Castle: One Life To Lose – A Review
After a couple of weeks off the show was back in full swing with a visit to the set of a fictitious soap opera called Temptation Lane. And Fillion probably felt right at home in this episode since he paid his soap opera dues way back when on One Life To Live.
The show opened with the body of the week (the soap’s head writer) falling from a closet onto the set during the taping of the show. The poor woman had been killed with a fire ax, which, to me, looked more like a prop from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Even so, it fit perfectly with this light and humorous episode.
But…(yep, here it comes) Lanie had to open her mouth, spilling the usual flow of stupidity. So I’ll get that out of the way first. REMEMBER, I only point this stuff out so writers, and others, won’t think this is how it is in real life. You guys asked me to do this so there’s no need to complain about my Lanie-bashing! Okay, here goes…
Lanie, while displaying enough cleavage for three women, squats beside the body and says, “Spinal cord was severed with an ax.”
Well, I guess she’d brought along a pair of those x-ray specs you can order from the back of comic books, because that’s the only way she could have known the extent of the injuries at this point. And she didn’t stop there, continuing with, “Upon contact (with the ax, I guess) her lungs filled with blood causing her to drown.” WHAT??????????? Boy, those x-ray specs are really worth all one-hundred pennies. In fact, every detective and pathologist should run out and buy a pair today!
WAIT, there’s more. Lanie says, “Based on the CSU sweep (I didn’t know those folks reported to her) the victim was killed here. The killer cleaned up the blood spatter and then shoved her (the victim) in the closet.”
How (shaking my head vigorously from side-to-side) would they be able to tell where the victim was killed if there was no spatter? THAT’S what they’d use to determine the position of the killer and of the victim.
Enough of Lanie, and believe me, I’ve had enough Lanie “VooDoo M.E.” to last a lifetime. I did like how Beckett and crew eliminated suspects as a means of reaching their goal. That’s normally how it’s done, unless the clues are really obvious. So, good job there. The rest of the investigation was a yawner. In fact, I pegged the killer from moment one, almost as if she had a flashing red arrow hanging above her head throughout the show. However, this episode really wasn’t about the murder. It was meant to be fun and it was. Lots of great one-liners, and lots of Fillion’s silly side. Beckett was fun, too. Well, with the exception of the phone call at the end. That’s getting really old. But I’ll leave the mushy stuff to Melanie. And speaking of Melanie…what’d you think of this week’s show?
This nod to Nathan Fillion’s days on One Life to Live reminded me why I love the show in the first place: snappy banter, inside jokes, and heated (though small) Castle-Beckett moments.
• Castle started with the banter and flirted with Kate, and she gave it right back throughout the episode.
• Rick nailed Kate as a “shipper” — someone who invests in a relationship on a TV show (That would also be me, but we’re talking about Kate and Temptation Lane… right?)
• Castle mentioned the name “Esplanie” for the pairing of Lanie and Esposito… a highlight that cracked me up because that name for the couple first came up on my favorite fan site. (Along with “Caskett” for the Castle-Beckett ship. Creepy, yes… but it fits.)
• Beckett and Castle built theory together in classic fashion. Too cute, especially when Ryan and Esposito called them on it.
• A fabulous Castle-Beckett scene at the end of the show after Rick gives Kate a signed picture from the cast of Temptation Lane. The kind of scene that makes my little Caskett heart go pitter-patter… only to be interrupted by a phone call from Josh (Dr. Motorcycle Boy) to Beckett. Worst. Timing. Ever!
All in all, I enjoyed this episode that took us back to the Castle basics. Can’t wait for next week, when a juror drops dead in the jury box.
And just for fun
TVFanatic – Thanks for stopping by and adding your insight. This was indeed a fun episode.
By the way, I guess you aren’t aware of why we do these reviews. During the first season, several writers contacted me asking if I’d review the police procedure used in the show. They wanted to know what was real and what was wacky because they didn’t want to see writers using any of the bad stuff in their books. So, that’s how this started. We all know the show is fiction and it’s all about the characters, not police procedure. Still…it wouldn’t hurt to have Lanie’s character a little less goofy.
