'A Murder is Forever' -- Castle 6x08

Warning: Spoiler Alert

I have to actually give Beckett credit for this episode for not coming off as completely pushy and horrible when it comes to Castle and the things that make him who he is. Usually, she is so unbelievably impatient with him and does things that make me wonder why he keeps coming back to her, but she was actually kind of cool in this episode. I had almost thought that she was going to force him to get rid of the lion photo, since she didn't like it, but the fact that she didn't made me kind of grateful. Well, ok, she did go kind of sneaky about it and say that she would just sleep at her own place, but even that was kind of low-key for her (usually she's kind of over the top and in your face about stuff like that).

I almost thought that I had something when it came to the number that kept popping up on the victim's phone when the camera kept panning over to the number on one of the doors, but maybe that was something that was done consciously so as to psych people out (it certainly seems like it would be a possibility). But good on them for turning it around so that it was something other than what I thought that it was going to be, and not making it too obvious.

It was nice to see that there were a couple of guys involved with the case who looked like they could have been the one who was the murderer, but who both turned out to be ... not decent exactly (since they were both involved with shady stuff at least in some part of their lives), but at least they weren't killers (and that's something, I guess). Mostly it was that by making either of them the killer, it would have been entirely too easy (and would have been kind of sloppy writing). But there did seem to be all sorts of people in this episode that could have been the killer (more than what we normally get in any given episode ... at least that's the way that it seemed).

'Watershed' -- Castle 5x24

Warning: Spoiler Alert

Sooooo ... are we supposed to be concerned over whether or not Beckett is going to say yes to Castle's proposal, or if she is going to break it off and take the job in DC? Cuz like I've said before, the writers of this show don't really do very well with the cliffhangers. There really isn't much of any suspense about what she's going to do ... or at least, not for me. It's not necessarily that I know for certain what's going to happen (even though I have my suspicions), it's more that I think that they don't do that well with this sort of thing ... even though you think that they would, seeing as how suspense/mystery is pretty much the genre of the show.

I am fully going to predict right now that what's going to happen is that she's going to end up not taking the job in DC, but she's also going to say yes to Castle. Why? I have the feeling that she will torn between seeing that he wants to take their relationship to the next level, and realizing that he is only really willing to take that next step cuz he doesn't want her to leave (so, she'll probably see it as him doing it for the wrong reasons). So, NOES ALL AROUND!!

But then, I was wrong about when the writers were going to have the two of them get together (cuz I thought that it would work best if they got together in the very last scene of the very last episode of the series), so maybe I'm wrong about this. Still, I really don't think that they're going to have her leave the show ... and I just can't see them having her say yes quite yet (even though I think it will happen eventually).

Also, good on Martha for telling Castle that he's being a giant dumbie. The man shouldn't only be motivated into action cuz he's terrified of the alternative; he should be motivated to want to do things cuz he loves her, no?

'The Human Factor' -- Castle 5x23

Warning: Spoiler Alert
Ahhh, so, now we've gotten our set up for the thing that we're supposed to be in suspense about over the summer. First it was all about whether or not Castle and Beckett would ever get together, and then, it was all about whether or not she would survive the shooting during Montgomery's funeral, and now, we're supposed to be afraid that she's going to take the job with the Attorney General. The only thing is that the writers of this show do a really horrible job with the suspense between the seasons. It was obvious that eventually the two of them would end up together at some point, and there really was never any danger of her dying (since there's no way that they were going to write her off of the show ... not when she is one of the two leads, and without her the show would fall apart). And there really is no danger of her taking the job in DC, since it's the same thing as when she was shot ... if she leaves the show, everything falls apart, since it's all about the relationship between Beckett and Castle. You can say all you want about how it's a murder mystery show, and in part it is, but the foundation of the show isn't the mystery element; the foundation of the show is the relationship between these two characters (no matter how many times I have wanted to shake the shit out of Beckett ... which is usually at least once per episode, but sometimes more). So, I don't see how they really expect us to feel like there is any danger of her going off and taking another job ... at least not at this point. Maybe she might do it when the show ends, but there is no way that she's going to do it now and only become a tertiary character that only shows up every once in a while.

I suppose that she might try to get the whole team on the payroll, but I don't see that happening; neither her asking, nor the boys wanting to go. I especially don't see it of Ryan, not after Jenny freaked out on in when he went undercover a few episodes ago. But besides that, this is a very New York show, and a very New York homicide show. I really don't see the writers changing the entire format of the show to turn it into something akin to "Criminal Minds," where they go to different sites and try to figure out what the hell is going on there. The only real difference that I see with that would be that they wouldn't be called in by the local PD to help out; they would just go there to try to get things done.

The only thing that I see coming from this is that it might create some kind of stresser in Beckett and Castle's relationship. The preview did show Castle giving her an ultimatum about the job, and I can see her not taking very kindly to that. I have a feeling that something like that would probably come back to bite him in the ass later on, and the two of them would probably have to "work through their issues" in the oncoming season. Not necessarily something that I'm overly thrilled about happening, since I'm so over the whole Beckett and Castle having a tiff that lasts forever thing. That trope has lasted entirely too long on this show.

