Castle: Headhunters – A Review and Recap
Finally, the show that used to be so much fun was…BACK!
Yes, thanks to the partnering of Fillion and guest star and former Firefly bud Adam Baldwin, we were actually entertained for an entire episode. No angst. No pressure. No stupid goo-goo eyes. And no voodoo forensics! Just a fun, fun hour (42 minutes) of good TV-watching. Oh, did I mention this episode was fun? In fact, this episode was so good I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the case, even though I sort of guessed the killer (Michael McGrady, who also played Detective Sallinger on Southland) when I first saw him on screen.
Anyway, this is how it’s supposed to be, making fiction seem real instead of ridiculous. Good job.
What’s you think, Melanie?
What a great episode! Finally, the writers returned to that fun mix of drama and comedy that got us hooked on this show in the first place. I’ve missed that lately. Rick continued to be borderline obnoxious with his search for new inspiration, however, and he’s also hiding college acceptance letters from Alexis. I wanted to pinch him for that alone.
He’s not getting any inspiration from Kate right now because he’s still too busy being an ass — in my opinion, anyway — so he decides to believe the old adage that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence and bargains with a detective he sees on the news, a rogue cop dealing with a high profile case involving severed heads, until the man agrees to let him follow him.
The only problem? He’s never met Detective Ethan Slaughter. So he approaches Kate to get more info about the man. She’s startled and so very happy to see him when he appears beside her desk and greets her like he used to, with two coffees and a disarming smile. Then she learns the real reason for his charming presence, and her face falls. Not only is he giving her the cold shoulder, but now he wants to follow another detective. Stana Katic does a great job portraying Kate’s pain.
Detective Slaughter is played by Nathan Fillion’s old Firefly pal Adam Baldwyn, and although I’ve only seen a couple of episodes of that show, I got the symbolism of Rick giving Slaughter his brown leather coat. As in, the Browncoats… from Firefly. They probably wove in a few other references, but I didn’t catch those. I’m sure others did, however.
Slaughter is a rough hewn detective known as the Widowmaker because his last three partners were killed in the line of duty. His brusque, irreverent style, blatant disregard for any rules except his own, and fast car impress Rick. Then the detective asks him about Kate and wants to know if he’s tapping her, and Rick tells him no. He and Kate are just friends. Slaughter scoffs at him and says, “A man who needs a friend gets a dog. A woman like that… you storm the beaches or die trying.” Hmmm.
Slaughter gives Rick a gun and sends him in the front door of a club all by himself. I laughed out loud when Rick yells, “NPDY!” and gets in a crazy fight that ends with him getting with a bloody nose and then knocking the guy out with a beer bottle. So funny!
After the fight, Rick walks into the Twelfth with a swagger in his step and a gleam in his eye — and runs headlong into an angry Kate Beckett. Slaughter wastes no time checking out the way her jeans fit her backside, and I don’t think Rick even notices. Grrrr! She gives Rick hell for teaming up with Slaughter, and he’s a bit taken aback because… didn’t they get the guys they were after? He turns to Ryan and Esposito for help with the case when Kate turns away, and they milk it for all it’s worth.
Kate apparently still hasn’t figured out Rick overheard her in the interrogation room, and that bothers me. But at least she goes to see her therapist after her confrontation with Rick. The psychiatrist doesn’t give her any answers, but he does make her think about what she wants to do about her partner’s defection. Does she want to confront him about leaving her? To try to move on? To forget he ever existed? She has a lot to think about.
As they wait for a suspect to show up at another location, Slaughter tells Rick he’d “go all caveman on that partner of yours. Show her what time it is in real man land.” Then he says something about Alexis, who’s still interning in the morgue, and Rick punches him. I love that scene. He’s such a good dad, and he defends his daughter’s honor with clumsy grace. I believe that’s when he finally begins to realize Slaughter isn’t such a nice guy.
The boys end up saving Rick and Slaughter’s bacon when they go into yet another situation without backup — and once they return to the precinct, Rick learns Kate was in on it, too. That she was following the case and had looked up important information. “You did this for me?” he says, obviously shocked. “All this time, you had my back.” Yes, dummy… she does have your back. Open your eyes!
