S08.E20: Much Ado About Murder

[WendyCR72]

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After a movie star turned theater actor is mysteriously killed, Castle and Beckett go backstage and learn the star had more to worry about than just his lines.

[newyawk]

Not sure how, but this episode was uploaded Sunday night, so I watched it way early. Maybe it airs regularly on Sundays in Canada?  Who knows.  Randomly:

No SchlockSAT!  :D  Just a very blatant El Chapo-esque storyline.  Considering the dead actor involved, I think the Castle writers were having a little fun at Sean Penn’s expense. 

Castle acting like a yoyo with his YOLO card. LOL. That said, I wish my credit card had that kind of high-tech ID protection. I’m waiting for my second  fraud-caused credit card replacement in under two months.

Erin, the play director, walks up on the crime scene and the fresh dead body of her lead actor, all like, “I can’t believe this happened,” like she was handed the wrong latte at Starbucks.  There’s a subtle, gigantic red flag. And Ophelia, played by another horrible actress. This show scored so well with Jonathan Silverman last week, it’s disappointing to see them settling for subpar guest actors again.

Fantastic to see Martha with more than three lines for a change.  You go, girl!

Ryan: “Yeah, and I want a baby unicorn with a rainbow for a tail!(glances at Espo)  For my daughter.” Hee.

Hey, it’s Jenny! And poor Kevin, none of the other kindergarten parents appreciated his artistic vision. *sad trombone sound*

Sweet scene with Kevin helping Sarah Grace learn the Flower song. And Espo doing the Flower dance behind her.

El Chapo-Loso escapes yet again. Well, I guess that was a creative way to cut another cozy Caskett scene way short.

All in all, I thought it was a pretty well structured episode. Not as fun, imo, as last week, but still decent.

Edited May 3, 2016 by newyawk

[FlickerToAFlame]

"That's cold, Beckett," by Espo, was my favorite line. 

Guessed Jewel was the killer immediately. 

I will say all the Twitter uproar last night about there hardly being any Beckett was dead wrong. There was actually even more Caskett than normal (though that isn't saying much). 

[LexieLily]

Sarah-Grace is in kindergarten? Isn't she supposed to be two and a half at most, based on when she was born in show-universe timeline?

[tankgirl73]

Ryan said it was her Preschool. And when he was going over the top with the teacher she said "they're preschoolers... "

Jewel Staite a "subpar guest actor"? Blasphemy. Unfortunately though, when she showed up early and then was not even seen or mentioned again for the next half hour, I knew she was the murderer. No way you get Kaylee for 10 seconds of screen time and then she's done.

So who is left from Firefly to be on the show?

Best scene was definitely the flower song. That kid was adorable.

Didn't hate the episode. These days, that's saying a lot.

They remembered that Castle is a writer! And that he has a history of palling around with bad guys!

[BellyLaughter]

Just now, tankgirl73 said:

Ryan said it was her Preschool. And when he was going over the top with the teacher she said "they're preschoolers... "

Jewel Staite a "subpar guest actor"? Blasphemy. Unfortunately though, when she showed up early and then was not even seen or mentioned again for the next half hour, I knew she was the murderer. No way you get Kaylee for 10 seconds of screen time and then she's done.

So who is left from Firefly to be on the show?

Best scene was definitely the flower song. That kid was adorable.

Didn't hate the episode. These days, that's saying a lot.

They remembered that Castle is a writer! And that he has a history of palling around with bad guys!

Pretty much ticked off the whole list.  Ron Glass has too much class to do it, Sean Maher is off boring someone to death and Alan Tudyk is way to busy....

Mind you there's all next season of Castle PI.....

[KaveDweller]

This was a pretty decent episode. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I didn't know what was coming.  I actually think I wouldn't mind a season 9 that was like this, even if it had a reduced Beckett. If they could have worked it out with Stana to have a reduced role or something, and they focused on Ryan/Espo instead of Alexis/Haley, it would have worked for me,

The girl playing Sarah Grace was cute even though she apparently is aging at an alarming rate.  Ryan was great with her. Although, I did wonder why he chose to Skype the pre-school teacher from inside the interrogation room where he knew he could be observed.

I like seeing that Castle and Beckett have a date night thing. It's nice to see them spending time together that's not working, or at least hearing about them spending time together that's not just references to sex.

I predicted the director was the killer the second she walked on screen.  These writers need to spice things up.

Does crime lord guy really need to grant rights to his life story? He's kind of a public figure. 

The victim was a big movie star and there was only 1 paparazzi following him around in the days before his death?

The rescue of Castle from the drug lord guy was pretty violent for this show.

