Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Where Castle Doesn't Get To Be Mad

So last night's fall finale of Castle was hugely disappointing for me on the Caskett front. We start the episode with a murder victim in the water and she's traced back to a cruise line. Oh and she had heroin in her stomach. Beckett and Castle go onto the ship to try to find the crime scene and are under a time crunch when the captain sets sail. They talk to fellow dancers (Castle pretends to be a rich guy who knows how to dance) and Beckett talks to some old ladies and is able to find the murder victim's video camera that has footage on it of heroin being stashed in a barrel. Beckett finds and chases the guy down that packed it and they trace him back to a cartel that has connections to the silly new obsession of Vulcan and the CIA mole. Laura the murder victim was only mixed up in it because she was an environmentalist documenting the trash being thrown off of ships and saw the heroin being loaded. She was caught and killed for that, but luckily her murderer is apprehended pretty quickly and also provides a "lead" on the Vulcan Simmons thing. Supposedly.

Vikram also finds a new office for their little clandestine operation. It's in a strip club that's been closed down. Ugh. He also tells Kate that he just sent her that text to ruin her anniversary dinner with Castle. He's becoming such a jerk with not a lot of purpose other than exposition and blocking Caskett. Double ugh. Hayley almost breaks through their firewalls to hack in for Castle and find out what that text from their anniversary meant and who sent it to Beckett. By this time Beckett realizes he's onto her and they block him at the last second, but it's also a sign that they need to talk. Which Castle wants to do. He corners her at the precinct and is so hurt and stunned that she shut him out. Again. He calls her out and it was awesome.  For just a second I see fear in Kate's eyes that she might lose this great guy that has stood by her for so long. But then she comes to his house, says sorry, and all is forgiven without her having to do more than crook her finger. Sigh.

Don't get me wrong, I'm so glad Castle knows about Kate's secret and her silly new obsession and he called her on it. That part was great. The problem was the follow up, when she finally says, okay I'm going to let you in and I'm sorry I didn't think of it before, Castle pretty much just shrugs and says okay.  All is well.

Um, seriously? He doesn't even get to be a little bit more upset than that? She shut him out, stomped on his heart, and that's it? He deserved more. Why doesn't she ever have to work for the relationship and be accountable for her actions in the marriage?

Yet, this is why it has seemed so disingenuous and unrealistic from the beginning of this bizarre separation of Caskett. None of it makes any sense and as good as Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic are, I wish the writers would have trusted them to have it out. Let them dig deep into what a big obstacle in their marriage looks like and how they deal with it in a way that's true to the characters and what they've been through. Don't make it something akin to leaving the toilet seat up with shrugs and sorry and all is well. There are so many ways this could have been a forward impetus to their relationship and how they deal with things like this as a married couple, but instead it just seemed like a plot point with no real value.

So, to sum up, the case was okay. The boys were hardly on. Other than that, I'm hoping for better when the show returns in February.

*crosses fingers*

No comments: