Review - CASTLE 5.17 'Scared to Death'

Whatever.

QUOTES OF NOTE:

--CASTLE: "Well I wasn't asking for you!"

--PERLMUTTER: "Ah, Detective Beckett and defective Castle."

--ESPOSITO: "Castle's death will be sad and all, but his Ferrari will certainly lessen my grief."

--CASTLE: "You know, if there's going to be pictures of us up there, we should really pick them out now."

RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--I love Castle's facial expressions.

--For a second, it looked like Rick was getting intersected when he first put on the DVD.

--Apparently the court records were sealed, but I still feel like the police should have found out the link between the two victims. Perhaps I'm wrong about this, but whatever.

--It drives me crazy when key pieces of info is lost due to bad cellphone service. So overused on TV.

THE GRADE: C-

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Review - CASTLE 5.16: 'Hunt'

Props to 'Castle'.

It's not easy to deliver a great episode during "sweeps". The networks resort to "stunt-casting", spend a ton of money promoting the special episodes and shoot for the moon plot-wise with them -- resulting in unrealistic expectations for viewers. So it's easy to let them down, especially in a two-part episode like this.

Part 1 was good and left people excited for the conclusion and I don't think that anyone left disappointed with Installment #2.

While the majority of the episode left Beckett, Esposito, Ryan and Captain Gates on the sidelines (fairly surprisingly but understandably), we at least got some good dialogue from our friends at the precinct and yet another great scene from Beckett getting angry and physical in the interrogation room.

As sweet as that was, I'm sure the majority of you want to talk about the big reveal of who Castle's father really is and how Alexis was the target all along. The second James Brolin's character appeared on screen, I had already known that he was NOT "Jackson Hunt". (God damn interwebs always spoil the good stuff.) But for those of you who didn't know, that moment when he tells Castle that he's his father must have been pretty damn awesome..

Castle's dad provided some great moments: the reveal of his identity, the skeet-shooting of Castle's phone, the heart-felt conversations with Richard and the bad-ass plan he devised to get Alexis and Castle back to safety. Loved it all.

HOWEVER, as much as I enjoyed that plan and liked the execution of it, I can't help but think the episode would have been better and far more powerful if Mr. Castle had gone in there and taken a bullet to the head in exchange for Alexis as the kidnapper had asked. It would have been a noble sacrifice from a father who owed it to Richard, while also serving as a heartbreaking moment. It would have been great TV.

But they did the expected and cliche happy ending instead, which allows for James Brolin to return and re-visit his relationship to Richard. They clearly have more stories to tell there, so I understand why they did what they did.

"Hunt" had all the drama, all the emotion and all the "wow" moments you want from episodes like this. If you felt differently, let me know why in the comments.

QUOTES OF NOTE:

--MARTHA: "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
--CASTLE: "Getting my daughter back."

--RYAN: "What, so he's Liam Neeson now?"
--ESPOSITO: "Neeson? The dude is barely Ashley Judd."

--BECKETT: "Look, he's acting like a father and I have to act like a cop."

--BECKETT: "My partner's daughter is missing and YOU ... are in my way."

--CASTLE: "My daughter, my money -- I'm coming."

--JACQUE HENRI: "I value my life more than my word. If I had known who was really holding your daughter, who your daughter REALLY is, I would have NEVER TAKEN THE JOB."

--JACKSON HUNT: "Given how you feel so bad about your 200-buck phone, you might want to pick up that $3 million dollar briefcase."

--CASTLE: "Sounds made up."
--JACKSON: "It is."

--PAPA CASTLE: "Because she's my granddaughter. Richard, I'm your father."

--PAPA CASTLE: "What do you say, kid? You've been playing cop for years, you ready to play spy?"

RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--"He's expensive." Why did that guy bother saying that to Castle? He's rich. Clearly he can afford any price and would clearly be willing to pay it.

--OF COURSE the one picture of the dead guy with a bullet in his head lands perfectly next to, and facing, his girlfriend in the interrogation room. How many throws of that folder would it take for that to actually happen?

--Is the same person in Hollywood used as the Police sketch-artist in all the shows? I need to know this.

--It drives me crazy when the main character of a TV show is one second away from dying and someone saves them. It's ALWAYS one second. It's more dramatic that way, you say? My counter to that: it's not dramatic when you know what's going to happen and the exact second that it's going to happen. Counter that, bitch!

--I know you were literally a second away from dying and all, but how could you forget about your briefcase with $3 million in it? Amateur.

--It was obvious that Jacque was going to back-stab Castle, but I still loved him. He was a bad-ass. 

--I came close to crying two different times. Now I'm a wuss, so that's not a surprise. But still means the episode did something right.

--Everyone's father is a spy except for mine.

--The on-location filming was solid. Always nice to see.

--VOLKOV! Really!? That villain name has been taken by a far superior show, dammit. I don't care that they spell it differently, still copying.

THE GRADE: A

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Review - CASTLE 5.15: 'Target'

These past few weeks I've come up with a ton of different (pathetic) excuses as to why my reviews of 'Castle', 'Suits' and 'White Collar' were so brief and not as in-depth as I'm accustomed to doing.

Well, don't fret, my 'Castle' fans, because this week is going to be different.

No, this week that supreme laziness won't suffice. So this week, I actually have a good excuse for my forthcoming quick review. It's a two-parter, dammit, and the quality of it is mostly dependent on next week's conclusion. So until then, I'll give you some of my quick and initial thoughts on Part 1.

