S07.E10: Bad Santa

[S55]

A minor point I know, but where was Beckett's stocking? A former PA tweeted a BTS pic of Castle, Alexis and Martha's stockings, so I thought maybe we'd see Beckett's in a row next to theirs at some point during the episode, but we didn't see it at all. It might've been nice to see hers at some point, as a way to enfolding her into their Christmas traditions this year. Or they could've had her hang ornaments that meant something to her on the family tree too. Oh well. 

Edited December 9, 2014 by S55

[verdana]

The episode certainly wasn't full of much Christmas festive spirit and good cheer for the fans to see them through the winter hiatus what with Esplanie, (okay may be that was good news for many that they broke up), Castle getting banned from the precinct with Kate oblivious and a very brief family moment in the loft celebrating their first Christmas as husband and wife. In fact it's been noticeable how little time they've spent at home since they got married. I hope that pattern is not going to continue into 2015.

[Gant]

If I forget the Esplainie stuff, and don’t think too hard about this plot’s potential to suck later on, I can say that I actually liked this episode. For once, something was happening that is going to have a lasting impact on the characters, mob was fun and I thought that the chemistry was good between all of them (well, except Espo and Lainie, but what’s new), there were also nice moments for several characters acting-wise. I’m glad that Esplainie seems to be on the permanent hiatus right now (there is no telling that writers won’t resurrect it like in the past, out of the blue, to serve some plot point though). May be they saw it as I see it at last (lol) – as a chemistry black hole of a romance between the two least developed, most one-dimensional characters on the show, but who knows. I doubt they’re going to let go of the convenient “pairing the spares” trop that easily. We’ll see.

 

Mostly though I’m just glad that something is changing and is going to leave an impact, for better or worse (pardon the unintentional reminder). I’m not sure why it’s assumed that the relationship’s going to suffer though, I thought the DC arc proved that a major shake-up like that can be done in a fairly satisfying way for the shippers. My major concern is that it’s going to feel “unCastly”, which was the main drawback (for me) in the DC story. But the spoilers posted on the other thread make me cautiously optimistic, there are some promising things for character exploration and other fun stuff (like Ryan’s behavior etc.), but everything will depend, again, on the execution. I hope it won’t end abruptly, leaving no trace after the required couple episodes though, like with the DC stuff (the Sully debacle).

 

And can I add my two cents to the BTS thing, or would that be considered unwise, lol? I am also pretty tired of the constant fan speculation when everything that’s perceived to be wrong with the show (sometimes opposite things, depending on the fan’s POV) is explained away through what’s supposedly happening behind the scenes, and usually being the fault of Nathan Fillion. From the general direction of the show to every questionable line, move or plot point. Most of the time it really has a paranoid and absurd air IMO (not necessarily here, I'm talking about the fandom at large).

 

The DC arc — he didn’t want to work, everyone suffered having to cover for him and the show was deprived of the Castle focus. This season – he suddenly wants to work, the show is unbalanced with all the focus on Castle, and Stana suffers deprived of the Beckett focus. I just don’t find such speculation productive or even logical, in the absence of any proof or even hint of Fillion having such a total control over the Castle TPTB. Sure, they consider some BTS talks and situations with the cast, like all shows do, but actual direction and execution is still the TPTB’s responsibility. So far nothing indicates that their hands are tied by their lead actor, except for "gut feelings" and "guesses" that is. Not a fan of insinuating real life stuff versus their writing with MilMar as well, but at least these are people that do have the reins of the show’s direction in their hands, as an actual fact. And have proven time and again to be able to mess up their creation on their own, with no third-party help. Looks logical to me to suppose that the writers are simply flailing about not knowing how to develop the story further, and keep introducing “fresh” scenarios trying to hold the interest for their 7-year old, resolved UST show — not the most unusual thing to happen on TV. Countless eye-roll inducing storylines were created and multitudes of characters were ruined with no input from actors throughout the history. This constant witch hunt for BTS explanations is of course not new either, but the uniformly Fillion related blame game sounds refreshingly woolly and ridiculous IMO. Adds a soap opera villain flavor.

