So MusicMan and I finally watched the season finale of CASTLE. Before I go any further, let me say two things:
1. Read ahead at your own risk…there will be spoilers!
2. Of course she’s not dead!!!
So, what did you think?
There were many, many things about it that I enjoyed–the intense, emotional scene when Castle comes to Beckett’s apartment to try and get her to stop working on the case, and they have that blow up that just screams sexual tension (yum!)–she tells him to leave, that she doesn’t want him around, etc. That was my favorite scene of the whole episode, partly because for pretty much the first time, they called each other by their first names. It’s the subtleties that make it!
I pegged Montgomery as being the one to die several weeks ago when I heard that there was going to be a death. He was the only one who could go that we’d care about–but not care about too much to ruin the show. (That’s why of course she’s not dead! This isn’t BBC America’s Robin Hood, thankyouverymuch.)
I also figured out how Montgomery was going to save Beckett and get killed at the same time as going down a hero–but the way they did it was purely for dramatic reasons. If he really were a hero, he would have warned her ahead of time instead of when she walked into the hangar, and then they could have played the scene out but with her knowing. Doh. (PS Loved that he shot that b-stard when he was leaning over him.)
Castle sure stepped up, dragging Beckett out of the way, though didn’t he? *mrwor* And the very last bit when he’s bending over her, begging her not to die, and he makes The Big Revelation (that everyone knows except for Kate, and she probably does anyway)…it was heart-wrenching. Loved it.
So, here are my thoughts going forward because I know they have at least one more season, maybe two, approved:
- Kate was probably wearing a bullet-proof vest. She’s not dumb.
- She won’t remember Rick saying “I love you.”
- He’ll probably come to see her in the hospital to find Josh there with her, and be chased off.
See, I don’t want them to get together any time soon because I’m afraid the show will jump the shark. It usually does. Now, I have to admit that JD Robb does a brilliant job of handling an on-going relationship with Eve Dallas and Roarke, and there are many overtones of the In Death series in Castle…but I’m not convinced a television program will maintain a good storyline if they get together. I’d like to be wrong, however. I’d really like to be wrong.
What I’d like to see happen, by the way, is for the new captain to be a woman. And I’d like there to be some…something between her and Rick. A little tension maybe, a little flirtation, a little power play…whatever. Just enough to turn the tables on Beckett. We’ve had her pushing Rick away for the last three seasons and now it would be interesting if this season focused on her coming to terms with how she feels, and what he means to her, maybe even becoming ready to act on it…but Rick’s moved on. Or so it seems.
After all, a rich, smart, talented guy who has great relationships with his mother and daughter wouldn’t be not dating, not seeing women—would he? At least a little, and at least since the woman he’s hot for is pushing him away and involved with someone else.
So. Those are my thoughts. What did you think? Agree, disagree, what are your hopes for next season?
May 31st, 2011 at 2:38 pm
Comments Contain Spoilers!!!
I pretty much stay away from talk about the shows I’m watching so I hadn’t heard anything about the death so it was a complete and total shock to me, thus the episode had the “whoa!” effect on me that it was intended to have. I had not expected to feel so heavily invested in this season finale and so kudos to the writers for doing a masterful job with this one. Wow! I woke up feeling like I was still socked in the gut, largely because I knew I had to wait for the whole summer for more of my favorite show.
I too know that Beckett isn’t dead and Mary and I are thinking it was a set up to draw out the remaining players in this conspiracy and that they didn’t dare tell Castle because his reaction did, and does, sell it. Your idea that Beckett won’t remember hearing it is a good one. I thought it would actually be fun if she did and she could tease him about it throughout the next season.
I would love to see them get together, but like you I believe it will ruin the show. Should it? Absolutely not, but I’ve seen few writers do a good job with this and I think that is because they always follow the same old formula: if you get the couple together then eventually you have to break them up if you want the show to keep going on. I find that lazy and ridiculous and I so would like to see some talented writers who know how to write a compelling ongoing SUCCESSFUL relationship in a show like Castle.
In the meantime I hope we don’t get a horrible captain who hates Castle and causes problems. That has been done in so many shows and again I would like to see this group of writers be more creative. Regardless, I’ll be watching.
May 31st, 2011 at 5:45 pm
So glad to “see” you here on the blog again, Carl! Hi to Mary for me too!
I love your idea that it’s a fake-out that Beckett is dead and that they didn’t tell Castle. And I LOOOVE the idea of her hearing him and then teasing him about it next season…I just wouldn’t want her to go too far.