If you're the type of person that's going to complain about what Castle did to that suspect behind closed doors, stop reading immediately. And never read my reviews again. Because you are a little baby. First of all, it's a TV show. So shut up. Second, if you're child was kidnapped and their life was on the line, don't act like you wouldn't inflict a little pain on the CRIMINAL who was responsible to try to save your child's life.

For you normal people who read this, I'm sorry you had to read that last paragraph. But it's necessary, because there's always a dummy or two out there. 

OK, back to the episode itself. Two things that I really liked to see, that we really don't get to see much of: (1) Nathan Fillion getting to play a more emotional and serious side. He was great in this episode, and it was hard not to feel what his character was feeling. (2) It was also nice to see Molly C. Quinn actually get to do something. Alexis hasn't been on much this season and when she is on the show, she doesn't get anything good to play. I'm sure they'll be a lot more of her next week, which will be fun to watch. (Nice job picking that lock, Alexis. We got a Neal Caffrey protege on our hands here)


Although it was a bit predictable that Sara would be the one that made it out and Alexis would still be held hostage, it was a solid episode. I thought the ending was good (with Alexis shocked where she was and screaming on the roof) and it leaves me really pumped to see next week's episode. That's the mark of a good-two parter. Let's hope they finish strong.

QUOTES OF NOTE:

--CASTLE: "Kate, they'll see."
--BECKETT: "I don't care."

--RYAN: "He's gotta be wrecked -- hell, I'm wrecked."

--CASTLE: Don't. Don't promise me you can find or unless you can do it. Because I'd never forgive you, anymore than I would forgive myself."

--BECKETT: "Do you want a coffee?"
--CASTLE: "No, thanks, my adrenaline will suffice."

RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--I don't care if I'm getting paid $25,000 per month to be someone's body guard ... I'm not standing in front of a speeding van any longer than I have to. What good is all that money if you're not alive to enjoy it? This is all moot, though, because at 5'11" and 140 pounds, I doubt I will be hired as a body guard anytime soon.

--I'm surprised Castle didn't IMMEDIATELY fear the worst when he first learned that Alexis was with the Sara on the night of the abduction.

THE GRADE: B+

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Review - CASTLE 5.14: 'Reality Star Struck'

I'm going to take a page out of the great Alan Sepinwall's playbook and do a "quick review" of this week's 'Castle'.

I'm doing this for three reasons: (1) I'm lazy. (2) Alan Sepinwall is the man and if he can do it, so can I. (3) How much is there really to say or analyze about a random episode that is essentially a filler stand-a-lone?

Is it just me or does it seem reality shows aren't just taking over TV, they are taking over our regular TV shows, too?. Seems like every procedural features a reality TV style murder episode. This one wasn't particularly noteworthy, either, featuring the lamest and worst murderer ever. She gets confronted by the cops, threatens to leave the interrogation, fumbles for her keys in her purse and when she can't find them -- she says the hell with it and confesses! What!? Pretty stupid.

It was inevitable that Laney and Esposito would get back together at some point, so I didn't really care about that storyline. Yawn. And holy crap, but they have no idea what to do with Detective Ryan anymore. That was embarrassing. I really used to like his character, but he's useless now. Kind of a shame, really.

The Castle-Beckett stuff was fine, nothing special. No way Gates would be that clueless, though. At least I don't think she would be. You guys agree or no?

One thing I really did enjoy was Beckett going crazy in the interrogation room, knocking over the table and flipping out. That was great.

QUOTES OF NOTE:

--MARTHA: "Boy I wish I had these reality shows in my day: no script, over-acting, screaming at everybody -- what a gig."

--CASTLE: "I can't feel my butt."

--CASTLE: "Bob?! And Penelope!? You two are back together?! Spoiler alert."

--CASTLE: "Looks like one of us did our homework."

--BECKETT: "Now take your clothes off, put them in the drawer -- and meet me in the bed."

--CASTLE: "Seriously?"

RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--I'm not going to quote it, but I enjoyed Captain Gates' rant on the reality show when Beckett and Castle are watching a clip.

--The husband of Gina Torres' character was a sad sack of shit. No way he could have pulled her.

--Sadly, I can relate to how much fun Castle and Gates were having when they were discussing and debating the happenings of the reality show. I may or may not do that with my family and 'The Bachelor'. If anyone wants to talk that show with me, message me on Twitter (EliRosenswaike). I'm not kidding about this.

THE GRADE: C-

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Review - CASTLE 5.13: 'Recoil'

I'm a sucker for call-back episodes, two-parters and any installment that pushes the story forward (stand-a-lone's are not my favorite), so Monday's new 'Castle' was precisely the type of show that I was hoping for and one this show badly needed.

I liked how the episode focused on Kate protecting Bracken (a cool idea that I wouldn't have predicted) and loved how it also gave us a new case for the team to investigate -- was Bracken involved with the "suicide" of his 24-year-old staffer? But it also makes me worry: I don't want that to be the way that Bracken is taken down by Beckett and Co.

That would be a travesty, as far as this show is concerned. We spent the first 4+ years of this show wondering what happened to Beckett's mother and now that we are invested, we need the proper resolution to that storyline. He should go down for THAT crime.

While Beckett doing the right thing in the end by protecting Bracken was predictable, I did like how they showed how she struggled with the decision and having her realize she almost made a huge mistake.

I was hoping in this episode, though, that Captain Gates would find out about Bracken and be on Kate's team in trying to take him down. It did seem that Gates had a suspicion that Beckett was telling the truth in that interrogation room, though. I'm sure in the next Bracken-related episode, she'll be clued in on what's going on. I hope so.

I also wonder if the next time we see Bracken will be Kate trying to get him on murder or if Kate will be cashing in on that favor Bracken said he owed her. Maybe both.


