S07.E17: Hong Kong Hustle

[McManda]

Oh, and Castle, considering that it's impossible for an author to put out four novels in a year, and also considering it's no secret that Patterson is a "brand," who farms out his work, there is nothing to be jealous of. The dude has people who write under his name.

Oddly this kind of makes Castle's point even better, though he didn't know it at the time. The Patterson syndrome would be comparing oneself to an unrealistic ideal.

Castle might feel like he's slacking by comparing himself to Patterson, it doesn't make him work faster (because he can't produce 6+ books in a year because he doesn't outsource his work), even though from the outside Patterson's empire looks good.

Just like Beckett compares herself to Zhang's perfect life with a great professional career, handsome husband, and cute kids, that all turns out to be a farce, too, and she realizes that it's not worth it to hold her life value against something just because it might seem shiny and perfect. Instead she decides to put in the work to make her life the best she can make it based on what she holds important.

Edited March 18, 2015 by McManda

[McManda]

Well, no, I don't really think that they thought that out like that or that it was meant to be anything more than a bit of a joke (perhaps at Castle's expense). But I think it works anyway and I think that it fits nicely, so that's what I'm going with. :)

(Look at my AP English knowledge coming in handy in real life!)

[shapeshifter]

I liked the episode for its fluffiness. I don't expect too much from this show--and certainly not realism. But I admit, having Zhang strip down to a tank top at the gym to emphasize her puny size before she took out 5 body builders was a little much.

In addition to Rosalind Chao (Mimi Tam), Linda Park (Zhang) was Lieutenant Hoshi Sato on Star Trek: Enterprise. So, two Star Trek ladies.

To me, Rosalind Chao morphed into the H!ITG! category a long time ago.

But frackin' Lieutenant Hoshi Sato! And she still looks the same.

[Azaelia]

Am I the only one who doesn't want Caskett to have kids? I'm not even worried about them jumping the shark. We already got Castle as a father with Alexis... 

[verdana]

You're not the only one, there are others out there. I'd be perfectly happy if they didn't have children together, their story wouldn't suffer for me in the slightest if for some reason it never happened, there's enough Caskett baby fanfic out there to keep people going for decades! Becoming a parent isn't something that everyone feels they must do in order to be fulfilled. However this is network TV, there's probably some unwritten law that says once a couple get together (and especially once they get hitched) they must start thinking about babies.

As for Castle and Beckett it was always written by MilMar with them having a family together as end game right from the start from what I could see, way before any baby anvils were getting thrown about with gusto, so kids it is. Now it's just a waiting game seeing how the writers tackle it.

Edited March 18, 2015 by verdana

[FlickerToAFlame]

I'm mostly interested in them having babies because it's a full circle moment for Beckett going from losing a mom to becoming one.

[merylinkid]

Normally, I am against the two leads getting together and definitely not thrilled about  babies.   But even I agred in the first season that this was the story of how Castle and Beckett got together, had a family and lived happily ever after.    For once it worked and seemed the most natural thing in the world.   The HANDLING of that arc since then has left a lot to be desired, but I am cool with the eventual outcome.

[madmaverick]

I don't mind babies if they must go there and it's a natural progression for many, but I'd be perfectly fine with it just coming in the last episode of the series and Beckett showing Castle a positive pregnancy test.  I don't really want to see a season of will they/wont' they about a baby or a season long baby planning arc after how terribly they wrote the wedding planning.

 

By the way, I adored the Castle/Beckett dynamic this episode. They seemed closer than usual, more open-minded and it was sweet how Castle showed support and tried to reassure her. That hasn't happened in a long time.

 

Actually, for me Castle being supportive of Beckett and reassuring for her is just about the most consistent quality in his characterisation (and I loved that this was referenced in her wedding vow to him).  Beckett doing the same for Castle became more overt during the PI arc.  I do think that Castle and Beckett being written as a strong, mutually supportive couple has come through especially since they got married.  Not that they weren't before, but somehow they feel even more solid to me as a unit.

 

Got my first proper glimpse of the (new?) artwork hanging in their bedroom by the bed.  Maybe the room was bright enough this time for me to see it properly? ;)  It's not ugly like the seashells but can't say why a not particularly warm, modernist kind of painting would be the decor of choice in their bedroom. 

