S08.E01: XY (1)

[BellyLaughter]

 

Alexis - what do you do with a problem like Alexis? How old is she now - 21/22? Has she not graduated yet? Has she got her PI license? Why is she so smug? Why is she dressing like a 40 year old? Please don't film Molly running to the camera again - twice in one episode, it just looked awful.

 

 

Seems to be the theme of this season and this show going forward LOL!!

[oberon55]

See that's where I'm a bit undecided.  Yes, she lied but surely it is not the intention of the writers for people to hang, draw and quarter her just yet??  But quite a few are and that's what I'm wondering.....do writers ever know they are alienating portions of their audience and do it anyway -- or do they naively assume people will stick with Beckett no matter what??  I'm just a bit taken back that they would actively chose to have one of their main protagonists piss off a good number of the fanbase? 

 

This is a damn good question. Just my opinion but I believe they have always subscribed to the "No publicity is bad publicity" school of thought. I think they will take any kind of buzz they can get good or bad. Truthfully it has worked in the past. The premier following Watershed (which to me did more character damage to Beckett than any other storyline) & For Better or Worse (just a terrible episode all the way around) did just fine in ratings. Historically people bitch but mostly keep watching.

[silverwings]

So overall, the episode was okay... but it did not feel like the "Castle" show we've had for seven seasons.  It definitely felt like there was new creative powers in charge - and not in a good way.

 

It felt very fan-fiction-y to me, which was disappointing.  The bat-cave? Castle as a PI again (what happened to his writing)? Alexis suddenly wanting to be a PI out of nowhere? The random British "PI"? Beckett lying to Castle (again). etc.

 

I'll end up giving the show a few more episodes to see if it gets its groove back, but if not I might drop it and head-cannon my own ending.

[ZingerCaskett]

With Alexis as Castle's uninvited associate, and solving cases to boot, it made me think of Castle becoming Remington Steele.

Yep!   It's a sorta reversed Remington Steele.    When that guy hugged Castle as he was coming in for finding out that his wife was NOT shagging his chef.  I thought of all the times Steele took credit for the cases Laura solved.  LOL.

[BellyLaughter]

This is a damn good question. Just my opinion but I believe they have always subscribed to the "No publicity is bad publicity" school of thought. I think they will take any kind of buzz they can get good or bad. Truthfully it has worked in the past. The premier following Watershed (which to me did more character damage to Beckett than any other storyline) & For Better or Worse (just a terrible episode all the way around) did just fine in ratings. Historically people bitch but mostly keep watching.

i think you're onto something here.  I just keep thinking back to the wording of that blind item earlier this summer....something along the lines of 'TPTB don't really care if they upset the fanbase....'  I guess they are counting on people to keep watching no matter what.  Roll the dice in S8 and see what happens....they really don't have that much to lose at this point.  A show that reaches a S8 has had a good run regardless of what happens from here on out!!

[verdana]

Just my opinion but I believe they have always subscribed to the "No publicity is bad publicity" school of thought. I think they will take any kind of buzz they can get good or bad. Truthfully it has worked in the past.

Nathan said something a while ago along the lines of it's better for you to feel something than nothing at all. The fear of every showrunner is not hate or joy it's indifference. If your general viewing audience doesn't care one way or another then you're in the shit. I also think fans set far too much store in the belief showrunners desperately care what they think, especially those on line. They don't. They do what they want to do and you either like it or lump it.

I doubt anything that happens will make any major difference to the ratings slide one way or another despite any possible fan brouhaha. The show despite what the showrunners say about new beginnings etc feels as if it's fast coming to the end of its natural lifespan irrespective of the storytelling decisions being made.

[S55]

Well, I thought it was better than last year's premiere. I agree with the thought that it was paced much like "Rise," which I did enjoy. I didn't love everything about it, but it wasn't unwatchable like so much of last season was to me. 

 

Is it an unpopular opinion yet to actually like Haley based on a single appearance? Because...I did. Her attitude and methods are different, and I don't think you're meant to agree with what she does all the time, but adding her to the mix gives the show a good jolt I think it needed.

 

The show definitely has a different vibe to it this season, but I admittedly am more detached and indifferent going into this season after I wound up dreading each week by the end of season seven. 

[Chado]

Is it an unpopular opinion yet to actually like Haley based on a single appearance? Because...I did. Her attitude and methods are different, and I don't think you're meant to agree with what she does all the time, but adding her to the mix gives the show a good jolt I think it needed.

I thought she was fine, I would like to see how she interacts with Castle away from the first two episodes though, the more generic type of Castle episode. Interested to see how she fits into the normal dynamic.