Two complaints before I wrap this up:

(1) By now you should know how partial I am to Esposito over Ryan. So you may think what I'm about to say is biased, but it isn't: Ryan is such a killjoy. Get over your damn high-horse all the time. Cops that have a constant stick up their ass and condemn cops for not doing everything 100% by the book are annoying. I used to really like that character, but not anymore.

(2) OK, so you have a massive car bomb. You have the detonator and your target is walking towards the car with NO idea what's about to happen. HOW DO YOU MESS THAT UP?

QUOTES OF NOTE:

--BECKETT: "In my dreams, I'm the one that gets to pull the trigger. But you know what, if you're not comfortable with me leading this investigation you're more than welcome to tell everyone why."

--BECKETT: "When someone commits murder, whoever he is, Senator, I will bring him to justice -- no matter how long it takes."

--ESPOSITO: "If I'm her, I'm sitting there shuffling papers until whoever it is puts a bullet in his head."

--THERAPIST: "Maybe the right choice is the one that you can live with."

--CASTLE: "I wouldn't have done it, what she did. I would have stood and watched."

--BRACKEN: "You never know when you might need a friend."

RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--I want to be an extra on a TV show, discovering a dead body.

--Oh come on! Like the dead woman's sister didn't know she had a missed call on her cell phone with a voicemail. Everyone knows when they have a missed call. Why do I feel the need to complain about the little things

--I wish I wasn't following a million TV insiders on Twitter, it would have been a cool surprise that this was a Bracken-related episode.

--Swell job in not letting Bracken know Beckett was on the trail, Esposito and Ryan.

--I'm sorry, I just find it weird when a woman is referred to as "sir".

THE GRADE: B+

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Review - CASTLE 5.12: 'Death Gone Crazy'

I'm not going to waste your time, nor mine. This episode wasn't very good, all that funny, or one that we'll remember anything about two weeks from now.

When 'Castle' strays from its quirky/fun type of episodes, it's usually a miss in my opinion. This was one of those times. I can't emphasize those last two sentences enough. The case-of-the-week, while interesting-ish, was so insanely obvious from the get-go.

We knew minutes into 'Death Gone Crazy' that Beau was trying to get serious and "legitimate" with his life and was about to get rid of the company. This immediately guaranteed that the murderer was his business partner. It's ALWAYS the business associate in a case like this. So it was completely obvious that Beau was not trying to blackmail anyone, because he was not happy with the guy that he was and looking to make a change.

Shame on you if that red herring fooled you even for a second.

Last thing: I know figuring out what to do with characters once they are in college is a common TV problem, but I was hoping for some better material for Molly C. Quinn. She's never been a hugely integral part of the show per-se, but it would be nice to see her included more and given other things to do than yet another iteration of: "I'm in college now, I need to be more on my own."

She's a nice part of the show and I just want to see her utilized more and in better ways.

QUOTES OF NOTE:

--ESPOSITO: "Dude, how's the in-breast-igation going?"
--RYAN: "And that's why you're still single."

--ESPOSITO: "Someone that sexy going to prison? That in itself is a crime."

--CASTLE: "Rampant speculation is my specialty."

--ESPOSITO: "She broke a guy's nose, you know she's gotta be freaky."

--RYAN: "I never thought I'd say this after graduating from the sixth grade, but our bra research is in."

--RYAN: "Sorry we had to cock-block you."


RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--Beau is such a sleazy name. Don't name your kid that.

--'College Guys Gone Nuts'? I wish I could un-see that.

--Do college freshmen talk so calmly and eloquently with their parent(s) when they have an argument/disagreement? I think not.

--Don't make a sex tape unless your last name ends in 'ardashian'.

--Ah, how cute. Beckett smiled at the end, realizing how great of a father Castle is. Sorry, 'Castle' writers, that's not gonna make up for the ridiculousness in episode 5.10 that Beckett will "never really know" Castle.

THE GRADE: D+

I don't like giving numerical scores. I should have switched to letter grades a long time ago. Of course, this is probably gonna be a mute moot point, because I have a weird feeling HGF is going to quell this rebellion.

The only thing saving this from being an 'F' is Esposito's infatuation/creepiness with the corporate spy.

 

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Review - CASTLE 5.11: 'Under the Influence'

With the first 10 episodes focusing more on Castle and Beckett's new relationship, it was a nice distraction this week to have one of the secondary characters featured in a primary role.

If you've been reading my "Castle" reviews the last two seasons, you know that the more prominent Esposito is in the episode the more I typically enjoy it. So while 'Under the Influence' wasn't hilarious or quirky, it was a solid episode of the show nonetheless.

Aside from some cliches of the cop mentoring the young troubled teen, we learned that Esposito isn't afraid to break a few rules and get his hands dirty (Do you think Javy really would have threatened that guy in the bar like he did? I don't find that far-fetched at all, it's more Ryan who is a stickler for the rules and protocol), and that he had a previous criminal record when he was younger. Although, it's possible that we knew that already and I had just forgotten.

I appreciated the break from the Castle-Beckett relationship drama and enjoyed the silly little argument they had in the beginning of the episode about the repercussions of picking a bad date movie. I think we can all relate to that argument a little bit. Less forced drama (like last week's garbage) and more silly fights is what I'm hoping for.

It took four full seasons to get these idiots together, I don't want them broken up so quickly for some contrived reason like last week's show threatened.

Nothing else to say, I'll let you guys (and by guys I mean HGF and MaryPloppins -- the only two people who ever comment on this) do the rest of the talking.

QUOTES OF NOTE:

--MONSTER: "Where's the super-hot detective?"
--ESPOSITO: "Oh, you're looking at him."
 
RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--The first minute of this episode was practically IDENTICAL to the first few minutes of the 'Nashville' pilot.

--I love it when guys get busted for talking like guys before they realize ladies are present.

--Haha, loved it when Ryan ran his hand through his hair. And then Castle checking out his hair and touching it in the interrogation room.

--Police sketch artist is a such a bad-ass job. Don't know how they do it. I've always wondered how badly I would be at describing a witness to a sketch artist. They would fucking hate me.

--Apparently Joey "The Monster" watches a lot of TV, because he knows the Police playbook better than they do. No way this kid is friggin' 13. My ass.

--Wow I had NO IDEA that Esposito was gonna take the kid in. Such a total shock, you just never see that on TV. ...Wait, AND he tried to escape? Who knew!?

--It's shine now, and not bling? Man, I'm getting old.

--LOL on the bodyguard covering his junk the second time Javy entered the bar.

THE SCORE: 78 out of 100

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Review - CASTLE 5.10: 'Significant Others'

It's great to have new episodes of our favorite TV shows back ... these past three weeks have been rough.

On the bright side, it kept me from having to write reviews of 'Castle' when I have absolutely nothing to say that I haven't talked about previously.

Today is one of those instances. I'm glad 'Castle' is back, and I will continue to watch and enjoy it, but I'm looking forward to more substantial episodes -- the ones involving the identity of Castle's father or the conspiracy surrounding Beckett's mother's murder and Senator Bracken.

I'm absolutely on board with Castle and Beckett being together, but their little quarrels really don't interest me all that much at this point.

Overall, I'd say that this show does a pretty good job with its cases-of-the-week, but if you watch as much TV as I do, you have seen every variation of everything. So (quite often) every twist and turn I either see coming or have already seen before. And this isn't because I'm particularly intelligent, it's just because I'm a loser and watch more television than any person ever should.

A solid episode of a show that we like: nothing special, nothing to complain about.

QUOTES OF NOTE:

--BECKETT: "Troublesome ex-wife? Imagine that."

--CASTLE: "It's the bachelor meets Homeland."


RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--Nice to see someone playing a dead person at the beginning of the episode get to do some real acting. Sure, it was only a video text message, but that's more than 99% of dead bodies get to do on TV.

--I'm not saying this just because of the hair color, but damn, Meredith looks a lot like Alexis. So spot-on, in fact, that they simply must be mother-daughter in real life. (Even though I know they aren't)

--The two biggest free-loaders on TV: 2. Castle's Mom. 1. Alan Harper on 'Two and a Half Men'.

THE SCORE: 73 out of 100

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Review - CASTLE 5.09: 'Secret Santa'

I made you all wait three extra days for this crappy review?

My apologies for all those who patiently waited for this. And by all, I mean all one of you. Thank you, maryploppins.

Usually, I could care less about the case of the week on 'Castle'. They aren't always exciting or intriguing or all that difficult to figure out who did it. But most importantly, they are essentially inconsequential to whether or not I liked the episode. But this week was the exception, because their wasn't much Beckett-Castle stuff this week and the stuff that was there was a bit lame.

So I had to hang my hat on something different this week -- like figuring out why a Santa fell from the sky, why he stole the clock, why he changed his life so strangely and who killed the damn guy. And I enjoyed trying to figure it all out and watching to see how in all unfolded.

I also loved seeing Esposito get his clock cleaned (see what I did there?) by that Santa. I've often complained about the show not using enough of Ryan And Esposito (especially of Javy) and it was nice to see him featured more this week. Although, the less Captain Gates we can get, the better. I couldn't care less about her personal life.

As stated earlier, the Castle-Beckett storyline was brief and a bit lacking, but there doesn't have to something big going on between those two every episode, so I didn't have a problem with it or anything. She changed up her tradition for him, and he was going to do the same for her, so that was all swell.

Solid episode, nothing special.


QUOTES OF NOTE:

--CASTLE: "And now Santa is dead!? When will it end?"

--BECKETT: "That's a 38, do you still think he fell out of it?"
--CASTLE: "No, clearly he was shot out of it."

--CASTLE: "I think you meant less clausible."

--CASTLE: "I was thinking we should have a Christmas movie marathon ... or some other kinda marathon that makes life wonderful."

--ESPOSITO: "Shouldn't you be home, stuffing your wife's stocking?"

RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--I don't mind being in the Christmas spirit, but it drives me crazy when people go way too overboard with it.

--Well, that was easy to convince Ryan to have kids.

--If I got a $1 every time I hear: "I didn't kill _____, but I know who did" on TV, I could retire.

--Could Castle have made it any more obvious when trying to convince Gates to let Beckett have Christmas Eve off?

--I know Alexis is a great daughter and all, but no way she cancels her plans at that age to spend Christmas Eve with her father and grandmother.

--I must be a sap of epic proportions, because when Javy got invited into that house, I practically shed a tear.

THE SCORE: 79 out of 100

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Review - CASTLE 5.08: 'After Hours'

As usual, I'm going to start with the positives ...

General Beckman!!!

If you have no idea what this means, you are dead to me, dead to Geek Furious and dead to all that is right with this world.

If you DO know what I'm talking about, you were probably just as excited as I was when Bonita Friedericy appeared in Monday's episode.

Like me, however, that might have been all you were excited about during 'After Hours'. Because it pretty much stunk.

Season 5 has been terrific thus far, with very few complaints -- so I'm not going to get too angry here. Although, that's two straight clunkers. The Beckett-Castle relationship has been fun and done well in the early going here, but I could have done without the ridiculous fighting and the ridiculous counseling from the witness/bad guy. So lame, unoriginal and tired.