I agreed with all the comments, but really, are any of us watching Castle for the procedure anymore, or ever? No way, it is the Chemistry between the characters. I loved this episode for its return to the fun, and the moments between Castle and Beckett are becoming so much more than just the quick little quips that they used to be. Now there are lingering looks from both camps, not just his. Also, great to see Beckett share a memory of her mom with no sadness. She is obviously comfortable sharing the loss with him, but now she is sharing the happy memories, as well. I think the only other time she did that was in “Boom” last season when she was making breakfast at his loft and she told Martha and Castle about her mom’s brunches. But this was so much more intimate in a way. Her voice was almost giddy as she shared it with him. Oh, and I would love for Josh to be the next victin, Lanie could butcher all the science in the world, as long as she was doing it over his dead body…
Great show, great blog. And yes, I thought the same thing about the ax and ME idiot response. Guess you have to get that stuff in the time element. I’m so glad I can take the time in my writing to get the scenes right.
Gotcha, thanks! I first thought he said DVR, then went back and thought he said DBR, and wondered if a DBR was one of those things only cool kids know about. I do use our DVR a lot–the first year we had one, we wiped out four of them, all of which DirecTV replaced, sequentially.
So to you, Melanie, high five, and FTB! Thanks for enlightening me. I’d looked around the web for the gesture. I remembered Alexis calling it a “baby bird” once, so I searched regarding birds and gestures. Found plenty of them, few of them polite…
Janet
TheJZB, the fingertip-touching gesture is something Nathan Fillion cooked up called “Feed the Bird” (FTB). It basically means the same as a high five.
And Castle said DVR (not DBR), the acronym for “Digital Video Recorder”, the devices most folks have that have taken the place of VCRs for recording TV shows. I have a Tivo, and also a couple from my local cable company. I love DVRs. You can stop live action, rewatch something you missed while watching, and record tons of shows. My Tivo is on my home network and I download all Castle episodes to my PC.
The episode was deliciously Marthaesque. I do have a couple of questions, which betray my generation and my uncoolness. First, what is that little fingertip-touching gesture that Castle sometimes makes with Alexis or Esposito? And what is DBR, which Castle mentioned after Beckett ‘fessed up to watching Temptation Lane? (I feel like a Geiko guy, living under a rock. Don’t get out much.)
Oh, yeah, this episode had more of the fun stuff the fans love. Forget the “save the world” plots.
Best lines ever! Castle: “Why would anyone want to kill a writer?”
Beckett: “Oh, lots of reasons.”
Later in the day Castle says to Beckett: “Let’s go home and sleep on it–separately!” And the look on her face!
Loved the quibbling at the beginning between the two divas, er, actors: “use tic tac for the kissing scenes!”
Great to get Martha out of the house, although I was hoping she would find a clue on the soap set. Are we going to see more of her with her new boyfriend? You go girl!
I admit I knew in advance how the scene of Martha and the actor in the dressing room would turn out, but still fun.
My only quibble (besides Beckett’s annoying boyfriend. Can he be a vic?): No clues pointed to the assistant. Castle wouldn’t know she plagerized her scripts unless he read them and we never saw him do that. Halfway through Beckett said everyone’s alibi checked out but at the end she said the assistant left the mixer early.
Also, many TV writers use an assistant position to “step up” into writing. Not clear why working with the head writer was so bad. Anyone in TV works long hours–no motive there. Would make stronger motive if the head writer wouldn’t let the assistant submit her scripts or had “blackballed” her.
Overall, an enjoyable episode.
Watching the show, the instant I heard Lanie open her mouth about the severed spine and blood filled lungs I knew you were going to take a pound of flesh. It was such a typical Lanie idiocy. although, as you say, the fault lies with the writers, not the poor actress — and the bulging mammaries are forced on her. LOL.
Love the references to Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Michael – You’ve basically answered your own questions. No custody and no interrogation = no Miranda. Sure, the confession could be used in court, but the better question is would they use it? I’d think that NYC defense attorneys would have a field day with the fact that Castle seems to be the only capable person hanging out in the department – he conducts most of the interviews and investigations.
William – Both were good, laugh-producing moments.
Lee summed it all up quite nicely, but I howled at the Fist Bump in the observation room. “She IS smokin’ hot.”
And Castle’s shudder in the final moments, after he’d caught his mother…ummm… ‘making out’? THAT was priceless.
Lee, I did have one procedural question I wanted to ask you. At the end of the episode, as you recall, they get the killer to confess by staging a filmed soap opera scene in which a character is accused of doing what she did (i.e., plagiarism). How admissible is her confession in court? Her rights weren’t read to her when she confessed, but then again, she hadn’t yet been arrested and she wasn’t undergoing a formal interrogation. Could the DA’s office use her confession in court? And even if the DA could, would they? Or would the theatrics set up by Castle, who is arguably acting as an agent of the police, be ruled by a judge as having gone too far in some way?