 

P.S. Sorry if I overstepped, WendyCR72. Feel free to edit the post if need be.

[pepper]

The episode bugged me, but not for Esplainie reasons. I quite liked that - even though its conclusion is the exact opposite of what the characters supposedly felt when stress revealed their deepest emotions ahem. So not exactly great writing on the continuity front. And they put so much blusher on poor Tamala she looked like a doll. And I don't usually notice that sort of thing. But Esposito stepping up, Ryan stepping in and real life serious coupledom being a reality check was ok by me. I don't see why that's in competition with Jim Beckett. The way I see it is that there have been many things in many episodes that could have lost a minute in favor of Jim/Katie Jim/Rick time without sacrificing the development of other secondary characters in the process. 

 

But I just got the feeling throughout the episode that Nathan Fillion was over-acting. Or maybe he was being asked to emphasize the goofiness that has always been a part of Castle but now dominates his personality to the point where you just want someone to hive him a hard slap and a Nurse Jackie instruction to "Buck up". My impression may be colored by the fact that one of my local ststions has just re-run "Flowers for Her Grave" and "Nanny McDead" in the last two weeks and the subtlety of his acting was fucking phenomenal. Even in the goofy-Castle scenes.

 

The guys playing the mobsters played their cheesy roles straight and IMO that's the best kind of comedy. No matter how absurd the situation, act as though it's business as usual and let the audience react. Beckett's (or Katic's) ad-libbed incredulity may have been meant for the stripper, but it suited Castle's actions equally. And I have to say Castle's behavior throughout the episode, came close to ruining it for me.

 

That said, I didn't think the plot was as bad as others seemed to find it. The crooked cop was a logical twist and although I did wonder where Gates was all night, I was more concerned that Castle wasn't keeping the mobsters' confidence and sharing every last detail of his "independent investigation" with the cops. So that was a nice deflection from the trouble that was brewing. That doesn't mean I was a fan of the ending. I really wish they'd been more specific with the Gates dialogue: e.g., saying that the cop was killed in a way that looked like a mob hit and also made it obvious "the family" had a source inside the department. Given his connection, etc.  Castle was suspected. And he can't prove a negative, so until someone confesses to being the mole, he's out. Clear, still indefinite time-wise, but more logical IMO. They made it sound like a political decision rather than one that made legal and moral sense.

 

And I must say I snorted at how one of the main rules of having an episode that doesn't suck - NEVER separate Castle and Beckett - is the strategy that will start off 2015! "Castle" writers FTW.

[Cyranetta]

 

verdana: I did like the little scene McManda pointed out with Nathan at the end, he can do the more subtle moments well which make me yearn even more for them when I get deluged with the slapstick comedy routine they favour for him now. Pity.

 

Although I really appreciated the subtlety of Nathan's acting in that scene, there was one element of the concept I found depressing. As silly as the poem was, it was a first step of integrating Beckett into the Castle Christmas traditions as a full-fledged family member, and because the scene of Beckett's "contribution" had to be framed as a moment of conflict for Castle, it was rather deflating, especially since so little time is given to Beckett's adaptation as a Castle family member.

 

Also, one of the main pitfalls of Castle as a lascivious comic prat-falliing frat boy is that it risks framing Beckett in a more "parental" role, further making Caskett a rather tepid concept, leading to questions of why they bothered to get married and live together at all.

[Samantha84]

So what was the big gift that Lopes dude kept talking about in this episode? That dude is unreliable. He said that people complaining about the finale should, basically, stop tripping and be smart enough to know the premiere would answer all questions. Soooooo ... that happened, right? Not! Checked his twitter page and this discussion and apparently there's still a gift. Whatevs, man! 

