A father and son reunion. Spies. Wedding bells. Secret compartments. A proud new papa and his baby pictures. And, of course, murder. Cram them all into a one hour TV show and we have what was a pretty nice episode of Castle. And, if my instincts are correct, Good Cop Melanie Atkins was doing the happy dance throughout the entire show. Let’s see if my old cop intuition is still accurate.

Melanie Atkins

We first met Rick Castle’s father, Jackson Hunt (or whatever his name is), in Hunt (Episode 5×16), when Jackson helped rescue Alexis in Paris after her kidnapping. Of course, he was the reason she was kidnapped in the first place, but for now I’ll let that slide. James Brolin did an excellent job in both episodes. I really loved this one. Talk about intrigue, surprises, and startling family moments… this show had them in spades.

We were first treated to Rick and Kate attempting to choose a wedding date, and they couldn’t seem to agree on much of anything except that Kate wants to get married sooner, rather than later (accentuated by a butt slap, and then a kiss… tee hee!) Martha even threw in her two cents worth, telling them to just elope. Sure, that would be easy, but fans need more. Right?

A call to a murder scene interrupted them before they could come to a decision, of course, and the evidence around the body didn’t tell them much. Rick found a hidden laptop, but digging into it took a while. They finally got a lead and headed across town to check it out.

Rick got a phone call that confused him before they met the man they planned to interview, but I think he recognized his father’s voice. The look on his face when he saw his dad for only the second time in his life was priceless.

Nathan killed it the first time, showing the hunger Castle has had all his life to know his father, and he did it again. Surprise, elation, yearning, desperation, and disbelief played across his face, all at the same time. I was drawn in immediately, and wondered how long Rick could hold out before telling Kate who the man was.

Turns out he didn’t say anything, until Jackson showed up at Rick’s door with a bullet hole in his side. Martha’s gasp when she opened the door was spot on (Susan Sullivan is a gem). I loved her role in this scene. She was obviously drawn to Jackson, but wanted to tell him to kiss off, too. Such fire in her eyes! His wound scared her, however, and she went right to work helping Rick get the man to the bedroom so they could patch him up.

Then Kate walked in on her and Rick doing surgery to extract the bullet. Yikes! Kate, of course, is all cop, so once she got over the shock of finding her murder suspect lying all bloody on the bed she shares with Rick, she balked at believing a word that came out of Jackson’s mouth. I loved her fury and blatant disbelief. Stana knows her character inside and out, and it shows. (That’s one reason she just won a People’s Choice for Best Dramatic Actress!)

I love that Jackson told them the truth and swooped in to save Rick’s life, taking care of the murderer Kate was after — and giving Martha closure — in the process. Might have been a little over the top, but I enjoyed the ride. I’m glad he popped up again and hope we haven’t seen the last of him.

“I keep making the mistake of thinking he’s family, but he’s not,” Rick said of his dad at the end of the show, his eyes locked with Kate’s. “You are.”

Squee! My little Caskett-loving heart went all pitter-patter. They agreed on a September wedding, in spite of Rick’s book tour, and that made me smile even wider. Woohoo! Finally, we have a wedding date. Maybe dear old dad will make another appearance then. Who knows? Or maybe he’ll play a part in taking down Beckett’s biggest foe, Senator Bracken, at some point. The CIA isn’t supposed to operate on US soil, but with Jackson operating “outside” CIA parameters, anything is possible. This is TV, after all.

Martha and Rick’s scene at the end touched my heart. So poignant and real.

Can’t wait to see Kate and Rick vs. the paparazzi in next week’s episode. Maybe they’ll finally announce their engagement.

Lee Lofland

There wasn’t a lot of procedure to analyze this week. Even Lanie, the writers’ outlet for information, delivered the clues almost flawlessly.

Before I go any further I’d like to remind everyone that I pick apart the police and forensics procedures and methods at the requests of writers. I, like you, watch television for entertainment, not because I expect fictional TV shows to be totally accurate in every aspect of, well, anything. Castle is a fun show. I like it, and I like the characters. In fact, the cast has a unique chemistry that so many shows of this type seem to lack.

As I stated earlier, my part of this review is at the requests of writers who want to know if what they see on the show is how things are in the real world. So, without further delay, Lanie…

She told us the murder victim had been moved from the scene of the crime to where the body was discovered by officer responding as a result of 911 call. Lanie offered that lividity was the factor that helped her draw that conclusion.

Before we dig a little deeper into Lanie’s conclusions, let’s refresh our memories regarding lividity and rigor mortis, and what they tell us about murder and the time it occurred.

