? .... that's even more cliche than the word choice in my blog entries. It was nice, though, having a final murderer that the viewers, even those supporting the vigilante lifestyle, could get behind getting behind bars. That makes the final score an even 4 to 4. 

The tie breaker will have to go to Beckett's secret comic book fetish. It seems like the kind of thing that the writers would throw in just to get the laugh, but with Beckett's own comic-book-like back story and her already established secret obsession with Castle's 'Derek Storm' repertoire, it actually made sense for her character. So we'll call it 4.5 to 4. 

All that means is I'm going to withhold judgement until next week, but I have to say Castle, I'm disappointed. Episode three will have to be pretty great to make me believe you've got a chance to justify your fourth season.

Of course, I'll be watching until the day the show is cancelled anyway, even if it runs for another 4 seasons, so I really shouldn't judge.