S07.E04: Child's Play

[sinkwriter]

 

Bonding with her future stepmom over solving a case...my ears perk up.

 

I agree. I think that could have been an interesting episode.

[KaveDweller]

Bonding with her future stepmom over solving a case...my ears perk up.

 

This show is completely uninterested in showing Alexis/Kate bonding scenes, or really any kind of scenes between them at all.  I have no idea why that is.

[verdana]

I don't even care about Pi. Forget it.

After the spoon feeding she's dead to me.

 

I know I keep saying this. But I feel like I need a support group or something.

 

I don't understand why they went that far??!!

 

Fawning over him with dinner was fine, asking where he was going was fine, packing a lunch could have been funny.

 

But chasing him down for breakfast and then feeding him. I just can't. I won't!

Heh, I hope you get the counselling you need, poor Alexis (and Molly) they really don't know what to do with her any more. She's probably the most divisive character on the show based on the reactions I see on tumblr at least. 

 

This season hasn't been nearly as bad as season 6 (yet) I have to say on the Alexis front but what they end up doing still misses the mark. 

[verdana]

Castle: Child’s Play – A Good Cop/Bad Cop Review by Lee Lofland who thought overall the show was pretty a pretty good this week, even Lanie got a break, steady on Lee!  He does take issue with Beckett's shoes though and from the picture angle he's got yeah they look ridiculous but they always have been Lee, she's never going to be wearing flat clumpy shoes. 

[turnitwayup]

If they want to give Alexis a storyline, why not focus on her picking a major in school? She would have to do that around now. Or do they not want to commit to anything so they can use a random class as a plot point (like interning with Lanie or working the death penalty case). And Castle would obviously have an opinion on what she's choosing to do with her life.

If there's an 8th season and they show her graduate, the way it's going, her major will probably be an afterthought with a random line. Instead of finding out what she's interested in career wise and having convos about it, we get to see onscreen her kidnapping with a friend, a half season of Pi and she's off studying all night one liners. Even when she did the the death penalty case last season, a few months before that she was in Costa Rica studying something else. She's a junior so she should've picked a major by now. What happen to the girl that would take extra classes so she could do an internship or graduate early options? She used to have a goal but now it seems like she has no direction and is just taking random classes when they get mentioned. Now if the show manages to get a 9th season it's gonna look strange that Alexis is just hanging around the loft unless she's gonna be the Caskett baby sitter. By then they should just write her out and have her back occasionally for holiday eps. On the other hand if they couldn't even bother to have Jim onscreen for Thanksgiving, wedding planning, etc... then Alexis is probably not needed either.

[sinkwriter]

That's what's ridiculous to me about how they utilize Alexis. It's like they have so much trouble giving her something to do, when they could have had organic reasons for her to be there in so many ways based on what was going on in Castle's life. She could be getting to know Beckett. We could have family scenes between Castle, Beckett, Martha and Alexis. Or between Castle and Alexis. Or any combination of the four. When she was kidnapped and returned, we could have had scenes between Martha and Alexis, or Castle and Alexis, or - if they really wanted to have her discuss trauma with someone who understands - Alexis and Beckett. Or all of the above. When Castle was missing, we could have had scenes between Alexis and her grandmother, Beckett, even demanding that Ryan and Esposito keep looking for her dad because he wouldn't just take off and leave her worrying about him. But we got none of those. And it's baffling to me! Why don't we see these things? They can't say they don't have anything for her or Martha to do, when there's plenty of options.

 

And what really throws me is that they used to do it really well. They had terrific scenes between Castle and his family, and had even started incorporating Beckett into the mix, when there was that jewelry heist episode, and Beckett and Castle went to the fancy party and at the end she sat down with the gals and told them about the big red carpet event as the episode went to black. It was so sweet. And Beckett and Alexis used to trust one another - Alexis went to her for "going away for a semester abroad" advice. So where's the relationships based on these foundations? Why are the showrunners forgetting their own work??