Kate jumps into the case with both feet, and Rick soon comes to the conclusion that Slaughter isn’t the kind of detective he wants to write about after all, that maybe the grass isn’t greener on his side of the fence. And Rick finds himself partnered again with Kate, where he should’ve been after all, and they find the real killer.
The last scene brings Rick yet another revelation, when Alexis opens all of her college letters and learns that Stanford — her first choice and the school that denied her early admission — has also accepted her. She has trouble getting over that rejection, and Rick says, “Do you want it badly enough… to get over being hurt?”
That question seems to open his eyes and make him think of Kate. So maybe, just maybe, he’s going to stop acting like such an ass and apologize to Kate. I hope so! Unfortunately, we won’t know for two weeks, because the next new Castle episode doesn’t air until April 30. Only two more episodes to go in season four. I have my shipper hat on and am ready and waiting for a little Caskett happiness.
As I said earlier, I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the police stuff because I was too busy enjoying the show. But I absolutely must mention the appearance of the new pathologist, who played her part quite well. She delivered brief, but believable lines, with authority, not as if she were reading a fairytale to the audience. And, she was actually doing stuff a real M.E. would do, complete with evidence (bullets) in a sealed evidence bag. Nope, not a pin-stuck doll or Ouija Board in the place. How refreshing!
The severed head/murder case took a back seat to the antics of Detective Slaughter and Castle, who, by the way, delivered some great one-liners throughout the show. Such as:
Slaughter on the victim’s cause of death – “Let me guess…lead poisoning.” (an old cop’s joke about being shot)
Castle naming his fists “Jake and the Fatman.”
Slaughter to Castle – “Do not use the word ‘awesome.’ You’re a grown man.”
Castle tells Slaughter that he and Beckett are just friends. Slaughter replies, “Man needs a friend he gets a dog.”
Slaughter to Castle – “I need a writer hanging around like I need a case of the crabs.” (a sentiment felt by many real-life cops).
Slaughter referring to guy in rear compartment of garbage truck – “Better stand back, this guy’s gonna pop like a grape.”
And that’s pretty much how the entire episode went, until Beckett and crew showed up. Then the show gradually oozed back into the darkness we’ve been watching for what seems like an eternity. For some reason, when those guys showed up they seemed to suck the life out of what had, up to that point, been a great deal of fun.
However, the good far outweighed the very little bad. What a great episode of Castle…the Castle we once knew. Even Nathan Fillion was back to his old self this week. There was a spring in his step and an edge on his dialog that we haven’t seen in quite a while. I wish we’d see that lightness continue, but I fear not because the characters have to somehow deal with the dark cloud of unrealistic, pre-teen romance the writers have hanging over their heads.
Actually, I’d rather see Castle and Beckett discover that they’re totally incompatible as romantic partners. Then they could go back to being friends and get this show back on track.
For now, though, I certainly hope to see more episodes like we saw last night. After all, Castle even briefly talked about writing a book, and isn’t that what the show is supposed to be about, a mystery writer tagging along with a detective as part of his research? That, not saving the world, is what made the show so much fun.
Overall, I gladly give this one a hearty thumbs-up.
In case anyone’s wondering, the new M.E. (and I hope she becomes a regular or frequent) is Anna Zielinski, but you’ll probably recognize her as the “Amazon Kindle Bikini Girl.”
Looking forward to wrapping up this season, hopefully with the beginning of some closure to a lot of loose ends, namely Castle and Beckett, Castle’s CIA dad, and most importantly, Beckett’s mother’s murderer.
Dave, not so much in this instance. Having multiple investigators working from two separate play books could and probably would harm an investigation. Sure, it’s great to have multiple views and ideas, but everyone has to be on the same page with everyone knowing which direction the other is, and has, taken. For example, you don’t want to talk to a suspect (bluffing about certain evidence you may or may not have) while another detective tells the guy something entirely different, etc.