Also lame ... the crap with Castle's mom and Beckett's dad. Puke. And who didn't see them bonding throughout the episode over the disappearance of their children? If those two end up as an item at any point this season, I'm going to give that episode a 0 out of 100.

And for those who were genuinely surprised by the twist of who killed Father McMurtry, apparently you haven't watched much television before. Because there is one rule in TV: If you recognize a guest star (and that guy has been in every damn show in the world), then you know he's not just there to play some stupid small-bit part in the episode.That dude wouldn't have taken that role as simply a witness on the run -- there had to be more to it than that and there was.

Three more problems: it doesn't matter that the cell phone was locked. All phones, even when locked, have an emergency call option on the screen that does not require the password to be used. So although I enjoyed that little sequence with Castle and the phone, it made no sense. Another thing that bothered me was that there were essentially no good lines/dialogue whatsoever. I usually list a tone of good quotes below, but there were no good options this time.

Also, Castle essentially handed over Beckett on a silver platter to Mickey Dolan. Dolan read Castle like a book, figuring out where Beckett and Leo were hiding. Castle should have turned away from Dolan, not enabling him to get a read on him like that.

Turns out chivalry is dead, after all.


QUOTE OF NOTE:

--BECKETT: "Dude, where's the car?"

RANDOM RAMBLING:

--Ah, the old fake-an-injury bit works every time.

THE SCORE: 54 out of 100

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Revolution Ratings Update (through November 19th 2012)

On November 19th, Revolution pulled in an Adult 18-49 Live + Same Day rating of 2.57. This was a bit of a stabilization from a slide it has been experiencing the last few weeks:

It's still winning its time period in this demo, unless you count ESPN's Monday Night Football. Hawaii Five-0 got a 2.24. Castle got a 1.98.

But, as you can see above from the comparison to some shows last year, Revolution is still holding its head well above water. It's interesting that the slide for Revolution started the night Superstorm Sandy knocked out power and many stations preempted programming. But, even when power returned for many, "same day" viewers didn't return to Revolution.

A lot of people are asking "what happened to everyone's ratings"?

A couple of things are happening. One if the rise of cable as a competitive force, particularly for younger demos. The NFL averaged a 4.8 last night. At 10PM, Teen Mom on MTV got a 1.4 A18-49 rating, but a 3.3 rating for Women 18-34.

The other competition is "stuff on your DVR". People are delaying their viewing more than ever. 10PM is an hour when people are watching stuff they recorded earlier. Thus, 10PM shows tend to get pushed to another night. Even the October 29th Revolution had a lift of 57% from Live + Same Day to Live + 7. Not even Nielsen knows how much viewing is getting pushed beyond seven days because that's when they stop counting.

Overall TV viewing is not down right now except for a small demo slice--Adults 18-24.  Other demos' viewing is not down.  It's just getting split into hundreds of tiny slices.

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Review - CASTLE 5.07: 'Swan Song'

Ehhhhh.

That's my expert analysis/review of Monday's episode of 'Castle'. They don't pay me for nothing, folks.

I love when shows experiment with different formats/structures/styles and tamper with the norm and try to get away from the mundane each and every week -- but that was lame, tired, unoriginal and simply not a strong effort.

It was funny for a few minutes with Esposito pining for the camera every chance he got, but the same bit with every other character got old. And got old fast.

It was nice to have more Ryan and Esposito in the episode, but there was basically no Castle whatsoever. Yes, he was on the screen a fair amount, but he did essentially nothing in all of his scenes. Nothing particularly memorable or hysterical, at the very least.

And if this whole episode was just about mocking the "mockumentary" style TV shows like 'The Office' and 'Modern Family', it wasn't funny or clever in doing so.

It had a couple moments, but not enough. Kinda disappointing considering how strong this season has been so far -- especially the last two installments.

Oh well, no big deal. Not every episode is going to be good.


QUOTES OF NOTE:

--ESPOSITO: "Boom. We got you now, bitch? Can I say that?"

--BECKETT: "That's not the only thing on that video being faked."

RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--If I got $1 for every time someone awkwardly looked into the camera, I could be able to afford to write these reviews for free.

--No. Way. In. Hell. Would. Cameras. Be. Permitted. In. The. Precinct. For. That. Stupid. Documentary.

--Makes sense Ryan and Esposito were so gung-ho about the cameras and attention, they never get enough screen time in a normal week.

--That was so obviously fake gun fire coming from that apartment. Esposito can't get anything right.

--Enjoyed Beckett's "Thank you" and high five with Castle into the camera at the end. Didn't love her locking the cameraman in the closet, that was obvious.

--Esposito was definitely the episode MVP.

THE SCORE: 47 out of 100

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Review -- CASTLE 5.06: 'The Final Frontier'

Things I do not like: Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Blade Runner, Firefly, Deep Space Nine and all that other garbage. Just because I may write for GeekFurious.com, doesn't mean I am a geek.

(Although after writing this, I suspect I will no longer be writing for the Web site. HGF is very spiteful like that.)

But all this doesn't mean I didn't love Monday's new episode of Castle. Because my disdain for sci-fi nerd shows aside, "The Final Frontier" was one of my favorite TV shows at its best: quirky, silly, funny and charming.

Because it was so entertaining, I won't let the ending bother me. Sure, that was some of the worst acting ever by Lieutenant Chloe and her reasoning for committing murder was uttlerly ridiculous -- but I can live with it.