Edited March 19, 2015 by madmaverick

[pepper]

I agree, madmaverick. In fact, they're established as such a solid couple, that the kinds of cheap "doubt" plots that used to piss me off would be all but impossible to write now. Beckett's insecurity in this episode was clearly laid out as being her issue and nothing to do with them as a couple, even when Castle thought the other cop was gorgeous. I like it.

 

The show always works best for me when it's the two of them facing off against the challenges, even when the challenge is being encountered by only one of them. It used to happen in little ways or in dealing with the CotW and now that defines their relationship. Perhaps that's why I seem to have more patience than most with the weaknesses in the writing.

[kassygreene]

Well, I want them to have three kids, for Beckett to run for the Senate, and for Castle to start writing the serious books.  After all, we already know it will happen from the Season 6 episode "Time Will Tell".

[femmefan1946]

Senator Beckett? -- Don't Americans have state senates as well as a federal one?

[KaveDweller]

Senator Beckett? -- Don't Americans have state senates as well as a federal one?

 

Yes, there are both state and federal senators.

 

But I don't take what a supposed time traveler says as fact.  Even if you believe in time travel, the fact that he went back in time changes things.  Although who knows what the writers want us to think?

[Hipshooter]

I don't care if they have a baby on the show. I would like a PG scare at least. Plus I've never seen a couple that needs to pick up the action any more than C&B.

[verdana]

But I don't take what a supposed time traveler says as fact.  Even if you believe in time travel, the fact that he went back in time changes things.  Although who knows what the writers want us to think?

I took it as fact, MilMar wrote that episode so I assume that's their end goal and it was deliberately done, they want her to become Senator, may be not on the show but they'll ensure it's obvious she's going to move in that direction by the time it concludes.  Hope I'm proved wrong though because I think she'd be political road kill in a month. 

[KaveDweller]

I took it as fact, MilMar wrote that episode so I assume that's their end goal and it was deliberately done, they want her to become Senator, may be not on the show but they'll ensure it's obvious she's going to move in that direction by the time it concludes.  Hope I'm proved wrong though because I think she'd be political road kill in a month. 

 

 

If Marlowe thinks he created and wrote a character that would enjoy and excel in politics he is an even worse writer than I thought.  There are a lot of different opinions on this show, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone say they think Beckett should be a Senator.

 

But I also don't care what MilMar think.  I watch the show and interpret it the way I want.  Their intentions are irrelevant.

 

I don't care if they have a baby on the show. I would like a PG scare at least. Plus I've never seen a couple that needs to pick up the action any more than C&B.

 

I agree that a scare would actually work very well.

[McManda]

I think the whole idea of the time traveler was to instill enough doubt in what he says to create doubt in if he was a time traveler or not. On one hand he knows some things (pertinent to the case) and could disappear from the hallway at the end, but at the same time Beckett is a senator, Castle is writing nonfiction, and they have three kids living at home. All the personal details didn't really mesh with what we know about them as characters (Beckett isn't really interested in politics, Castle is too childish to enjoy writing nonfiction, and three kids is a bit much unless they're knocking out triplets). That was the doubt to the counterpoint that he was really from the future and knew everything.

 

Plus, there's the time travel paradox that KaveDweller mentions. Time travel inherently messes up the timeline of the future you came from, so there's no guarantee even if he was was a time traveler and future Beckett was a senator with three kids and a serious writer husband that she's follow that same path and still have that outcome if this timeline.

 

I am also on board for a pregnancy scare, even if it is cliche. It would be interesting to see play out, IMO. Especially if that means there's a pick up in the action (we see).

[kassygreene]

I think the whole idea of the time traveler was to instill enough doubt in what he says to create doubt in if he was a time traveler or not. On one hand he knows some things (pertinent to the case) and could disappear from the hallway at the end, but at the same time Beckett is a senator, Castle is writing nonfiction, and they have three kids living at home. All the personal details didn't really mesh with what we know about them as characters (Beckett isn't really interested in politics, Castle is too childish to enjoy writing nonfiction, and three kids is a bit much unless they're knocking out triplets). That was the doubt to the counterpoint that he was really from the future and knew everything.

 

Plus, there's the time travel paradox that KaveDweller mentions. Time travel inherently messes up the timeline of the future you came from, so there's no guarantee even if he was was a time traveler and future Beckett was a senator with three kids and a serious writer husband that she's follow that same path and still have that outcome if this timeline.

But you can't forget the coffee stain!  It was identical, and Beckett made it.