[verdana]

Nice to see some easy affection between Caskett in the loft.  The peck on the lips was fine but I couldn't help notice again how the area where their faces touched was a complete black blob on my screen again.  Not surprised since it's Bowman, but I find they don't light their faces in kisses a lot on this show.  Even if it's in the daytime with the lights on.  Why do their faces almost always have to be in shadow when they kiss?  Don't get it.

Because as Bowman himself has admitted when he was asked about this back in 2012 it means that you can "give it to them without giving it to them" and compared it to his work on the Xfiles and how he brought that intent and look with him on to Castle. I never believed the camera operators were incompetent so it's obviously a policy on the show to do this wherever possible.

 

And yes, I thought Caskett came across as really bad, careless cops in the last scene because they seemed completely ill-prepared for the Bad Guy and it could have gone down a lot worse.  That guy could have shot Beckett in the head just like that.  That kind of thing just takes me out of an action scene, no matter how well the fight is choreographed later on.

That scene was a mess, really awful, it was embarrassing actually. I hate it when they make Beckett especially ill prepared or incompetent and she looked it there.

[sinkwriter]

 

Molly is not all episodes produced. Which means she is not contracted to be in every episode so when they do put her in they want to make it count.

 

This one annoys me because I don't feel like they have made it count when she's in an episode. Not in a few seasons, so I don't think they're planning well or writing well. It's like they've forgotten all their past history they've built for this character and her relationships with all other characters on the show. I find that really frustrating.

[verdana]

 

And what really throws me is that they used to do it really well. They had terrific scenes between Castle and his family, and had even started incorporating Beckett into the mix, when there was that jewelry heist episode, and Beckett and Castle went to the fancy party and at the end she sat down with the gals and told them about the big red carpet event as the episode went to black. It was so sweet. And Beckett and Alexis used to trust one another - Alexis went to her for "going away for a semester abroad" advice. So where's the relationships based on these foundations? Why are the showrunners forgetting their own work??

Absolutely loved that moment, given the direction they were obviously heading with Castle and Beckett the easiest and most natural writing choice was surely to continue with integrating her into his family not to regress. It was so odd. And I can't tell if it's the script or the actress giving me this impression but the slowly developing understanding and warmth between them that I used to feel in those early days has also evaporated to a large degree. You ask a great question at the end there, I wish I knew because that's something which has frustrated me for a long time. 

Edited October 21, 2014 by verdana

[Ticketyboo23]

This episode was ok, could have been better. Personally I would have focused on the school with Beckett & a child psychiatrist sitting in a room watching & communicating with Castle. It would have allowed better interaction & less jumping between the school & precinct. There were just two many elements introduced & to squeeze them all in nothing was explored properly- the writers have been guilty of that before. It made the episode feel bitty & incomplete.

I feel bad for the character of Alexis. Both she & Beckett have suffered by being sacrificed to achieve what have turned out in the end to be whopping great clangers of plot mistakes. There was so much mileage in Alexis being a bit jealous, competing for attention & a little conflict with Beckett over the past. However, since the writers seem by & large to be unable to do anything less subtle than a smack in the mouth, for many the character has been tainted & can't enjoy her when she is being reasonable.

I worry about Castle at the moment. Having upset so many with the non wedding they needed to come strong out the gate & so far they compounded their error with the opening episode. They lost a lot of leeway with the start of S6 & they cannot afford to keep messing up with the big plot cliffhangers. They need to start delivering regularly.

[Driad]

 

Castle didn't tell the kids that he was looking for the witness in the ice cream truck, did he?  If not, how did the boy know that his drawing of the ice cream truck would interest Castle?

[verdana]

Someone on a blog I follow thought she was probably contracted to appear in a minimum of thirteen episodes a season and by "appear" it could mean literally just a token appearance at times but she has to be included. Which explains the sometimes awkward and even embarrassing outings she's had in the past where she will "pop" up suddenly for no real reason whatsoever to act out some really contrived stupid B story.

[sinkwriter]

 

 

Her guarantee is actually 10/13ths of all episodes produced.

So she gets paid for about 17 shows a season whether she appears in 17 or not.

 

Cut to me singing, "Nice work if you can get it..." 