Determining The Time of Death

When the heart stops beating, gravity pulls blood to the lowest point in the body. Blood pooling in those low areas stains the surrounding tissue, giving an appearance that looks somewhat like bruising. This purplish staining of tissue is called livor mortis, or lividity. For example, a victim lying flat on his back at the time of death exhibits lividity on his back, buttocks, and the back of his legs. The same is true on the front of the body, if the victim is found lying face down.

Livor Mortis (lividity) normally begins within the first two hours after death. The process reaches it’s full peak  in eight to twelve hours.

Lividity becomes totally fixed after six to eight hours after death occurs, meaning the tissue-staining is fixed and will not change.

However, if the victim is moved during the first six hours after death the purplish discoloration can shift (lividity is not fixed), causing the new, lowest portion of the body to exhibit lividity.

Moving the body after eight hours (lividity is fixed) will not change the patterns of discoloration. Therefore, investigators know a body found lying face down with lividity on the back, has been moved.

Rookie officers have often confused lividity with bruising caused by fighting.

Remember, ambient air temperature is always a factor in determining the TOD (time of death). A hot climate can accelerate lividity, while a colder air temperature can slow it down considerably.

Rigor Mortis is the stiffening of muscles after death. The muscle stiffening (hence the use of the term, stiff) is caused by the loss of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) from the muscle tissue. Without ATP, the muscles can no longer function normally, and begin to contract and stiffen.

Rigor mortis begins in the smaller muscles of the face and neck in about two hours after death. The process then moves downward from the head to the feet. The body becomes completely stiff in approximately eight to twelve hours.

Bodies remain rigid (the rigid stage of rigor mortis) for approximately eighteen hours, at which time the process begins to reverse itself—small muscles first, followed by the larger ones.

In approximately twelve hours the body returns to a flaccid state.

Again, like livor mortis, air temperature is a factor that can accelerate or slow down rigor mortis. Certain poisons and illnesses can also affect rigor mortis.

Determining TOD using rigor mortis is not an exact science.

Dead Ted, the victim of the week

Okay, now let’s look at the information Lanie provided to Beckett and crew. She was totally correct about lividity and that it could have indicated the body had been moved.

However, she stated the time of death was between 8 and 11. The time was 11:50 when uniformed officers responded to the 911 call placed by the killer. That’s a window of 4 hours max, from the time of death until the officers’ arrival and discovery of the body. If this time frame is correct, lividity would not have been totally fixed when the body was moved. Instead, at least some of the purplish staining would have presented in more than one area of the body.

Next, Lanie showed Beckett and Castle a perfectly preserved print of an Iranian coin on Dead Ted’s heel. We were supposed to believe that a coin in Ted’s sock would have left the bright red outline. Lanie’s explanation was that rigor mortis caused the marking.

But we know that wouldn’t be the case because rigor is merely a stiffing of muscle tissue.

Could lividity cause an impression to show up after death? Maybe. But, had it been lividity that caused the print on Dead Ted’s heel, we’d have seen more purplish staining around it, and the print would have presented as lighter in color, not darker than the surrounding flesh. The same is true when any area of a dead body is in contact with an object. Those surfaces force blood away, leaving lighter spots at the points of contact.

An object pressed against the flesh, such as the coin, would have caused less blood to pool in the area of the disc, not more. Further evidence that lividity probably wouldn’t have caused an impression of any type on Dead Ted’s foot, is that he’d have needed to have been in an upright position (such as standing or sitting in a chair) with his feet at lower point in relation to the rest of the body during the process of lividity. Remember, gravity pulls blood downward, not horizontally.

One other point to ponder. I assume, to allow enough time to pass for Lanie to see lividity, the killer must have waited until after planting the body in the apartment shower before removing the shoes and then the coin. Otherwise, there was nowhere near enough time for any sort of impression to form on  the foot. Even if we give Lanie the benefit of the doubt and go along with her theory of rigor causing the coin impression, the time frame is off.

And, why in the world would the killer wait until he’d delivered the body to the apartment before searching for the coin? Why not do so immediately after shooting him?

Another question – How did the killer carry a dead man through the lobby of an apartment building, unnoticed, and then deliver poor old Dead Ted to his upper floor apartment?

Enough about Dead Ted. Let’s move alon… Wait, one more thing. What about Lanie saying Dead Ted had eaten funnel cake prior to his demise? What, did he swallow it whole? Did Live Ted not chew his food properly? Either way, how did Lanie know the doughy mixture of mangled clam flesh and fried batter in Dead Ted’s stomach was indeed a funnel cake and not a clam-topped pancake or waffle, or possibly a clam fritter? Why not doughnuts with an order of clams on the side?