'Still' -- Castle 5x22

Warning: Spoiler Alert

A clip episode? Really? This close to the end of the season? Really? Aren't clip shows for when you are near the ending of the run of a series, and you want to give a look back at "all the good times" that the characters' had? This close to the end of the season, when we know who the guy was who was behind the death of Beckett's mom, should there really be an episode that's nothing but filler? Shouldn't we go back to the underlying thing that has been driving Beckett this whole time? Figuring out who was involved with that whole thing was so important in previous seasons that it feels weird that it's kind of been dropped. They handed us the final bit of information, and they haven't really been back to deal with it. Sure, the guy is Connected ... but shouldn't that mean that the gang is trying to figure out even more how they are going to make sure that they bring him to justice for what he did? Cuz right now, it really feels like he's been getting away with it, and since Castle and Beckett have been able to get laid, Teh Sex has been overpowering everything else (and all of the motivations that they may have had in earlier seasons).

And you know what? For a second there, even though I was sure that they weren't going to kill Beckett off (since there really wouldn't be a show without her and the relationship that she has with Castle), I kind of hoped that they really would kill her off ... and I almost had a glimmer of hope that they might (when she was looking up at the camera that was located above her). But the fact that they were able to figure out the code to turn off the bomb within the last two minutes ... convenient. ::eyebrow raise:: There really wasn't any suspense to it, pretty much at all. Even when they found out about the timer, there really wasn't any suspense to the situation. Now ... if they had had one of the secondary characters step on a pressure plate, there might have been some suspense about what might happen. Like, if Ryan stepped on one ... I might actually get a tiny bit worried about whether or not he would be written off the show; but Beckett ... there really wasn't much of any doubt that everything was going to be fine.

I'm tempted to look for spoilers for the next episode, just so that I can see if the next episode will actually have a plot that will take up a full 42 minutes (instead of about 20, so that the other 24 has to be filled up with things that happened in previous seasons), but I have had bad experiences with spoilers in the past (like finding out that Wash died before seeing Serenity. Not only was that awful in the since that he's my favorite character from that show, but then, there was no ZOMG! moment when he died, since I already knew what was going to happen). So, I guess that I'll just have to hope that the next episode won't make me want to shake a bitch (kind of the way that this one did).

'The Squab and the Quail' -- Castle 5x21

Warning: Spoiler Alert

I had forgotten just how lovely that I thought Ioan Gruffudd could be (when he's all swanked out), cuz he really and properly is ... him and his cheekbones. Between him and my imaginary husband (Hiddles), I have a feeling that I should need all kinds of imaginary bandages from those things. Truly.

It was nice to see Castle make at least a little bit of an effort when it came to trying to make sure that Beckett understood that she was important to him ... even if he completely missed the point of what she was talking about when she asked them where they were going (she didn't mean where were you guys going physically right then, stupid. Sometimes he really is clueless). And even if the two of them have been in love with each other for a few years now, yeah, I suppose that they really haven't "defined" their relationship ... it's more them having fun right now (what with the happy sexy time, and him getting to take her places that she hasn't been before that he can try to spoil her every once in a while). I wonder how long it would have taken before Beckett wanted to put that kind of definition on their relationship, if Eric hadn't come along and stirred things up a bit. Probably not very much longer, even as much fun as both of them were having just with the "let's play for a while" mentality that they had going on there.

I was kind of amused with Castle getting so jealous of Eric, but I can't say that I blame Beckett for getting annoyed with him. Being amused by it had more to do with being on the outside looking in on an imaginary relationship; if it had been a real relationship (one that I was a part of, even as unlikely as that is), I think that I'd want to make a point as well about the fact that his jealousy was maybe more of a reflection on whether or not he trusted her (as opposed to someone else). Even if Castle felt like he needed to make clear to Eric that they were in a serious relationship, going past the point of letting dude know he needs to show a bit of respect to the monogamous relationship that they had is overstepping into "make the person I'm with feel like this is about her, instead of the other dude" territory. If he didn't trust Eric, that's fine, but he should know that he can trust Beckett at this point (that she loves him, that she is loyal to him, and that if Eric tried to do anything, she would shoot him down ... just like she did).

'The Fast and the Furriest' -- Castle 5x20

Warning: Spoiler Alert

I think that I might have liked this episode a little bit better if it hadn't revolved around Big Foot, and had been more about Anne Cardinal (the victim) and her life ... since that was far more interesting of a thing to me. But then, any time a show has an excuse to get a bit "ethnic" with what they're doing, as long as they do it correctly (and show some respect), that's what I'm wanting them to deal more about. I do have fun (a lot of times) with Bigfoot stuff, not that I believe that it's real ... but I still have fun watching things where other people believe in the stuff.

But I did have quite a bit of laugh when Ryan found out that some big name Bigfoot researcher was involved, and just the way that Beckett and Esposito said the same words as Castle and Ryan ... and the way that the entire meaning of the question changed by the way that they said it was freaking hilarious. I do love it when they have all kinds of interactions like that with each other.