Edited December 10, 2014 by Samantha84

[DivaLite]

This episode made me sad. Nothing completely horrible about just dull. True, I never cared about Esplainie, so there was that, but it was more that this is the latest in a too long string of lame episodes of a series that I loved that has lost it's way. Why it's turned to such a dull show one can only speculate, but doesn't matter, just sad.

Between the lack of quality, energy, and yes, lack of Caskett working the cases, which is what I thought the premise of the show was, and now dismal ratings - and maybe even Stana's tweets to a lesser degree - I can see the series ending this season and they finally got me to agree. I'll probably watch it to the end, but really disappointed that such a fun show could self-destruct so badly.

[GeorgieNY]

Shallow weird post, but did anyone else notice Nathan's make-up in this EP? I thought it looked orange-ey...not really his face, but there was like a pale line near his hairline that made the forehead look orange. I don't think I ever thought this before. It was like in some scenes his make-up wasn't blended all the way into his hair.

[verdana]

Fans need to steer clear of John Lopes he comes over as a right twit. I do remember the "gift" tweet though. I hope it turns out to be something ridiculous so he can be shown up as the pathetic hanger on and idiot he is, not that he seems to need much encouragement to make himself look foolish. 

 

But I just got the feeling throughout the episode that Nathan Fillion was over-acting. Or maybe he was being asked to emphasize the goofiness that has always been a part of Castle but now dominates his personality to the point where you just want someone to hive him a hard slap and a Nurse Jackie instruction to "Buck up". My impression may be colored by the fact that one of my local ststions has just re-run "Flowers for Her Grave" and "Nanny McDead" in the last two weeks and the subtlety of his acting was fucking phenomenal. Even in the goofy-Castle scenes.

 

I thought the humor back in the early Castle days was far more subtle and much the better for it, this allowed the actors increased moments to shine too now not so much in fact it detracts and can be distracting at times. But then I've always preferred both leads when the writing and direction allows them to be more subtle in conveying their emotions.

 

Whatever the reason behind the sudden over emphasis of this goofy (and bumbling) persona this season, I wish TPTB would tone it down, you're right it's almost taken over his entire personality. What baffles me is that there are so many more interesting facets to Richard Castle that could be brought to the fore and it's sad that in this "season of Castle" they're over emphasising this one and have it suffocate everything else. When they have him like this too much it reminds of those parties when a girlfriend brings their fun loving goof of a husband along and if I can't leave I just wish he had an "off" button she could press. 

Edited December 10, 2014 by verdana

[verdana]

Although I really appreciated the subtlety of Nathan's acting in that scene, there was one element of the concept I found depressing. As silly as the poem was, it was a first step of integrating Beckett into the Castle Christmas traditions as a full-fledged family member, and because the scene of Beckett's "contribution" had to be framed as a moment of conflict for Castle, it was rather deflating, especially since so little time is given to Beckett's adaptation as a Castle family member.

They don't seem to be able to write what I would call "normal" little family moments with Beckett and incorporate them into the show in a natural way. She always seems to be floating on the periphery even when they do supposed "family" scenes, it's strange especially since these people should be writing about something that they have experienced themselves.  But they either spoil the moment with some element of conflict involved or make it feel shoehorned in because they feel a Beckett with family scene needs to be inserted for a few seconds at some point and then job done they can ignore it again.  All too often it comes over as her still being the outsider struggling with everything and often being caught out by what the Castle family unit are doing. And yet in the early days when she didn't know them and was learning she seemed far more at ease and felt part of the family in the little moments I saw than she does now. 

I think McManda brought this up, has it been established now that Lane and Esposito have finally ended it and they're now just friends or do they remain friends with benefits and they can see other people too? 

Edited December 10, 2014 by verdana

[LisaM]

I thought the episode was boring - too much Lanie/Esposito and too much Castle alone - but Castle getting tossed out of the NYPD is an interesting way to shake up the series, even if it is only for an episode or two. I'm not an Alexis fan but I want to see more of Kate interacting with Martha and Alexis as a family member.