Got another question: Beckett says she can’t get involved with Slaughters investigation, saying there are rules about that sort of thing, and she could get suspended or worse for interfering. Are there such rules, and what is the reason for them, if so? I know it sounds kind of obvious; having detectives looking over each others shoulders creates all kinds of problems, but isn’t there something useful in “peer review”?
In my opinion, so far season 4 has been pretty bad…this episode however had a fresh feeling to it simply because they didn’t play so hard on the Beckett/Castle thing. Their ‘romantic’ relationship has been convoluted and unrealistic to the point where the characters have lost their initial charm and sense of self, and now look like emotionally challenged teenagers.
Let’s leave it to this season finale to solve this mess…
This episode would have been a lot more fun had there not be 20+ crappy episodes that came before it. As it is, I think my expectations for this show are so low that even a reunion with Nathan and Adam fell flat.
At this point I’m on the Ship-Alexis-Off-To-College bandwagon. I’m also over any sort of romance regarding Castle and Beckett because the heat is gone. At this point, they should just remain friends, writer and muse, and each get on with their personal lives.
David – Death investigations are conducted by both the police and medical examiners or coroners. Each jurisdiction determines whether or not they have a coroner or medical examiner. Normally, a coroner is an elected official who may or may not be a medical doctor (coroners who are not medical doctors/pathologists call on/hire pathologists to conduct autopsies). A medical examiner is a medical doctor that has been hired by a city or county to conduct autopsies and investigate the cause of suspicious deaths.
The police are in charge of all murder scenes, but medical examiners and coroners are in charge of the body. Medical examiners and coroners do not interrogate suspects and detectives do not examine bodies.
Interestingly, in some areas the county sheriff also serves as coroner. But in other areas, anyone qualified to run for office could be the next coroner – Tommy the tow truck driver, Sally the seamstress, Lucy the librarian, or even Sam the street sweeper.
You might find these posts to be of interest.
https://leelofland.com/wordpress/the-morgue-a-pictorial-journey/
https://leelofland.com/wordpress/the-morgue/
I love Grimm! I loved Castle until it fizzled out. Last night’s episode was stellar. Welcome back Castle!
So, what is the difference between an ME and a Coroner?
I don’t doubt that the way they’re portraying this relationship may seem realistic to some, particularly if you’ve been through something similar. But that isn’t really the point. This is entertainment, not RL, and as a narrative, something about the choices they’ve made since January has sucked all the joy and fun and sparkle out of the show. Basically, they shouldn’t have thrown a giant ‘I love you’ out there if they weren’t prepared to move forward with it. I honestly don’t care if they get together or not, but it set up expectations they apparently had no intention of fulfilling. It’s Chekhov’s gun, you know? And it’s the last five minutes of the last act and if it turns out to have been sitting front and center with everyone gesturing towards it for no reason whatsoever, most of us are going to leave the theatre annoyed because we were made to think it was going to be important.
As for the blog, I come here because Lee’s take is completely different than the usual review, and pulling the procedure apart doesn’t ruin the ep for me if it has other charms. And if it doesn’t, well, hell bring on the snark.
Thanks again (and again) to Lee and Melanie for their reviews, which can be better than the show itself.
I was momentarily puzzled by Castle being dumb enough to get involved with Slaughter (who, BTW, was a gas). But then I stepped back an inch and remembered that Castle, mired in writer’s block, wasn’t actually looking for a new partner — he was stuck on proving that he could be around her and feel nothing (“just watch me”). So in that light it wasn’t implausible that he’d blunder into a bog hole. He wasn’t coming from a rational place, and his focus wasn’t on what he was doing, but rather on what he was trying to prove.
(Writer’s block truly is the worst. Even if you do get words out, the language is lousy. Makes me wonder which Castle writers have had writer’s block and might be working through it by generating scripts.)
Perlmutter was his name. And, interestingly, he wore a jacket with “Coroner” on it in one episode. I’m not sure why, though. Anyway, I liked the character. He was very believable where Lanie is not. The key to the whole thing is delivering the material in such a way that the audience believes what they’re hearing. For some reason, the Lanie character fails at this, and she fails miserably. The M.E. this week was really good. I almost wanted to stand and applaud.