Speaking of the guy that was supposed to be big named, the actor that plays him is also on "Once Upon a Time," and all I could think whenever he was on the screen was, "Doctor Hopper. Doctor Hopper. Doctor Hopper. Doctor Hopper." So, I really wasn't able to hear whatever it was that he was saying, since the name of his character on the other show was a bit too loud inside of my head.

And like too many of the other shows that I'm watching right now, this felt like it was a little too much like a filler episode, and so I wasn't really engaged with what was going on all that much ... but then, there seems to be a little too many of the filler-type episodes in this show this season (at least from what it looks like to me). It would be nice if there was a bit more going on right now that had me engaged, but it seems like the show has lost a bit of that since they figured out who was behind Beckett's mom's death. Well ... it seems kind of like it started when Captain Montgomery died, but this season it's kind of been amplified.

'The Lives of Others' -- Castle 5x19

Warning: Spoiler Alert

I'm not altogether sure that I'm happy with Beckett and everyone for tricking Castle with the whole Rear Window thing. I am prone to pulling pranks myself, but there has always been a line that I think that shouldn't be crossed. Like I won't mess with someone's things if it's something that I can't replace (whether cuz of how much it costs, or cuz of the sentimental value), and making someone think that someone has been killed ... that is something that is not cool (and not just cuz the person you are tricking into thinking that someone was killed is going to be disturbed by what happened and worried about everything). And the fact that everyone was in on it and was lying to him about everything for so long when they knew that he was genuinely worried about what was going on across the way ... that just seemed to be something that would have been uncalled for.

I just can't even really think of anything else to say about this episode, cuz I am still annoyed with the characters for lying to Castle and making him think that something was going on (and scaring him that something truly awful had happened to someone, and that something awful was happening to Beckett). There are such better pranks out there that they could have done with resorting to a fake murder that they made him think was real.

'The Wild Rover' -- Castle 5x18

Warning: Spoiler Alert

Am I the only one who started singing the song that this episode was in reference to once they saw the title? Just me then? Yeah, I'm still singing it to myself ... even with the Young Dub's "With All Due Respect" playing right next to me.

I'm always happy whenever they do an episode that focuses on Ryan, since I want to draw hearts all over his face. Hell, I'm happy even when we get to see him geek out over things, but I love it even more when the episode pushes him into the forefront.

I'll admit to being kind of upset with Jenny when Ryan left to go undercover. I get that she was upset with him, and upset by realizing just how much of his life she didn't know anything about, but that's the way you react when the person you love is about to go undercover in an extremely dangerous situation. What if something had happened to him, and he never came back? She would have to live with the fact that she was pissed off with him when he left, and she refused to say goodbye to him cuz of it. And how guilty would she feel knowing that (if he had been killed), he may have been thinking about her at the very end, and he probably would have wished that things had been mended before he had left so that things would have been the way they should have been before he died? The guilt would have been horrible.

Maybe she had a reason to be upset with him ... finding out that he had been that deep undercover is kind of huge. But you know what? That was a long time before they met, and he hadn't been undercover since then. So far as he knew, that part of his life was over, and he wasn't going to be going back there. And there was still time for him to tell her about it ... it wasn't as though he should have told her everything about himself already, since it isn't as though they've known each other for that long.

And to be honest, I can kind of understand why he may not have told any of them about it (Jenny or the gang, I mean). When he was undercover, he was someone else ... he wasn't really himself (not really, even if he used elements of himself to make the cover seem a little more real) ... and it may have been like telling them about things that happened to someone else. So, in a way, telling them about it wouldn't really have been like telling them anything about him; it would have him telling them about Fenton O'Connell as though he were a real person.

But I'm really glad that underneath everything, he's still the good boy that I want to draw hearts all over the face of.

'Scared to Death' -- Castle 5x17

Warning: Spoiler Alert

WTH with Perlmutter not wanting to say that it looked like the girl that they found might have been scared to death? At that point, it was the only thing that seemed like it was going to make sense for what happened, and just cuz he said that it it was possible doesn't mean that he couldn't have gone back later and said that he had actually found out what had happened ... and that it wasn't being scared to death. Yeah, the more that he's on the show, the more sure I am of why he doesn't usually deal with live people (and why he prefers the dead ones).

The Ring was leaned on a little too heavily for my tastes when it came to this episode, and it would have been nice if they dealt with something a little bit more original. The watching of a series of random images followed with the threat that the person is going to die after a certain amount of time has become a little too iconic at this point for someone else to come around and try to do something so similar. Maybe that might change after some more time, when the film isn't so heavily in the public consciousness, but right now ... it still feels too much like getting lazy and stealing a construct from somewhere else.

I was amused, however, by Castle calling Wes Craven. I was not expecting that, since Wes isn't a mystery writer (or a novelist for that matter), and up until that point, we had only ever seen Castle interact with mystery novelists. But I guess Castle is also homies with horror writers as well (whether they are novelists or screenwriters), since he's apparently friends with Wes Craven and Stephen King. Speaking of ... how awesome would it be if the people involved with the production of the show were able to talk Papa King into making a guest appearance on the show? A metric ton, that's how much. And they've already given him an in, what with Wes saying that Papa King is involved with the poker games that he's always having (even though we've only seen ... what? ... three real writers involved with those, and he hasn't been one of those so far).