 

My favorite performance of the episode was from the bad chic (the one introduced in the opening sequence). She was great in the scenes between her and Castle I thought. Too bad she went out in a blaze of glory....

[FlickerToAFlame]

@EAkorn: I think the dual machine guns that #castle runs in with was an ad lib

[371012]

I remain convinced that they've been shooting with stand-ins since at least early last season. Way too many over the shoulder shots of the other's face for it not to be the case, at least in my mind. It would also explain using a wig for SK, though not sure how you replicate NF's hair, lol.

Not sure what I thought. It held my attention which is more than I can say for last year. I still fondly recall the early seasons and paying complete attention so as to not miss the facial expressions that were so part of the fabric of the show.

The two most jarring moments to me were Alexis standing up for Beckett and Esposito calling Castle to see if he wanted to come hang out and help at the murder scene. But those were jarring in a good way, would like more, please.

[verdana]

 

Is it an unpopular opinion yet to actually like Haley based on a single appearance? Because...I did. Her attitude and methods are different, and I don't think you're meant to agree with what she does all the time, but adding her to the mix gives the show a good jolt I think it needed.

It's not unpopular based on what I've read generally but equally there's a proportion of fans who seem to have a 'wait a a see' attitude about her. I don't have to like everything a character does but what the writers do with them has to feel natural. I'd be less ambivalent if they hadn't tried to force her link to Alexis quite so quickly. I read the interviews with Toks so I knew about it but I wish they had taken it more gradually, they had enough going on did they really need to emphasise that too? If they were so determined to force a closer relationship between them why not have them just hook up as a couple and leave the mentor business to Kate/Lanie.

[pennben]

I loved it. Shocking I know. However I didnt just love this as an episode of Castle, I loved it as a really good hour of TV.

 

I also really enjoyed this episode.  It seemed like it flew by (except the spider scene, which seemed to last three hours in my brain (yikes)).  I know I really like an episode if I'm surprised when the episode ends, and last night I was surprised when the "to be continued" flashed on the screen.

 

Is it an unpopular opinion yet to actually like Haley based on a single appearance? Because...I did. Her attitude and methods are different, and I don't think you're meant to agree with what she does all the time, but adding her to the mix gives the show a good jolt I think it needed.

 

I don't know if it is unpopular, but I really liked her and can see that she is going to fit in really well.  To be fair, I'm a fan of the actress, so that may be swaying my opinion a bit.

 

Anway, great season opener.  I plan to wait to get fussed about things happening in the future until I can see what they look like in the future (and whether such things are fussworthy, if you will). 

Edited September 22, 2015 by pennben

[turnitwayup]

I thought the opening scene was quite graphic (for Castle) and when she's first all over him in the chair I thought why can't we see Castle and Beckett doing this? I know I should stop wishing for something that's never going to happen but I can't help it. They can obviously show these kind of scenes if they want to given the time slot and inclination. 

 

I thought we stumbled on a CSI ep without the dream like effect that was later used on Castle in the warehouse.

[FlickerToAFlame]

Ratings are terrible. Maybe next time (if) Alexi gets a show he might actually have more than one season of it if he doesn't promote it all summer as ripping apart the show's one true strength. I mean, seriously, check your ego and stop f*cking with your bread and butter.

Formerly The Cancel Bear:

@TVGrimReaper: Among veteran shows, #Castle’s 1.2 rating (series low?) should worry fans.

@TVGrimReaper: At this point, #Castle is a very expensive show. Unless ABC has big declilnes across the week that 1.2 spells trouble.

I hope this is the last season so they actually try to wrap it up well.

I don't know how much casual fans were in the know/affected, but the blind item, spoilers, and terrible promo (shoving Hayley and Alexis down our throats) backfired.

[FlickerToAFlame]

Maybe after Castle gets cancelled, "third time is the charm" for Alexi as a show runner?

[Brit Babe]

Ratings are terrible. Maybe next time (if) Alexi gets a show he might actually have more than one season of it if he doesn't promote it all summer as ripping apart the show's one true strength. I mean, seriously, check your ego and stop f*cking with your bread and butter.

I don't know how much casual fans were in the know/affected, but the blind item, spoilers, and terrible promo (shoving Hayley and Alexis down our throats) backfired.

I think TPTB have been forced into this and it's not exactly their idea to separate the two leads. From what's being said in other parts on the internets, it's either one actor or both who have it that they are to only work together very little. I have very little sympathy for the show now and I'm unsure for all the reasons you listed why anyone (fans or related to the show) would be surprised.

