This week the Castle writers set about fixing the major flaw in the season so far. That flaw being the invisible Gina (Monet Mazur). Whether you are for or against that entanglement, the fact that we waited five episodes to actually see the two of them together is a little silly. While I still think the whole thing is more ridiculous stall tactic than reasonable story, this was at least an effort to try and sell that story. Of course, even in doing so, the story was filled with more acknowledgments that the electric boogaloo version of Castle and Gina is as doomed as the original.
I could admire the subtext and resulting awkwardness of Castle and Beckett going through Greg and Amy’s letters, or Martha’s question about busting Gina out of prison that was followed by Beckett saying she’d bust Castle out, if the whole thing didn’t feel like riding around in circles for no good reason at all. The only real surprise was that Castle and Gina didn’t actually break up this week. No matter, it will happen soon enough.
Perhaps that whole thing just feels so silly and unnecessary because the rest of the episode was so good. Quite simply, the show doesn’t need the silly will-they-or-won’t-they games. The very interesting life of Dr. Valerie Monroe was a great jumping off point. And things only got better the further the team moved in the case. There was the usual collection of fanciful Castle theories, topped by “Catfight to the death!” Those went so well with the obsessing over TV hospital dramas, which totally sold the reveal of Nurse Greg (Michael Cassidy).
Nurse Greg also offered a nice opportunity for Ryan to get in on the shenanigans. His Galaxy of Greg chart was hilarious when he pulled it out, and fascinating when they finally ran down the jail break scheme for Captain Montgomery. It was also interesting that the jail break subplot managed to completely overshadow the murder, yet it didn’t really feel like we missed anything with the murder investigation. Once Greg was in the clear for the murder, it was pretty clear that it would be Cesar’s (A Martinez) brother who gave Dr. Monroe “20 CCs of death” (A very Horatio moment for Castle). Lanie’s clue that it was someone with medical training left him as the only suspect.
Much like the rest of this season, Castle remains a very good cop show that is occasionally hampered by the ham-handed bungling of a love story. Fortunately, for now, the fun and adventure of the cop show outweighs the annoyance of the love story.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Oct 19, 2010 @ 07:42 EST5EDT
Why can’t the writers just have their male and female leads be good friends? What is wrong with platonic friendships?
Gil Grissom and Catherine Willows on CSI were a great friendship. So were Mark and Carol on ER. Bailey and the Chief on Gray’s Anatomy.
But if the show does tease the characters together, I think they should put them together, and by season 3 at the latest. Anything longer than that makes the storyline silly.
Double “at least” in there but other than that good review. I don’t understand why they need the schenanigans either. It is just annoying at this point. Nobody needs those two to be togethe and it just seems stupid at this point. I mean who cares as long as the rest of the show is so much fun?
*POST AUTHOR*
I have no idea how that double ‘at least’ got in there, but I’ll be sure to scold my editor! :D
I love Castle for many reasons, but I have to admit I’m really looking forward to the day when they do get together. It seems crazy to me to waste the chemistry that the actors obviously have. I LOVED last night’s episode more than others because of the love story!
The case: I thought it was a lot of fun and I liked the Grey’s Anatomy digs (totally missed Dr. Rhonda Chimes = Shondra Rimes). I didn’t get who the killer was till nearly the end so that was good too.
I would have liked to have seen more Esposito, Ryan and Lanie but I guess you can’t have them and have enough time for the relationship stuff.
The relationships: While I’m not a fan of either the Gina or Josh stalls, I think I can see what the writers are trying to do. Gina is a viable relationship for Castle and I think Josh will be one for Beckett too, just not the right one and that will cause the break ups. However I think the writing for this is too subtle and while I appreciate that neither Castle nor Beckett is shooting off jealous glances at the other’s SO while in a relationship themselves, instead of showing that Castle and Gina aren’t going to work it looks like they are the couple on the show and Castle and Beckett are just good platonic friends.
I wish the writers would end the other partners stuff and just work on putting Castle and Beckett together. They don’t need to be in a relationship right away, just end the silly shenanigans and have them grow emotionally like adults instead of being afraid that putting them together will be a show-killer. I think the writers for this show are good enough to make a Castle/Beckett relationship work for the show rather than against it.
I really do not need Castle and Beckett to be anything other than friends. Once they get together I plan to stop watching like I did when Mulder and Scully became more than friends.