[Ticketyboo23]

Castle didn't tell the kids that he was looking for the witness in the ice cream truck, did he?  If not, how did the boy know that his drawing of the ice cream truck would interest Castle?

I get the idea that the truck would be weighing on the child's mind but giving it to Castle was a bit of a stretch. It would have been better for the teacher to have got them to draw him a going away present & the truck was part of the pile.

[sinkwriter]

What was weird to me was that he somehow smuggled that picture into Castle's pocket, but didn't seem to actually want to talk with him about it and got all defensive and "bratty kid" with him even after smuggling the picture to him. Wasn't it his way of letting Castle know that he knew something about the case? I suppose they were trying to say that his bully-like attitude was because of his trauma? But he wasn't in the truck, so he didn't actually see anything or know anything except that his sister was somehow involved, right? So he wasn't actually traumatized; he was just a bratty bully.

 

(And though she probably shouldn't have done it, I did silently cheer a little for the little girl standing up for herself and punching him in the nose. "I used my fairy princess power to stop him!" LOL.)

[verdana]

Also are they still screwed on their timelines again? Because I'm sure Beckett says he's been back a "few weeks" at the start of the episode yet we're in October now presumably on the show since I thought it followed real time as close as possible.  So her comment makes no sense whatsoever.

[KaveDweller]

He does take issue with Beckett's shoes though and from the picture angle he's got yeah they look ridiculous but they always have been Lee, she's never going to be wearing flat clumpy shoes.

 

He's really gotta let the shoe thing go.

 

Possible they think she has grown up into not such a great actress so they try to utilize her less.

 

I actually think Molly's pretty good though.  When they have given her interesting stuff (the kidnapping, the dealth penalty thing) she comes through.  She's really irritating in interviews, but she can act.  Maybe she just needs good writing. Or she needs drama, and isn't great at the lighter stuff? Or that her doing the "I'm the kid who's super-responsible" act isn't cute now that she's older and they need to stop writing Alexis that way.

 

Because I'm sure Beckett says he's been back a "few weeks" at the start of the episode yet we're in October now presumably on the show since I thought it followed real time as close as possible.

 

A few weeks can be anywhere between 3 and 5, so I don't see how that contradicts anything. In the premiere. Didn't Castle's hospital bracelet in the premiere say October on it? So, while it doesn't make sense that October is two months after their May wedding, if it has been 1 week between each episode it works out since then.

Edited October 21, 2014 by KaveDweller

[S55]

I don't think they screwed up again. I think they screwed the pooch the first time saying two months since the wedding.

Didn't his hospital bracelet say September?

 

It said Oct. 2, which many noticed (including me) because that date was ~ahead of the episode air date (Sept. 29). 

[McManda]

His hospital bracelet said October 2nd, 2014 (10/02/2014). The program they had at their almost-wedding said May 11th, 2014 (5/11/2014). Castle was MIA for 8 weeks.

 

Basically they have no idea because the props tend to stick close to the actual airdate but that doesn't always fit the in-show timeline. I wouldn't think to hard about it because it's just not going to make sense if you use the dates off the props. It's easier to think that they were getting married in the spring, Castle was missing for 8 weeks, he's been back a few weeks, and there we are.

 

I have no idea how they're going to fit in a Christmas episode, though.

[KaveDweller]

I wouldn't think to hard about it because it's just not going to make sense if you use the dates off the props. It's easier to think that they were getting married in the spring, Castle was missing for 8 weeks, he's been back a few weeks, and there we are.

 

TV timelines are always messed up.  I used to watch Passions, and they would have the same day go on for months.  Literally.  I used to count because it got so ridiculous and they once they went 55 episodes (it was on 5 times a week) without have a new day start.  I think New Years Day and Easter happened in the same day.

 

That must have desensitized me, because stuff like that doesn't annoy me anymore.  It can be fun to point out though.

[McManda]

That must have desensitized me, because stuff like that doesn't annoy me anymore.  It can be fun to point out though.