You know, even with the somewhat off-kilter coin impression detail and funnel-clam-cake, I think Lanie delivered her lines extremely well this week. She was believable, and it was a good thing to see her wait until she had the body in the morgue before offering details that only an autopsy could reveal.

And, it was certainly refreshing to see Beckett showing a softer side. After all, she’s planning her wedding.

Okay, enough for this week. I’ll conclude by saying this was a really nice episode that continued the recent string of shows in the form of Castle its fans adore.

Nicely done.

What do you think? A hit, or a miss?

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RHD=Ruggedly Handsome Dad (or Really Hot Detective, in Beckett’s case). Either way, this episode may have been a test of the waters to see if viewers would welcome the pitter-patter of tiny Castle feet. Actually, I’d be willing to bet that Good Cop Melanie has already begun knitting a pair of booties with “WRITER” embroidered across the toe areas. Lets see if she’s come back down to earth after witnessing all the mushy, lovey-dovey stuff we saw on the show last night.

Melanie Atkins

Pocahontas, really? That scene, along with many others in this episode of Castle, had me in stitches. I was a bit confused by the case at first, but in the end it came together, too, even though I found it extremely odd. I loved the scenes with Kate, Rick, and Cosmo/Benny (the baby) best, of course. Seeing the two of them with a child was a sneak peek into their future, or so they led us to believe. That alone made me smile.

Kate’s reluctance to hold the baby at first didn’t surprise me, however. Took her a long time to warm up to Rick, and up until recently she’s kept her distance from his family, too. She’s the kind of person who needs time to get used to new people and situations before diving in, and keeping the baby was no exception. I understand where she’s coming from. She was an only child, so she’s never been around babies. They scare her. At least, they did, until she and Rick kept Cosmo.

Their exhaustion the morning after keeping the little guy was so typical, and very funny. Alexis’ line: “How long have I been gone?” when she came to the loft and found Martha feeding the baby and Kate and Rick passed out was priceless. I loved the way they staggered from the elevator later, even though each of them held a huge cup of coffee. So funny.

Poor Ryan never did get the hang of holding the little boy. The kid’s crying made him nervous, and he kept jostling Cosmo around. Only time and experience will help him once his own baby is born. I loved Esposito’s pep talk. He doesn’t have kids and refused to hold the baby, but he was right on target when he told Kevin he’d do just fine.

The scene with Rick and Kate in the dumpster being honest with one another was the best by far, IMHO. I loved that Rick admitted having an ulterior motive for bringing the baby home. Yes, he likes kids, but he also was testing Kate after she told him she “didn’t do babies”. Going it alone with Alexis after Meredith exited stage left was tough, and he doesn’t want to go that route again. He wanted to make sure Kate would be there for their child, and she assured him she would.

I love that they’re talking about having kids, and that the family is getting along so well. Alexis and Rick have made up, and even Pi and Kate’s dad were contributing to Thanksgiving dinner. I’m thankful, of course, that we didn’t have to actually see Pi, but I would have loved a longer family scene at the end — even with Kate dressed like Pocahontas. What a mean trick! She turned the tables on Rick, though, by making him put on the pilgrim outfit, and I loved it. She knows him well, doesn’t she?

All in all, even with the weird case and the Pocahontas get up, I loved this episode. Kate and Rick keeping a baby, talk about having babies of their own in a year or two, and lots of wonderful family moments. Doesn’t get any better than that.

We won’t have a new Castle episode to blog about until January 6th because we have one less week between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. I hope all of you have a fabulous holiday season. See you next year!

Lee Lofland

Well, since the case was a bit odd with a totally predictable conclusion, I’m going to skip most of it and only point out the things that might be of interest to writers, and to those of you who might be a tad curious about police procedure.

– Matching the howling wolf tattoo with a tattoo on file in the prison system… Yes, prisons do maintain image files of inmate tattoos. However, I don’t believe a nationwide database of tattoos is in place at this time. The federal government, however, plans to have a tattoo database in operation sometime in 2014. Its purpose is to identify gang affiliations, and for other investigative purposes. The images are gathered at the time of arrest and from inmates already in custody.

– Lanie somehow and magically determined that “due to the severity of the victim’s wounds” he could have survived after receiving the gunshot wounds only for the time it took him to drive twenty blocks. So that’s an official Lanie indicator of time of death? I can see it now. Coroner at scene – “Given the severity of the wounds…well, I’d say that’s a 40-blocker. Fifty, tops.”

