Is Kristin Lehman’s insurance investigator just another artificial obstacle for the inevitability of a Castle/Beckett relationship? Perhaps she is an example for how the Castle writers’ room is getting this relationship right? Or, maybe she’s just a big homage to DC Comics’ Catwoman? You be the judge, but I’ll take the latter two.
You’ve got to admit, the similarities are there. Beyond the coincidental names, Kaye used to be a cat burglar. Plus, she has that whole “bad, but not that bad” thing working for her. To my (admittedly uneducated) perspective, Catwoman/Kyle always walked the whole good vs. evil line. And, of course, there’s the whole flirting with the hero. That almost goes without saying.
As much as I have railed against shows like Bones and (to an extent) How I Met Your Mother about artificially keeping characters apart, I am actually enjoying what they’ve been doing with Castle and Beckett this season. The split scene, Castle with his mother and Beckett with the Klingon Therapist, was an outstanding moment. It seems to me that both characters know and understand exactly how each other feels; they just know that it isn’t the right time, and they can’t yet talk about it. Despite their failure to communicate, the relationship that they do have continues to grow stronger. I know it’s a contradiction to how I normally feel in this situation, but it is working for me.
I’d like to say that the jury is still out on Penny Johnson Jerald’s Captain Victoria “Iron” Gates, but we’d all know I would be lying. The character brings little to the cast. The new captain had to have an antagonistic relationship with Castle – it was a given they wouldn’t get along (from a good storytelling point of view). But Gates comes across as covertly opportunistic, and smart enough to be able to look at the team’s record of clearing cases with Castle on board. That in and of itself is a contradiction big enough that I simply can’t get behind the character.
(On a related note … is there someone from the 24 casting department working on Castle? Even James Read (Falco) did some work on 24, and let’s not for get one Stana Katic)
Each week, I pause my trust DVR at, or around, the :45 minute mark, and try to posit who, proverbially, “dunit.” This week, the two most obvious candidates were the mysterious Falco, and Castle’s new lady friend. Since we know the Catwoman was never as bad as she wanted to be, I’m passing on her doppelganger, and Falco is just too obvious. No, I’m going with one of everyone’s (least) favorite True Blood vampires, Jessica Tuck’s Joy McHugh. I’m guessing she got caught stealing the Fist, and had to cover her tracks.
My response to the reveal was “Booyah!”
How did you do at ferreting out whodunit? And what did you think of Rick Castle’s latest distraction?
Notes & Quotes
Clacked by Ivey West 
on Oct 18, 2011 @ 01:37 EST5EDT
As an avid comic reader, I surprisingly dropped the Selina Kyle parallel. However, the side-by-side scene you describe, didn’t do it for me. I like that Beckett admitted her feelings for Castle openly to her therapist. However, Castle’s open flirtation with Kaye seemed insensitive.
Considering three months earlier Beckett just went through a shooting, watched her mentor die, learned her mentor possibly betrayed her family, broke up with the boyfriend who saved her life, is still dealing with the vestiges of her mother’s death, and all but confessed her awareness of Castle’s feelings; his sudden chasing after SK seemed a bit too soon. All I thought is ‘really, you’ve chased B for four years, you _finally_ have a bit of an in, and you chase after the first skirt you see?’ And, yes, I know it isn’t the ‘first’ skirt he sees, but three months after the core tragedy seemed too soon.
Beckett’s mom convincing him to look for greener pastures also seemed odd considering she encouraged him to confess his feelings earlier. If SK appeared in an earlier episode I might have been on board with the flirtation and the relationship. The actress playing SK did a good job. I always hate when the investigative guest stars either conflict or make our core guys look stupid (i.e. Adrian P and Dana D’s character), but I always love when the Castle team come together with the guest investigator at the end.
Wow. And, while reading other reviews, I just found one that corresponds with my sentiments (https://tvovermind.zap2it.com/abc/castle/castle-405-eye-beholder-review/99149). Maybe, it’s a ‘woman’ thing ;)
*POST AUTHOR*
You found someone on the Internets with a different opinion?
I’m shocked, shocked I say, to find gambling in this establishment!!! :P
Wait, now I’m confused. Are you saying ‘different opinion from you’ or ‘different from me’? Dude, we know we’ll always find someone with a different opinion from you :) I was just surprised to find someone else who felt Castle chasing SK seemed a bit too soon. Like I said before, I really enjoyed the intensity of the recent episodes. Although this episode was good, it was business as usual. And, I missed the darker sentiment from the season finale, the premiere and the “Romeo and Juliet” ep –
*POST AUTHOR*
No just a “different opinion” in general.
I don’t know why everyone is so obsessed with everyone agreeing with them. I certainly don’t mind that there are (many) people out there that have different opinions than me. That’s what makes the world interesting.
Dude, don’t you remember I wrote a post about our needing people to stop seeking out ‘niche’ groups in the internet with similar opinions last year? Anyways, I’m not obsessed with finding a similar opinion. I just happened to come across that review, right after I commented, and it shocked me that someone else felt the SK connection happened too soon and decided to share. I also found a site by someone familiar with law enforcement who critiqued the show by those standards. That intrigued me, but I figured sharing two links on one day was too much.
Side note, is it sad that we’re practically the only people that comment on each other’s articles? :)
*POST AUTHOR*
But since you asked, my friend, I chalk it up to one of two things, one comedic, one serious:
1) Castle has always suffered from Shinny Ball Syndrome. And let’s be honest, that is only the level at which he “chased” after her.
2) People deal with rejection (Even logical, time based rejection) in different ways. I think Castle being told (indirectly) to wait, that dipping his toe back in the proverbial pool just long enough to make sure is a logical, if obviously not admirable, reaction.