Castle – You want to live forever?

I’m not sure I can take the “science” in this week’s episode any more seriously than Rick Castle’s fascination with ghosts, aliens or government conspiracies. Alas, though, we’re probably not supposed to. Sometimes, we are to take Castle seriously as a crime procedural, and other times we’re supposed laugh along with Rick’s jokes and enjoy the basis of the case … this episode was definitely the latter.

The fun game each week with Castle is trying to figure out whodunit based on the how recognizable the guest cast is. This week, there’s the wife, Judith Hoag (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle’s April O’Neal … what can I say, I’m a product of my time) and Shaun Toub (Iron Man’s Yinsin). The smart choice would be to point to William Atherton, who’s played douchebags in everything from Life to Die Hard. Usually, though, it’s someone out of the blue, so it actually being the wife was a nice change of pace.

Her decision to commit suicide so she could be frozen along with her husband should not have come as a surprise to anyone. So much so, Beckett should have had her on suicide watch. Either way, it allowed for Castle to wax poetic on the idea of soul mates finding each other, even in a different time and place. For someone so happy go lucky about life in general, Rick Castle sure is a sap.

More often than not, the relationship between Alexis and Rick is the best part of this show (a statement that isn’t meant as a knock to any else about Castle; this father/daughter relationship is just that good). What started out early in season one as clichéd, the child being more mature than the parent, has evolved into something that is so much better. Alexis’ reaction to being rejected from Stanford was more complex than simple disappointment. She’s never experienced real want and loss before. This isn’t about her boyfriend or the Stanford memorabilia she’s collected, but about the path she thought she was on. But this girl is going to rebound. Count on it.

Notes & Quotes

• Only Rick Castle would have a subscription to Sky Mall.
• “I mean the bullets in Lester Hamilton’s chest were not fired by Beau Randolph’s gun.” – Lanie
  “Are you sure?” – Castle
  “No I just sit down here all day and make stuff up.” – Lanie
• “Failure is giving up. Everybody gets rejected, it’s how you handle it that determines where you end up.” – Castle

Clacked by Ivey West
on Oct 04, 2011 @ 09:55 EST5EDT