– Esposito again used the current acronym BOLO (Be On The Lookout) instead of the antique APB (All Point Bulletin). They’ve finally moved into the current era, and that’s a good thing.

– Use of GPS to track location and movement of cabs, limos, service vehicles (plumbers, electricians, etc.) and police vehicles is commonplace.

– Beckett and crew discover a bloodstain pattern on a wall. The team had it tested and determined the blood belonged to someone related to the baby. But we never saw or heard that anyone obtained a sample from Cosmo. I guess we were supposed to assume they did. And that’s how it would be determined in real life—testing both to determine if there was indeed a match.

– Dumpster-diving for evidence. Dumpsters, especially those near a crime scene, are prime places to search since fleeing bad guys often toss evidence inside. Sometimes cops get really lucky and find the bad guy(s) themselves hiding out among spoiled cabbage, old newspapers, and dirty diapers.

– Ping pong balls. I’m mentioning them only to point out that in days long ago, ping pong tables were available in some prisons as part of inmate recreation. Prisoners in those institutions were allowed to purchase their own ping pong balls from the commissary. Those inmates were also permitted to buy small cans of lighter fluid for their Zippo lighters (who out there doesn’t see the formula for something bad). Anyway, prisoners often used the two as an effective weapon, and they did so by punching a small hole in a ball and filling it with lighter fluid. Then they set it on fire and immediately rolled the flaming orb under an enemy’s bed where it hit wall and set the bedding on fire. Needless to say, it only took proactive prison officials a couple of years to decide selling lighter fluid to inmates was not a particularly good idea, especially since many were convicted arsonists. Duh.

– The final confrontation with the “oh-so-predictable” bad guys was typical TV, especially typical for Castle. During the scene we heard several pistol slides “racking.” Of course, you all know that police officers in the U.S. carry a round in the chamber. Therefore, racking the slide (something TV people think sounds cool, I guess) would only serve to eject the loaded round, leaving the officer with one less bullet. A live round that would then bounce around on the pavement, or into tall grass where it could later be found by a curious squirrel.

I guess then the only defense against an armed squirrel would be more squirrels with bullets…

Well, that wraps up our 2013 reviews, and as Melanie said, we wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving. If you’re traveling to Grandma’s house this week, please be careful.

 

Am I the only person in TV Viewerland who caught the significance of the scene involving Beckett and Castle’s big cat poster/painting? You know, the one where she made him hide his “lion” eyes… Get it? The Eagles song, Lyin’ Eyes. Oh, stop with the groaning. It’s just my quirky and corny sense of humor leaking out on this happy 11-12-13 day.

Okay, since my little joke fell flat, I’ll turn things over to Melanie.

Melanie Atkins

I liked this episode. It didn’t make my top ten list, but it kept my attention. My favorite part, of course, centered around Rick and Kate’s tug-of-war over the huge painting of Linus the lion in Rick’s bedroom, but I have to admit the case grabbed me, too. I could have done without so many bad clown puns after the dudes in the clown masks ambushed Ryan and Esposito, but all in all I enjoyed this one.

I won’t address any of the forensics or the case itself, since I’m sure Lee will tackle that. I’d rather focus on Linus. Kate still has her apartment, but apparently she doesn’t stay there much. Every time we’ve seen her lately, she’s been at the loft, waking up in Rick’s bed. Has she officially moved in? I don’t think so, but she seems to be making herself right at home. I mean, asking Rick to move Linus, a fixture in his man-cave bedroom? Go Kate!

The two of them are obviously getting closer, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Kate didn’t ditch her apartment pretty soon and move all of her stuff into the loft. Not that Rick has asked her to move in with him… but then again, he’s a guy. She stays at his place most nights anyway, so inviting her to live with him probably hasn’t even crossed his mind. Or maybe he doesn’t want to push her too far too fast — a scenario that doesn’t really ring true since she accepted his proposal and has been urging him to look at wedding venues. I prefer to believe they’ve just been busy and are taking their time. Why rush the inevitable when they already stay together most nights?

Rick’s compromise at the end of the show by replacing the painting of Linus with a shadow box of shells he and Kate picked up together in the Hamptons spoke volumes about his willingness to welcome her into his home. No, wait. Their home.

I look forward to next week’s episode, described by some as the “double doppelganger” episode. Lee should love it because it features two Lanies (even though one is on a slab). Right, Lee?

