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Last night, Castle aired the conclusion of the federal case that started in the season six premiere. After leaving us with a cliffhanger that had Beckett telling Castle that he had less than 24 hours to live, “Dreamworld,” picked up with the FBI trying to find the antidote before it was too late.
Normally, the show saves these two-part, super dramatic, intense episodes for February sweeps and I always hate them. I’ve said it before and I will keep saying it: I don’t enjoy episodes that are overly serious. Procedurals are not my thing. I watch Castle because of the chemistry between Castle and Beckett and the fun cases that Castle has a blast solving. I don’t want to see terrorism plots or traumatic kidnappings.
This case was especially tying for me because there was zero chance whatsoever that Castle was in real danger. Yes, the scenes where he thought he might be talking to Martha and Alexis for the last time were sad and watching Beckett stay strong as Castle kept getting weaker was touching, but it was not necessary because we all knew there would be a last minute win and Castle would be fine.
Please don’t think I’m advocating raising the stakes and actually killing anyone off; that’s not what I’m saying. I’m still traumatized from Captain Montgomery’s death. My point is that a show like Castle is already unique thanks to its characters. It doesn’t need to go out of its way to have these life or death moments. I’d rather watch Ryan trying to swaddle a doll while Castle and Esposito mock him than try to pay attention to terrorist suspects.
On another note, while I am anxious for Beckett to get back to the NYPD, I do love Lisa Edelstein’s Rachel McCord. Admittedly, I expected her to be the stereotypical female agent, who is all about the job and makes Beckett realize that the FBI isn’t for her after all. But McCord is so much more than that. She cares about the job and she’s sacrificed for it, however, she’s not pushing Beckett to make the exact same choices.
Instead, she’s encouraging her and giving her warnings along the way, but she’s not completely disregarding everything Beckett has to say. When Beckett and Castle figured out who the real target was, McCord backed them up, even though they didn’t give her anything to go on. But like she told Beckett, ‘that’s what partners do’. I know Edelstein is only signed for three episodes and she just booked a pilot, but I really hope the show finds a way to bring her back. She’s so much fun.
What do you guys think? Do you enjoy these intense episodes or do you miss ‘the killer’s a zombie!’ cases? Are you enjoying McCord so far? Does anything really matter besides the fact that Castle and Beckett are engaged? Hit the comments and let us know what you think!
“there was zero chance whatsoever that Castle was in real danger.” – exactly. I was bored for both of these episodes. I don’t expect her to choose her dream job in the end anyway, I expect her to choose Castle because her career dreams don’t seem to be measuring up to the other option of being his wife. I doubt I’ll be surprised.