 

Yep, I just think it's interesting. I also like to see if I can find times on clocks to see if they make any significant jumps or if they reset the clocks for each take or whatever.

 

As long as I have a general idea of a timeline, that's good enough for me.

[Elysium1973]

You know what bothers me though? There just really isn't any excuse for laziness like that. There are entire departments who's job it is to make sure shit like that doesn't happen. The script supervisor is in charge of continuity and making sure everything looks the same from the last shot. The art department is in charge of making props and dressing the set and making sure sloppy shit like that doesn't get on camera (like the stuff with the ring in CAPD). The costume department (such as it is) is responsible for every piece of clothing and jewelry that the actors wear. These people are ON SET for every take so there's really no excuse for those kind of screwups. In my line of work, I can't afford to make a mistake. If I miss a diagnosis on a patient or fail to order the right test or prescribe the wrong medication, someone could die. Yeah, it's "just" entertainment, but when I was working in the business all the crew I worked with took a great deal of pride in their work. They had to or they wouldn't be hired again.

[juniorasparagus]

Why didn't they just collect the permission forms and determine that the witness was the one who didn't hand one in?  Or at least narrow it down that way?  But of course then we wouldn't have had hilarity ensue with Castle in the classroom.

[FlickerToAFlame]

Yeah, I'm not really sure how some of these mistakes happen. But Rob Kyker, prop guy, is on Twitter and you can bet he gets hundreds of reminder tweets every day about every single prop error/inconsistency on the show. He responds to a lot of them actually. You'd think the constant prop shaming would make him be a little more diligent.

[TWP]

Regarding this:

"I think it might have worked better if Child's Play followed Montreal and they had built up her clinginess starting with their trip to that bank. It gets resolved in this ep then have Clear & Present Danger air since she wasn't around and was going on with her life offscreen. Plus we could've had 3 seasons in a row with the 4th ep being enjoyable."

If they'd followed that order, it would have delayed the Caskett-heavy episode and who knows what the size of the revolt would be ;-).

[turnitwayup]

 

Also are they still screwed on their timelines again?

 

It's been like that since s6. Before they would have see you in the fall for the s2 to s3 hiatus, Beckett at her dad's cabin for the time jump in Rise, s5 could be played up to Beckett being suspended for half of the summer before jumping back to the fall with Secret's Safe with Me. Cloudy had Alexis and Martha in Europe. They just got really sloppy last season with the same date on Need To Know and Time Will Tell plus the whole bts screenshot of the computer at the clerk's office. Nathan gave away the Driven hospital bracelet at Nerd HQ this summer but I don't remember if he gave away the one from Dreamworld the summer before cause who knows which date it had.

 

It seems like the show like to keep the Nikki Heat books release anytime from summer to fall so that Castle is doing his book tour offscreen during the hiatus. Naked Heat and Heat Rises seemed to have early fall releases. Heat Wave was probably mid fall since we got to see the release party and the Cosmo article interview was probably late summer. Frozen Heat seemed like it was a summer release since Gates was already reading it in Secret Safe With Me and Columbia starts in the beginning of Sep. Same with Deadly Heat. Another summer release since Castle finished his book tour while Beckett was 6 weeks into her training in DC. This season Raging Heat sales weren't mentioned in Montreal so it sounds like it hasn't been released yet or possibly released off screen 

and the sneak peek is to boost sales since Castle is back.

 

 

I have no idea how they're going to fit in a Christmas episode, though.

 

Yeah if they're going with Driven/Montreal as Oct then the wedding a month later as mentioned by Beckett would make sense to have it in Nov since Jim was suppose to be in Europe for work in Oct as mentioned in Deep Cover. It would make 6x06 to 6x08 set in Nov with unlikely Thanksgiving ep with 6x09 and 6x10 set in December with the Creaseys getting the XMas ep. This show seems to only pick 1 holiday to do each season expect 2 in s5 (s2: Halloween; s3/s5: Valentines; s4: none that I remember unless Demons was suppose to be set near Halloween but the holiday not mentioned or Castle's Halloween party; s5: XMas; s6: Thanksgiving). I just wished they would timelines and prop dept on the same page especially since it's early in the season and shouldn't be tired like they are at the end of the season.