[verdana]

If Marlowe thinks he created and wrote a character that would enjoy and excel in politics he is an even worse writer than I thought.  There are a lot of different opinions on this show, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone say they think Beckett should be a Senator.

 

I have at least on tumblr seen some fans really excited about the prospect of this and I can't understand it because like you say it's obvious she wouldn't be comfortable in that environment in any way, shape or form. They seem to be looking at it from the POV that with her need to strive for justice for the victims this perfectly translates into a political arena and her being a crusader there too. I hope that McManda is right. 

[KaveDweller]

But you can't forget the coffee stain! It was identical, and Beckett made it.

But she made the coffee stain after she solved the case. So no one in that future would have had reason to travel back in time, and therefore it can't possibly be the same letter.

[femmefan1946]

I don't understand the animus Americans have towards politicians. Living in Canada's capital, and working for the public service, I've met and worked with dozens from all five of our political parties and while I may disagree strongly with some of their policies, I still regard them as honourable men and women working to help their fellow citizens.

It's true that there are bad eggs. We have a scandal with our Senate just now, but its about padded expense accounts* and official residences, not bribery and corruption. One cabinet minister I know was pilloried in the press for allowing his son to use his official limousine and chauffeur to attend a baseball game. No one mentioned that the son was 15, the chauffeur was 19 and the limousine was a Buick sedan. And the driver actually took  the car he was used to driving, instead of the minister's personal car.

 

I can see Beckett as a Senator. She is hard working, wants to help others through difficult times, and could present well in the media. Her mother's story would even be a bonus. Perhaps she should go after Bracken's seat?

 

And Castle was shown as being intrigued by the idea of writing more 'serious' works. He knows how to research-- he always knows a guy- and he is certainly hard working enough to put out a book a year (without Pattison's stable of sub-writers) even if we rarely see him writing.

 

 

*Padded by former journalists, which if you know anything about journalists, is their form of writing fiction.

[madmaverick]

If Marlowe thinks he created and wrote a character that would enjoy and excel in politics he is an even worse writer than I thought.

 

Well, he wrote Air Force One, which if I remember correctly, was about a President who also rescued his own plane.   That may be his idea of a good (fictional) politician lol.  He loves grandiose stuff, or so it seems.  JB had to be murdered by a would be President of the USA.  Linchpin to save the world.  Mythologies driven by unknown villian with limitless resources. Beckett wanted to be a Supreme Court Justice, and now also possibly Senator.  Of course she wouldn't be a lowly State Senator. ;)   He writes Beckett as a character who would excel at everything and Justice Triumphs Ultimately.  I do think what he and TM wrote in the time traveler episode are what they believe to be one, if not the, though we'll never know, version of their future.  Just vaguely remembered that episode which also touched on politics and involved Castle's friend, the mayor.  Don't remember much about it except that Beckett naturally was unwilling to compromise and clashed with Castle over his friend.  Hard for someone uncompromising to succeed in politics, for good reasons or bad, but of course Beckett will be the uncompromising politician who successfully manages to clean house that no one has done before in Marlowe's world. ;)  I just don't think Castle is a show that can portray the world of politics realistically so they just shouldn't go there. 

 

I am also on board for a pregnancy scare, even if it is cliche. It would be interesting to see play out, IMO. Especially if that means there's a pick up in the action (we see).

 

Hehe, the things we get on board with to see more action.  Of course since the writers need their anvils we would get one or 2 uninterrupted make out scenes before.  Lit, if we're lucky, but fade out before it gets really hot. ;)   I'm not interested in babies, but what I would find interesting is whether an unplanned pregnancy would be a scare or a thrill at this point in their marriage.  It's all about the characters' reactions and relationship to me.  

[KaveDweller]

I don't understand the animus Americans have towards politicians. Living in Canada's capital, and working for the public service, I've met and worked with dozens from all five of our political parties and while I may disagree strongly with some of their policies, I still regard them as honourable men and women working to help their fellow citizens.

I have no problem with politicians as a general rule. I just don't see it as right for Beckett. Mostly because of what madmaverick said about compromise. She also doesn't seem to like the spotlight, although she is also very ambitious.

[verdana]

I would have thought disliking the spotlight pretty much puts the kibosh on any aspirations she might have to become a politician (whatever other fine qualities she may possess) because that's the one thing you do have to embrace if you want to make it in that sphere and she obviously doesn't.  

Edited March 29, 2015 by verdana