Castle: Witness for the Prosecution – A Good Cop/Bad Cop Review
What’s worse than letting a guilty person go free? Sending an innocent one to jail ~ Castle and Beckett
Surprise, surprise! After a string of negative reviews, I actually liked this week’s episode of Castle. Maybe because the showrunners focused on the case and subsequent trial rather than Rick and Kate’s silly fake separation. They also brought back some of the banter and fun we’ve enjoyed in past episodes. If they’d just dump Vikram, bring Kate home for good, and lose the whole LokSat storyline altogether, I’d be even more happy. Can’t wait until that happens.
The story got off to a quick start when Rick witnessed a murder at a book signing party (sans Kate due to the aforementioned fake separation), then jumped ahead five months to the trial. Seemed a bit too quick compared to what happens in the real world, but I can live with the time span. At least they didn’t have the trial happen the next day.
This was the first time Rick’s ever been on the witness stand, and he did great until the new defense attorney shredded his testimony and got him all confused. Kudos to him on a job well done, but the prosecution suffered for it. Rick and Kate had to work together to save the day, and that seemed more like normal. No slapping, no fake squabbling, and no silliness except for Rick’s insistence on playing with his nose to tell Kate he loves her. A-
The final scene of them together in the loft made me happy, too. Champagne, firelight, and a kiss that will no doubt lead to more… perfect for Valentine’s Day. If the writers and showrunners would simply give us stories like this every week without all the stupidity, fake fights, and tired plot lines, the fans would be thrilled. Don’t you agree?
Stay tuned… another episode of Castle airs tonight on its regular night. I only hope it will be as entertaining as the one last night. Fingers crossed!
Well, I’ll say this. It wasn’t bad. Actually, it was far better than what we endured last week. Still, the boilerplate script left nothing to the imagination. No real puzzle to solve, other than leaving us constantly scratching our heads over the “separation in name only,” a stupid ruse that’s supposedly in place to protect Castle. I’m sure the super-duper larger than life villain in this never-ending dumb-as-a-box-of-rocks sub plot could not, not in a million years, figure out that Beckett and Castle are together at night, at the precinct, in the courtroom, at crime scenes…well, you get the idea. Not exactly believable make-believe.
Speaking of believable make-believe, the defense attorney’s questioning of Castle was fairly decent. On the other hand, Castle’s interruption of the court proceedings that wound up with a Perry Mason-esque “aha” moment was totally unrealistic. But it was an okay scene for an episode of Castle.
The case this week was fun, but the writers sort of let it get mired in a few goofy “don’t-fit-the-story” problem areas.
Now for the goofy things…
– Beckett and Castle are supposed to be separated, but they’re together, but they’re not. And this is to protect Castle. Yet, Castle feels the need to say “I love you” in the courtroom by playing touchy-feely with his nose? And this happens in a room with one of Lokstaxt’s players, the attorney. Dumb, childish, and it makes Castle look like a real joke. This is a problem that’s darkened the entire season—inserting bad comedy in places where it doesn’t belong. The “nose” thing is something we’d expect to see in a Three Stooges reel, not on a top-rated TV show in 2016.
– Lokstat. Please make this go away. Send it to the place in TV LaLa Land where Beckett’s mother resides along with 3XK and Pi. And send Vikram with it. The whole strip club thing is a huge elephant in the room, as is the supposed danger level associated with Lokstat. No one appears, even slightly, to worry about danger, yet they mention it like they’re a bunch of scared rabbits. NOT!
– Last week Ryan and Espo were boiling mad because they thought Castle was cheating on Beckett and they were not at all happy to learn that Beckett was dating someone. Yet this week there was no mention of it and everyone was as happy as could be. Bluebirds singing, sun shining, ear to ear smiling…Happy. Of course, I was ecstatic to see that stupid scenario disappear.
– Martha making a prank phone call to a judge. Just plain dumb.
– Alexis, a grown woman with nothing better to do than wear too much makeup while hanging out at daddy’s non-productive PI business. Get. A. Real. Job.
– The killer seemed like an after thought. The character and final scene with him was extremely cheesy and unbelievable. Not even close, actually, to being believable.
Good points…
– No Hayley.
– No dumb Lanie stuff.
– The case was fun and interesting.
– Ryan and Espo doing what they do when the writers allow it.
All in all, the best episode this season, but it didn’t take much to achieve that honor.