[lorikauai]

I was distracted watching this episode because as soon as I saw Castle playing with the Perplexus I had to get out mine (um, I mean my kids'). It was an okay episode. I agree with everyone about Alexis.

[KaveDweller]

You know what bothers me though? There just really isn't any excuse for laziness like that.

 

I agree about prop and costume stuff.  But with the timeline they are sometimes kind of screwed because of the real time factor.  They want the date on the wedding invitation to match real time when the episode airs to not confuse people.  They also want the date shown in the premiere to match when it is airing.  But they only want there to be a 2 month jump. I don't think they should change that to a 4 month jump to fit with the hiatus. They should just avoid dates completely.  I don't have a problem with more time passing for us then it does on the show.

 

But, I guess that's why a lot of people assume there was a big jump between episodes 1 and 2 in season 5.  I always thought Beckett's suspension was just a couple weeks.  It seems unrealistic that she'd be suspended so long for what happened, and no one acted like a huge amount of time had passed (when they always have before).  In fact, I thought Castle and Beckett acted like they hadn't been together that long in Cloudy With a Chance of Murder. But since they didn't say anything specific everyone can just make up whatever they want in their heads.

 

I saw Castle playing with the Perplexus

 

Is that the maze thing he was playing with in the principal's office? I totally wanted to try that.

Edited October 22, 2014 by KaveDweller

[verdana]

Prop and costume stuff they need to get right, Elysium makes good points they should be getting that to match up, it's their job and it's not as if they're not there every day so what gives? Seems complacency rules, yet Rob Kyker is getting it in the neck non stop about things that get missed (I bet he wished he never set up his account) so you would think by now the poor sod would be making an extra special effort. Fans do notice these things (well some do) and it should be easy to get right, there really is no decent excuse. The fact they're already screwed up timeline wise is no surprise given they same thing happened in prior seasons too. 

 

Timelines don't bother me that much unless they say something that triggers me to think about it a little more but as long as they stick roughly to real time I'm okay with that, if I got a Christmas episode in the New Year then I'd be bitching or something so obviously glaring you can't avoid noticing the screw up. 

 

Back to Molly, as an actress I think she's fine, in the dramatic scenes she has been given she's been okay and the light stuff she usually sells it well and has good chemistry with Nathan and Susan. I do think it's the writing that's the problem in the main, they don't know how to give her a grown up storyline for some strange reason so she's stuck in this strange no man's land.  Although I thought her acting was bit off this episode, rather too "crazy eyed" and hyper for me at moments but again may be she was directed to go a bit overboard to emphasize the point they were trying to make that she had flipped out mentally over dad. Pity because it came over so clunky and OTT but then the writers seem to quite like doing that to bang home a point. 

[TWP]

For me, the visual inconsistencies are all over the place with this show. BIG eg.: Stana's hair is frequently different from scene cut to scene cut (probably somewhat due to use of body doubles), but plenty of other oopsies exist as well. I figure if they get the same clothes on the actors during scenes, I'm impressed. I would expect more from a movie, but this is a low budget compressed schedule TV show. It's fun to find the inconsistencies, but when I do {{{shrug}}}. Of course, I could care less about the ring or the wedding. Maybe if I cared, I'd feel differently.

Look at how awfully other TV shows are filmed. Look at how pathetic the old time series were. Are we still entertained? Yes. I guess it's better for my blood pressure to keep things in perspective. ;-). It's certainly better for enjoying a TV show that isn't exactly a work of genius (to say the least).

[KaveDweller]

Timelines don't bother me that much unless they say something that triggers me to think about it a little more but as long as they stick roughly to real time I'm okay with that, if I got a Christmas episode in the New Year then I'd be bitching or something so obviously glaring you can't avoid noticing the screw up.