There are other shows much more far-fetched than Castle and they seem to have no trouble making us believe. Grimm is a good example.
By the way, Lee, I meant to ask your opinion on the male ME that sometimes appeared in past seasons. I know how you view Lanie lol…how did you view the male ME? At times the writers seemed to have this guy react sarcastically to Beckett, Ryan and Esposito whenever they’d ask questions at crime scenes that in reality he’d have no way of knowing. They even had him one time responding to a question by saying something like “Do you mind if I get the body back to the morgue before I give you an answer?”
Was he more tolerable than Lanie, or just as irritating in your eyes?
Lee, I do know that’s the stated purpose for your mentions of the unrealistic portrayals of the police proceedings. It’s one of the reasons I tend to skim over your parts in the reviews as I mentioned before. I’m actually surprised anyone would need the fallacies pointed out to them, they’re so glaringly obvious (you mean ME’s can’t really tell you the cause of death, time of death, motive for the murder, angle of the weapon, and height, weight and shoe size of the murderer within 3 minutes of arriving at the crime scene?? lol).
But I have, in the past, seen you mention these inaccuracies in connection to why you didn’t like a particular episode or character, going beyond a teaching tool to a criticism bullet point. So since it’s been used in that manner, I wanted to point out that police procedure accuracy was never a part of the show–or in reality, why many people became fans.
Hi, Lee,
I read this blog regularly, but English is not my first language so I rather not comment.:) But now I have question. A rather picky one on the top of it.:D
You wrote this: “Those guys had an arsenal and not one cop said anything about it.”
There was no shots given, and nobody took a look at the “guns”. So is it not fair to say only at this point: there were “objects that look like guns”?
Christopher – Thanks for stopping by, and for your comments. However, you obviously don’t understand the purpose of pointing out the flaws in the police procedure. So, and for at least the thousandth time, we do this at the requests of many mystery writers who want to know if what they see on Castle is realistic, or not. We’ve actually turned this show into a teaching tool for writers. Therefore, for the purpose of this blog, the things we point out about police procedure and forensics are extremely relevant and quite important to our major reader base – writers.
We do, however, try to make the reviews a bit fun for everyone.
And yes, I understand the show is fiction and it’s for our entertainment.
I’ve read several Castle reviews by Melanie and Lee in the past. I think I tend to view the episodes 180 degrees differently than both lol.
Melanie seems to want the Castle/Beckett relationship to be less realistic and more imagined fantasy where both parties in the relationship talk about exactly what they’re feeling at the moment they’re feeling it. I, though, like the realistic actions of both Rick and Kate. Men DO act cold and distant when their hearts have been hurt like Castle’s has, even if it’s due to HIS misunderstanding. Women DO send off mixed signals and do say things–yes, even lie–to avoid being hurt by emotions they’re not sure they want to express or even deal with.
And just for full disclosure, I’ve had a “Caskett” relationship before, almost exactly like the one in the show. So to me, it does indeed come across as VERY realistic…because we both acted like Castle and Beckett almost to a “T”.
Audience members wishing they stuck to the more romanticized versions of “Caskett”–one where true love caused Castle to always be there no matter how many times Beckett blew off his feelings, and where true love ate away at Beckett’s defense mechanisms bit by bit and finally caused her to chance everything and proclaim her feelings–are probably disappointed in both characters right now…This dose of realism in their relationship kinda goes against all that.
As for the police procedures being realistic, unlike Lee I’ve never expected anything about the police work to be realistic from the first seconds of the pilot episode lol. And to be honest, that’s not why I turned in, nor why I stayed. It was the acting, the humor, the fun (as Lee mentioned), the chemistry between Castle and Beckett, as well as between Ryan and Esposito. It was seeing the two leads start to genuinely warm towards each other, with glimpses of attraction (and more) between them that were done with a subtle power.