[madmaverick]

As a non expert but a long time viewer, I really don't think any of the spoilery online stuff or even the promo, which I didn't find that bad and it was like 30 seconds and I don't even know if it aired much in the U.S., impacted on the ratings much.  As far as I recall, the showrunners did emphasIse in many interviews the importance of Caskett to the show.  I had been expecting ratings to continue the downward trend regardless of what was planned this season, or hold steady at best.  

 

Preliminary ratings for Monday, Sept. 21:

               demo/viewers
#Castle      1.2/7.09
NCIS: LA    1.2/8.00
Blindspot   3.1/10.65

 

Not surprised that Blindspot did so well because as far as I can tell from afar, it was massively promoted.  And I think many people were lured in by the beautiful naked woman coming out of a bag. ;)  If it helps any, I thought it was one of the worst hours of TV I've watched recently and I don't say that because it's Castle's competition.  I won't be checking out the second episode to see if there's any creative improvement, and there may well be, but I foresee a decline in their ratings too.  EW's review of that show called it disappointing in just about every each way lol, and I agree.  It was terrible.

 

I agree with ratings analysis posted in the ratings thread which doubted the creative stuff would make a meaningful difference this season.  Once an ageing show has started to decline in ratings, it's hard to arrest that decline no matter what you do, especially when you factor in fresh, new competition.  Ratings have never been a reflection of quality to me.  Whether this season is the show's last or not, so be it at this point, but it's more important to me that the show is good creatively.  The premiere was a good new beginning to me in that sense.

 

I think TPTB have been forced into this and it's not exactly their idea to separate the two leads. From what's being said in other parts on the internets, it's either one actor or both who have it that they are to only work together very little.

 

I keep reading these conspiracy theories which are popular in some circles in the fandom, and these theories tend to reinforce their own assumptions about bts stuff.  Which, so far as I can tell, are still just assumptions rather than based on anything even slightly concrete.  Not so long ago, people were assuming that first Nathan, and then Stana, wouldn't re-sign, and yet they did.  I just don't think it's very fair to these actors to basically assume they are unprofessional (in not wanting to work with each other) when everything else from their peers and colleagues indicates that they are.  If we're making theories out of thin air, I find it just as plausible to believe that Caskett are being separated because the writers want to re-generate the WT/WT dynamic or some dramatic conflict, which they believe is the way to generate sparks between the couple, as opposed to writing them as a happily married drama free couple, which they find boring and not conducive to storytelling for 22 episodes of television.  The new regime has made it clear they want to put their stamp on the show.  Rightly or wrongly, the vast majority of TV writers appear to prefer to write conflict rather than non conflict as a way of keeping things interesting.

Edited September 22, 2015 by madmaverick

[pennben]

Ratings have never been a reflection of quality to me.  Whether this season is the show's last or not, so be it at this point, but it's more important to me that the show is good creatively.  The premiere was a good new beginning to me in that sense.

 

Amen to that.  Some really good shows have only gotten a few (or even less) seasons. 

Edited September 22, 2015 by pennben

[FlickerToAFlame]

I thought the show was good, but months of promo hinting at the core viewership's worst nightmare (combined with the shiny new Blindspot) was problematic. I hope they course correct the promos quickly. I don't doubt the Caskett interactions will be there, but if 90% of the media is talking about Toks and Alexis, I'm afraid people will bail.

[kirinan]

I remain convinced that they've been shooting with stand-ins since at least early last season. Way too many over the shoulder shots of the other's face for it not to be the case, at least in my mind. It would also explain using a wig for SK, though not sure how you replicate NF's hair, lol.

 

This might be outside the scope of this thread, but I don't get the significance of using stand-ins...?

 

I admit, I've been watching the show on auto-pilot for the last season, and not paying attention to any outside talk about it. This episode didn't make me any more favorably disposed to the show, either. But then, I've never enjoyed the big, dramatic episodes as much. The Bracken stuff bores me. I like the light, comic episodes the best. I get that they had to freshen it up, but this doesn't seem fresh to me; for some reason it reminds me of the way B613 came in and wrecked Scandal (although Scandal has never been as good as the first few seasons of Castle were). 

 

I'll stick with it as long as Ryan and Esposito are around, though. They've always been my favorites.

Edited September 22, 2015 by kirinan

[FlickerToAFlame]

Nothing is getting cancelled. Ratings Schmatings. At this point it would cost just as much to shut it down. It's an 8 year show, and it is what it is. NBC has the shiny new thing that was heavily promoted. That will fail eventually as all NBC shows do.

As far as blaming Hawley or the "breakup" the core base has no idea who Hawley is or that a breakup was/is coming.