Six episodes into Season 5, I think we all have to be thrilled with how strong the show has been thus far and how well they've handled the Castle-Beckett relationship. So far, the writers have had fun with the following:

--Caskett trying to keep the relationship a secret
--Having them be flirty and sexual and enjoying each other's company
--Tackling jealousy issues
--Giving each other a hard time

No real complaints on my end thus far in Season 5. Do you have any?


QUOTES OF NOTE:

--CASTLE: "Listen, if you want your very own signed copy of Storm Season, I'd be happy to arrange a private signing."
--BECKETT: "Cap your pen, Castle. There's been a murder here."

--BECKETT: "In your dreams."
--CASTLE: "Look at my life, all my dreams come true."

--PERLMUTTER: "Detective Beckett and non-detective Castle."

--CASTLE: "A real sci-fi murder at a sci-fi convention -- this just keeps getting better!"

--ESPOSITO: "You took my p-p-pen"

--ESPOSITO: "Yeah, I could probably see you as an elf, or a hobbit."

--CASTLE: "OK, so if I wake up bald tomorrow, you'd still be attracted to me? ... Oh, my god, you wouldn't!"

--BECKETT: "You wanna make out, Castle?"

--BECKETT: "Castle, are we going to make out?
--CASTLE: "Maybe we should start with the marathon."


RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--The fan playing Lieutenant Chloe at the convention? BABE. Maybe it was just the costume that did it for me, who knows.

--The bald guy in the beginning that discovered the dead body is a dead-ringer for Jim Rash (Dean Pelton on Community)

--Beckett is such a fanboy. First it was of Richard Castle and his novels and then it was Nebula 9.

--I love how Perlmutter disrespects Castle all the time.

--Hot damn, Esposito always gets hit on by witnesses.

--Castle wants to un-see his daughter in that skanky costume, but I'm just fine with it.

--Why do I have a sneaking suspicion that Head Geek Furious has his own laser dungeon?

--I thoroughly enjoyed Castle freaking out about not having worn protection.

--If I got $1 for every time Castle accidentally solved a crime, I could buy a couple $5 footlongs from Subway.

--Loved Castle's reaction to the captain taking out the chick with a body slam and twirling the blaster on his finger and holstering it. ... Loved Castle's mad-dash to the elevator and him trying to close the doors more quickly. ... Loved Castle's reaction to Beckett's costume.

--If I missed subtle or non-subtle references to those shows you love so much, it's because I don't watch that crap. So sue me. However, I did pick up on the obvious Firefly references: "We're canceled after 12 episodes and "That Joss Whedon show".

THE SCORE: 89 out of 100

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Review -- CASTLE 5.05: 'Probable Cause'

ATTENTION: THIS REVIEW WAS TO BE POSTED TUESDAY but the storm prevented that from happening. I apologize. Blame the gods. -- HGF

I sincerely hope your power wasn't off Monday night.

If it was, you missed one of the best 'Castle' episodes ever -- but then again, if you're reading this, your power is on and you watched it already. (And if you have no clue what I'm talking about, watch or read the news, you idiot.)

Point is, that episode was a doozy, and I feel badly for the people who were unable to watch it.

Stupid me had forgotten about the 3XK killer from Season 3, Episode 6 (a terrific episode), so bringing that storyline back was smart, unexpected, dramatic and intense. Of course, with the way 'Probable Cause' ended, it's probable that the writers will ruin it and bring him back once again even though he should be very dead. Although, if Castle was right, and that whole thing was orchestrated to get them all to the bridge, 3XK was probably wearing a vest and could have survived getting shot like five times. I suppose.

(Why can't anyone really be dead on TV shows when shot? Bryce Larkin and Daniel Shaw, anyone? And if anyone complains about my lack of a "Chuck Spoiler Alert", you only have yourself to blame having not watched the entire series by now.)

Now that I've mentioned how much I love the episode, it would only be appropriate, given the bitch that I am, to complain a little bit about it. Although Beckett insists how she believed him the whole time, it seemed like she, along with Ryan and Esposito, had their moments of doubt. I mean, seriously, c'mon.

As viewers we obviously knew that Castle was innocent from the beginning and going to get absolved from the crime, but the show did a good job of keeping it tense and us guessing throughout. Kudos for that. However, I can't help but wish they made this one a two-parter with Castle being kidnapped and Beckett going on a Sarah Walker-esque rampage trying to find him. ("Giant Brunette Shemale of New York" doesn't quite have the same ring to it as "Giant Blonde Shemale of Thailand", does it?)

Quibbles aside, that was a great episode, highlighted by the fact that it came out of nowhere. I would really love to know what you all thought about it, so blow up the comments section.


QUOTES OF NOTE:

--BECKETT: "I know him, Laney. He is an immature, egotistical, self-centered jackass sometimes, but he's not this."

--ESPOSITO: "I know how you feel about the guy -- I love him too. But there's nothing we can do."

--CASTLE: "This is so much less fun than the other night at your place."

--GATES: "The DA is calling it a prisoner's escape. They've issued an APB and instructed me to begin a man-hunt ... Well as far as they're concerned he's well-connected, knows our procedure and has substantial resources."

--CASTLE: "You wouldn't happen to have his contact information, would you?"

--BECKETT: "You shot him, he's dead. It's over."
--CASTLE: "For now."


RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--How come the viewers always know when there is impending danger (the bridge scene at the end), but the cops don't?

--Damnit, Beckett, how do you fall for the 'I'm faking being dead' maneuver?

--Apparently a psychopath serial killer can write crime novels just as well as Castle. The writing was seemingly good enough to make the police think it was Castle's work. It doesn't bode well for his skills if they can be duplicated by a novice.