[verdana]

I was surprised that Lanie's relationship with her mother seemed fairly warm and friendly based on those brief moments given that Espo had mentioned to Castle (admittedly a while ago) that Lanie 'hates her mom", that's a strong word to be using. Okay may be things changed but still it goes back to the way they handle the lives of the secondary cast. They don't touch on anything relating to them for ages then drag mom and dad out of nowhere to play this juvenile fake out over the engagement that never was and I'm meant to be fully invested in it.

 

Castle: Bad Santa – A Good Cop/Bad Cop Review by Lee Lofland. 

Edited December 10, 2014 by verdana

[pepper]

As usual, I agree with most of the Lee Lofland review. It wasn't as good as some earlier episodes, but I'm not playing taps for the show because of it, either.

[Samantha84]

Just realized that we saw more of Lanie's parents in one episode than we've seen of Jim Beckett in 7 seasons. 

[S55]

Just realized that we saw more of Lanie's parents in one episode than we've seen of Jim Beckett in 7 seasons. 

 

It's a shame, isn't it? It was one of the things I thought about the most. Especially considering we saw no dialogue between Jim and his daughter in the wedding ep. If he's that hard to book for the show, at least make it worth his while and let him ~say SOMETHING. Such a waste. 

[Lamb18]

I have a couple of questions: 1) how did the mob know that the cop was the murderer? I don't remember Castle telling them.  2) Did that young man's (Luca?? of the rival family) know that he was alive or was that still hidden?  I thought of a couple of scenarios: 1) that the rival family killed the cop because they thought he murdered their son, and 2) I wonder if Castle was banished from the precinct, not so much just for hanging out with the mob, but because he was getting too close to uncovering further corruption in the department by hanging out with the mob.  Someone higher-up in the department may have ties that Castle might reveal.  In fact, someone higher up may have ordered the hit instead of the mob. 

 

The situation with Castle seems parallel to Beckett going off to Washington.  Castle goes away for a few episodes, then is back to the department.  Perhaps he gets reinstated by uncovering that a few members of the force are responsible for the undercover cop's death instead of the mob. 

[Samantha84]

 

One minor issue in the story is something I mentioned my Castle Spoilers and Sneak Peeks for 7×10  article: Castle and the strippers.  After seeing it in its context I still don’t like it.  Castle being so excited to go to the strip club, and his reaction to the flirty girl was annoying.  I understand his reaction when he actually walks in – that was funny – but the rest wasn’t.   As one reader pointed out, there’s been a lot of playing up the idea of playboy Castle this season.  Last week it was the women in skimpy costumes from the action films, and in the AU/wedding episode it was having the young hooker chick slip in and be all over him. Kate takes it in stride, she’s more annoyed with the woman touching Castle than Castle himself.    I also understand wanting to butch Castle up a bit after many fans felt he’d lost his debonair edge.  However, there are far better ways to do it, ways that don’t make him seem like a horny frat boy.

 

Castle 7×10 Bad Santa Review: Wow, Santa, That’s Really Bad!

[verdana]

I agree with Joy, the stripper scene didn't work and it was a poor choice that they also had him make this excited face when he finds out they're going to the club and runs out the door like he can't wait to get there to see the girls. Oh please, the guy is not some horny teenager, he's a recently married guy in his forties who has been in quite a few of these places I'll wager over the years and his wife is standing right there. It's so juvenile and something I honestly don't see guys doing in front of their girlfriends let alone wives (if they want a peaceful life). Whatever point the writers are trying to prove showing him acting like this around random hot women it's gone over my head. It makes him look childish and lacking respect.  

 

I took this from Danielle on the comments section of that review at G&G which I thought summed up where they're gone wrong on this.

 

"And Rick was a suave smart literate wordsmith who made women swoon. (Now they have it the other way, he’s a clown who swoons at women)"

Edited December 10, 2014 by verdana

[Mrs OldManBalls]

I'm an Esposito & Laine fan who was all sad with the direction they've taken : ( , but I guess I'll always have Espo & Ryan.  If the ever broke up those two? I wouldn't watch anymore. 