Why am I not at all surprised that Castle is so superstitious? He's such a big kid when it comes to those things, letting himself get freaked out over his own over-active imagination. But I won't fault him for the over-active imagination, since I have one as well ... and I also write (so I figure that it maybe is a pre-requisite for being a writer-type). But still, there were points where I wanted to tell him to calm. down., cuz there were going to be rational explanations found for everything that he was freaking himself out over ... he just needed to wait a little bit for them to be found.

'Hunt' -- Castle 5x16

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

Alexis is safe!! Hizzah!! ::throws confetti:: ::blows noisemakers:: ::pops poppers:: She is now back home where she should be. But the fact that Castle now has a much better idea of who his father is (even if we didn't find out if the man eats whip cream out of a spray can, which I kind of needed to be something that they shared), and the kind of danger that he is in just by being related to the man, I can see Castle getting a little bit more overprotective about Alexis. Who wants to bet that he hires some undercover security people to watch over Alexis and make sure that this sort of thing never happens to her again? Of course, she will end up figuring it out after a while, and I'm sure that she will be kind of furious (even while she's also kind of relieved by the idea of having people around who are only there to make sure that she isn't kidnapped again by a psychopath and taken to France).

But it really is gratifying to know that Gramps is watching over Alexis and Castle and Martha the way that he can. So, even if he isn't able to be there with them like he would like to be, he's still a part of their lives in a way ... especially when you consider the significance of that book that he gave to Castle as a kid ... the same book that he sent to Castle to let him know that everything was alright.

It's also really nice to know that the family unit now has some answers that they didn't have before, and that there may be some peace inside of themselves now that they know the things that they didn't know before. After all, it did seem to bother Alexis a bit when she was doing that project about her family tree, and she had nothing to go on for her paternal grandfather and his family. What they have now isn't a whole hell of a lot, but at least now it's something (and something is better than nothing).

And honestly, I can't understand why Castle promised Beckett that he would never do anything like that ever again without her. He made sure to tell her not to make promises that she couldn't keep, and this is something that he is not going to be able to keep at all. As soon as something bad happens to Alexis ... he is going to do whatever he has to do to make sure that she is ok ... even if it means pissing off Beckett (cuz that will only be secondary when it comes to getting back his baby).

'Target' -- Castle 5x15

Warning: Spoiler Alert

The more that the episode went on, the more convinced I became that Alexis was the real target and that it was Sarah that had gotten in the way (not the other way around, like they seemed to be trying to make us believe). There was far too much in the way of trying to draw attention to the fact that Sarah's father was rich and had made so many enemies along the way. And the fact that the guys that held them spoke Arabic seemed far too much like a red herring. I really don't see why some dudes who were after Sarah would be stalking Alexis via her vlog, in the off chance that they might learn something about Sarah. There was no guarantee that the two of them would be friends, or that they would do anything with each other outside of class; so stalking Alexis via the interwebs seems like a complete waste of time ... unless it was Alexis who they were going after the entire time, and they were trying to find out where they might more easily kidnap her. And what with the preview for next week's episode (and the hearing of someone saying that he's Castle's father) makes me even more sure that the person that these guys were actually going after was Alexis, and that it was probably in retaliation for something that Castle's dad did. What do you want to bet that Castle's dad knows all about Castle, and has been following his life and career from a far? I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out that he's stayed away cuz of whatever he does, cuz he was trying to protect Martha and Castle (and then, later, Alexis). I really hope he turns out to be someone that lives up to the hype. Sure, there hasn't been a lot within the show, but he still has become something of a legend ... probably cuz the writers have let us put in so much in the way of possibilities where he is concerned. But the one thing that would make me happier than anything else when it comes to Castle's dad? If he eats whip cream straight from the can. I WANTS!!

Nathan Fillion really knocked it out of the park in this episode with his whole crying and worrying about Alexis. You don't tend to think of him as being the kind of guy who can really get to the woobie space, seeing as how he is such a clown (and I mean that in the best possible way, and not in the "ZOMG! clowns are the creepiest things that ever been created ... cuz they really, really are). But he really did well at making me get right there with the character and think that he was really worrying about Alexis ... and making me want to find him so I could snuggle him and promise him all of the things that Beckett couldn't without feeling like she was being a liar. That isn't to say that I don't totally understand why Beckett didn't tell him those things, cuz she didn't feel right about not being as close to the truth as she possibly could (since sometimes telling people what they want to hear is far worse than telling them what they need to hear). Also, good on her and Lanie for trying to stop him from seeing the blood in the van. They know how much he loves his baby, and they were trying to protect him from worrying more than he needs to ... not that he isn't going to go out of his mind knowing that someone has Alexis, and he can't be sure that she's ok or not. Still, good on them for trying to protect him until they could give him some real answers (so that his imagination didn't go into overdrive from the seeing of the blood).

'Reality Star Struck' -- Castle 5x14

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

It made me really happy to see Gina Torres on the show ... but then, any tie to "Firefly" tends to make me happy (even know, after finding out the horrible story arch that they were going to do with Inara on the show). And can't beat her being completely bossy, now can we? No, we cannot. Would have loved to see her on there a little bit more than what she was, but it was still cool to have a bit of a "Firefly" reunion there of some of the Big Damn Heroes. I wonder if she was only available for a little while cuz of shooting of "Suits" ... but then, I'm not sure when they shoot, so it could have had nothing to do with that.