Lee Lofland

All right, let’s place all our cards on the table. First of all, this episode, in my opinion, was the best of the season so far. I say that because there was a little something for everyone—romance, a murder, a story with nice twists and turns, and a killer who wasn’t obviously obvious. Yes, the writers fooled me this time. However…

Lanie, Lanie, Lanie. She was doing just fine until she used the “L” word (lividity). Lanie told Beckett that she based the victim’s time of death (TOD) on body temperature and lividity. Everyone knows about lividity right? Good. I won’t go into too much detail, then. What I will say is this. In short, post-mortem lividity is the purplish discoloration of the skin after death, due to gravity pulling the blood to the lowest portion(s) of the body. Once there, as decomposition progresses, the vessels break down and cause the eggplant color staining of the surrounding flesh. Lividity is quite visible and is sometimes mistaken (by the layperson) as severe bruising.

Okay, back to Lanie. The murder victim, Alice Clark, died in a seated position. Therefore, gravity would have pulled the victim’s blood to the lowest part(s) of her body—her lower legs, feet, and her rear end. Since poor little Alice Clark was fully clothed when Lanie arrived and was still fully clothed when Lanie offered her...sigh...voodoo/Ouija Board predictions, there was no way she’d have seen any signs of lividity other than in/on the victim’s bare hands.

Lividity is not the best indicator of time of death since it becomes fixed (the process is complete) at around the 12-hour mark (after death). During that 12-hour +/- period, if the body is moved (rolled over, for example), the staining of tissue will then move to the latest low point. Once fixed, though, the staining will no longer transfer.

Anyway, to get back on point, Lanie was basically gazing into a crystal ball for this TOD prediction.

It was nice to see the “I can do everything and anything” IT woman search the database of license plates that was generated by the many license plate readers located throughout the city, and mounted on police vehicles. This is a very real and current technology that’s catching on across the country. In fact, there are grants available to police agencies that help them purchase the devices.

The shootout scene between Ryan and Esposito and the clowns (the bad guys wore clown masks) was especially well done. One tiny thing, and I realize the options were limited, but it’s best to not run in a straight line if you’re trying to escape gunfire. A moving target that’s zig-zagging is much more difficult to hit. Running away in a straight line makes for an easy target. Still, this was a great scene, and the facial expressions (not those of the clowns) were a nice bit of acting.

As I said earlier, the writers fooled me this time. I didn’t guess the killer’s identity until the last scene just seconds before the confession.

Overall, this was a really nice episode. I needed it, too, because it looks like we’ll be getting a double dose of Lanie next week.

Oh, I almost forgot…No Pi, and no whiny Alexis this week. Even Gates was okay. Well, with the exception that they all still address her as “Sir.” That is so dumb.

How about you? What did you think of this episode? Good? Bad? Just happy that Pi didn’t show up?

Finally, the real Lyin’ Eyes…

 

 

Finally, Castle and crew were back together again for this week’s episode, and they were where they should be, at the NYPD. The show was a mixture of fun, surprises, and who knew Esposito would be a Dr. Who fan? The chemistry was there as were Castle’s snappy one-liners and boyish humor and imagination. Beckett was back in charge, tough, and a touch on the gritty side. Overall, this was a really good episode.

Let’s see what Melanie has to say about this one.

Melanie Atkins

Loved this episode of Castle almost as I did the one last week, even though it had a different flavor. The Back to the Future storyline was a little out there, yes… but it flowed seamlessly and kept my interest, Lanie had good lines, and we only had to endure Pi in one tiny scene. That alone made the show tops in my book. I’m ready for that fruitcake to beam himself to Mars.

My favorite parts, as usual, were the family moments between Rick and Alexis and Rick and Kate. I also loved the message from the future for our dynamic duo… along with Kate’s shy smile and Rick’s delighted grin. The man mentioned they married and had three kids, and neither of them freaked out? They are definitely making progress.

After the usual body drop at the beginning of the show, Rick’s painful meet-up with the belt Pi left on the living room floor led to a unpleasant confrontation with Alexis. Rick told her Pi had to go, and she basically said, “No problem. We’re moving out.” Rick, of course, had a cow. He did his best to talk her out of it, even suggesting she move back into the dorm and give her relationship with Pi a year to see what happened between them. Alexis politely declined.

Rick’s sadness over his daughter’s defection broke my heart, but he had to know she would move out sooner or later. He just wanted it to happen later. Much later. In wifely fashion, Kate did her best to soothe his fears and reassure him he still had milestones to go with Alexis, plus special times for him and Kate as a couple. He agreed but was still dejected about his daughter shacking up with the fruitarian. I don’t blame him, but like Alexis said, she is nineteen. Letting go is hard. I’m glad Rick has Kate to help him through it.