[verdana]

Bad Santa Fics, a selection over at Castlefanfics. 

[Guest]

I just got around to watching this episode.  I don't understand what they are doing with Esposito and Lainie.  Its not like they are going to go off and develop other romantic relationships for them.  Why bother getting them together, breaking them up, getting them back together again, only to break them up.

 

It felt like they broke up solely so the writers could conclude the episode with the twist of fake engagement ending with a mutual break up instead of an engagement.

[verdana]

This episode made Kill Switch seem even more irrelevant since the build up there was pointing towards a more positive outcome for them as a couple at least that's how it looked to me, it felt wasted. I'd rather they had used that valuable screen time for other things. Lanie looked silly getting into this panic wanting to pretend to be engaged, I thought she was meant to be your typical sassy and no nonsense advice giver? She's a grown woman for Christ's sake yet she wants to go through some dumbass ruse which only makes it worse when the easier option would be to tell her mum and dad the truth. She's still single and looking for Mr Right, it didn't work out, that happens in life, I'm sure they would have got over it. 

Edited December 31, 2014 by verdana

[oberon55]

I doubt Castle was sending out Christmas cards with Beckett included in s5 since they were hiding their relationship from Gates and the rest of the NYPD higher ups but I have no explaination why she didn't know about that tradition last Christmas.

 

The writers never seem to worry about common sense. The fact that she did not know about the Christmas poem means in the whole 7 years that she has known Castle she never received a Christmas card from them. Not only that it also implies that as a fiancee she was not yet considered part of the family. I suspect they wanted her poem about them working together while the audience knew better & worked backwards from there without giving a thought to the implications. Just another example of sloppy writing.

[KaveDweller]

The fact that she did not know about the Christmas poem means in the whole 7 years that she has known Castle she never received a Christmas card from them.

 

She may have known about the poem, but just didn't realize she really had to write her own portion to such specific specs.

 

The not being included last year is sloppy writing though.  

[verdana]

The writers never seem to worry about common sense. The fact that she did not know about the Christmas poem means in the whole 7 years that she has known Castle she never received a Christmas card from them. Not only that it also implies that as a fiancee she was not yet considered part of the family.

 

She did know but she said "I completely forgot" but that still doesn't explain why it came as such as a shock what it entailed when they've been together years now, she must have been involved before unless as you say she wasn't considered part of the family until they officially got married so didn't have to bother.

[S55]

She did know but she said "I completely forgot" but that still doesn't explain why it came as such as a shock what it entailed when they've been together years now, she must have been involved before unless as you say she wasn't considered part of the family until they officially got married so didn't have to bother.

 

As far as not being considered part of the family "officially" until they were married, there was also her not attending the family dinner at Alexis and Pi's apartment in season 6. I know that bothered some at the time too. It didn't bother me so much as it was something that seemed kinda silly to keep her out of after they were engaged and practically living together (and easy enough to include her without much fuss/additional writing). 

[SerenityValley]

Dear Castle writers,
*WARNING* Venting will occur. Why...Why...WHY ?!?! Why the hell did you kill my show? I had one f*cking show on tv that I looked forward to watching (admittedly counted the minutes down to/ freakishly obsessed with) and YOU RUINED IT !!!!! I hate you. I really do.
You took an incredible show with amazing, talented actors that had this explosive onscreen sexual tension that the viewers immediately fell in love with, and a brilliant storyline that had us begging for more AND YOU CRUSHED IT !!!!!! YOU FRIGGIN SH*T ON IT THEN FLUSHED IT DOWN THE TOILET! I HATE YOU!!!!
Mistake #1: Go watch episodes 1 and 2 of season 1. Now go watch the last ...oh I don't know..20-30 episodes and tell me...wtf happened? Seriously?!? Are we supposed to believe this is the same guy? So he went from cocky, clever, and sexy to goofy, childish, and ignorant? HELLOOOOOO? We fell in love with the first type.