The whole thing with the earrings mistakenly being put into the captain's blazer didn't feel quite like it was hitting the mark that the writers wanted for it. It almost seemed like it was supposed to be a "comedy of errors" type of thing, but what with the way that the show is going, there is no way that the writers are going to have the captain figure out yet that Castle and Beckett are seeing each other (not with the fact that she still hates Castle, and if he wasn't allowed to shadow Beckett and the boys around anymore, there wouldn't really be a show anymore, would there?). And with the captain thinking that Castle was trying to suck up to her ... in a way, I suppose I can see where that is coming from, but at the same time, it left me going, "Really? Come. On." It was just a tad too predictable and on the nose, and didn't come off as funny as I think that they were hoping that it would be.

I'm kind of surprised that Castle didn't pick up on the fact that Esposito and Lanie were kind of back together before she came walking out in that dress. The way that the two of them kept throwing looks at each other and acting kind of wonky about the whole Valintine's thing should have had him suspicious about what was going on. Usually he's better at picking up on things than that. ::disappointed::

Since Ryan and Jenny are played by a real life married couple, I wonder what the real life woman thinks about when they say stuff about her character on the show. The fact that the two of them are married on the show, as well as actually being married, I can see how some people might take some things kind of personally when the lines get blurred like that ... like when they have Ryan say her character is bossy.

'Recoil' -- Castle 5x13

Warning: Spoiler Alert

Having to protect her mother's killer ... yeah, that isn't at all cool. Even more not cool is the fact that he is coming out of this whole thing looking even more like he's alright, and not at all like he's the shady character that he actually is. Jerkface. The sad thing is that Beckett is right: he's coming out of this looking like a folk hero (and he probably really will step a little easier toward the White House after this). I want Beckett to be able to get him even more now. I wanted her to be able to get the guy before this (and not just for Beckett's mother), but I want her to do it even more now. Dude already has way too much power as it is being just a senator; give him even more, and the amount of shady things that will likely happen ... I don't like that idea. Though ... not getting himself into the White House will not necessarily mean that he isn't going to still be totally capable of doing really horrible things, but being in it might mean that he would be able to do them on a bigger scale ... theoretically. And you know what? I completely love the actor that is playing the senator (who doesn't love HRG? I mean, really?), but I want to see very awful things happen to the character. No lie.

I love the way the writers have Ryan and Esposito take different positions on pretty much everything (and still have the two of them be complete besties). Ryan is always going to be my snuggle bunny on this show, and I'm totally with him where it came to doing the right thing about the senator; but this isn't to say that I don't blame Esposito for his desire to either kill the guy, or at least look the other way when something bad might possibly be happening to him. It seems like both of them are coming at this from a position of trying to protect their own, but the way that they would go about doing it would be completely different (but then, when Beckett went off the rails at the end of last season, they pretty much went through this same thing where Esposito went along with everything, and Ryan let the captain know what was going on). I would love to be able to think that even though normally Esposito is the kind who would totally protect someone else (especially his own people), I don't think that his conscience would be bothered at all by letting someone like the senator get hurt. And you know what? I can't say that I necessarily like this about him. Yes, the senator is a very bad man, but Ryan is right ... by not being the people who protect other people, they are no better than people like the senator.

I'm also really glad that Beckett decided to not burn the letter. Sure, she wants to get the guy, but destroying evidence is not the way to do it (and I have a feeling that doing that would only come back to haunt her later on. If not only cuz it was something so completely out of character for her, but also cuz she may end up needing the letter for some reason later on. Don't know why she would at this point, but you never know when something that seems insignificant might turn out to be really important)

v

'Death Gone Crazy' -- Castle 5x12

Warning: Spoiler Alert

I did get annoyed a bit with Castle on Alexis' behalf. Yes, he was trying to look after her, cuz he loves her and wants to protect her from all of the crazies and the ickies that are out there in the world. Still ... vlogging and blogging are how a great many people connect with their friends (as well as making new ones), especially when that someone is the age that Alexis is. And I'm not sure that he was giving her enough credit for being an extremely responsible kid, and I think that he may have been forgetting that she isn't going to be so silly as to put up something on her vlog that she would really regret putting up there later on. She's smart, and is probably going to be considering those things. It just seems like he has a tendency to over-react sometimes, and forget the fact that she is far more cautious about things than he is.

I would really love if they had Alexis a bit more on the show. She seemed to be on quite a bit more earlier on in the series, but the number of times that she's been in an episodes (and how much she's been in that episode) seems to have declined. But what with the character being off at college, it probably wouldn't seem right if she were around all the time. It kind of makes me wonder of Molly Quinn is also going to school in RL? Maybe.

