Also, keep in mind, he's British!
Recap: A TV ghost hunter is murdered in a supposedly haunted house under unusual circumstances. Castle's imagination naturally runs riot. Beckett watches on despairingly. In the end, the killer is all too human and a twenty-year-old cold case is the key to unraveling the whole mystery.
I found this review very hard to write, as I didn't particularly like this episode, nor did I hate it. The whole episode just felt very meh. There were two episodes last season of Castle geeking out over paranormal phenomena (psychics and aliens), with Beckett being the Scully to Castle’s Mulder. Did we really need another? (The X-Files has a lot to answer for, such as why is it always the woman that's the skeptic?) This just felt like a Halloween episode for the sake of having a Halloween episode because it's TV convention to do Halloween episodes.
Oh and let’s not forget the writers’ attempt to break the record for Ghostbusters references in a single episode. The first was cool, but by the end, I just found them annoying. I thought last year’s episode around this time was far cleverer, mostly because they didn't really do a Halloween episode and went with 3XK instead. But since that got referenced in an episode two weeks ago, I knew we probably wouldn’t get any references this week. I knew that they were never going to actually break TV conventions.
GatesWatch - Not a single appearance by Gates the whole episode. After the last couple of episodes where she's been portrayed inconsistently and not given a whole lot to do, I don't think this bodes well for her character long term. We shall see, the jury is still out, and we need to see more going forward to make a decision.
FamilyWatch - Alexis makes a welcome return after being away last week (Maximus’s addendum: any episode with Molly Quinn in it is like automatically 10% improved). Anyone else think they were going to do an old school Alexis subplot that mirrors the case and then changed their mind? The way it opened with Castle explaining what not to do in a relationship and then doing it himself got played for laughs in the end, but it felt like it was setting something up. However, it was another instance of the show bringing close attention to the fact that he's just a guy with a family that runs off to help solve murders. This has been a running theme this season so far and makes me wonder where they're going with it.
Highlight of the Episode - I don't really have one this week, I don’t think. Castle geeking out and being shut down by Beckett has been done before. The Ghostbusters references were more of a running gag than a stand out moment. The "I ain’t afraid of no ghost" was so telegraphed and forced it just felt wrong, and ultimately was a huge let down for me (Maximus’s addendum: but she did it for him, that’s why it was great). I think it would have been better to have used it as a swift retort that Castle could react to rather than him dragging it out of her.
I just found the whole episode so average nothing really jumped out at me that I could say stands out as the best moment in the episode. Which is a shame, because usually even the bad Castle episodes have some great moments you can point to.
I'm sure our Most Benevolent Overlord and her Head Minion will disagree with me (2/2 so far) but what did you think?
Maximus’s addendum: 3/3!
I just want to say that I disagree with a lot of what was said in this review. I quite enjoyed this episode. I thought Castle and Ryan pairing up to dig into the mystery was great. And the Castle/Beckett interplay was great. And Castle/Alexis was great. There were a lot of great things, I thought.
ReplyDeleteBut it's just nice to see the blog have so many different opinions and viewpoints lately. I think it's so cool!
Unsurprisingly, I'm with mxpw on this one. This episode, to me, proved that Castle and Beckett just know how to have fun with each other. You don't have to worry that these two will sit around with nothing to do if something doesn't fall their way; their interplay and playfulness--and hell, tolerance of each others' little quirks--will fill in their lives plenty, which is my favorite thing about them. They have things in common and even when they don't, they're interested enough in each other to make up for any lack.
ReplyDeleteThe end of the episode got a little anvicilious with the Ashley/Alexis drama, though I laughed at the beginning when Castle was using Alexis as a shield. Castle's sheer delight at the possibility of it being real ghosts was infectious, and getting Ryan involved? Freaking hysterical.
I'm a little sad that Esplanie has fallen to the wayside, but Castle's whispered, "DO NOT ask her how the date went" made Graceless and I laugh for a good five minutes. Also, I'm probably in the minority, but I adored Stana's hair this week, as mine does exactly the same thing when it's up in a braid like that.
i have to say, i also thought this episode was great, especially because it gave us some classic Castle humor. the past few episodes have been kind of heavy, and it looks like cops and robbers will be too, so it was nice to have something a bit lighter.
ReplyDeletei also enjoyed the castle/ryan team, but felt that maybe some wedding talk could have been thrown in, especially w/ jenny making an appearance, but that could just be my desire for more background on espo and ryan.
looking forward to next week as usual :)
I agree with the consensus that is the comment section, and if I had written the review, which almost happened, I would have been freaking out the Caskett interaction which was very reminiscent of season 2. At least, that's my opinion. Alas, I had to read the entire Death of Ivan Ilyich by Tolstoy for English today, and hadn't even started it yet!!!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I LOVED this episode, I was super excited that there was no Gates and Alexis was back, I happen to hate Gates with a passion, as well as any character that gets between Castle and Beckett, for example: Last season, I hoped Josh would fall off his motorcycle and die a horrific death!!! (I'm completely serious here!! And on a side note, I actually hoped Shaw was a Ring agent during Chuck season three so that Casey could restrain and torture him to death!!)
Anyway, I also absolutely LOVED Stana's hair in the braid!!! I wish mine would do that!!
I think the part I least liked was the break up of Esplanie, it was very sad and I'm interested to see what happens between the two of them in the weeks to come!!
On a completely excited note, I can't wait to see next week's episode!!! Can you say, possible Caskett moments!!! Like, maybe Beckett will admit she heard Castle when she was shot... though I guess it is a little to early in the season for anything to happen between them. Maybe mid-season!!!! A girl can hope can't she?
See you all next week!!!
~Madje Knotts!!
I'm with Alris. A middlin' episode. And one could hear the whole episode straining to get every little point across.
ReplyDeleteWasn't the best episode of the show but I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteApparition American made me laugh more than it should have.
The record for "most Ghostbusters references in an episode" belongs to The Middleman's "The Ectoplasmic Panhellenic Investigation." Duh.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you Alris, "I didn't particularly like this episode, nor did I hate it."
ReplyDeleteThere was nothing really bad about it, but really nothing great either, IMO.
One thing I liked was that the pairings Beckett/Esposito and Castle/Ryan were formed naturally, and that's a consistency I really appreciate.
That's about it though. This episode didn't stand out for me in any way, even if there was nothing bothersome about it.
Pretty! This has been an extremely wonderful article.
ReplyDeleteThank you for supplying this information.
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