I really want a female captain to come in and stir things up. She could be a temporary character, too, you know, in case we need to get rid of her.
This is one show that MusicMan loves as much as I do. Can’t wait for next season!
May 31st, 2011 at 5:58 pm
I cannot begin to tell you how much I’ve missed you, especially since I just started Facebook and Twitter and so wasn’t keeping up with what you are doing over there. I know it may only be temporary, but it is wonderful to see you blogging again.
I wouldn’t want the teasing to go too far either. And I agree, a female captain would be fun, especially if it set up an interesting dynamic between Beckett and the captain. What I don’t want is a raving witch character like when Denise Crosby was on NYPD Blue. It was only a couple of episodes but her character was such a trouble maker that I nearly got ulcers watching the show!
I like the dynamic of the relationship between Beckett and Castle in the episode with Laura Prepon playing Nikki Heat. Such a fun episode. That is another example of where the writers really hit one out of the park because they started down that cliched road of having her seem like she was going to be a needy, self-involved actress and instead she was actually a decent person who won Castle and Beckett over.
May 31st, 2011 at 7:51 pm
I felt pretty much the way you did about the whole episode. My favorite scene was yours, and my second favorite bits were that Castle saw the glint and took action but was too slow. Normally he’d have been the one to take the bullet and she’d be pissed, but this was so much more true to character.
The season was a little rocky overall, with some of the writing being really sucky, so I doubly loved the finale. (Except that when he was begging her not to die, I was yelling “put pressure on the wound!” LOL)
My husband thinks the same thing as Carl, that it was a ploy. I have my doubts, but we’ll see!
Castle is still in early days, so I think they can believably drag the tension out a couple more seasons. After that, though, trying to avoid the Moonlighting curse is as much of a killer as letting the characters get together. I’m so fed up with Bones, for example. And I DO think getting them together can work just fine, as it does in Chuck and Nikita. But Castle’s too classic and the tension too delicious. It can go a while longer.
May 31st, 2011 at 8:19 pm
I have to agree, there is no way she is dead. What they do with it should be interesting whether she heard him or not. She could have been knocked out by the impact of the bullet or the fall. It is a vest, it can cause you to loose consciousness because the wind is knocked out of you from the impact.
There was a lot of foreshadowing in the final episode, but it was written well enough that I didn’t care.
I like the idea of a female boss. It would add the extra twist that is needed for the tension.
I had also thought that the first show of the new season would have a similar hospital scene.
What I am also intrigued about is what is going to happen when Castle’s daughter finishes school early to join her boyfriend in California. The father/daughter element has also been a favorite dynamic of the show.
I was pleased earlier this season with the continuation of the poker game. It was always one of my favorite little teases in the show. It also gave them a chance to do a short but sweet tribute.
The other possibility of sexual tension added to the show could come from someone in Castle’s mom’s school. Another element added this year.
The relationship between Castle and Beckett isn’t ready to jump the shark yet. I give it a couple of good seasons yet before the writers get stale.
May 31st, 2011 at 8:56 pm
Natalie: You could be right in that it may not have been a ploy, just smart thinking on Beckett’s part to wear a vest (as we assume she was doing…it seems a bit much to think that she would maybe have been actually shot and would then miraculously recover. Anyway…). They could also go with the storyline of keeping Beckett “dead” for a while, while she goes undercover to investigate. What might really be an interesting, though cruel, storyline is if they didn’t tell Castle and he went through an episode fully believing her to be dead.
I don’t think I could handle that kind of tension though!
Sue: I hope and pray that they don’t write out he daughter in any way. That is indeed a huge part of the appeal of the story, Castle’s relationship with her and with his mother. That ensemble cast really makes the show. I’m going to miss Montgomery in the mix too.
May 31st, 2011 at 10:00 pm
Hey Colleen, it’s great to have you back blogging again…did that sound weird? LOL!!! I love your write up about the Castle Finale. I read it on my cell phone and this is my first op to get to a computer. I like Carl’s idea too. I can’t wait until the next season starts. I think they should bring in a woman too, that will give Kate a run for her money. It would be great to have that woman be someone who challenges Kate at the job too…that will flesh out the conflict between her and Castle. Especially if Castle is in a “relationship” with the new boss.
I knew, for sure, that Montgomery was going to exit stage left when his wife came to the station and said he’s finally going to take a vacation. I just wasn’t sure how it was going to go down. Loved the twist. They really had me going because I really didn’t expect him to be the third cop that was involved.