Mistake #2: WTF is with all the copycat episodes? Are you guys incapable of coming up with your own ideas? One or two, fine. But there has been TONS. It gets real old, REAL quick. No one likes that crap.

Mistake #3: There should have been at least two more seasons of no one else knowing about them as a couple. Spread it out. Make us be in on their little secret. That's what we like - the tension. I rememeber watching Nathan in an interview a while back (like season 2) where he said - Why do you guys want them to get together so bad? When you do that Castle will be over. The tension will be gone and there is no going back. He was dead right. At least with no one else knowing there would still be some tension.

Mistake #4: DC. This was, to me, the biggest mistake. This was the turning point where it all started going down hill fast. I don't know which idiot came up with idea, or why the others went along with it but whoever it was deserves to go to 'the special hell. A level they reserve for child molesters and people who talk at the theatre.' What ever the case I think they immediately realized their mistake and quickly tried to back pedal, but by then it was too late.

Mistake #5: The goofy episodes. Why oh why do you guys keep making goofy episodes? NO ONE LIKES THEM!!!!! The bigfoot episode? Lame, but okay.The 70's episode? FAIL. Last Action Hero? TRIPLE FAIL!!!

Mistake #6: The wedding. Sigh....Couldn't you a'holes just let them have their day? Couldn't you let them have a nice wedding. No drama. No ex-husband. No BS. Kate in her moms dress, all their friends there, Jim finally getting some appropriate screen time at this important time. Don't you guys realize the wedding was the climax of the whole d*mn thing? Nope. Again, you had to f*ck it all up. Fine. But at least give us something better. Give us a romantic secluded island as a backdrop with beautifully, well thought out vows or something like that. But what do you do????? A horrible, ugly, fake a$$ green screen?????? Again, I hate you. I really do. We got a thrown together, last minute, crappily written (they had the same f*cking vows - LAME), no friends there, no special moments, HORRIBLE wedding. There was NOTHING special about that wedding. Nothing at all.  The whole damn show is like great sex where just as you both are about to climax you have to stop abruptly for some reason, then try again later and it's doesn't work. The moments ruined. What could have been the best sex ever, like the best in the entire history of sex, was lost. You almost need a moment of silence and bagpipes playing to grieve for it it's so sad.

Mistake #6: I'm going to preface this by saying I LOVE Nathan Fillion. I'm like a teenage girl crazy about him, but dude...Nathan...you're overacting. Like...BIG TIME overacting. I noticed it first at the beginning of the DC episodes, but now it's at a whole new level. Writers - we need more Nathan scenes like the 'handshake scene' and not him in a Sherlock hat or dressing up like Rambo. Nathan - YOU ARE NOT A COMEDIAN! You're the handsome guy with great hair that gets us girls to gush with your clever one liners and romantic bits. Please remember that.

 

I could go on and on, but what's the point. The show is dead and we all know it. Good night.

Edited January 16, 2015 by SerenityValley

[John Potts]

On ‎09‎/‎12‎/‎2014 at 2:57 PM, FlickerToAFlame said:

So, Castle is the reason the real killer was caught and the mob guy wasn't wrongly convicted, yet because the killer was killed on the way to booking, he's kicked out of the 12th. Pretty contrived, but I guess they had to get to that point somehow.

Actually, that struck me as the most realistic! The NYPD screwed up MAJORLY (their guy investigating the mob had gone dirty) so SOMEBODY has to get fired. Since Castle was responsible for his death, he gets the chop - it's unfair, but it looks like the cops have "done something" about the situation. And with the cop dead, they'll be no long, messy investigation!

On ‎09‎/‎12‎/‎2014 at 2:41 PM, verdana said:

"What word rhymes with I'm screwed?"

 Reviewed? Renewed? Though I winced a little at her rhyming "year" with "tears". She could have said, "This has been an epic year/Lots of joy - the occasional tear," which still scans AND rhymes!