The circuitous plot intrigued me. Even the title, Time Will Tell, speaks of Rick and Kate’s relationship. Will they really marry and have three kids? Only time will tell. Get it?

I thought the story was well written and fun and wasn’t surprised to learn series creator and showrunner Andrew Marlowe and his wife Terri Edda Miller wrote it. I always love their episodes. Best. Show. Ever. I could watch Castle every day.

By the looks of the promo, next week’s show has a Di Vinci Code vibe. Another unusual plot, and more of Rick’s fascination with the oddities of life. Nathan nails it every time.

Lee Lofland

All right, Caste fans. Here’s something you don’t often hear from me. I liked this episode. Yes, from beginning to end I liked this episode and here’s why.

First of all, the show works best when Beckett is the woman in charge while she’s at work, because that’s what she does best. Solving murders and leading “the team” is her thing. Then, when she and Castle are on their own time, Beckett lets down her guard and her vulnerable side begins to appear. Castle…well, he’s a big kid who just happens to be good at solving crimes and is always vulnerable for a bashing of his emotions.

This is a show that doesn’t need gimmicks to maintain high ratings. Castle fans don’t need sloppy, silly detectives who eat junk food nonstop. And they don’t need obnoxious boyfriends for Alexis. Just give the audience a decent story/plot, some humor, and a bit of goo-goo eyes and touchy-feely-kissy moments between Castle and Beckett, and they’re good to go. In other words, Castle fans want and deserve the Castle they all know and love. This week, that’s what they got.

Next, the case this week was believable. Yes, there are people out there, and cops deal with them every day, who’re from Mars or Venus, or they’re John Lennon or JFK reincarnated. Maybe they’re the little man in the refrigerator who operates the switch for the light that comes on when you open the door. Whatever the case may be, these people are out there and they roam our streets searching for their next ride to the planet du jour. So, yes, the man-from-the-future plot was totally believable.

Even my dear old buddy Lanie was in top form last night. Jones delivered her lines perfectly, and her character was believable. I nearly jumped out of my chair when she said she’d have to get the body back to her office before she could come up with a time of death (TOD). Good line and believable.

Although, the lipstick/blacklist thing was a little wacky. How’d she know the spots on the victim’s neck were lipstick? No testing had been performed. Although, there are brands of fluorescent lipstick and other makeup products out there that do indeed glow brightly when exposed to black light. I guess it’s supposed to be a cool thing in nightclubs. Who knows, maybe Lanie dresses up and parties hard after a long day of slicing and dicing bodies.

– The victim du jour received a viscous slash to the throat, and she was electrocuted. Beckett seemed to believe the victim’s killer was a woman (due to the lipstick/kisses on the neck). As a rule, female killers do not torture or kill their victims in “up close and personal” and violent means. Normally, when a woman kills she prefers to do so from a distance, such as poisoning or with a firearm. Or, by hiring someone to do the job for her. Males are the sloppy killers who don’t mind a little blood on their hands, and perhaps a struggle with the victim. A detective’s gut feeling and past experience should have had Beckett keeping the possibility of a female killer on the back burner.

– Finally, after all these years, Beckett used the acronym BOLO (Be On The Lookout) instead of the dated and rarely, if ever used, APB (All Points Bulletin). First Lanie and now this. Hmm…Maybe someone’s reading this blog????

– The prostitute’s “manager” told Beckett that he had a former “cellie,” Garrett Ward, who could be good for the murder. Great touch of realism here, since cellie is a term that’s actually used by inmates when referring to the prisoners who share their prison or jail cells.

– Beckett and Castle head into an abandoned power plant to search for the ruthless and brutal killer, Garrett Ward. First of all, this search should have been conducted by a team of officers, not by a lone detective and her unarmed writer boyfriend. And, as usual, Beckett is surprised by the bad guy who promptly knocks her unconscious. Did she lose grip on her gun, even if only for brief time during the thug-induced blackout? Probably so.

So Castle, jumps on the behemoth’s back in a Curly-esque (Three Stooges) move, but the tables are quickly turned, leaving Castle against a wall with the killer’s hands around his neck in a deadly choke. But he’s saved from death by the appearance of little Simon Doyle (Joshua Gomez, formerly of NBC’s Chuck, and the Beatlemania tour where he played George Harrsion).

Of course, Beckett is only out for a few seconds but recovers without even the teeniest bit of grogginess or even a single strand of hair out of place (see yesterday’s blog post about blows to the head). She also managed to come up with her weapon pointing at Doyle.