[newyawk]

5 minutes ago, tankgirl73 said:

Ryan said it was her Preschool. And when he was going over the top with the teacher she said "they're preschoolers... "

Jewel Staite a "subpar guest actor"? Blasphemy. Unfortunately though, when she showed up early and then was not even seen or mentioned again for the next half hour, I

It's of course possible she was directed to act completely blase so that it would look like her character didn't really care that the guy was dead (which is what gave it away for me.) And that is of course on the director.  Really, when I said "subpar," I was thinking more about the chick who played Ophelia. i thought she was pretty bad. 

[Lee4U]

So, their tiny homage to Shakespeare's 400 birthday?  I liked last week better - much more so.

[Bubbles]

7 minutes ago, BellyLaughter said:

Pretty much ticked off the whole list.  Ron Glass has too much class to do it, Sean Maher is off boring someone to death and Alan Tudyk is way to busy....

Mind you there's all next season of Castle PI.....

Has Morena made an appearance?

[BellyLaughter]

5 minutes ago, Bubbles said:

Has Morena made an appearance?

Missed her but I place her in the Ron Glass category....she has more pride than that and doesn't need the work....

[shapeshifter]

13 minutes ago, newyawk said:

It's of course possible she [JS] was directed to act completely blase so that it would look like her character didn't really care that the guy was dead (which is what gave it away for me.) And that is of course on the director.... 

I was distracted by too much botox. If not for her voice, I might have thought she was a manikin. 

And while I'm being hypercritical: I agree with the poster upthread that the violence of the DEA scene was jarring after all the fake out, comical violence of El Oso/Chapo.

[turnitwayup]

26 minutes ago, tankgirl73 said:

So who is left from Firefly to be on the show?

Alan still too busy, haven't seen Ron in anything in a while, Morena is busy on Gotham and just having another kid/custody battle with 1st kid and the last time I saw Sean was a small guest part in ep of Looking

Ep was better than usual this season but any ep is better when there is no mention of LokSat. It was so obvious that Jewel was the killer since they revert to the most recognizable guest star and being introduced before the credits.

Ryan's subplot was really enjoyable and hilarious being a dance mom with Espo and Jenny have to reign him in. Cute that Uncle Javi was dancing behind Sarah Grace. TPTB should've had focus on Ryan and Espo instead of super!Alexis and stickaround!Haley. Nice somewhat continuity that Ryan is a theater geek.

The Cartel kingpin was entertaining but of course his permission present was Caskett time interruptus. The 1st 2 Caskett scene weren't half bad, but yeah that continuity still needs fixing when how can they be having date nights when the were separated or pretending to be separated for most of the season.

Yay for Martha getting more to do. Her surprising Castle, Ryan and Espo in the bed was fun. It did seem strange that Martha wasn't waiting for Castle at the precinct when he got rescue.

Edited May 3, 2016 by turnitwayup

[TWP]

12 minutes ago, Bubbles said:

Has Morena made an appearance?

It will have to be on an episode about lizard-like humanoid creatures. Morena will always be a lizard for me (remember V?).

[break21]

I liked it - the past 2 episodes have really worked in my opinion.  I thought they were both very funny.  More Martha is never a bad thing.

[Nadine]

1 hour ago, LexieLily said:

Sarah-Grace is in kindergarten? Isn't she supposed to be two and a half at most, based on when she was born in show-universe timeline?

They upped her age to 3...

[LexieLily]

Just now, Nadine said:

They upped her age to 3...

Well, that's not so bad, I guess...

[BellyLaughter]

You know I watch episodes like this - the funny moments, the upbeat music, the adorable family moments, the friendships and teasing and I just sit and wonder how on earth are they gonna recapture that in the next season after Beckett's presumed death.  I just find it leaving a rather bitter taste in my mouth.

 

Even the passage of time isn't gonna heal that for me.  Why can't they just end it.  8 seasons is a hell of a run for a show in this day and age.  Keeping it on air because you have nothing to replace it with is pathetic.  I honestly thought Nathan Fillion had more creative integrity than that....wasn't he looking to go out on top just a few years ago.  Jobs come and go for everyone but seldom does a job have the ability to leave such an impression on so many.  What a shame that for a huge number of this shows fans that impression is gonna be tainted beyond repair.   

[verdana]

So Ryan threatens a pre school teacher with looking into her unpaid parking tickets if she doesn't agree to his ideas for the school play? Guess I shouldn't be surprised as this season they've had him accepting bribes, failing police exams and forgetting all the good characterisation they'd built up in prior seasons. Sigh

What little I saw of Jewel did not impress, she was flat and emotionless, she might as well have been reading most of her lines off a script. 

Castle gets kidnapped again, really?  This is getting ridiculous. And did anyone find it weird how relatively unemotional Beckett was when she was watching the video with Martha of him being drugged and taken away especially given the Locksat situation bubbling away in the background (cough).  I thought Stana was phoning that in again, I know Martha was there so you could argue she wanted to stay calm for her but I thought her reaction was way too underplayed given the circumstances but then I've thought Stana has been phoning it in quite a lot this season - they both have.  That scene might have worked in the earlier days when she wasn't as invested so Martha is obviously the more worried out the two but now it came over as she was just a work colleague of Castle's comforting his mother not his beloved wife! 

