Oh my. Castle is well versed in the twisty-turny mystery, but “Poof! You’re Dead” was twisty-turny even by the Castle standard. Delving into the world of magic and magicians hinted at a lot of fun to be had. And the deeper the team got into the case, the crazier things became. We went from who killed Zalman (Jeffrey Hephner), to is that really Zalman, to was Zalman a terrorist, to who killed Dahl (Brett Cullen). All with a host of stops in between.
It was a fascinating concoction of twists and turns, or sleight of hand if you prefer. And it seemed to leave most of us guessing as we tried to follow the queen. Not all of us though. A shoutout to George, from the LiveClack, who was way ahead of everyone in guessing that Dahl had faked his own death. I was still taking a long look at Chuck (Chadwick Boseman). If a guy can get you C-4, he’s a worthy suspect. In the end, the stop at the magic shop made for a fun case, but the bigger story of the week might have been the final nail in the coffin for Castle and Gina.
That whole mess has been my biggest problem with the show all season. It just hasn’t been handled well. Aside from the fact that from jump street it felt like they were together for no other reason than to keep Castle and Beckett apart, it was just as ham-handed as could be all the way through. Weeks and weeks going by with no mention. No clue as to whether they were together or not. Even as Natalie/Beckett is putting the moves on Castle, and telling Beckett how into her he is. Nothing. The only good thing I can say about the entire Gina affair is that someone finally put an end to it.
Of course, that doesn’t mean the next senseless distraction isn’t right around the corner. And we do still have to deal with Dr. Davidson. But we are closer to getting on with things. Carla asked in the chat if we actually want Beckett and Castle to get together. That’s not my angle. I don’t necessarily want them to be together or apart, but I want the writers to fish or cut bait. The will-they, or won’t-they, with continuing senseless obstacles is tiresome at best.
In other news, Lanie and Esposito are together. How about that? Twitter tells me they’ve been dubbed “Lanito.” Short of the initial shock of the reveal, I’m non-committal on it. On the one hand, I think there is some potential for good story there. But on the other, the Castle/Beckett shenanigans haven’t given me much confidence that anyone at Castle HQ is up to that. For now, we wait and see.
Finally, in case you missed it, ABC has announced that Castle will be returning for season four next fall.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Jan 11, 2011 @ 08:36 EST5EDT
I’m with Brett on ending the will-they/won’t-they back and forth. There is definitely a time and place for it, but writers generally wear that welcome out very quickly. Not yet here, but if it carries on much longer….
Lainey and Esposito are enough to make me move Castle down further on the Tivo list, if not delete it all together. To force us as viewers to accept this as Castle/Beckett lite or worse to insist that the b/c list actors are having their storyline at the expense of the a/list story is insulting. Neither Lainey or Esposito are interesting and to follow this from the engagement story, last week, of the most boring Irish cop to hit the airwaves *ever.* sounds more like the supporting cast was demanding airtime more than these stories were the least bit interesting. Or wanted by the fans.
Castle has has borderline ratings, the early renewal was a gift to keep new network management afloat whilst he builds his own shows. Since most contracts are now 6 rather than 5 years syndication or not Castle need to watch its back. (yes arguments can and probably will be made that it is comfort food, holds up against DWTS and the Fillion fans will scream HE IS CUTE! ZOMG YOU CANT SAY THAT…bring it on.)
At this rate just hire Rena Sofer and kill the show for good.
It was a dead giveaway (pun intended) for me that Dahl had faked his own death from the moment they showed his photograph. I saw the actor, Brett Cullen, who is quite a familiar face to TV viewers, and I knew that they would not have cast him to be nothing more than a model for a photograph or two — he would definitely have a speaking role, therefore, I knew he had faked his death. From that point, once I saw the footage of the plane readying for takeoff, it was an easy guess that the motorized appendage Zalman’s friend was working on was meant to be used as Dahl’s arm in that cockpit, for the benefit of the cameras.
I guess that’s the problem with casting recognizable actors for certain parts — such has also tipped me off to which characters may end up being the villain: the more experienced the actor, the better chance he/she will be given a meatier role in the episode. The only thing that trips me up is when they’re cast against type (i.e., typical “milquetoast” actor is suddenly the bad guy).
You’ve got to be careful with Castle that way, though, because they’ve definitely cast a recognizable face to throw in the background just to throw viewers off the scent before.