– I did find it odd that the professor’s wife didn’t seem at all disturbed by the fact that her husband had just been brutally killed right before her eyes. But, people grief in different ways.

Okay, as you’ve seen, there was not a lot of police procedure to pick apart, and what was there was probably the best I’ve seen on this show since day one (yes, including Lanie). The thing I found most impressive was that the case actually unfolded in a way that’s quite similar to a real life case. There were no goofy red herrings. In fact, we all knew the killer’s identity early on and Beckett and crew pursued him ruthlessly, as any good detective should.

So yes, I enjoyed this episode, and I’m happy to say…THEY’RE BACK!

Still, Pi’s absolutely got to go…

 

What do you get when you have five law enforcement officers pointing their weapons at another law enforcement official who’s pointing a gun at them? Answer—a somewhat lame episode of Castle. However, at least Beckett didn’t lose her gun this week. That’s a big point in her favor. But did she score any points in the “love department?” Let’s see what Melanie thought about that aspect of this episode. Melanie…

Melanie Atkins

The latest episode of Castle was more fun, because they were back in NYC… even though Kate is still working for the AG’s office when the show opens. Pi was just as annoying, and I thought the case was lame, but I did love the opening scene. They fooled me at first, making me think Rick and Kate were enjoying a little pillow talk in the same bed, while in reality they were in separate cities enjoying a little romantic face-time. Bummer. It was a sweet scene, though.

I was glad to see more of Ryan and Esposito, and even for Castle to knock heads with Gates. Made it feel more like a Castle episode of old. Then in waltzed the feds, in the form of Kate and her partner Rachel McCord, and I got kind of irritated… even though I was delighted to have Kate back at the precinct. McCord grates on my nerves almost as much as Pi does, and I don’t like Kate as a fed. She’s obviously not happy having to come in and take over, and she doesn’t like the way federal agents have to cave and go with half-truths in order to appease the powers-that-be above them. So why does she stay?

Having Kate and Rick back together at the precinct was good, but they didn’t really interact that much, and that bothered me. They also didn’t kiss or hug. Really? After being apart so much? Then Rick asked Kate to go the loft with him for the night, and she turned him down to hang out with McCord? That seemed way out of character after the show’s intimate first scene. I mean, come on. The two of them obviously miss each other. She should have jumped at the chance.

Of course, I really don’t think she wants to stay in DC anymore, as evidence by her handing Rick a memory stick with evidence that effectively leaked CIA intel so the NYPD could solve their murder case. Who does that? Even with her desire to bring closure to victims’ families (and to choose black and white over gray) she surprised me with that little stunt. Then she leaked even more info to the press as an “anonymous source” that compromised yet another facet of the CIA’s operation.

Even with that, I loved the scene at the end with her and Rick snuggling on the couch, and then talking about how their long distance relationship wasn’t working. Rick was so sweet to get them a place in DC so they could be together. My question is: Why didn’t he move there with her when she first went? That really didn’t make any sense to me. Now, of course, it’s a moot point, because McCord crashed their party and fired Kate. (Does she even have the authority to do that? Kate’s firing did seem logical after all she’d done, but isn’t McCord an agent, too?)

Heck, I almost believe Kate wanted to get fired… and I’m surprised she didn’t get into even more trouble, whether McCord had the authority to let her go or not. Finally, after all this time, Kate is moving back to New York. I didn’t really like the way the writers handled the situation, but I’m glad she’s coming home. Maybe now things on Castle will get back to normal and we’ll get to see a little more lovey-dovey interaction.

Lee Lofland

Before I dive into my part of the review, I want to once again explain why I pick apart the police and forensics aspect of Castle, so here goes (this is mainly for the diehard Castle fans who frequent forums, posting messages that clearly show a misunderstanding of the purpose of these blog posts). Anyway, it was near the beginning of season one when group of writers contacted me and asked if I’d watch this really cool show about a mystery writer who tagged along with a police detective. They said the show was definitely a winner, however, the writers were a bit skeptical about the police procedure featured on the show. They were concerned that what they’d seen wouldn’t happen in real life and they feared making the same mistakes in their books (TV viewers, for some reason, are far more forgiving than readers for extreme stretching of reality).

So, this review of the police procedure was born. Melanie joined a couple of seasons later to offer her take of the Castle/Beckett relationship aspect. To answer the question I see quite often…yes, I do enjoy the show (most of the time). So there you have it, loyal and dedicated fans of the show. Now for the dissection.