[BellyLaughter]

2 minutes ago, verdana said:

So Ryan threatens a pre school teacher with looking into her unpaid parking tickets if she doesn't agree to his ideas for the school play? Guess I shouldn't be surprised as this season they've had him accepting bribes, failing police exams and forgetting all the good characterisation they'd built up in prior seasons. Sigh

What little I saw of Jewel did not impress, she was flat and emotionless, she might as well have been reading most of her lines off a script. 

Castle gets kidnapped again, really?  This is getting ridiculous. And did anyone find it weird how relatively unemotional Beckett was when she was watching the video with Martha of him being drugged and taken away especially given the Locksat situation bubbling away in the background (cough).  I thought Stana was phoning that in again, I know Martha was there so you could argue she wanted to stay calm for her but I thought her reaction was way too underplayed given the circumstances but then I've thought Stana has been phoning it in quite a lot this season - they both have.  That scene might have worked in the earlier days when she wasn't as invested so Martha is obviously the more worried out the two but now it came over as she was just a work colleague of Castle's comforting his mother not his beloved wife! 

Yep that scene was so weird.  Even if Stana was phoning it in why on earth didn't the director question her performance?  Too many captains steering the Castle ship this season and it has been painful to watch.    

[verdana]

The Caskett scenes don't do anything for me any more,  they feel forced and I'm over them and it's made only worse by what I know is to come. This season they only serve to remind me the clock is running and we'll be getting an interruption very shortly because they've had their requisite amount of agreed screen time this week.  Sure enough there's a knock on the door of the most unsafe building in New York and Castle would rather spend time looking through script notes than continuing date night - seriously the only way this woman will ever get regularly laid is if she has an affair because Castle sure as hell isn't remotely interested in her, he gets his kicks more from a fancy new credit card and take out food these days. Sigh 

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Yep that scene was so weird.  Even if Stana was phoning it in why on earth didn't the director question her performance?  Too many captains steering the Castle ship this season and it has been painful to watch.    

She was so disconnected from what was going on it was so distracting! Like you I'm perplexed the directors don't step in and say something unless they're so rushed they can't or they figure at this point fans will lap up anything Castle related good or bad so who gives a shit?  Either way it's frustrating and makes me even more relieved that Katic is leaving TBH because if she was going to carry on like this it's not going to make enjoyable viewing for me and it can only get worse. If the actors look obviously bored regularly on screen and no one seems to care then I'd rather they moved on elsewhere and find someone who is invested to replace them or end it. I'd say that about any job. 

Edited May 3, 2016 by verdana

[metaphor]

17 minutes ago, verdana said:

And did anyone find it weird how relatively unemotional Beckett was when she was watching the video with Martha of him being drugged and taken away especially given the Locksat situation bubbling away in the background (cough).  I thought Stana was phoning that in again, I know Martha was there so you could argue she wanted to stay calm for her but I thought her reaction was way too underplayed given the circumstances but then I've thought Stana has been phoning it in quite a lot this season - they both have.  That scene might have worked in the earlier days when she wasn't as invested so Martha is obviously the more worried out the two but now it came over as she was just a work colleague of Castle's comforting his mother not his beloved wife! 

Yes, I thought that scene was off, too. I'm a fan of Stana's acting in general, and I think she's done a great job at the various facets of Beckett over the previous 7 seasons, but I do think she's been somewhat removed from the character this season. At the same time, I feel like the character itself has been marginalized and has played a less central role in S8. So I don't know if that remove is just Stana herself being kind of done, or is a reaction to her minimized role. From this vantage point, there really has been an active winding down of Beckett over the course of the season. Watching the episode last night, I could totally see the strings being pulled, and that made me sad.  

Edited May 3, 2016 by metaphor

[verdana]

When you can obviously see the strings that's the time for things to end but even if she has been marginalized and is unhappy which I can understand I don't think this is a good enough reason to start phoning it in and not giving 100%, not when you're paid the amount these actors are paid.  It's hardly as if she's overworked these days but like I said before if you're not happy and can't be bothered then leave find something that does light your fire. 

Edited May 3, 2016 by verdana

[femmefan1946]

For once the writers managed to have three full plots running at once: The murder, SG's preschool play, and Caskett without any of them being sloughed off in seconds.

This should be normal. Are there any one hour shows that don't manage at least that many? Last night I was watching Call the Midwife and they had postpartum depression/ cigarettes cause cancer/ and Fred tries to run his wife's shop, along with bits of character building of a much larger cast. Jane the Virgin tonight had at least four perhaps five.

Oh well, at least the murderer showed up well before the usual 12 minute mark.