So whether or not the police drama aspect is anywhere close to being 100% realistic is irrelevant. Nothing Lee mentions in his reviews is wrong, obviously. It’s just not very important to whether or not any given episode–or the series as a whole–is enjoyable or not. I mean, they solve EVERY stinkin’ case lol (and quickly at that). So I tend to skim over Lee’s part of the review, unless it’s surprisingly positive like it was this time. Because when it comes to accurate portrayals of police work, there’s way too much to criticize in “Castle.” If that accuracy were important, I wouldn’t have made it halfway through the pilot episode.
As for the episode itself:
– LOVED the Slaughter character. It was good seeing Castle interact with people other than Beckett, Ryan and Espo, and various “bimbos”. One of the best episodes this season was “Cops and Robbers”, where Castle and Beckett barely spend any time together in the same scene…but when they did, it was quite telling and even intense. The same thing happened in “Headhunters”.
– Tons of quotable one-liners in this one. Had me laughing through most of the show.
– Kate seems to be talking to everyone about her feelings for Castle EXCEPT to Castle lol. I’m not sure if the scene with her therapist was actually needed or helped the storyline much. That whole rant scene with her therapist would have worked SO much better if she were saying all of that to Castle instead.
– Notice how Castle and Beckett finally team up again, and solve the murder in less than an hour? lol..yeah, right.
– Great line: Slaughter (after being given the bullets from the M.E.) “I’m guessing 32’s”….M.E. (noticing he’s now looking at her chest) “You’re talking about the bullets, right?”
I was a bit disappointed in how Castle came off in this. He’s shot people, and been shot at, before; he’s been in tight squeezes before, but this time he comes off as completely over his head and scared out of his wits. While he shows commendable loyalty to justice, he’s also rather a chicken in just following along with Slaughter, getting sucker punched and doing nothing. “That’s for not having my back?” Like Slaughter had Castle’s? I found Slaughter to be a distasteful example of police brutality. He didn’t find anything with his “methods”, just a rabbit trail to a false conviction that would have been shredded in court. Castle should have dumped him after the mexican standoff showed Slaughter’s true colors.
I think the Mexican Mafioso would have a hard time believing Beckett’s implied threat, considering 30,000 NYPD officers don’t seem to bother either the Irish or the Jamaicans. Impunity has many layers. And do you honestly believe the lawyer would have stood by while that went down? But as scene writing goes, Beckett does come off as more impressive than Slaughter.
And as for Castle getting sucker punched, I thought Beckett’s reaction was seriously cold. I don’t think I could just watch this happen to someone I cared for, on whatever level, even if they had been acting like an ass. But she’s acted like this before. It’s no wonder Castle can imagine she really doesn’t care.
Now, as this show is about Castle, I think more could have been done to explain what is going on in his tiny brain, but his actions took his character several steps backwards. It will be interesting to see how he is redeemed. “Undead” (Zombies? Really?), I think, will be a filler, and after this episode, that might be a bit tough to swallow. Methinks the writers are going to have to rush things in “Always”, and that doesn’t bode well for season 5.
Good point, Steph. Those guys had an arsenal and not one cop said anything about it.
Somewhat shameful it took a cop, Slaughter who breaks a dozen laws, violates everyone’s Constitutional rights, tortures and coerces people to have a fun episode. Bring him back to waterboard someone for another funny episode?
Any thoughts on the NY gun laws and the Mexican gang? Wouldn’t the whole gang be nailed under the Bloomberg-Plaxico-Buress-firarms deal but they only arrest the gang leader?
I can’t say I liked this as much as earlier ones. I had a real problem with Slaughter and Castle in this show. Castle spouting his theories to this hostile cop seemed ridiculous. Castle is supposed to be a smart guy, but he doesn’t know enough not to play a pissing contest with a rogue cop? And Slaughter was so over the top, or maybe I have less tolerance these days for the lone wolf rogue cop who never seems to be reined in by anyone.
Castle is also growing tiresome with his clinginess to Alexis. If the man was my father, I’d be on the bus to Stanford the next day to get out from under his thumb.
I’ve always found it very annoying when men set themselves up as the protector of their adult female daughters or sisters. Hell, maybe that’s why I moved 2,000 miles away to Los Angeles when I was 22. LOL
I’m confused, lv2bnsb. We always welcome comments about the show – good or bad. And, yes, the morgue scene was very nice, if there can be such a thing.