The episode was a bit scattered. but it did have some fun old-school Castle moments (Fillion could make an undertaker smile in mid-funeral). The opening crime scene was also Castle-ish and well done. It would be a perfect fit for the show “1,000 Ways To Die.”

Perlmutter was back again last night and, as always, he’s a perfect fit for the show. He’s funny and he’s believable, even when delivering the same sort of lame lines written for both he and Lanie.

The case, involving a spoof of Saved By The Bell, was not well thought out by the writers, nor was it a particularly good case. It had the potential of becoming a great show, but fell short. Still, it served its purpose of reuniting Beckett with her former crew, including Castle. Speaking of Beckett and Castle…you’d never know she and Castle were romantically involved if you were seeing this show for the first time. Actually, Beckett could easily win the title “Ice Princess” for her standoffish attitude toward Castle.

– Gates was back to set up the appearance of Beckett and her “fed” partner, a character that’s totally unbelievable and belongs in this show about as much as that irritating papaya and mango munching Pi kid. Oh, and the new detective, the one who eats all the time and tosses garbage all over the place…he’s got to go. What’s wrong with the writers of this show? Have they not seen old rerun episodes of shows like Bewitched and All In The Family, where all of a sudden a new kid is introduced and was almost immediately followed by a big fat series cancellation notice?

– The feds ride into town and take over the murder investigation. How unbelievably cliche and totally boring. Besides, that’s not how it works in real life, folks. You’ve all heard this time and time again, so I won’t go into detail. You all know better, right? The feds have no authority over local detectives/officers, meaning they can’t boss them around.

– Perlmutter was doing a fantastic job until he told Esposito and Ryan that he ran a painstaking analysis of the chicken poo found in the shoe treads of the murder victim. For starters, why would anyone run an analysis of the poo, knowing that city rooftops are covered in pigeon droppings? A medical examiner or coroner would need to have a reason for wanting the analysis conducted and, at the time Perlmutter had none. By the way, a test of this nature would be conducted by a laboratory scientist.

– The crew learned that the chicken droppings actually came from a poultry processing plant in New York city. Well, I don’t know how many of you have ever been inside a processing plant of this type (I have), but the animals aren’t loose and running around the place. In fact, normally they come to facilities already deceased, without feathers and ready to be divided into various ready-to-cook portions.

Hey, speaking of chicken processing…did you see news stories this week about Chicken Nuggets and the fact that they’re actually made from yummy chicken parts such as organ meat, ground blood vessels, bones, fat, cartilage, and nerves? Sounds tasty, huh?

– Okay, so Beckett didn’t lose her gun this week. That was a plus. However, while the major law enforcement cast of the show was in the chicken factory, another federal agent (my DVR skipped a few seconds during this scene so I wasn’t able to determine which of the three-letter agencies this guy represented) got “the drop” on them, pointing a fancy, probably automatic, pistol in their direction. I wonder, though, why he, knowing the others were police officers, held them at gunpoint? I know, it added a bit of tension to a show that sorely lacked tension in any form. This scene came across as forced and silly, much like the Russian gun-running scheme involving a Screech (Saved By The Bell character) wannabe as a spy for the CIA.

– Then came the reason the writers chose as the excuse to get Beckett back to New York…her federal agent partner stopped by to fire her. Well, I hope you guys don’t for one minute think that’s how federal agents are dismissed from their duty. First comes a suspension, followed by official hearings and appeals processes, etc.

Besides, when Beckett tipped off the press, totally ruining a CIA case involving foreign spies and gun sales, well, needless to say, in the real world she’d probably be facing criminal charges. And, all of this seemed to be a total rush job to get the show back on track. One other thing. The CIA, as a rule, does not conduct criminal investigations. That’s for the FBI and the other law enforcement branches of the government. The CIA is all about spying on people and collecting information, not handcuffing and making arrests.

You know, I have a few ideas. Why not have the Castle crew stop trying to save the world and go back to solving homicides in New York City? I even have the first case for them to solve. Have the new, sloppy and always-eating detective, a guy who better fits into a Three Stooges episode, kill that nerve-plucking Pi by bludgeoning him to death with an over-sized Jackfruit. The burger-munching investigator could then devour the murder weapon, destroying all evidence of his crime. Or, they could send Pi over to the Homeland set where he could hook up with Dana and they could make annoying faces at each other until they both die from irritating dorkiness.

Hey, that’s no sillier than some of the things the writers have subjected us to over the years (the Scared To Death episode, the zombies, and let’s not forget the man eating tiger that almost made a nice lunch out of Beckett and Esposito).

Ah, the good old days, when Castle was fun to watch. Will we ever see them again?