I’ve always been a big fan of episodes like “The Blue Butterfly.” JAG, in particular, always did a wonderful job with their Christmas episodes where the main cast took on a flashback story, generally set during World War II or Vietnam. Castle took on 1947 and old-time film-noir flicks all at the same time, giving fans an opportunity to see their favorite characters in very different scenarios.
If 1947 Joe and Vera can make a relationship work (and how beautiful were the older versions?), it gives one hope that their modern day counterparts can as well. I enjoyed their story: star-crossed lovers, he a gumshoe and she the arm candy of one of New York’s biggest mobsters. I loved how the layers were pulled back on the past, one clue at a time. When one source dried up, the team was able to find another way to follow the story – first the diary, then the police statement and finally Jerry and Viola filling in all of the details.
I’m sure that there is many a Lost fan who loved that Mark Pellegrino played a character in both timeframes. The “magic” reference made the connection all that more cuter. I’m glad that Pellegrino’s work on Lost has lead to more TV work for him (including a great run on The Closer), but I’m hoping he gets a good look in this year’s pilot season.
The last couple of episodes of Castle, I’ve complained about how the team will update each other, or share theories, in front of witnesses. I hate to be nit-picky (OK, I don’t really), but it continues to be a bad habit that the writers are letting these professionals get away with. This week’s entry into that “list of stupidity” was when Ryan and Esposito interviewed Westside Wally right in front of the murder board (Though, them being called Cagney and Lacey did somewhat make up for it).
I skipped the :45 minute guess this week, because the episode didn’t follow the normal episode conventions. The “who” of each case – well, at least the 1947 case – was much less important than watching the story unfold.
Notes & Quotes
G.I. Joe!!!
The minute I saw the wreck I assumed that Joe and Vera had survived. When Beckett initially interviewed the couple, I thought they were the older version of Jerry the Bartender and the Red-Head whopossibly killed our star crossed lovers. But, then seconds later I thought ‘no! I bet they’re Vera and Joe! and I bet Jerry and the Red-head are the car wreck victims!’ Oh well, 2 outta 3 ain’t bad.
Also, Mark Pelligrino rocked as Bishop during S1 of Being Human –
This was a wild episode. But that’s one of the things I love about Castle, they’re not afraid to color outside the lines. I’m just glad I got to see this episode. My schedule has been insane all through season four and I’ve rarely been home when it airs. Luckily though there are alternative ways to watch it, for instance my employer, DISH, has this streaming site I use called dishonline(dot)com, it not only has a ton of content, but a lot of it is available to non-subscribers too. Between that, and the fact that they’re always adding new shows, I definitely recommend checking it out. Thanks for the review, although I love the :45 minute guesses, but I understand why you didn’t for this one.