I’ve mentioned before that Castle is the only cop-show on my can’t miss list. This week goes a long way towards explaining why. It’s just that little bit different. And that difference lets the show get away with a lot of silly things that just wouldn’t fly on a lot of other shows. The Castle riff on The X-Files was chock full of bits and gags that just wouldn’t fly on a lot of shows, but work perfectly within the Castle framework. It’s a delicate balance, but one they usually manage to handle quite well.
There really was a lot of fun to be had here. Some of it was obvious, like Castle and Beckett quickly falling into the Mulder and Scully roles. Or the saw-it-coming-a-mile-away breakdown of the car on the dark deserted road, complete with bright light from above. They even had the classic references like the the implant, and the missing time. The real treats came in all of the other little details. The cigarette smoking man … Castle whistling the theme … There were even a couple Firefly references tossed in for good measure.
That attention to detail went right down to the casting. If you’re talking ALIENs, who better to get than Lance Henriksen (Benny Stryker)? He also appeared on The X-Files. As did Karl T. Wright (Dr. Vaughan). Jeannette Brox (Ayyana Holder- the assistant) isn’t a X-Files alum, but she does continue the fine tradition of soap actors appearing on the show. (Port Charles, GH Night Shift). And then there’s Lyle Lovett (Agent Westfield). I thought he was good here. His unique look, and serious tone fit well with a secret government agent on a only mostly serious show. If I could change one thing about the casting though, it would have been to have Brian Thompson as Westfield’s partner. How awesome would that have been?
With so much fun being had with the X-Files shenanigans, the case was almost secondary, but it was still a pretty solid outing. I was sure it wouldn’t actually be aliens. Castle isn’t that far removed from the traditional cop show. But I still missed on the why of Marie’s murder. My guess was that she had uncovered some sort of illegal activity in her search, and been killed to prevent someone from being uncovered. That was ballpark adjacent I suppose, but the top secret info and Chinese spy came completely out of left field for me. It all worked out rather well in the end though.
Meanwhile, back at the Castle homestead, it was short, but this was one of the better Alexis bits in a while. I do always get a kick out of it when she becomes the parent, as she did when she tried to get Castle prepared to meet the parents. And that meeting went just about how I imagined it would, with Castle trying to be something he’s not, and coming off exactly as what he is. It was a fun aside.
And finally, the big question with no real answer? What did Agent Westfield say to Beckett? I have no idea, but my favorite guess came from Carla in the Castle chat. He offered her a job. … OK, no Castle the next two weeks, so we’ll see you back here in December.
[UPDATE: If you’re looking for the Firefly reference Nathan Fillion made mention of on Twitter, video of that is embedded below.]
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Nov 16, 2010 @ 09:30 EST5EDT
. . . . .
Dammit, Jim!
Both Lance Henriksen and Lyle Lovett were on the show last evening?!?
That means I’m going to have to fire up the computer and search for a replay out there in digital land. Gives me an excellent reason to see what Castle is all about …
I wasn’t the only one who saw the lightning flash at the end of the show, right? I think it was the lightning flash that used to be in the X-Files opening credits, before “The Truth Is Out There” (or the phrase of the week) would go on the screen.
Agreed. I thought I was crazy for a second, so obviously I had to google it. Then this popped up and I’m more self-assured.
Plus there was another reference to Firefly after Castle speaks to the Chinese workers in the basement. (Unless this was another X-Files reference. I never watched X-Files so I’m going to continue to believe it’s a call out to Firefly.)
Yep — Just updated the post with embedded video of that moment.
I’d like to think that Agent Westfield said something relatively unimportant to Beckett but that he didn’t want Castle, a civilian, to hear because he’s not part of an agency or police department. Beckett could have told him but is finding it more fun to torture him with it.
The villain was Vaughan, the other astrophysicist. He got into heavy gambling debts in a Chinese-owned casino and they were blackmailing him to download info from the US spy satellite. Marie found out that he was forging her name to turn the radio telescopes on to the satellites so he killed her.
I didn’t recognize Jeannette Brox but now I’m going to have to look up her episode of Night Shift2 (IMO the most realistic medical show on TV).
Lyle Lovett was absolutely perfect in this.
*POST AUTHOR*
You’re a Night Shift fan? Internet high-5! :D
I’m a total Night Shift/Sri Rao fan. Nice to find a fellow fan. :-D
She’s the second Night Shift character to appear on Castle. Azita Ghanizada, who played Sarita Batra, was Mistress Sapphire in The Mistress Always Spanks Twice.
Excuse me, I’m heading off to youtube to catch up on Jeannet Brox’s episode of NS …..
