Best Show I Don't Think I've Admitted To Watching: Castle

[rabid1st]

I must say, and here I know I will disappoint many of my readers, that I am not a Nathan Fillion fan. He is apparently a very nice man, fun to have around. But, I have never enjoyed his acting. So, I really didn't care to watch Castle, and didn't, for the first three years. However, between S3 and S4, I had nothing to watch and thought I would pick up a DVD from the library. I picked up the first two discs of Castle, S1. I was amazed at how many of the stories were direct rewrites of Psych. Too many for that to be an accident, in my view. They were all stock plots, in other words. But, the one thing I loved was the actress who was playing Beckett, Stana Katic. She worked WAAAAAY too hard for such a beautiful woman. In fact, I would go so far as to say that, on TV, there isn't another equally lovely actress that works as hard as she does.

And here, I don't mean to insult the many attractive women on TV. But, so many of them can and do just phone in the acting. Stana could phone it in...just stand around looking leggy and she'd still keep her job, I'm sure. But from the first episode, she's been a homicide detective...how happens to be very attractive and model thin.

Also, the writer, bless them, are fearless. And that fearlessness has paid off in an increase...yes, everyone who has ever cited the "Moonlighting Curse" I invite you to READ THAT AGAIN....an INCREASE in viewership since the show put the two main characters together. And the reason for that is...the Castle writers are not slackers. They never made the Castle/Beckett interactions about "will they or won't they have sex." The show has been about these two people having emotional baggage and developing a relationship. And, to prove that, tonight they did a clip show that was easily the best clip show I've ever seen. Now, I hate clip shows, but I am as big a sucker for a ship of mine as any shipper...so I have found those lazy ass shows entertaining before this. However, I have never really seen a well done clip show, one that had a viable story and moved me to tears. Castle delivered on that, because they had actual endearing material to draw on for their clip premise.

I love Castle and Beckett...aka Caskett...and not just because the writers had the two characters actually discuss what their fandom name should be. People do that in real life. And that's what I love about Castle...for all of the stilleto heels, impossibly silly interactions, stock plots and Nathan Fillion...it consistently delivers genuine relationship trials and tribulations for the main characters. And they don't neglect the secondary characters lives, either. Who can forget the frank talk about fertility we recently endured?

If you've never watched Castle, get the DVDs and set aside both your impatience with the stock plots and a few week nights to catch up to this seasons. You don't want to miss S5.

Comments

[auntiesuze.livejournal.com]

I haven't watched last night's season finale yet (I think it's the finale? They still have the postponed episode that had the bomb plot), but I LOVE CASTLE!!! No, it's not usually the deepest of shows, plot-wise (and they had a couple of stinkers this season where I was yelling at the screen because the cops were written deliberately obtuse just to delay finding the killer, which was HORRIBLE), but the actors are amazing, and as you say, they write the characters and their relationships very realistically. The writers were smart to take their time putting Castle and Beckett together, but they knew (and said in interviews) that it was something that they had to tackle because it just didn't make any sense to leave their main characters in limbo forever. It wasn't realistic and would just piss off the viewers. It's been 25 years since Moonlighting and I think people are finally starting to realize that the problem wasn't with letting the characters get together, but with the writing, actors, and a host of other issues.

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Actually, the show I was posting about was the bomber plot one. It alarmed me a little, I was like...too soon. But, it was so well done that I got over my trepidation. I could certainly see how folks in Boston wouldn't be amused by it, however. Still, it was written long before any such event, unlike the very awful terrorist story they did on the West Wing. <<--One of their few serious missteps over the years, in my opinion. And, based on the Moonlighting Curse, as well.

It wasn't realistic and would just piss off the viewers. It's been 25 years since Moonlighting and I think people are finally starting to realize that the problem wasn't with letting the characters get together, but with the writing, actors, and a host of other issues.

Yes, Moonlighting had very serious behind the scene's issues, not the least of which was the writers having no clue how to develop a plot. And more shows are wising up about this "curse" business being a load of bunk. But Castle seems to be the first one, I've encountered, that really behaved sensibly with the whole idea of a simmering sexual tension. Other shows like Bones, blew it, by creating silly reasons to argue, rather than going for the intrinsic character difference. I stopped watching Bones, because I was frustrated with the writers playing ridiculous games to keep their false tension alive.

Moving on from "will they or won't they" with a show opens up so many more stories for a couple. Take the one where Castle didn't immediately respond to Beckett's sexual teasing, because he was playing a video game. That happens all the time. And the resultant need for someone else to respond to you, comes up, too. I loved that instead of starting a whole break up story...ala...most other shows...they let that idea be what it would be in real life. A little tweak of the relationship skills, but also, a reminder that there are some things you don't like about your partner.

Deeper relationships bring up a lot of deeper issues. They have more important conflicts and so they have more tension if you are willing to commit to those conflicts. My fic tends to be about those issues. For example, I find the alien culture clash between the Doctor and Rose, rather than happy shippy things, the most compelling part of their relationship. I find the fact that they truly get along and love one another in canon, to be a great jumping off point for delving into real issues. I view love as a force of nature. It can be beautiful and delightful, it should give us lots of rewards, but the changes it causes can be alarming and painful, too. Despite what our culture tells us, the pain of break ups is not the most poignant part. People often break up because the pain of confronting yourself, changing for the better, adapting is so much worse.

[ladyoneill.livejournal.com]

Although I am a big Fillion fan, I didn't watch Castle for the first couple years because of scheduling conflicts, but my parents kept raving about it so I finally watched it and got hooked.

Last night's episode was fantastic, yeah, best clip show ever. I love how the relationships, all of them, have developed over the years (and her hair style *g*). I think the show is really well written even around stock cop plots. The humor gets you past that.

It's interesting that while you don't like Fillion's acting, most acting complaints about the show I've read have been about Katic. I like her well enough. And whomever decided to hire Susan Sullivan to play Castle's mom pulled a brilliant casting coup.

[timshel-by-love.livejournal.com]

If I happen to see Castle on, I will watch it, but I've never made a point of it, mainly for the reasons you so thoughtfully spelled out here (although I do like Nathan Fillion). Stock plots and clips shows are symptoms of a show with too much time on it's hands. Actually, this is a problem for just about every show with a 22 episode season. I have often thought that Castle, especially, would have benefited from the cable model.

12 to 14 episodes seems to be the magic number for good TV. Game of Thrones only has 10, and it never feels like enough. On the other hand, with The Walking Dead churning out 16 episodes a season, you end up getting a lot of filler, even though they are capable of producing some of the best TV I have ever seen. Granted, Castle is a police procedural, and stock plots are kind of a given with that genre. But fewer episodes is practically a guarantee that you will only get the best of what the writers can give. And for a show like Castle, that at is core is really, very good, that could only make it better.

[asahifirsa.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed the flashback episode. Except for the one season after Beckett got shot which was really tedious, I enjoy Castle. It's been even better once Castle and Beckett finally got together (something Bones totally failed in).