Castle Review, “Probable Cause” (Episode 5, Season 5)

I watch TV. A lot of it. I don’t usually do reviews, or things like that. There are good episodes of every show. There are so-so episodes. There are bad episodes. Some surprise you, of course. Some delight you. And, then, there are episodes like last night’s Castle that leave you go, at the end, wanting to tweet something along the lines of: ANDREW. FREAKING. MARLOWE. YOU GENIOUS, YOU.

I admit it, I was a bit disappointed a couple of weeks ago, when I saw the previews for the next episode of Castle I mean, yeah, it was time to bring some drama to what was becoming a sugary/romance filled Castle/Beckett beginning of the season. (Not that I have anything against happiness, but as a writer, I know this is unlikely to last if you want viewers to continue to tune in). But this …this felt overdone. Castle as the suspect. Haven’t we been here before? I mean, no one was actually going to believe this, right? The guys were going to give him some grief, but soon they were going to go in another direction. And Beckett, well, she the worst this could do was expose their relationship to the rest of the precinct.

Oh, how very wrong I was.

Funny thing is, I never caught up. I had no idea what was going on. In retrospect I almost wish I had decided to live tweet this thing, that’s how hilarious my reactions were. When I actually figured out what was going on (about half a second before 3KX’s actual face appeared on screen) I screamed so loud I scared my sister into thinking there was an actual ax murdered in our house (always fun). And, really, isn’t that what half the fun of watching tv is all about. Sure, we watch because we want to get involved with the characters, because we want to care and all that crap, but mostly, we watch because we want to be entertained, because we want to be surprised, because, at the end of the episodes …we want to be all like …well, I didn’t see THAT ONE COMING.

And, let me tell you, I didn’t see that one coming.

So, even if the ending was a little obvious (it’s hard to kill of a character like that, with all the potential to bring him back and screw up your characters’ lives a little more, I get it), Andrew Marlowe, I take my hat off. Seriously. And, I’m really glad there was nothing in the previews to give it away. Monday night well spent. And I don’t always get to say that.

Good television. Of the kind I wish I could have written. I don’t know if there’s a better compliment than that.

Will they or won’t they? …From The X-Files to Castle.

I’ve had a few weeks to digest the Castle season finale, though I suspect I will need a few months, maybe more, to really come to grips with it. I’m not one to cry at TV shows (surprisingly enough, because I cry at nearly everything), especially not when the ending turns out to be exactly what I wanted, but if twitter is to be believed, then tears were the overwhelming response to the finale. The question is, why?

Are they tears of joy? This is what fans have been waiting for since these two characters crossed paths, four seasons ago. Maybe some fans, most fans, were just happy that the journey has finally brought them together. Some were maybe mourning the end of the show as they know it. And they may be right. Ratings would seem to prove them right.

I can say I don’t understand why most shows fail after the two main characters get together, because I do. If that’s the only reason you watched the show, and it’s already happened, then why continue watching? It makes sense. But, is that really the only reason we watch these TV shows?

Not me. And lately TV shows seem to be betting on the fact that there are more people like me around. Bones did it last season, after all, and we’ve had a very fun, if somewhat shortened season, of Bones and Booth being, well, a couple. The creator, Hart Hanson, made sure to introduce something that would shift the dynamic between the two characters and still keep us interested in how those two would handle it, even if they are now handling it as a couple. Ratings seem to prove his bet has paid off.

Ten years ago, this seemed an unthinkable notion. I watched nine seasons of The X-Files waiting for what Bones, and now Castle, have given me. The X-Files seemed, if any, the perfect show to continue strongly after the main characters finally hooked up. There were still aliens, and a big conspiracy to deal with. There was a lot of new ground to be covered. It just never happened, and now, after two movies, it feels a lot like …too little, too late. 

Castle seems ready to continue along the same path Bones took last season. Andrew Marlowe, the mind behind the show, has said that he thinks there are still a lot of stories to be told, even if the two main characters are now a couple. He also said that putting it off for any longer would be even more unrealistic than getting them together. 

There’s the crux of the matter, for me. For how long are we supposed to believe that two people who are obviously attracted to each other, who obviously care about each other, can’t find a way to be together? Four years is a lot of time. Eight is absurd. At this point, this makes more sense than keeping them apart.

And, I, for one, will still be watching when next season starts. The question is, will you?