Actually, I think the Parish character tries too hard to be tough, and it comes across as being a little silly. And that, unfortunately, adds to the horrible forensics information.
Anybody know the name of the actress who played last night’s M.E.?
I am always appreciative of your reviews because I am honestly interested in how the show’s details stack up against reality. That being said, I do not believe that when something on the show is implausible and we comment on it that it diminishes the worth or enjoyment of the show. However some details, such as the use of latex gloves, evidence bags, ballistics, etc, should be true because not having it done right is unnecessary and distracting. I agree with Lee here about the ME in this ep. she seemed real and added to the quality – in fact the whole morgue scene seemed different and fresh. Different angles, etc. I liked it. The writers need to cut Dr. Parish some slack and give her better work, like what we saw here.
Cool review, Lee. Like you, I really enjoyed this episode. Thought Baldwin played Slaughter really well, though it was getting close to being a bit of a farce.
Some movement on the relationship, always nice to see. Maybe they should keep Lanie in as the sassy friend and get a new ME? 😛
Katarzyna – I have enough to do keeping up with this site, the Writers’ Police Academy, and writing. Besides, I’m of the opinion that what happens somewhere else doesn’t really concern me. Well, unless it actually concerns or harms me.
So let’s get back to enjoying a fun discussion right here at home.
Actually I have always 100% been positive about Stana Katic and even credit her for a large reason why I still even watch the show. I have problems with the character of Beckett, but I am able to establish mentally the difference between a character and actor/actress. So while I do not like Beckett as a character I can still be, and still am, a fan of Stana Katic and have only the highest regard for her. Go start a thread on that board and ask everyone if you don’t believe me, I am that confident I have never once uttered a negative comment about Stana Katic.
Either way if you have a problem with how I post something somewhere else bring it up there instead of on Lee’s blog which is for police procedure and the accuracy of which Castle presents it.
I won’t say another word on this matter because I am not going to hijack Lee’s comment section because that is wrong to do considering how incredibly off topic this is. Personally Lee if you have the power delete all of this crap because its distracting from your blog and I’m sorry I’m even involved in it albeit without my choice.
Sally, I think that this episode was only for Firefly fans, not for the rest of Castle fandom. I only enjoyed some parts of the episodes and like you, I was trying not to watch when Slaughter was on screen.
Lee, I think you should explore majority of MigalouchUD’s posts at ABC’s Castle board, which actually made me escape from there entirely, they were so negative and full of hatred towards Kate/Stana that it was simply unbearable.
For the record, I really enjoy reading your reviews and agree with majority of them 🙂
Apparently I missed something because I didn’t like the episode at all, except for Castle’s bar fight which was laugh-out-loud funny. But Slaughter was such an obnoxious character I tuned out when he was onscreen. Maybe this episode was a “guy thing” because squealing car tires, slapping people around and rude comments about women bore me. I did like Castle punching Slaughter for making a crack about Alexis–go dad!
Why is it the captain calls Kate on the carpet for every move yet Slaughter runs loose, beating suspects to a pulp, handing guns to unlicensed cilivians, taking on gangs without backup, etc. Doesn’t NYPD have any “quality control”?
I thought Alexis was only interested in Stanford because her ex-boyfriend was there. Since the two have broken up, why would she want to go there and possibly meet him again?
Maryann – Thanks for the reminder. One thing that bugged me, and I forgot to mention, was Castle making the calls to run plates, etc. Slaughter could’ve/would’ve easily done it, just as any other cop would have. That part was very weak for me.
MigalouchUD – Yes, I’ve seen a few come close, but no kidnappings or garbage trucks ever came into play. The “discussion” with the gang leader – yep, been there and done that. Not dumb at all. Well, in front of everyone…maybe… 🙂
bobbi – Lanie’s off every night.
mars – I tend to agree. I like the Alexis character, but she’s become a little wimpy. You know, like her dad when he’s around Beckett.