But if you do want to map the ratings to the direction of the show I can tell you who to blame, but I believe I already did that.

I'm not worried about cancellation, I just think this season might be the end.

I get the stand-ins this episode due to Stana's movie schedule, and it doesn't even bother me. The reason they may continue doing it in the future, for the purpose of millionaire actors getting even more time off, would bother me though.

[madmaverick]

The opening Caskett scene was adorable even if some of it was shot with doubles.

 

Out of curiosity and not implying any bts issues here, but do they shoot kisses with doubles?

 

Although you can barely make out their lips and both faces when Bowman directs kisses so it's not like we'd see much anyway. ;)

[FlickerToAFlame]

In the 7x01 DVD commentary, Bowman said he was kicking himself because the scene where Beckett first sees Castle in the hospital bed was too bright. He literally said "you can see their faces, so it's too bright." What an ass.

[verdana]

If it helps any, I thought it was one of the worst hours of TV I've watched recently and I don't say that because it's Castle's competition.

 

Is that the one where she pops out of a paper bag naked in the street? Weird.

 

In the 7x01 DVD commentary, Bowman said he was kicking himself because the scene where Beckett first sees Castle in the hospital bed was too bright. He literally said "you can see their faces, so it's too bright." What an ass.

 

That's why I can't stand Bowman. I think he's an arrogant bugger, based on his comments in the past he takes an almost active pride in making sure fans can't see things properly as a way of baiting and teasing them. He's not remotely subtle about it, especially anything to do with Castle and Beckett in a romantic situation. Every time they kiss or look close to kissing he makes sure the actors block it in such a way that you can see only a shoulder blade and some hair or he darkens where their lips (might) meet and if he's really enjoying himself he has them completely in silhouette so it could be literally any one.

 

Yet many fans rave about his directing skills, what's so great about watching something where you can't see the actors faces properly (which is kind of important) or the screen is tinted in strange palettes of orange, greens or blues with appropriate shaky camera work which takes me out of the scene and notice the directing not the story. I wish he'd get poached by some other show but he seems glued to Castle. 

Edited September 22, 2015 by verdana

[371012]

My issue with stand-ins is that at some points the back and forth over the shoulders took me out of what I was watching because it was like watching tennis...over his shoulder, over her shoulder, back to over his shoulder. It distracted me. And diminished the sideways looks that I always suspected were ad-libbed in the character moments. Maybe it's just me.

[MDL]

I loved the first scene where Castle gave Beckett the bracelet. They were cute they were warm, and they were loving.
That first scene made it clear that it's now "Capt. Beckett", and what happened to Capt. Gates. At the time, I didn't  understand the need for the interrupting phone call from the "telemarketer", but as the show went on it made sense. (Perhaps more sense than the rest of the episode)
I guess you call this a "change of direction" for the series, because I'm not sure where it's going. If I had to guess, in the immediate future it will turn out that this is the result of some "classified case" that Beckett did while she was working for the AG. How it will end, and what he leaves continued involvement with the show will turn into remains to be seen.

I'm not sure what to think regarding Haley. In a typical series, a character like Haley is brought in as some type of unresolved sexual tension/romantic interest for one of the characters.  I sure hope they don't go there, unless perhaps the character is Esposito.
A couple of gripes: Why repeat the "one of our heroes is missing" from episode one of last season?
What happened to Beckett's comment at the end of "Hunt" about Castle "promise me you won't do anything like this again without me". Classified material or not, she should have brought them into the fold.

To me, the jury is still out.

[Guest]

When did Beckett work for the AG? I know I haven't been paying close attention the last few seasons (because quality) but I would think I would remember this. (Would it be in the time I'm remembering her as working for the FBI? Because I could be misremembering) A reminder would be great.

[verdana]

deaja. She worked for the Attorney General (basically the FBI) first three episodes of S6, she was back by 6.04 in NY. 

[oberon55]

I think if I was some sort of criminal organization & wanted to remain under the radar the very last thing I would do is kill a bunch of people working for the Attorney General. How difficult would it be for the ones still alive to start looking into the cases the dead ones worked? Of course we know that the poor diabetic tech dude is the only one who could figure it out & for some dumbass reason (probably some ridiculous shadowy government conspiracy) Beckett is the only one he could trust to help him. I guess this level of incompetence in the AG office finally explains how they missed the fact that Beckett had been married to a criminal for 15 years.