Castle is now pretty close to Chuck levels when it comes to intelligence of plot and dialogue…
Esposito “Castle… just prove that E.T. did this, and people, not machines”
Castle “I’m wokring on it”
and then they twiddle their fingers on top of each other like some cool fistbump
Honestly, what has this show come to? It’s not even a spoof of anything anymore. They let Castle say whatever weird thing comes to mind and the supposed cops on the show let him babble his absolutely braindead sentences. I know it was established that he has genious ideas here and there but the problem with that is: they investigate hyperbolic chambers and vacuum packagers and none of that is extraterrestrial, yet Castle keeps interrupting intelligent thoughts with illogical things that aren’t even funny.
The problem I have with it is not so much in the idea of the plot and making fun of the X-Files, the problem is, I think, the way it lines are delivered. Castle sounds neither ironic or sarcastic nor absolutely sure. He just says it. All the time. He sounds like someone who says anything that crosses his mind and while in real life such a person would be annoying as hell, on the show for some sort of reason it’s all fun and games. And I don’t understand that anymore. Every week there’s a crunchtime situation where someone is about to get killed and Castle goes into these situations without a vest and without a gun, more and more as the second person of a duo which is so extremely against all protocols.
I just can’t suspend my disbelief anymore. It’s all absolutely over the top. It has gotten close to slapstick. I mean that hand-gesture with Esposito and the dialogue there… all that is missing is pies thrown and fingers being pushed into eyeballs and slaps on the back of the head.
This show was so much fun in the past and now it’s the same formula every week and it isn’t even original anymore. I mean the way the show started… even Beckett just phoned in the horrific idea of Castle’s beloved daughter running off. He didn’t even go “aaaaw you are just messing with me” and she wasn’t even TRYING to give him actual advice. It’s all just banter for a whole hour. NOTHING is serious and the moments which are SUPPOSED to be serious are laughable, for instance when the Captain is briefing a department of nonames who just come in to stand there and have NO interaction with the team whatsoever before or after the scene.
“We need to find (suspect) he is (this and that high) and (this and that) old. WE NEED TO FIND HIM PEOPLE” and then they scurry off in different directions nowhere to be seen again. And as usually it’s Castle and Beckett who find the culprit or the abducted person and we get a reference to a situation way earlier in the episode where someone said the FULL NAME of someone without being asked (“Yes why of course, that was my Friend Steve McSillybuttons”)and Castle goes “Sillybuttons, I hardly knew ye”
*sigh*
This is the same problem “Psych” had in its third season. They are just phoning it in. It’s appalling.
and then they twiddle their fingers on top of each other like some cool fistbump
FEED THE BIRDS!
Thanks ;-)
WTF Mr. whinywhiny Sebastion
Oh, I don’t know how delicated or educated you are.
The thing is this.
You are being fucking crying-baby.
The Fuck.
You got problem with this show? Just don’t watch it.
Don’t be a crying-baby saying, “mama I hate this!”
Do you know how your comments are disturbing to people who loves how Castle acts in the show?
And what is this? Documentary show?
NO FAGGAT.
ITS A FUCKING DRAMA.
If you are not satisfied with this “not even funny,” going all against “protocols” drama. THEN GOD DAMN IT. DON’T WATCH IT.
JUST SHUT UP AND GO WATCH YOUR DOCUMENTARY CHANNEL AND HAVE FUN.
I’m not saying that im offensed with your opinions or whatever.
But You didnt have to turn your computer on and leave criticizing comments on this show.
It will may help staffs to improve this show.
But the thing is.
We people, who’s watching this show, loves the way it is right now.
:]
“You got problem with this show? Just don’t watch it.”
Yes. I got problem. But a comment which could’ve been written bei a bonobo will not change my opinion about coming to a website ABOUT TV (!) to vent my frustration.
*POST AUTHOR*
JK, comments, even negative ones, are always welcome. I think it’s pretty easy to see from my post, and Sebastian’s comment, that we disagree on a number of things. I’d even go so far as to say that many of the things that are driving him crazy about the show are exactly those things that I like about Castle. And that’s ok. We all like different things. Or, as Wash once put it, “Some people juggle geese.”
What you’ll notice he didn’t do, was start calling me a bunch of names because he disagrees with me. That’s how it’s supposed to work. We’re all here to talk about TV. I still don’t agree with him, but I do appreciate that he took the time to add his perspective to the discussion.
I think the agent told the one think Beckett really want to know: what agency he is part of. And Beckett just want to torture Castle a while.
My 2 cents
Castle and The X-Files? How could that combination be anything but awesome? Excellent episode, as usual!