Katarzyna – Thanks for stopping by, and for helping us maintain a friendly discussion. We’re always happy to welcome comments about the show, good or bad, but please, not about fellow fans. Anyway, I must say that you’re sort of outnumbered on regarding Adam Baldwin’s appearance. Most people really enjoyed it, me included. I take it you’re a Stana fan?
Marni – Actually, I think the show is always several notches better without Lanie.
H.S. Yep, it was definitely a fun episode.
Kinda not with the majority on this one and it all had to do with Castle trying to impress Slaughter with those calls to Ryan and Esposito and looking like a little kid whose lollipop’s been stolen, etc, etc. when Slaughter’s lone wolf, break all the rules tatcis made him at first try to keep up and then later wonder how he could get out of the mess he’d gotten himself into. As for Kate, she blew hot and cold, giving Castle a taste of his own medicine (which didn’t bother me because I’d rather see the old Beckett than the tortured one who doesn’t have the guts to ask Castle what the heck is going on), before bailing him out again. Adam Baldwin was more Jane than Jane ever was…the one bright spot for me. He does sociopaths and scofflaws so well, and with so much glee, that I have to laugh. And for some unknown reason, this episode seemed really really long.
So… better stuff, and the guys look really good in suits. Castle’s ah-ha moment was well-placed, but I’m waiting to see what happens in two weeks. Resolve the romantic question and let’s see some good cop stuff!
Alexis should stay on the show since she’s too cute to miss. It was a funny episode, especially the bar fight.
We getting the band back together. Jane and Mal together again!!
Loved the Firefly/Serenity references!! The Brown Coat, the bar fight and Jane’s ‘I like to keep my options open.’ Slaughter has to become a reoccurring character. I would love to see more of Serenity’s crew showing up too.
Oops, we weren’t talking about Firefly? 😉 This espisode was just too much fun.
@katarzyna hmm funny because I’m pretty sure I didn’t express any hatred toward Beckett and most certainly not Stana Katic in any way. Then again this accusation is coming from a person who is referring to Adam Baldwin, the actual actor and not the character, as a troglodyte.
Hey at least your keeping it classy.
This one had some real humor about it and let’s hope it stays that way~didn’t miss Lainie at all!
“Nice” to see your hatred towards Kate Beckett and Stana, MigalouchUD… Thanks God, you’re not Castle showrunner, so I really hope that AWM has enough brain to NOT TO BRING this troglodyte Baldwin EVER again… Personally I disliked this episode for most of it. The best scenes for me where these including Kate Beckett. The rest of the episode was wasting my time.
The best part of the episode for me was when Alexis received her college acceptance letters. Can we please ship Alexis off to college and off the show now?
Great episode–agreed! I caught the Firefly “Browncoat” reference, and I also believe that the bar fight also hearkened back to the show. Didn’t they get into a fight EVERY time they stepped into a bar?
I did wonder what happened to Lanie. Maybe she had the night off? 🙂
Oh Lee another question, Beckett threatening and trying to intimidate the Mexican gang leader. On a scale of 1 to 10 how dumb was that?
Nice review Lee. I have a question have you seen anyone ever operate like Slaughter as a detective, and if so how far of an extent to? I was curious because he was doing some potentially illegal stuff, but since he wasn’t arresting the guys he was shaking down I have no clue what is really realistic with it.
I will say I did like how they were running down leads left and right instead of just pulling their cliche and boring method of “check their financials, pull up traffic cams, canvas the area, interrogate 3 innocent people, etc etc” They need to have Castle and Beckett run more leads down like that because it was a lot more fun to watch and a great change of pace.
Also I’m right there with you when you mention that as soon as the team came back the fun got sucked out of it. As soon as they had Slaughter turn into a cop who was fabricating confessions to get a conviction and Castle went begging back to Beckett for help the show stopped being as fun. Seeing Castle beat up a suspect (beer bottle over the head and the leg trip where great) and slugging Slaughter was a ton of fun. Watching all his testosterone ooze out of him as he went begging back to Beckett for help, ya kinda stunk.
Adam Baldwin needs to be a regular, he brought in a much needed breath of fresh air that made me really enjoy this episode for the first 40 minutes.