[TWP]

1 hour ago, verdana said:

- seriously the only way this woman will ever get regularly laid is if she has an affair because Castle sure as hell isn't remotely interested in her,

 

That's how they'll write her off.  She'll run off with the pizza delivery guy while Castle is too busy wondering which of his shiny credit cards should be used to pay for the pizza.

[femmefan1946]

Yes, this writer does understand how a loving married relationship works. I would allow tonight's Caskett to fit with that too, given that these are both rather oddball people. Kevin and Jenny are much more sensible and always have been -- remember Gyrating Jenny?

[BellyLaughter]

4 minutes ago, SweetTooth said:

I'd agree right up until the point Castle bailed on date night. It just seems like poor Beckett has to practically hang naked from the chandelier to get his attention. I would have loved it if they'd done this outdoing each other on date night thing all through their marriage in order to spice it up. Kept some kind of sexy rivalry going.

Alas, the Caskett union ends in a whimper...

Starting to think that's exactly what they want us to be feeling.  Manipulative until the bitter end....I fully expect this will carry on all summer with the "how did she die BS" and the "poor widower Castle how will he move on BS"   

[S55]

To wade in the very shallow end, Beckett/Stana's 80's blue eyeshadow was distracting for me. And felt kind of out of place as far as her makeup goes. 

Also, score big for this show's horrendous continuity...they were officially & physically separated at Halloween, so how did Castle plan this amazing Halloween date night for them? Seriously, writers. Is it that hard to have a writer's assistant keeping track of this stuff within the same damn season?

Edited May 3, 2016 by S55

[madmaverick]

Typey, typey, typey...

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To wade in the very shallow end, Beckett/Stana's 80's blue eyeshadow was distracting for me. And felt kind of out of place as far as her makeup goes. 

Let me join you there because that was the first thing I noticed in the episode.  Very distracting!  Not a good call in my opinion, but then again I've not been a fan of the 'more is more' school of makeup which seems to have taken over Beckett since S3, when she got her current makeup artist friend (?). To wade some more in the shallow end, Nathan seems to be looking better in this final stretch of the season.  Lost some weight, less tired, more makeup maybe.

I enjoyed the episode.  The writing team seems to be finally their groove towards the final stretch.  Episodes should have been like this all season, lighthearted fun with witty banter, good use of ensemble, without the Locksat dead weight and Caskett angst.

 Who knew, Christine Roum may finally be growing on me as a writer.  I thought the dialogue was quite sharp this episode.  Heh, I did laugh when Castle said that George Washington had slipped him his digits.  Mind out of the gutter!  It was nice to hear about their adventurous date nights even if we never got to see them out even on a dinner date ;), but I guess seeing them in will have to do and it was kind of nice too.  Too bad there's never time for them to show date type conversations on the show like in fanfic, and it's always onto the plot.

I also chuckled at Castle's dress code scale with 10 being James Bond and 1 being The Big Lebowski, as my mind immediately went to formulate a different Castle dress code (ugly) scale altogether courtesy of Luke. ;)  His blazer was a bit distracting this episode as it looked like there was massive pilling going on in some shots.  Probably just the fabric, but it didn't look good.

I enjoyed the Bard speak.  The Martha scene was fun.  Just the right side of icky funny.  And I always like seeing Castle being a good son like Beckett does.

Nice to see Castle driving an Audi after the car last season.   I feel like they've been re-emphasising his writer profession, his wealth, and his fame a little more this season, which I've liked.

Enjoyed all the Castle/El Olso interaction.  Good guest star.  Reminded of that early season episode where Caskett visited some gangster who read Nikki Heat books.  I actually think writing that sort of gangster bio wouldn't be a bad career move for Castle down the line.  The shootout was a bit much at the end though.

Remember that early season episode when Beckett gave Castle grief for tracking Alexis' phone?  How times have changed.  That said, if I were them, I'd be tracking their persons as well as their phones at their rate of peril. ;)

Jewel was alright though she didn't get much to do.  Her character really should have stopped talking and gotten a lawyer, like countless other TV suspects. ;)

Meh on Ryan's storyline but the fist bump with SG was cute.  Uncle Javi dancing was cute.

Quote

And did anyone find it weird how relatively unemotional Beckett was when she was watching the video with Martha of him being drugged and taken away especially given the Locksat situation bubbling away in the background (cough).  I thought Stana was phoning that in again, I know Martha was there so you could argue she wanted to stay calm for her but I thought her reaction was way too underplayed given the circumstances but then I've thought Stana has been phoning it in quite a lot this season - they both have.  That scene might have worked in the earlier days when she wasn't as invested so Martha is obviously the more worried out the two but now it came over as she was just a work colleague of Castle's comforting his mother not his beloved wife! 

Yes!  This!  The scene was really jarring when I watched because I was wondering why on earth Beckett was so unemotional especially when contrasted with Martha's level of concern.  Even Espo seemed to be more concerned!  It was like there was a disconnect.  It's a shame this was what we got here as some of the scenes where Caskett expressed concern for the other's well being have been some really strong ones in the past.  I also thought the line from Beckett to Martha about Castle may be blowing off Martha to play with his credit card wasn't very fair and a bit callous, and something they knew Castle wouldn't do.  