The leader of the group that was protesting the "Girls Gone Crazy" organization got on my nerves, not cuz he was protesting something that he thought was wrong, but cuz he was making blanket and misinformed statements about people that were completely wrong ... and he didn't seem to be bothering to try and make sure that he wasn't talking directly out of his ass. I especially loved [/sarcasm] the part where he tried to tell Castle and Beckett that his daughter would ZOMG!! never do what they were trying to say that she did ... even though it was pretty clear that he actually had no idea of who his daughter was as a person. Seemed much more like he was the kind that was never actually "hands on" when it came to being a parent, but thought that he knew everything that there was to know about his children since he was their biological father and had only a vaguely passing knowledge of who they were. And it didn't help his credibility in my eyes that he was being such a jackass about the dude who was killed, when the guy was genuinely trying to change his life for the better. It seemed much more like papa bear thought that there was no way for anyone to be able to change for the better.

Esposito ... oh, Esposito. Not that I can blame him for his crank getting turned by someone who is kind of dangerous, cuz I can completely understand why that would be kind of hot to someone. But it really seems like he needs to get himself some action, cuz he's been chomping at the bit lately, and that is no lie. I would kind of love to see him and Lanie get back together, but at this point, I really don't see that happening. They can probably be friends now, but I don't think that they are going to be a couple again (I would love to be wrong about that, though). And I did enjoy how Ryan was teasing him about it. I seriously need to draw hearts on both of their faces.

'Significant Others' -- Castle 5x10

Warning: Spoiler Alert

The thing with the killer in this episode ... I thought that it was far too obvious to figure out who it was. As soon as Ryan put up the pictures on the television, I noticed the one of Victoria Pratt with dark hair and a slightly differently shaped chin. The photo may have not been on the screen for all that long, but it seemed like it was on for far longer than it should have been if they didn't want people to figure out who was really this episode's MOTW (so to speak), especially since they spent so much time having the boys ogle her when they went to speak with her second husband. That ogle session made it far too obvious that she was someone of importance, and that we should pay attention to her part in the over-all scheme of the case. They're usually better than that (when it comes to keeping the viewer at least somewhat guessing as to who might be behind everything), and I'll admit to being disappointed at how little I had to try to figure out who they were actually looking for (and the fact that it was so easy made me disappointed that the gang didn't realize sooner what was actually going on ... or that the boys didn't see that they were looking at Leann Piper when they saw the picture of Jane Garrison).

Speaking of the Piper gang in all of this ... every time they mentioned "Billy Piper," my brain went immediately to Rose on DW (since the actress that played Rose is called Billie Piper). I'll admit to getting distracted by that, but that really wasn't their fault; it was the fault of my own brain and it's tendency to always be playing a game of "six degrees".

As far as Meredith coming to the flat and inserting herself into the situation cuz she wanted to see what Beckett was like ... I really didn't like that. On a certain level, I did get it, if for no other reason than wanting to make sure that whoever was around Alexis was someone who would be good to her, but that really didn't seem to be what Meredith was concerned about. She seemed far more concerned with the fact that Castle was seeing someone new, and she wanted to stick her nose in the middle of it, as though she would have any say about whether Castle would continue with the relationship or not. It seemed far too much like she was over-stepping her bounds on this. She's Castle's ex, and whatever their relationship is now, she has no claim over him (other than Alexis), and he seems to be the one that is far more stable of the two. Yeah, I would have had a lot less of an issue of her butting in and looking like she was trying to become a wedge between Castle and Beckett, if what she was doing was making sure that Alexis was safe and loved (and not that she was trying to be a bitch and put doubts into Beckett's mind about the relationship, cuz that's what she seemed to be doing). Even with her little talk with Beckett at the end of the episode ... it seemed a little more like she was causing damage than she was helping. After all, all she did was create doubts in Beckett's mind that hadn't been there. And what is Beckett supposed to think when Meredith said that she didn't really know him, and that he could have written books about her ... especially when he's written books with Beckett as the main character?

Not the best episode around, over-all.

'After Hours' -- Castle 5x08

Warning: Spoiler Alert

I totally forgot that Esposito knew about Castle and Beckett, so when she made reference to the dinner with the parents at the beginning of the episode, I had a moment of "The hell?" But then, it came back to me that Ryan had told him all about what was going on. Dur on me.

And Ryan's reaction to the fact that a nun was going to be coming to the precinct ... lol!! Awwwes. Poor, Ryan. Of course he would have flashbacks to Catholic school and would start getting scared. Bad Esposito for making fun of him for being scared!! And I will admit to being completely amused by the fact that Ryan was amused by Esposito getting scared of the nun. ::points:: ::laughs::

But apart from that ... I can't say that I really dug this episode. Yeah, Martha and Beckett's dad are homies now, but the episode didn't really grab me like some of them do. The mystery around the murder wasn't all that interesting IMO, and I found myself kind of glad when it was finally over. Hopefully, there will be better episodes coming up in the near future.

'Swan Song' -- Castle 5x07

Warning: Spoiler Alert

This episode got on my nerves. Bad. The way that the actors kept mugging to the camera wasn't amusing; it was irritating. But I have a feeling that the writers were trying to go for humor with this episode, and the way that the actors kept talking to the camera like they were regular idiots who weren't used to being in front of cameras. Every time they would do it, though, I would end up wanting to shake someone ... didn't matter if it was the person who was trying to impress whoever happened to be watching what they were doing, or the writer of the episode for seemingly thinking that this was amusing.