[AntiBeeSpray]

I don't have a problem with the sordid nature of it just that he's letting his only daughter get involved on her own when he's in the past been shown to be super protective of her. I realise she's supposedly an adult but she's still his only child and parents remain protective.I would have liked a bit more than what we got when she brushed him off so easily at the start and she's getting info left, right and centre and he's not asking questions as to how she's doing this. It felt kind of forced when they had her turn up all the time to every incident during the episode, I also think they're trying too hard with her wardrobe, to make her look sophisticated. 

 

I've had enough of Bowman's crappy lighting it's not 'artistic'  if I can't see things properly especially people's faces which are usually encased in shadow. His schtick will never change though, he brought it from the X files. 

 

It's still going on! They never learn ;).

 

The ep... missed the first 20 odd minutes, but what I did see... I didn't like all that well. *shrug*

 

The lack of Beckett was just disconcerting.

 

Didn't mind Alexis though. She kicked some ass.

[AntiBeeSpray]

In the 7x01 DVD commentary, Bowman said he was kicking himself because the scene where Beckett first sees Castle in the hospital bed was too bright. He literally said "you can see their faces, so it's too bright." What an ass.

 

What an idiot!

 

/facepalm

 

What's so bad about that?

[madmaverick]

Long list of random observations:

 

I didn't particularly care for that opening murder scene either.  Once upon a time, they said that they didn't want to glamourise murder or something along those lines.  Looked to me they were doing that here like every other crime procedural, and not for the first time either.  Also, yes, I presume they wanted the badass femme (fatale) as usual, but that agent came off as idiotic.

 

Undecided how I feel about the PI office decor yet.  It all looked too dark to me that I could hardly see the countless items they had on the shelves, plus the actors were all wearing dark colour clothes which didn't help.  Maybe I'll like it better when there's more lighting in there in the future. ;)  Noticed a gigantic painting of what looked like flowers in the reception.  What an odd choice.  Are they going for a doctor's office vibe? ;)

 

Alexis' wardrobe comes off as ageing her too much to me, but that's nothing new from Luke. ;)

 

I thought TPW/Hawley did a better job of introducing a new character in one episode than say Marlowe/Amann did with Rachel McCord or some of the other agents in the past.  It helped that they took the time to craft character scenes like the one of her in the car with Castle, which I liked, and added some dimension to the character and this new relationship.  She wasn't just all quips and no feeling.  Going to profile her as having been screwed over by someone in the past hence her disillusioned attitude.

 

Teaching someone you've just met the art of manipulating men is a bit weird.  Not exactly what a father would want her daughter to learn I would think.  But obviously plot purposes, so handwave.  I get they wanted to start the mentoring vibe going, but that was a little too quick.

 

Pinky swear lol.  Liked how Castle tugged at his coat after.  "What are you, four?"  "Nope, nine year old on a sugar rush." :P  And I liked that Castle had no qualms about doing as he did to call the boys about the guns.

 

Hayley called Castle 'Rick', Beckett 'Beckett'.  Castle called Beckett 'Kate' several times.  I want to hear Beckett call him 'Rick' again as it's been a while.

 

Nice choreography and performance of the fight between Hayley and the mercenary girl.

 

Clara Striker.  Heh, as in inspired by Clara Strike.  Nice touch.

 

Nice to see the boys having Castle's back, especially Espo, and not accusing him of doing away with Beckett or something crazy. ;)

 

Even the hostage lady at the laundromat knew to describe Vikram Singh as "East Indian". ;)  How she knew that I don't know.

 

Jack Coleman is a good actor but I still don't really care about Bracken.

 

Liked Castle quipping about getting a gun shoved into him a lot, which is true.  And another cell phone lost lol.  

 

I thought the actress playing the mercenary lady was pretty good and had more personality than the mercenary guy doing the spider torture.  Lol at her being a Derrick Storm fan and her critique.  Nice reference to Castle being a writer.  Also liked that Castle tried to fake still reacting to the dosage.  Castle and the mercenary lady had good chemistry.  A shame Espo Swiss-cheesed her as Jon put it lol.  She could've been a cool recurring baddie character.

 

Good acting from Nathan in the warehouse scenes.  Before, during and after the spiders.  He held his own during the interrogation without coming off like a cop.  I find his dramatic acting quite strong in all its outings on Castle, and this episode was no exception.

 

If I were Castle, I would not have wanted to reply during the spiders simply for fear of one of those things crawling into my mouth.  Ugh!!

 

For some reason, $15.99 was scribbled on the box of spiders and that made me laugh.

 

They always look so blue in the face in warehouse sets.  And no one was sweating enough given the exertion.

 

Good thing Beckett tied up her hair.  Her luscious curls bouncing around on the run would have been a bit much.  And thank God the atrocious tie was long gone.