--A lot of planning went into this frame-job. Gotta respect it.

--Castle is a better cop than Beckett more often than not.

--I want to know who owed Castle a favor and helped him escape the transfer.

--POLL: Do you want them the show to bring back the 3XK killer or do you think that it's not feasible he survived?

THE SCORE: 92 out of 100

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TV Timeshifting: Grimm, Supernatural, and Revolution lead in lifts for Week of October 1st, 2012

It's been a pretty bad TV season for the Live + Same Day ratings. But, it has also become more common for TV shows to get big lifts in their ratings beyond people who watched the day a show airs.

This hits science fiction and fantasy shows a lot. It also impacts many shows that air at 10PM and shows that rely on young audiences, e.g. Glee.

It's interesting to note that Revolution's lift to a 5.3 rating made it the #4 non-Sports program of the week. Only The Voice, Big Bang Theory, and Grey's Anatomy beat it.

Top 15 Broadcast Shows based on Percentage Lift:

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Review -- CASTLE 5.04: 'Murder He Wrote'

If you didn't like this week's episode of 'Castle', may I suggest that you just stop watching entirely.

Sure, you could complain about the ridiculous twist at the end, the ridiculousness of a dead body falling into his pool or Castle being the best detective ever -- but that would just make you a bitch. Kinda like the one I've been accused of being on Furycast 46, of which, of course, we all know to be patently false.

We're not watching this show for realism, after all. That was just plain-old fun, with odes to 'Murder She Wrote' and 'Scooby-Doo', Esposito and Ryan poking around Beckett's love life, Beckett looking especially gorgeous and the usual goofy and fun moments between Castle and Beckett. I mean, if you didn't laugh at Ryan going crazy in his interrogation, this is not the show for you.

And speaking of Ryan, I was proud of him not telling Esposito and respecting their privacy. Normally, I would have fully expected one of those guys to parlay valuable information like that into Castle bribing them with nice things. I wonder if Ryan will say anything to Castle and/or Beckett when they get back to New York in next week's episode.

Not much else to say, other than this was a fun all-around episode and that this season has been very good in the early going. It's clear that getting those two together has not ruined the show one bit, and it seems to have given the show a spark that it really needed. I just hope they don't do anything stupid and create unnecessary relationship drama that leads them to break up. Some fights here or there and some drama are OK, but nothing over-the-top, please.

QUOTES OF NOTE:

--RYAN: "Girlfriend ... what do you mean, girlfriend?"
--LERNER: "What does that matter?"
--RYAN: "HEY! I'll ask the questions here, pal! Are you telling me that Richard Castle brought his girlfriend in your interrogation!?

--CHIEF BRADY: ''Not to sound all Scooby, but he might have gotten away with it if it weren't for you, Castle."

--BECKETT: "Do I get writer's credit?"
--CASTLE: "We'll talk."


RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--Really? Mentioning the murder is enough for an arrest for interfering with an investigation? And even if it were, wasn't the "investigation" over at that point in the minds of the Chief?

--Haha, a stupid reference to Caskett. I like it, as well as his "Kate-ick" suggestion.

--Castle loves his terrible puns and terrible jokes: "Hey Lerner, killer boat." And the "Cook the book" line.

--Worst. Crime. Boss. Ever.


----I enjoyed how Beckett was trying to get freaky with Castle and he was distracted, then later it was the other way around.

--What was the point of the shooting star at the end?

THE SCORE: 87 out of 100

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Review -- CASTLE 5.03: 'Secret's Safe with Me'

After last week's episode got HGF and some of the readers excited about 'Castle' again, I'm concerned this week's installment will have the reverse effect.

Take that back, I don't care what you people think, just that you read the review and maybe post a comment so it looks like people care what I think.

And while I didn't think there was anything terribly wrong about the episode, it didn't really generate much emotion or feelings in me to talk about here. Sure, there was a little fun and a little flirting, but there was some lame-ass shit in there that even got the pathetic-girly-sap that is yours truly, a bit annoyed.

I could have done without the Alexis storyline. How many times on how many shows do we need to see a kid go of to college a bit scared to be on their own? If I want to see that storyline and I want to see how it's done, I'm going to watch 'Parenthood', not 'Castle'. Monsters under the bed? Really? I'd rather see what she's doing ON the bed in college, than what's lurking underneath. (Hey now!)

Even as a lover of all things sappy and romantic-y, even I couldn't stomach the lame-ness of Castle and Beckett in the precinct talking about kissing while shaking hands. I think I'm going to puke now.

Last thing before I finish talking about an episode that really provided me with nothing to talk about: I predict that Esposito and/or Ryan will figure out about Castle and Beckett in the next episode.


QUOTES OF NOTE:

--CASTLE: "I'm a best-selling author, why wouldn't I have $2,000 in my pocket?"

--BECKETT: "Take your hand off your tool, Marco!"


RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--As predictable as it was that there was something hidden in that doll all along, it led to a fun moment when Castle broke two of them in a row while whats-her-face watched in horror.

--Some bad police-work/logic skills: If that dude knew/thought that a $4 million bracelet was in the storage unit, why would he only bid up to $2,500? Methinks he would have brought a few more dollars to ensure he has enough for the winning bid.

--Memo to all criminals when confronted by police: NEVER say something like "It's an interesting theory, detective, but you can't prove any of it" or "I'd like to see you prove it." THEY ALWAYS PROVE IT. Just watch 'Murder She Wrote', dude.

--I like how Castle noted that they brought justice to their family .... umm, what family? They are all dead.