The thing that gets me about this was that even while I could kind of see Castle doing it somewhat (though, not as over-the-top as it was being done), I have a hard time seeing NYPD detectives being caught up in wanting to impress the cameras ... especially the captain. It seems to me that they would be much more interested in trying to ... oh, I don't know ... catch a killer than trying to impress whatever shmuck happened to be watching the documentary. And maybe it's just me, but catching someone who has murdered another human being is far more impressive than the things that they were trying to do when they were making out with the camera (which was beyond ridiculous at most points). Yes, I realize that this show has a lot of comedy in it (more than what you might expect for a show that's essentially a murder mystery), but a lot of the things that are funny in this show are things that are kind of organic to the characters (and not points where they are trying too hard ... which seemed to be most of this episode).

It still really bugs me about the way that the captain changed for this episode. She hates having Castle there, and is very vocal about it; she doesn't want the cameras there, and wants to review all of the footage before it gets cut into the documentary, and yet she pretends like she's way more supportive of the detectives than she actually is. Yes, she has their backs when she thinks that they are in the right, but she never coddles them the way that she did in this episode. It's one thing to tell someone that they did a good job, and you're proud of the way they handled things ... it's another to treat a grown-up like they are a kindergartener. I would have liked her a lot more (and gotten a bit more respect for her) if she acted the same with the cameras there as she did when they weren't there ... in that she continued to bust their balls and demand that they get things done. The drastic change that she had in this episode really made me miss Montgomery.

'The Final Frontier' -- Castle 5x06

Warning: Spoiler Alert

Is it just me, or is the fact that the episode is called "The Final Frontier," when it was directed by Jonathan Frakes (and had a very special guest appearance by Quark Armin Shimerman) give cause for a multitude of geek-gasims? I totally thought that it would. I thought that the "Star Trek" references in this episode were fantastic ... even though the "Nebula" experience reminded me more of "Andromeda" than of "The Star Trek Experience." Yes, the whole "experiencing the show" would probably be something akin to the ST thing in Vegas, but the concept behind the pretend show that they were supposed to be recreating the experience of seemed to have more of the feel of "Andromeda" to me ... at least from the seasons that I have seen (which were more of the early seasons, rather than the later) ... even though I kept thinking of Reavers when they referenced the baddies from the imaginary show ... but then again, they could have been Magog (especially if you consider how they reportedly looked).

Also with the love? Castle slipping in a reference to "that Joss Whedon show" (which was obviously "Firefly" ... I do love it anytime that they reference the 'Verse in "Castle"), and the fact that Ryan is a LotR fan ... even if I wouldn't classify LotR as Sword and Sorcery ("Highlander" is Sword and Sorcery, and LotR is High Fantasy as far as I see it). The more that we learn about Ryan, the more I want to squish him to my bosom until he stops trying to escape, and that is a fact.

But I did have kind of a "derp" around the fact that Beckett was a closet scifi dork. Her having a motorcycle, fine. Her being a baseball fan, seems in step with her. But the idea of her being a closet scifi dork, when she is constantly making fun of Castle for the dorky things that he enjoys ... I'm having a hard time making sense of that. It seems a little bit too out of character for her to be into anything that is that far into the realm of speculative fiction, and even more so that she would cosplay at cons as a character from an obscure scifi show ... especially when she was talking crap about the steampunk fans who were dressing up in steampunk clothes to go to a steampunk bar. Yes, she is/was a fan of "Batman," but that does seem to be in character (if we're not counting the pre-Bale movies), since they are more like detective stories (and perhaps (in a weird way) getting revenge on the people that murdered a parent), and they don't deal in superpowers that come from the sun or a magic ring or something; I also wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that she was a fan of the Holmes canon ... cuz of the detective aspect. It just doesn't make sense to me that she's going to keep making fun of Castle for his excitement over nerdy things, or her lack of understanding of why steampunky people would not only be fascinated by the concept but that they would also cosplay ... if we are going to find out that she also did some cosplay of her own ... and enough that the people from that area of her life were still friendly with her years later. It just seems to me to be a bit hypocritical of her to talk trash about people who are doing the same things that she has done in her own life ... but then, this isn't the only thing about this character that bugs the hell out of me (see my irritation at the way she treats Castle). Sometimes I get the feeling that the writers of shows don't really pay attention to the details of the things that they are writing about a character, and that kind of makes me irritated.

'Probable Cause' -- Castle 5x05

Warning: Spoiler Warning

I'm so very, very glad that what we had here wasn't what the preview seemed to be showing us for this episode. From the preview, what it looked like what we were going to have was Castle being believed to be the killer ... yet again ... and the gang thinking that he was really the one who had done those crazy things ... again. The probably that I had with that idea was the fact that maybe the gang may have not known for sure about him in the beginning, whether or not he would be willing or able to do something truly heinous to another human being, but they've gotten to know him over the past 4+ seasons, and they should know him better than that now ... they should know at this point, no matter what his flaws me be, he is not the kind of person who would harm another human being like that ... not for kicks. The only thing that could really make him harm someone else is if he was trying to protect himself or others (and it's never going to be something that he just does for kicks, the way a serial killer does).