Also, sorry if I missed the announcement somewhere, but will episode threads be closed until the episode air in the U.S.?  Just checking since it looks like the finale will air earlier in Canada.

Edited May 3, 2016 by madmaverick

[newyawk]

6 hours ago, SweetTooth said:

One more thing. The announcement, on the evening news no less, that Castle is not only Beckett's husband but is working with the NYPD.

 

Well, in previous episodes when Castle was interviewed or reported on, it was mentioned that he also works with the NYPD, so this isn't really new. Their engagement was also in the NY Post on one episode, I think.

.............

As far as Castle ending date night early to get to writing..he had just found out that a violent, murdering druglord who wanted him to write his lifestory was now once again on the loose. So I think that was more out of fear than out of "Let me ditch Beckett."  Still sucked from a viewer's/Caskett fan's standpoint.

Edited May 3, 2016 by newyawk

[Guest]

I'm so annoyed with myself.  I was enjoying the episode, fell asleep during it, and then woke up RIGHT as they were revealing the killer.  I'll still watch it, but it's not as enjoyable now. Also, knowledge of what's coming is hanging as a pallor over each episode for me personally.

[newyawk]

Yep. I have to skillfully navigate/avoid social media until after I've watched. Which is hard because Twitter is where I look to for breaking news. 

[MDL]

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This was a pretty decent episode. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I didn't know what was coming.

There were moments-not many-when I thought that it was "our old show".

But then I remembered the recent crap.

[verdana]

That kid playing Sarah Grace was cute and natural but I'd still rather have a dog. Given her rate of growth I expect her to be teaming up with Alexis on stake outs in S9. 

I wish Castle was as excited about his wife in the morning as he was over his YOLO card.

Jewel's acting was awful, yeah I know I've said that already but it bears repeating. Why did she even want the part if she couldn't be bothered to give a fuck? It would hardly get me on to booking her for parts based on this performance. I found all the guest stars aside from the mob boss and the little girl were below par. 

Why are the boys treating Castle like the lead investigating officer in charge?  This bugs me so very much. 

I'm with Espo "we are so not doing this" I'm admitting a truly heinous thing, Shakespeare has never done a thing for me. Bores me to tears, can't get into it at all.  

I'm with KaveDweller, Zane is a movie megastar with a colourful private life but he gets followed by one pap?  WTF. 

How unprofessional was Ryan doing acts from your kids school play in the middle of the street, once again I shared Espo's exasperation. However, saying that I really enjoyed Espo and Ryan, they have way more chemistry than Caskett and I'm liking Espo again - which is really frustrating given they're about to implode the show in a few weeks. Typical of my luck. 

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Does anyone think Ryan's relationship should have been the Caskett relationship? I mean, the wife comes there to tell him he went overboard, and she does it in the nicest, most loving way possible. He immediately understands and realizes he was being a jerk. The end. Then his cuteness with the daughter. The child actress who wasn't precocious and seemed like a real kid. I felt they really connected.

Yes! It's sad that they can handle Ryan and Jenny and their issues so much better than the Caskett relationship, I may not see them much but their marriage has substance and that comes through on the screen and when the kids came in with Jenny I actually felt my first real pang of regret that fans will never get to see this sort of scene play out with Castle and Beckett - it's crashed and burned - there is no salvation.  

Alexis is the one who puts new tracking software on an NYPD captain's laptop, oh for Christ's sake please stop with this crap, why can't Ryan he used to be the tech guy. You know someone who WORKS for the NYPD.  But no we get Supergirl doing it instead, is she still in college or has she dropped out? I don't give a crap but I do know I'm fed up with Alexis even when I don't see her lol. 

The rescue of Castle felt terribly out of place in a show that spends 99.9% of the time trying to make a joke out of everything and especially given the build up, I don't watch Castle for those kind of violent scenes it went on too long.

Watching the whole episode this afternoon rather than just a series of clips improved things. I realise the clock is ticking on my time too as a fan of this particular version of Castle so I had better make one final effort and get watching.  It was okay, even funny/sweet in places (nothing to do with Caskett) despite my griping. I didn't realise how the non mention of Locksat improved things so drastically but then again my benchmark for quality Castle programming has gone subterranean so it doesn't take much. 

Edited May 3, 2016 by verdana

[verdana]

Castle Recap: Ay, There's the Rub — Episodes Like This, We'll Miss at TV Line

First quote that hit me in the comments section and made me laugh.

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Not bad episode but the ending was strange and whoa with Becketts eye shadow and why wasent Beckett concerned about castle being taken

I'm with you all the way Brad heh. Glad others have noticed Beckett's freakish lack of concern over her husband's kidnapping. 

Edited May 3, 2016 by verdana

[turnitwayup]

Yes that eyeshadow was so distracting. It looked like Beckett was about to get ready for a date night than work all day at the precinct. Even Luke is dropping the ball on styling her cause who green lighted that look. It's like they got to the home stretch of filming this season and everyone is taking turns on phoning it in.

[verdana]

CASTLE: MUCH ADO ABOUT MURDER – A SAD COP/BAD COP REVIEW

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So, speaking of Ryan and Esposito… We saw more of them this week and that’s always a good thing. The chemistry between them this week was over the top good. Will we see more of them as this dreadful season nears its end? Are we seeing a preview of future possibilities? Hmm…

I enjoyed the boys too. 

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Finally, and this was fantastic in my book…no Alexis and no Hayley! Two, count ’em, two home runs! In their absence, we saw Juliana Dever, the wife of Seamus Dever (Ryan) who showed up at the precinct with the couple’s daughter. A cute scene that should’ve happened more frequently over the years. Again, something for the future?  #Jennyisback

Hooray yes thank God none of the Gruesome Twosome.  As for the latter well why not they should have been fleshing out all these characters lives years ago.

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Since then, everyone in the city of New York has broken into the loft or gone there, and said outright that they're married. They continue to work cases together and display affection publicly. And now the evening news is reporting it. It's like since they've been supposedly split up, the writers have gone out of their way to make the relationship even more public.

I know WTF? I don't get it.  It's as if they've positioned a gigantic spotlight on their writing ineptitude. Why on earth would you highlight the stupidity of the entire premise not just once but constantly. 

Edited May 3, 2016 by verdana

[Annec]

I was unimpressed with Jewel. Even if the direction was to have minimal reaction it sounded like she was reading the words off a script, no facial expression or real interaction with anyone else in the scene.

So over Alexis and all her super sleuth skills.  She rarely even talks to Kate and now she's working on her laptop?

More Martha is always better. 

I felt like this entire episode was a poor imitation of "Anatomy of a Murder" from season 3.

[KaveDweller]

47 minutes ago, Annec said:

So over Alexis and all her super sleuth skills.  She rarely even talks to Kate and now she's working on her laptop?

That made no sense, and I feel like they only had that line to remind us that Alexis is a super sleuth hacker now. Why not just say and and Castle decided to get tracking software because one of them is always being kidnapped? Or say that the NYPD provided new tracking software for all captains or something? There were many ways to make that scene work without having to bring in Alexis. Ugh, why does she annoy me so much?

Also, I don't know about the NYPD, but the company I work for doesn't allow us to install our own software on our company computers. There are ways around it, but you'd think Beckett would want to follow protocol for something like that. 

2 hours ago, verdana said:

I know WTF? I don't get it.  It's as if they've positioned a gigantic spotlight on their writing ineptitude. Why on earth would you highlight the stupidity of the entire premise not just once but constantly. 

At the beginning of the season I thought they were setting it up for Beckett to realize how stupid the separation was because of that, or for Castle to end up in danger. But nothing ever happened with it. 

[WendyCR72]

Right now, I'll blend the two New York show universes and say this is what I think current Castle has been reduced to:

In the criminal justice system of Castle, the people are represented by two separate, but equally annoying groups: The writers, who butcher the crimes, and the actors, who checked out long ago.

These are their poor excuses for stories. Chung, chung.

[KaveDweller]

5 minutes ago, SweetTooth said:

 

The separation arc, including the mysterious LokSat, Alexis becoming a hacker and jacking up Beckett's computer, and talk of them outdoing each other for a date night we've never heard of until now. 

 

Castle did actually say that their "date night" thing was new. Which would explain why Beckett forgot. And I am giving the writers way too much credit here, but it would make sense for a couple that recently reconciled to want to start some new tradition like that. Even if it was a mostly fake break up.

The Halloween thing could have just been a thing Castle did because he's big on Halloween and not a part of this new weekly thing.

[KaveDweller]

1 minute ago, SweetTooth said:

They'd been doing it long enough for them to say they kept outdoing each other and for him to say "Remember when I..." Also, as proven when they said "last Halloween..." and that they "keep" outdoing each other, leads the viewer to believe this is ongoing, whether it's date night or something else.

And the thing others have pointed out about their last Halloween big blowout extravaganza spelunking trip was that they weren't even together. At all. Much less for their little adventure.

So this is all talk and no show.

Right, but it's not unbelievable that Castle or Beckett has done the occasional extravagant thing off-screen and now it's becoming a regular thing. It's unbelievable if they were doing it every week for the past few years, yes, but I don't think they were claiming that. It's still lazy writing, but it's not really their worst offense. Now what they should have done was bring up what Beckett did for Castle in The Lives of Others and how Castle did something to try and top that. But I don't think the writers remember season 5.