THE SCORE: 59 out of 100

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Review -- CASTLE 5.02: 'Cloudy With a Chance of Murder'

I just had an epiphany. Whether two characters on a will-they-won't-they type TV show are dating or not, it really doesn't matter.

Is the show still good or not? That's all that matters.

In the case of 'Castle', I get the sense from some of my readers that they are concerned about the direction of the show now that Beckett and Castle are together. But for me, I don't care either way. I only care whether the show is still entertaining or not. I argue that it still is.

Magnus (HGF) thinks that there is no sexual chemistry between the two characters. I say who cares! Whether he's right in his assessment or not, it's not like this show is a porno. There's not exactly a lot of sex scenes or makeout scenes in it, anyway. The success/entertainment of this show depends on their chemistry with dialogue, facial expressions, mannerisms, etc. And in this aspect, I think their chemistry is good and it makes the show fun to watch.

Some of the stuff on 'Cloudy with a Chance of Murder' was a bit over-the-top, but it didn't really bother me because the episode itself and Castle/Beckett were fun this week. The jealousy drama and the keeping-it-a-secret crap was entirely cliche, and we've seen it a thousand times, but those two characters make it work by being charming and funny. And before those two crazy kids got together at the end of Season 4, the same thing applied. That's why I've always liked this show.

And I don't laugh out loud too much on TV shows, but Castle messing around with the green screen at the news station was hilarious.

This week's case was fairly interesting, which was a nice bonus, but it's main purpose was very clearly to give Castle and Beckett a pause about keeping a workplace relationship and displaying the difficulties that it can cause.

Much like Castle and Beckett, I suggest you do the same -- just fucking deal with it. The show is still what it was before, whether or not those two are having fake sex or not.


QUOTES OF NOTE:

--BECKETT: "You just want me to take my shirt off again, don't you?"
--CASTLE: "WHAAAAATTTT!?"

--CASTLE: "Don't tell me you dressed like that for Esposito."

--RYAN: "Fine, just judge all you want."

--ESPOSITO: "He's a man, he has a pulse, so no."

--CASTLE: "I know who the killer is!"

--CASTLE: "She's like the terminator sex bot."

--BECKETT: "What I want is to not have this image of a bikini-clad woman stuffing her boobs in your face, so good luck with that."
--CASTLE: "Do I even get credit for figuring out who the killer is?"
--BECKETT: "No!"

RANDOM RAMBLINGS:

--Does the NYPD really have a strict dating policy?

--Detective Ryan's suit at the beginning of the episode was pretty fugly.

--Luckily for me, I don't drink coffee -- so no morning coffee will be killing me.

--I don't know about you, but when I make death threats, I don't typically use stationary that can identify me.

--This Week on 'Eli is a Creep': I love Jodi Lynn O'Keefe. She was a knockout when she was on 'Boston Legal' and still is 10 years later.

THE SCORE: 85 out of 100

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TV Ratings 10/1/12: Revolution Stabilizing as It Gets Full Season Order

Just as the final overnight ratings were coming in, the word got out on the Twitterverse that NBC has given full season orders to Revolution, Go On, and The New Normal. Revolution’s third week ratings showed signs of stabilization with only an 8% drop in Adults 18-49 from week two:

As you can see, Castle dropped 11% for Adults 18-49, but barely dropped at all for total viewers because viewers over 50 went up this week from last week. Castle’s median age was 60 years old. Hawaii Five-0, not shown above, had a 7% lift from last week to a 1.98.

Other positive news for Revolution is that NBC released its “Live + 3 day” ratings from last week and they showed a 50% lift from Live + same day. TV By the Numbers is poo-pooing the importance of Live + 3 day ratings, but times are changing. As some ratings watchers know, the shows are sold to the advertisers on their Live + 3 day commercial ratings (aka C3). All the shows that get higher C3 ratings than their Live + Same Day ratings have very high DVR lifts. So, when you see a show getting a high percentage lift for time-shifting, it’s likely good news for that show unless the show’s ratings are still very low. In my opinion, DVR lifts may very come into play for some "bubble show" decisions.

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TV Ratings: Revolution beats Castle and Hawaii Five-0 in first battle on September 24th, 2012

In its second week, NBC’s Revolution faced season premieres of Castle and Hawaii Five-0. It beat both in the Adult 18-49 ratings. There was a 16% loss of Live + SD audience in that demo from its debut last week, but it definitely could have been worse and many thought it might be. The median age went down a tad. So, its losses for older audiences were a little bit higher.

Meanwhile, the hype about Castle and Beckett becoming an item did not produce a big ratings bump. It was actually down 35% in the key demo, but 21% for all viewers. The median age went up a few years and the percentage of male viewers went down. Thus, they probably kept more of their older female viewers than other demographics. In fact, 43% of Castle’s audience is women aged 55 or older. If you are a young dude watching Castle, you’re in the real Cougartown.

It’s notable that the Castle premiere didn’t even match last year’s finale number of 2.45.

Hawaii Five-0 seemed to take an even harder hit with a 42% decline compared to last year. It’s median age rose about three years.

We should acknowledge that all of these 10PM shows may regain some viewers when the Live + 7 ratings come through. A person has to watch by 3AM to count in the “same day” ratings. When so many shows compete, some shows are bound to get pushed to another day.

Other highlights:

• Fox’s Mob Doctor dropped to a sad 1.3 A18-49 rating from a 1.5 last week.
• CBS’s Partners scored a 2.4 A18-49 rating. That wouldn’t be bad except that it’s on CBS and it lost a significant 3.6 How I Met Your Mother lead-in and the show that came after it rebounded to a 3.7.
• NBC’s The Voice was the top-rated A18-49 show of the night—4.4.

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