 

It did feel a bit manufactured that she could only tell Castle "ILU" and not much else, but I suppose that's how it has to be given the set up.

 

Good character scene between Castle and Alexis, with her reassuring him about Beckett and also giving some insight into her emotions.  This was the kind of emotional scene between all the characters that should have been written in 701, during Castle's disappearance arc.

 

Generally speaking, there were some decent attention to character which hasn't always been the case during high stakes episodes in the past.  Hope that continues.

[Guest]

deaja. She worked for the Attorney General (basically the FBI) first three episodes of S6, she was back by 6.04 in NY. 

 

Thank you! I've been trying to remember since last night!

[WendyCR72]

No, no one is in trouble. I am just putting this in yellow to be seen. Upthread, there was a post stating that mods delete posts - but only if offensive, etc. This isn't always the case. If you (universally speaking!) do have a double post and do not simply just wish to edit it as "never mind" or "DP", you may PM and ask that it be removed.

 

Just a heads up!

[femmefan1946]

And nice that Castle got a badass moment for once when he used his skills to get out of the zip tie/cuffs and escape.

 

I seem to remember a show where that trick was explained. How is it done again? And were there keys involved?

 

This whole "I have to keep secrets to protect you" trope.

Are FBI and CIA (and AG's Office) personnel forbidden to marry? Or have children?

Are the families of such officers automatically enrolled in Witness Protection?

A seriously stupid trope.

[axj73]

I haven't watched this episode yet. This is the first time in four years that I haven't been excited about a Castle season premier. I think all the BTS business and the obvious fact that NF and SK no longer wish to work together has affected my opinion of the show. It's a shame that things have got so bad BTS that the whole premise of the show has had to change. I will watch the current episodes eventually but I think I'll save them to watch on my trip to NYC.

I started watching Outlander this past summer. It has its own share of fandom drama with one side convinced that the two leads are dating and the other that says they're not. From what I've seen the two leads are very tactile with each other at public events and they do seem to be good friends. It does make me wonder how long that will last as that's how NF and SK were when Castle first started.

[AntiBeeSpray]

I haven't watched this episode yet. This is the first time in four years that I haven't been excited about a Castle season premier. I think all the BTS business and the obvious fact that NF and SK no longer wish to work together has affected my opinion of the show. It's a shame that things have got so bad BTS that the whole premise of the show has had to change. I will watch the current episodes eventually but I think I'll save them to watch on my trip to NYC.

I started watching Outlander this past summer. It has its own share of fandom drama with one side convinced that the two leads are dating and the other that says they're not. From what I've seen the two leads are very tactile with each other at public events and they do seem to be good friends. It does make me wonder how long that will last as that's how NF and SK were when Castle first started.

 

That's kind of how I feel about Castle now, if it really is the case. Castle was about Castle and Beckett, not about just Castle or just Beckett. Not even sure if I'll even bother to watch it anymore.

[madmaverick]

I started watching Outlander this past summer. It has its own share of fandom drama with one side convinced that the two leads are dating and the other that says they're not. From what I've seen the two leads are very tactile with each other at public events and they do seem to be good friends. It does make me wonder how long that will last as that's how NF and SK were when Castle first started.

 

I watch Outlander too but I'm not involved in the fandom.  Can't deal with drama in more than one fandom at a time heh.  I did watch one or two interviews with the leads and didn't feel the attraction/sexual chemistry they have on the show crossed over much in interviews, actually, as much as I thought it did with Nathan and Stana in those early interviews.  But obviously, impressions such as these are subjective and I haven't seen much of their offscreen interaction as I have Nathan and Stana's over the years.  But you can count on one hand the number of costars who actually fall in love, date, and have a happy ending all while working together on a show... the odds are against them.  

 

A little surprised that Nathan made two references to kissing in his live tweet, even in jest.  Nathan and Stana didn't share much screentime in the episode, but their chemistry seemed fine to me as it was last season.

[verdana]

Teaching someone you've just met the art of manipulating men is a bit weird.  Not exactly what a father would want her daughter to learn I would think.  But obviously plot purposes, so handwave.  I get they wanted to start the mentoring vibe going, but that was a little too quick.

 

It's seriously weird and icky, especially when you continue the conversation when Castle appears about what you're doing as if you should be proud. I get why that little moment was there to show how these two women share an almost immediate bond of friendship where they can talk about things like this but urgh.  I wonder how many more times I'm going to see Castle standing there like a stuffed dummy whilst Hayley and Alexis "bond" over crime and men. 