The Halloween thing definitely doesn't make sense, like everyone has said. And they have no excuse for that because it is something that would have happened this season.

[BellyLaughter]

6 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

Right, but it's not unbelievable that Castle or Beckett has done the occasional extravagant thing off-screen and now it's becoming a regular thing. It's unbelievable if they were doing it every week for the past few years, yes, but I don't think they were claiming that. It's still lazy writing, but it's not really their worst offense. Now what they should have done was bring up what Beckett did for Castle in The Lives of Others and how Castle did something to try and top that. But I don't think the writers remember season 5.

The Halloween thing definitely doesn't make sense, like everyone has said. And they have no excuse for that because it is something that would have happened this season.

They are too busy trying to distract us with ineptitude in the hope that they can slip Castle PI in without most of the fandom even realising what they are doing!!

 

"Canon?? What's canon?  Didn't you notice his cool new PI Office??"  Love, The Writers xxx

Edited May 4, 2016 by BellyLaughter

[GoGiants]

I strongly agree with the first sentence of the TV Line review:

Quote

If Castle‘s plan is to lead up to that finale with a series of episodes that feature the show doing what it does best… that’s almost a bit mean, yes?

Having several reasonably happy and enjoyable episodes in advance of a potential character death (and after the train wreck of S8) does seem mean. I understand that the showrunners/network etc have different perspectives on all of this but it does feel bad. Hard to enjoy whatever good is left with the mess of S8 and the drama of the last week.

I don't consider this Castle at its best, but nothing in S8 would earn that qualification in my book. However it was another decent episode for S8. I will never understand why they couldn't do more episodes like the last few and skip the break up altogether. Keep them apart through the usual methods but skip the unending breakup drama that this show can't handle.

It was wonderful not to hear a mention of Loksat. I could almost forget it/he/she existed! I do think it will make the finale all the more jarring when Loksat shows up guns a blazing. After all, Loksat has shown her/himself to be terrifyingly dangerous! I guess that is how Castle has usually done their big plots. Ignore it all season and bring it back in finales/sweeps. Heck, that is really what they've done this season but they've been incredibly messy and damaging in how they went about it. Introduce and ignore Loksat with great flourish, breakup Castle and Beckett and then ignore for long stretches, have family and friends hardly be bothered, reconcile them without any real consequences, and then pretend all is good for 5-8 episodes until Loksat reappears with a bang.

I know the Halloween date has been mentioned already. I will add this, I don't always notice continuity issues. Sometimes, they have to be glaringly bad for me to catch them on first appearance. That halloween date sounded great but I think they were busy sniffing each other's t-shirts by themselves at that moment. I don't need perfect continuity (and Castle has struggled with it forever) but that was annoying. The writer's hands may have been tied in certain ways for S8 but that is just sloppy writing and there is no excuse. All Loksat and breakup related writing has been beyond bad, so why should this be any different?

I cringed at Ryan's over the top parenting (flower dancing on duty?!?) but it was nice to see Jenny again and Sarah Grace. The little girl was cute and it was fun to see her with uncle Javi. They absolutely dropped the ball not developing all of the secondary cast over the last 8 seasons. Maybe they could've kept the alleged BTS issues to a less toxic level if the secondary cast had helped share the load over the years. Plus it would have been nice to see them not being solely used as plot tools at crime scenes or only involved if they were pushing along Castle and Beckett's story. 

Quote

It's sad that they can handle Ryan and Jenny and their issues so much better than the Caskett relationship, I may not see them much but their marriage has substance and that comes through on the screen and when the kids came in with Jenny I actually felt my first real pang of regret that fans will never get to see this sort of scene play out with Castle and Beckett - it's crashed and burned - there is no salvation

Right there with you. While a baby wasn't totally necessary for me, I did always hope that they would end the show with a family for Castle and Beckett. That they managed to do ok by Ryan and Jenny and make such a mess of Castle and Beckett is just sad. 

Quote

Why are the boys treating Castle like the lead investigating officer in charge?  This bugs me so very much. 

More prepping of the audience for Castle PI? I found that bizarre as well. Beckett takes the call and then he shows up with the boys like the lead investigator. What the heck? All three of them acting as support for Castle is just weird. Makes that aspect of the show feel off balance when Castle is so front and center with the police. Watching him go off to crime scenes with the boys while I assume Beckett does paperwork (off screen of course) has been one of my big issues with the Castle PI/Captain Beckett version of the show. It just is not the show that I knew. How is this Nikki Heat research or police work or even PI work or working with his wife/muse? Answer: it's not! 

Assuming S9 happens, Castle PI can now engage in consequence free kidnappings and rubber bullet gun battles without all that pesky police presence and procedure or real danger. A barrel of laughs may be headed our way!

Edited May 4, 2016 by GoGiants

[newyawk]

9 hours ago, SweetTooth said:

Yes, I'm aware it was well known in the past. My point is that they were supposed to have this epic public breakup. Beckett did it to protect Castle from LokSat, so they wouldn't think he was working with her, and thus put his life in danger.