Coll, is it okay if I call you that? The new website is tres “banging”. I need to get acquainted with the new vamps in town. I’ll probably start tomorrow…maybe use it as an incentive to get my final comments done for work. It’s really great chatting with you and everyone else. I’ve missed this. Have a great rest of the weekend.
Peace and love,
Paula R.
May 31st, 2011 at 10:02 pm
I saw the captain as the bad guy from a mile away.
Totally agree Beckett won’t remember Castle saying I love you.
Love the idea if a female captain coming in. Think that would mix things up really well. Totally see Castle and Beckett ending up together in the end, just nit sure it needs to happen as soon as I would really like.
May 31st, 2011 at 10:04 pm
Also, what I failed to mention was the fact that even if Beckett didn’t hear Castle say “I love you”, everybody else did. I think Beckett would have totally worn a vest…the camera’s didn’t zoom in on her as closely as they’d been doing throughout the seasons and her jacket looked kinda big too…lol! I’m just sayin’. So glad it wasn’t the mom or daughter. When I heard someone was leaving, I went through all the possibilities in my head of who could go and not impact the show tremendously. Went for the big guns and negated those. Thought it would be Laney at one point too…she’s been absent lately. Okay, I’m done. Gotta catch some zzzzz.
Peace and love,
Paula R.
May 31st, 2011 at 10:33 pm
Colleen, I initially thought Beckett was wearing a vest too, but I read an interview with show creator Andrew Marlowe, and he said that she wasn’t. And you can see blood on Beckett’s hand, I think it was. So she definitely took the bullet. No idea how they’ll handle things when the show comes back, but I hope it’s satisfying and doesn’t make me want to throw things at the TV like, oh, say Bones did.
May 31st, 2011 at 10:48 pm
@Trish So she *wasn’t* wearing a vest?? Oh noes! So the bullet went through somewhere unimportant–and I did see the blood too.
Did Marlowe say anything else?
@Sue Yes, I’m wondering what’s going to happen with Alexis going off to college–although I’m not terribly worried about that. They have Skype and he can fly back and forth to CA (they’re making a movie after all). And who knows–she and Ashley could break up.
@Natalie Hey there! Long time no talk/see. Thanks for coming by. I agree with you that the season was uneven–one of my favorites was the episode you mentioned when the actress came in. I also liked the two-parter when they went to LA. The scenes on the set with the doubles of Ryan and Esposito were priceless.
May 31st, 2011 at 10:49 pm
@Paula Speaking of which, I am totally missing the Laney/Esposito subplot. What’s up with that? I was really enjoying that. Grrr. Maybe next season.
I have high hopes that they’ll continue with developing the characters well, and bring in some different conflicts for Castle and Beckett.
We’ll see!!
May 31st, 2011 at 11:15 pm
I saw the blood too but thought that was probably part of the act. I guess of both cliched ideas I would rather see it be an elaborate set up to catch the bad guys than two seasons in a row where Beckett should by all means be dead only to see her miraculously recover. Maybe they’ll surprise us somehow.
May 31st, 2011 at 11:20 pm
I never thought of them staging Beckett’s death and not telling Castle. Sorta hope not…that’s just mean. Although I’m thinking Detroit 187 might have pulled something similar.
Have to admit I had a bit of a hard time swallowing the way Castle was able to manhandle Beckett out of the hangar. As tough as she is I thought she’d put up more of a fight.
I think she’ll get a new captain that she doesn’t hit it off with. But it would be intriguing if she gets a run for her money with Castle.
Still mutter and fume to myself everytime I watch this show and all it’s inaccuracies!
June 1st, 2011 at 10:18 am
@Kylie Brant I know, I KNOW…I wince all the time at the inaccuracies. But I love it anyway, and MusicMan is used to me complaining and telling them how dumb they are or how wrong things are. Heh.
I watch for the people more than the stories, although I do like some of the mysteries.
And as for Castle manhandling Kate out of the way…I’m okay with it. Yes, she’s tough, but he’s IN LOVE and he had her from behind, and she was hysterical…and maybe she was a little distracted by him. Heh.
June 1st, 2011 at 11:07 am
I should probably expect more from my television shows, but I don’t even notice the inaccuracies in a show like Castle. I probably watched more for that kind of stuff when I was watching NYPD Blue, but that was because it was a more serious show. I’ve never expected that from Castle because, for me, the mysteries and police work is not what I watch the show for. It is the father/daughter relationship, the friendships, the romance and on my geek side it is because I am a Nathan Fillion fan and love the Firefly references that the writers still work into the show from time to time. And of course the whole author/literary aspect is interesting as well. They could just sit around the station and the house all day and banter back and forth and I would love the show.