Edited September 22, 2015 by verdana

[verdana]

Alexis' wardrobe comes off as ageing her too much to me, but that's nothing new from Luke. ;)

 

The Curse of Luke, it runs in the Castle family, first Nathan cops it now Molly feels his wrath. That black dress with cut out sections I felt wasn't appropriate for the office, then she had a top that showed her midriff and skirt arrangement which looked odd too. 

 

After giving Hayley the Reader’s Digest version of the Beckett/Bracken mythology,

 

 

Chuckled at this line from Matt in his TV line review. I'm ready for the Bracken book to be firmly shut. 

 

Jack Coleman is a good actor but I still don't really care about Bracken.

 

Bracken looks rather sad, careworn and pathetic in jail.  

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

[turnitwayup]

When did Beckett work for the AG? I know I haven't been paying close attention the last few seasons (because quality) but I would think I would remember this. (Would it be in the time I'm remembering her as working for the FBI? Because I could be misremembering) A reminder would be great.

 

S5 finale she was offered the job. Came back to s6e1 and it was 6 weeks later on a training exercise so I figure it was end of June/beginning of July. She gets fired in s6e3 with time stamp of October on a tv news report so I figured it was about 3-4 months tops she was working in DC.

 

In the 7x01 DVD commentary, Bowman said he was kicking himself because the scene where Beckett first sees Castle in the hospital bed was too bright. He literally said "you can see their faces, so it's too bright." What an ass.

 

I'm surprised he didn't want to take a few months off here to go work on the X Files. With the spoilers we know, he would've fit right back in but then again some of the teaser clips that have been released it's does looked better lit over there.

 

For some reason, $15.99 was scribbled on the box of spiders and that made me laugh.

 

Good thing Beckett tied up her hair.  Her luscious curls bouncing around on the run would have been a bit much.  And thank God the atrocious tie was long gone.

 

Yeah I think that was a comedic moment since it was a close up with the price on the box because wouldn't props be able to find a blank box for the spiders. Unfortunately that ugly blouse will probably get more screen time next week. One thing I like it that Haley was wearing more sensible shoes but I wonder how long that's gonna last before Luke puts her in Beckett like boots. I really hope she gets to stay in low heel or flat sensible shoes if she's gonna get in more fights and what not. It was distracting to see Alexis wear nice high heels and a dress cause most of the time she was dressed more casually. She spent the ep looking like she was gonna go out on a date instead of being a PI.

Edited September 22, 2015 by turnitwayup

[371012]

I realized why Hayley is a mentor rather than Beckett. If Beckett explained that to Alexis (a) Alexis would have had MORE antipathy toward Beckett and (b) so many in the fandom would have had their heads spin right off.

[Clanstarling]

I totally missed the last few minutes apparently. Oh well. I was more annoyed than anything by the show. Another disappearance, another fighting against impossible odds arc, even bringing in Bracken. Dear God, not Bracken again. As much as I love the actor, I came to hate that plotline. Maybe it's just the mindset I'm in. I was in the mood for Castle Lite, not heavy duty anything.

 

I don't read the hype before previews, so I don't know or care much about the show runners, rumors, or numbers. I stop watching when a show bores me more often than it entertains. I was going to take it off my DVR list, but I see that the next episode is from Beckett's POV. So I will give it one more try.

Edited September 22, 2015 by clanstarling

[Cyranetta]

 

The only scene with Alexis I enjoyed was when she stood up for Beckett when her father was at a low ebb - Castle gets a chance to lean on her emotionally (which he can do now she's no longer a child) and she offers him a dash of common sense, hope and support - that's a much better way to incorporate her into the show. This scene made me wish the writers hadn't wasted so many golden opportunities to develop the Alexis/Beckett relationship over the years which looks even less likely to happen in s8 with Hayley's introduction.

I had the same reaction. The other element about this scene was that it allowed Alexis some vulnerability in her reminding Castle of his own disappearance, and that's the one thing that kept the Castle/Alexis scenes charming in the beginning seasons - she might have been "wise for  her years", but she also needed his emotional support, so you didn't have the current level of unbelievably know-it-all proficiency.

 

I enjoyed Hayley enough that i would probably be glad to follow her in her own show, and I'll at least be receptive to watching her develop in this one.

 

I can understand gloomy lighting for atmosphere in places like old storage sheds for railroad ties, but it seems terribly inefficient for a police precinct. 

 

How on earth is Beckett not immediately fired as Captain the minute she reappears? (and she can't exactly pivot and go back to pursuing the State Senatorial idea)?

[jaytee1812]

Oh god no, Castle is really really bad at anything to do with the U.K. Can we not have someone from Hackney, who speaks like someone from Kensington. Oh and her dialogue is awful. I think it must've been based on Downton Abbey.