 

Yeah, unless it is really noticable, I don't care about timeline issues.  Close to real time is good, but I wouldn't want them to alter the story just to keep consistent with real time.  Like with Castle being missing, I wouldn't have wanted them to have been missing almost 5 months (which would have a bigger impact on everyone) just so it matches with real time.  I think in the earlier seasons it made sense to have long jumps because they wanted to focus on Castle/Beckett coming back together after being apart.  But since they have been together, those jumps have been shorter because it's harder to find reasons for them to be apart.

 

Rob Kyker is getting it in the neck non stop about things that get missed (I bet he wished he never set up his account)

 

I once worked for a publishing company and had to write back to anyone who wrote letters/emails pointing out mistakes.  It was really annoying because a lot of people would write about the same issue.  And some people were really mean about it, but I always had to thank them for bringing it to our attention or some bs like that.  

 

I will say I can understand how some mistakes get made.  People are human and if TV/Movies are similar to publishing they have limited people and money but are still asked to do things really quickly.  When you make people work 80+ hour weeks you have to accept that things won't be totally perfect.  However, I do think Castle is pretty bad with stuff like this and that they may just be lazy and not just overworked.  Pretty much everyone involved is coasting.  As long as they make entertaining episodes, I don't mind too much. 

[Sonik Tooth]

This episode wasn’t really all that fun to watch.

 

The bad:

The continued nonchalance of Castle, and to an extent Beckett, about his missing/amnesia.

 

Anxious and clingy Alexis. All was played for laughs as the dialogue, acting and underlying music clearly indicated. And then it’s all funny until it’s not or “weird”, and then everything is solved with a minute of subpar Castle/ Alexis bonding scene. (Man, they used to be good at this…)

 

The contrast between hard and tough police work with hard and tough faces all around on the one hand and school kids shenanigans on the other hand also didn’t work for me.

 

This episode also showcased the underlying problem I have with the series. Castle is (at least a little bit) realistic in front of the murder board theorizing, in the interrogation room with a witness (not a murder suspect) or like in this episode “undercover” with a room full of potential witnesses. But taking him to places where there is a genuine risk of being ambushed, I have to say, Beckett, at least wait until you are married.

 

The good:
Castle’s sorely disappointed face and dismissive behaviour after learning that the giant story was about a movie,

 

the princess tea party, the advice and the consequent punching of Jason,

 

Miss Ruiz, and Fillion on a (his?) scooter.

[St. Claire]

I was trying like mad to figure out how I recognized the girl who played Emily- she reminds me of the "I didn't leave him cookies; I left him CHEESE!" girl from the Christmas commercial but that was in 2007, so the timeline doesn't fit. Then I realized that she was the little girl who freaked me out by speaking in Dennis Haysbert's voice in an Allstate ad a few years back. She's actually very good, I just don't feel comfortable with the voice coming out of her cute, pigtailed face.

[La Tortuga]

I don't keep up with the casts' personal lives, but is Stana Katic actually pregnant? Or is there just one of those rumor/speculation situations going on, where nobody really knows so they analyze her belly on camera for any available clue?

[verdana]

Stana pregnant? Don't think so not that I follow her private life much either. I don't know where the idea came from that she was pregnant unless it was because Kate seemed to react badly to the body they found in that apartment in the last episode. Then some fans started to presume this was a sign Beckett (or Stana?) was pregnant. But I didn't give it a second thought, I imagine you might want to throw up if a body is left decaying in some flat for a good while, the stench must be terrible.

 

Seems like a rumor that pops up every now and again with zero foundation to it.  

[McManda]

Yeah.

 

I think the speculation started with the high-waist, sorta ill fitting (and I say that because she wore them better than I ever could) black pants/jumpsuit thing from the EMAs. There was a belly cutout and between that and the high waist and the less than perfect fit, people started throwing around pregnancy.

 

Because heaven forbid a woman not be stick thin, zero percent body fat. (Let's be honest, Stana's still incredibly thin.) If she were really pregnant, I doubt she'd be down with doing her own stunts, and from what I can tell, she did a good amount of the struggling in the end fight at the end of this episode.

[verdana]

I can't believe people started speculating she might be pregnant due to that particular outfit even though it didn't fit that well, there's nothing to her, she's so slender.