As amusing as it was when the boys were trying to figure out who it was that Beckett was seeing, and to watch Beckett and Castle freak out over the fact that they might have been on the right track about what was really going on ... I'm glad that both of the boys and Lanie now also know (along with Martha and Alexis) that Castle and Beckett are together. As much of a pain in the ass as I'm sure that it would be to keep that sort of thing away from the captain (since the captain is likely to try to keep them apart when it comes to questions of ethics, at the very least), the fact that they don't have to keep this away from the people that they are the closest to (and who are most in their lives) is probably a relief; it's no fun to have to keep things away from the people that you most care about in the world, esepcially when it's something so important to you as the person that you are seeing. If you've found love, having to keep that thing under wraps has got to be toxic to you as a person, as well as to the both of you as a couple.

Speaking of them being together: when Beckett was talking to Lanie about the whole thing ... yes, I was glad that she was clear through that whole thing that she believed in him and that she didn't at all think that he had anything to do with what the evidence was making it look like he had done ... the fact that in the midst of that saying that she knew that murder wasn't like him, that she started saying how egoistical and self-involved that he was ... that's the sort of thing that bugs the hell out of me when it comes to Beckett. She may love him, but she has never been at all forgiving when it comes to him; she always has seemed to focus on the bad parts of his character and used it to try to make him feel like there is something wrong with him, and I've never liked that about her. I've had someone do that to me (where they keep pointing out things that they don't like, in what seems like a constant effort to make me feel bad about myself, and that isn't contusive to a loving and healthy relationship. As much as he loves her right now, I have a feeling that if she continues to pick at things about him, he's going to start feeling like he isn't good enough (not just for her, but for anyone); even with the healthy self-esteem that he has at this point, it's going to wear him down after a while).

I also don't see why, after all was said and done, she refused to believe his instincts when it came to what 3XK was trying to do. After all, that's the whole reason why she was willing to keep him on in the first place, and why she went to bat for him with the new captain: he has great instincts, and can sometimes see things that the others miss, since he is so good at looking outside the box (and he doesn't have the cop mentality, where everything has to be a certain way to work). And espeically after 3XK said straight out that the only way that he could go back to killing was to pretend that he was dead for a while, and that they had taken that ability from him (and how pissed he seemed to be about that). I don't see why Beckett is unwilling to trust his instincts about this, when she's willing to trust his instincts about everything else. Maybe it's more convenient for her to think that he's gone? That's only thing that I can think of for why she would try to handwave the entire thing to make it seem like it was something other than what it actually was.

'Murder, He Wrote' -- Castle 5x04

Warning: Spoiler Alert

This is one of the first episodes that I've really enjoyed in a long time, as it made me keep laughing through the entire episode. Most of what I really found amusing about it happened with Ryan and Esposito trying to figure out who it was that Beckett was seeing now, and being so completely wrong about who it was. I almost expected the two of them to realize that it was Castle almost right away, after everyone seemed to know that Esposito and Lanie were seeing each other ... but maybe the two of them were a little worse at hiding it ... Castle did seem kind of obvious about it to me, but maybe that's just cuz I had the advantage of being a viewer and being privy to information that Ryan and Esposito didn't have. I also almost expected Ryan to tell Esposito all about what he had found out, especially after he seemed to enjoy making Castle sweat, and implying that he knew exactly what was going on, but I'm glad that he didn't. It seemed to be Esposito that was all worked up about trying to find out who Beckett was seeing in the beginning, and Ryan seemed to be more than happy to just let her have her secret.

But the fact that the person that got killed just happened to stumble into Castle's Hampton backyard and fall into his pool on the one weekend that the two of them were there seems a bit of a stretch to me. The odds of that happening seem to be a little too high. It's not as though Castle goes out to his Hampton's home all that often (only seeming to go on an odd weekend, or over the summer when he's trying to escape his feelings for Beckett), so it almost seems like there would need to be a "perfect storm" for all of these things to happen at the same time. It seems far more likely to me that something like that would have happened when he wasn't there ... but then, we couldn't just have Castle and Beckett having an "uneventful" weekend away, can we? That would more than likely make for an episode that didn't appeal to viewers of a show about a detective and a mystery writer. But I suppose we can take from it that at least Castle got an idea for another book, and he may be able to fool mostly everyone for a while longer.

That being said ... if the writers are already having other characters in Castle and Beckett's lives figuring out what is going on between them, how much longer before the information is all over the place? I don't think that Ryan will say anything ... at least not for a while yet (and I don't think that Martha and Alexis are going to say anything ... unless by accident), but eventually Esposito and Lanie are going to figure it out, too. And if the information gets back to the captain, Castle really isn't going to be able to tag along with them anymore (and there goes the show). Montgomery would more than likely have pretended that he didn't know about what was going on, but that is cuz he liked Castle. The new captain ... there is no way that she isn't going to throw Castle out on his ear. Is it wrong that I kind of want the captain to figure it out, just so that I can see how Castle would figure out how he would still be able to help them on their cases? It might be kind of interesting.