Everyone enjoys a good cop show. There’s just something about watching a duo put clues together and bring down the bad guy, usually with lots of sexual tension and flirtation in between.
Castle has been delivering all that and more for the past four years, with one notable difference from your standard cop show.
Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) is not a cop. In fact, he is not even remotely involved in law enforcement at all.
Richard Castle is a rich and famous writer, complete with the playboy persona you often associate with the rich and famous. Or at least, that’s how he starts out.
Someone begins committing murders by using murders from Castle’s books as a template, so he teams up with straight-laced, no-nonsense, by-the-book Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) to solve the crimes. Somehow, he manages to secure a place on Beckett’s team despite her protests. (Because how much fun would a show be without reluctance from at least one of the team members, right?)
Luckily, the duo hasn’t looked back since, and after four seasons of witty banter and misunderstandings, Castle and Beckett have finally gotten together just in time for a fifth season.
In this show, Castle mostly plays the role of a forensic psychologist. He knows how to think like a murderer, and he also can think outside the box and provide a fresh perspective for Beckett.
For someone like me — a psychology major as well as a writer — this show is a dream come true.
Many people were skeptical about the two leads of Castle getting together. They were worried that the chemistry between them would be gone and that the spark would fizzle out without the constant sexual tension that defined their relationship for so many years.
However, their worries were unfounded, because season five has overall been the most watched season thus far. The chemistry is as hot as ever, and the quick verbal banter that has characterized Castle and Beckett’s relationship since season one is still there. They still challenge each other and drive each other crazy. Beckett still rolls her eyes at Castle when he exasperates her, and Castle still throws out wild theories about murders, from aliens to CIA.
The only difference now is how close the two of them are and how they express, both verbally and non-verbally, their love and care for each other in the simple things they do.
The fact that they’re technically not supposed to be in a relationship, as they work together for the NYPD, makes things even more exciting, although if you ask me, Captain Gates should not be a captain if she hasn’t noticed by now. Castle and Beckett don’t really seem to understand the defintion of “secret,” or “subtle,” for that matter.
Castle and Beckett’s love for each other was seen no more clearly than in the two-episode plotline from the past two Castle episodes, “Target,” and “Hunt.”
Every season (excepting the first season) has had a two-part plot set around midseason (February or March), traditionally with Castle and Beckett pairing up with an FBI agent to solve problems they can not fix themselves.
In season two, they stopped a serial killer obsessed with Beckett herself. In season three, they learned of a terrorist plot against the city of New York, and Castle managed to stop a bomb literally a second before it was set to blow up in the middle of NYC. Finally, in season four, they manage to stop World War III along with the help of the CIA.
This season brought the two-parter much closer to home by having Russians kidnap Castle’s daughter, Alexis (Molly Quinn).
Castle and Beckett find themselves in a race against time to bring Alexis home before it is too late. Along the way, they get help from the most unlikely of sources — Castle’s father, whom he has never actually met and whose identity has been unknown until now.
“Target” and “Hunt” gave Fillion, Katic and Quinn a chance to show off their serious acting chops. From Fillion’s tears to Katic’s frustration that she could not help her partner more and her fear for him when he goes off to Paris to rescue his daughter by himself, the characters run a gamut of emotions from the beginning of this plot to the end. Fillion and Katic’s Emmy-worthy performances made the audience feel every emotional punch in these two episodes.
Although these two episodes were action-packed and exciting, my personal favorite parts of “Target” and “Hunt” were the moments when Beckett shows how much she cares about Castle. For example, when a suspect refuses to cooperate, she flies into a rage that promises pain and regret for anyone getting in the way of her helping her boyfriend — indeed, her family — in coming home in one piece.
However, the last scene in “Hunt,” definitely tops my list of Best Castle and Beckett moments:
When Castle and Beckett are finally reunited after he rescues Alexis, Beckett tells Castle, “Please don’t do anything like that again without me.”
Without me.
Those two words really showcase how far Castle and Beckett have come from the first season. Wherever one of them goes, whether across the country or across the world, the other will be there to have his or her partner’s back.
Always.
Castle airs at 10 PM on Mondays. The next episode will be broadcast on March 18.
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