[roomtorome]

Yeah, I hated it.  Lots of shows do edgy well - this isn't (for me) one of them and I only ever watched for the light fluffy goofy stuff not this kinda crap. 

 

Was Stana off somewhere and couldn't film this first episode; pretty weird choice to open a season after all these months with one of the two leads absent and involved in yet another stupid, contrived "suspense" story - but I feel no suspense and zero interest at all in this story.  

 

They seemed to age alexis by what seems like 10 years - And, I admit to missing Martha.  I like the family stuff - it's fun and silly.  

 

Looks like they could' let Stana just have her own hair anymore - 

 

I will watch one more episode then decide but right now, no interest at all.  If they break them up, I wouldn't care but we know they will be together at the end, whenever that may be.  This year seems like a good time to end it.

[KaveDweller]

My issue with stand-ins is that at some points the back and forth over the shoulders took me out of what I was watching because it was like watching tennis...over his shoulder, over her shoulder, back to over his shoulder. It distracted me. And diminished the sideways looks that I always suspected were ad-libbed in the character moments. Maybe it's just me.

 

I only noticed because I'd seen the speculation about it from the sneak peeks.  If I hadn't seen that, or known that Stana wasn't around during filming, I wouldn't have noticed.  I think over the shoulder shots are pretty standard, even without stand-ins, but usually they switch it up a bit with some long shots.  I don't have an issue with an occasional scene done like this for scheduling reasons though.

 

Clara Striker.  Heh, as in inspired by Clara Strike.  Nice touch.

 

I didn't realize she altered the name.  I thought it was a little creepy that Alexis was using the name of a character based on someone Castle slept with, but I guess Alexis didn't know about that.

 

It did feel a bit manufactured that she could only tell Castle "ILU" and not much else, but I suppose that's how it has to be given the set up.

 

It did, but the two viewpoints thing wouldn't work otherwise.  I actually did think Beckett looked kind of conflicted in that scene, like she did want to say more.

 

And nice that Castle got a badass moment for once when he used his skills to get out of the zip tie/cuffs and escape.

I seem to remember a show where that trick was explained. How is it done again? And were there keys involved?

 

Last season Castle explained how to get out of zip ties by jumping up and down and banging the cuffs against your butt.  Or something that made him and Beckett look really silly, but ultimately worked.

 

How on earth is Beckett not immediately fired as Captain the minute she reappears?

 

Interference from the AG's office?

 

Regarding darkness.....A few months back there was a special on one of the networks about the Sound of Music.  Julie Andrews interviewed that when filming the scene where they are singing in the gazebo, she and Christopher Plummer couldn't stop laughing. Actually, I think she said "giggling."  They thought it was silly that they were standing so close to each other while singing.  Apparently the director finally gave up and decided to make the scene really dark so no one could tell they were laughing.  And if the kisses were the only thing we saw in the dark, I'd think something similar was going on with the Caskett kisses.  But everything is dark, so they must just prefer to spend their money on Beckett's wardrobe.

[Nadine]

Was Stana off somewhere and couldn't film this first episode; pretty weird choice to open a season after all these months with one of the two leads absent and involved in yet another stupid, contrived "suspense" story - but I feel no suspense and zero interest at all in this story.  

 

 

She was filming "Sister Cities".

[BellyLaughter]

It's seriously weird and icky, especially when you continue the conversation when Castle appears about what you're doing as if you should be proud. I get why that little moment was there to show how these two women share an almost immediate bond of friendship where they can talk about things like this but urgh. I wonder how many more times I'm going to see Castle standing there like a stuffed dummy whilst Hayley and Alexis "bond" over crime and men.

And people think it was bad when he just stands around like he's just Beckett's stuffed dummy -- now he could also end up being his daughters??!! Jesus. No wonder the ratings are currently residing in the toilet!

[BellyLaughter]

Was Stana off somewhere and couldn't film this first episode; pretty weird choice to open a season after all these months with one of the two leads absent and involved in yet another stupid, contrived "suspense" story - but I feel no suspense and zero interest at all in this story

This show has always been better when they work under the mantra of "big things small, small things big" I have never been a fan of the painting yourself into a corner conspiracy and Castle saves the world by ripping wires out of a nuclear bomb storytelling - it feels like boys and their toys rather than nicely crafted, clever storytelling!

I had hoped that changes this year could avoid those tropey pitfalls but who was I kidding!

The basic premise of this episode seems like it's more of the same painting themselves into implausible corners....I really hope next week can change my mind because I will bloody watch this thing til the bitter end....dammit!