So she walked out on him without giving him an explanation, told all of their coworkers and closest loved ones tat they were separated, not living together, and seeing other people. 

Since then, everyone in the city of New York has broken into the loft or gone there, and said outright that they're married. They continue to work cases together and display affection publicly. And now the evening news is reporting it. It's like since they've been supposedly split up, the writers have gone out of their way to make the relationship even more public.

 

But they made the decision a couple of episodes back to fight it together and drop the pretense.

[femmefan1946]

I had actually forgotten the second child. I thought that was Sarah Grace's stroller.

[verdana]

Quote

Assuming S9 happens, Castle PI can now engage in consequence free kidnappings and rubber bullet gun battles without all that pesky police presence and procedure or real danger. A barrel of laughs may be headed our way!

That was another thing that got with the insane shoot out. What rescue team goes in firing wildly when they presumably have no idea the exact location of the hostage and could be killing him in the ensuing mayhem? The just seemed to be firing all over the place and if I'd been Castle I'd have flattened myself to the floor like a shot and prayed not stood there like a wet lettuce making myself a possible target for a stray bullet or confused gunman but of course Castle has to end up bumping his head on some pillar or something instead. 

Quote

You don't bring an entire arc of two people consistently outdoing each other to hilarious degrees without ever showing it. And as proof of just what an afterthought it is, they weren't even together for one of the greatest adventures the two of them ever had.

When Caskett's off screen antics sound way more interesting than their on screen ones - you've got a problem.  It's been consistently like that for a good few years now.

That's the other thing that annoyed me when they had Ryan mention about whatever it was and Caskett were talking at the start  I hate it when writers (and Castle ones are the worst for this) use such a cheap, lazy storytelling trick to try and flesh out the characters lives by creating this whole world for them offscreen that you never see and then boring the pants off me with their antics on it. 

My immediate first thought was why don't I get to SEE any of this stuff or at least the aftermath of it?

It reminds me of the episode when they talked about walking along the beach at the Hamptons where they got the shells for that horrible picture and the karaoke in the bar up there and many fans went nuts over those reveals but they did nothing for me at all. I argued (as did others) we should have seen these things and some responded you can't show these things all the time stop moaning you don't get to see everything they do outside of work. My counter argument was I have every right to complain because they've shown so precious little of their lives away from the precinct since they got together and that talking about all the amazing things they get up to off screen simply highlights the yawning chasm there exists in terms of developing the Caskett relationship on screen for fans to actually enjoy v their off screen exciting, passion fuelled shenanigans.

It would be different if fanns had seen lots of different aspects of their lives on a regular basis but they don't so if the writers can't be arsed to write such scenes then stop reminding me about all the wonderful moments I've missed out on. Sigh

Edited May 4, 2016 by verdana

[verdana]

Quote

And now the news announcing Castle and Beckett are married and work together, and neither of them freaking out that the bad guys may see this.

That's what I don' t get about all this, I would have thought the risk to them now she's moved back into the house and they've given up any pretence they were split up would have increased the risk levels accordingly and they would be more on guard but nothing has changed. They're still as stupidly cavalier and uncaring about the situation, whilst Locksat remain looking as toothless and dumb as ever and worse it's not just about them but friends and family who could also suffer in the fallout (that's never been talked about of course as usual guess it happened off screen like everything else important). 

Every step along the way of this story there should have been repercussions and behavioural changes not only for Castle and Beckett but the people around them for each choice taken by but there's been nothing at all.  Horrible writing for this all season and I can see the closure of this story being equally horrid. 

Edited May 4, 2016 by verdana

[oberon55]

What's worse is that a lot of the off screen stuff directly contradicts what we see on screen. Remember when on screen Beckett has stage fright or song fright. Yet off screen Beckett sings karaoke & gets up on stage during concerts & dances. It's like they have split personalities. What we see compared to what we hear.

Just got around to watching this episode. I could make a list of plot holes & continuity screw ups but it would be like shooting fish in a barrel. I will say the last two or three episodes have been bearable. I guess it just goes to show how far my expectations have fallen this season. They really have managed to beat me into submission.

[Annec]

8 hours ago, SweetTooth said:

Let's see...what do we have with Castle? Well, at the end of this episode, we had them eating Chinese food and could have discussed any number of important issues or their relationship or something having to do with their lives right now. But no. TYPEY TYPEY. Because it's always gags first. 

This!  Imagine if they just had a conversation about having kids or, heaven forbid, they continued their conversation about what was the next step for them in their relationship.  BTW, I find the fear of getting "normal" very sad.  Most adults recognize that a level of continuity, comfortableness, "normalcy" is a wonderful thing in a relationship and life.  It is indicative of the writers fear of marriage that they see normal as equal to boring and a bad thing.