Castle steps it up again

by Debbie McDuffee

castle-mirror

“I shot too soon.” – Castle
“Well, we could always just cuddle, Castle.” – Beckett, to Castle at the shooting range.

Ah, so here’s our flip-flopped Castle episode, the one that was originally meant to air last week, in place of “Always Buy Retail.” I’m still left with the question about why TPTB chose to air these in a different order, although I have some possible ideas.

The main reason I think it probably did work better this way is Castle’s ex-wife and the progression of Castle’s and Beckett’s relationship. This week’s episode had some really nice bonding, not just with Castle and Beckett, but with Beckett and Castle’s family. I loved that Martha lent Beckett her necklace, and the ending scene where they all just welcome Beckett into the family fold and have her tell the story of the night before from her point of view was really precious.

If that had happened first, and then Castle went and boinked his ex, it would have lost a bit of its charm, don’t you think? Wait — did I just concur that a network made a good call? What’s this world coming to….

Speaking of family moments, I loved watching Alexis fencing while telling her dad about a boy she’s crushing on. And how about Castle’s mom auctioning him off — are you warming to her yet?

We learned a lot more about Beckett this week, and I continue to be thrilled that she hasn’t been turned into a two-dimensional character. As a cop, she’s got chops (“Wanna play?”), yet she made such a tender connection with the victim’s daughter (reminiscent of The Mentalist‘s Patrick Jane), through which we learned more about how Beckett is dealing with her mother’s death.

Castle’s still stepping it up each week, as far as I’m concerned. Here’s more evidence:

— They raised the banter this week, because not only was the dialogue great between Castle and Beckett — jinx, safe / saves, layers to the Beckett onion — but the two other cops on the team (sad that I don’t even know their names….) had a great run with the different names for the perp.

— Did anyone else notice that Beckett wears a different color of the same shirt every week? That snappy little boatneck with the 3/4 sleeves? Love it, and love that she doesn’t neuter herself wearing those style-less button down shirts like Lisbon on The Mentalist and Morgan on Dexter.

— Castle doesn’t always play with a full deck — what was he thinking, thanking the anonymous jewel thief in the credits of his book? Pretty funny story, though.

— When Beckett pulls out her badge at the charity auction, Castle asks, “Where was the badge?” as he scans her teeny-tiny, snug fitting dress. “Don’t ask,” came Beckett’s snarky reply.

— That was the most enjoyable apprehension ever — not only did the perp fall on Castle’s car, catching him playing at “cop,” but Castle actually thought fast and slammed the doorinto the guy holding the gun on him. And he always gets so darned proud of himself.

Photo Credit: ABC