Tuesday 4 June 2019

Castle: Why the series was always going to fail

Well I had 6 weeks to recuperate from my Gallbladder/ Hernia  operations.

I tried to watch some Castle DVDs but simply could not. I simply could not get Castle and Beckett being a couple of bimbos out of my head.

However let us start at the beginning.  We immediately find the best chemistry I have ever seem between the two main stars Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic. This meant you only need mere competent writing to have a great series. Unfortunately we did not even get that.

In the first season we see Castle two divorced wives. His first Meredith is not attractive ( nor is Castle's mother or daughter). She divorces him after SHE commits adultery in their own bed. Indeed he still has sex with her!! And she did not want their daughter in the split.
His second is Gina who is sensational looking. however she remained his publisher all through their romance, marriage and then divorce. As if this would occur in real life.
We also meet Becket who it must be said is very plain looking in the first episode, wears dowdish clothes, is allegedly wearing no makeup ( although she clearly was) and a workaholic.Very prim and proper.She also intensely dislikes married men who are having affairs and is a one and done gal as opposed to Castle who as we said has had two divorces.
So why does Castle eventually shadow Beckett? When she says you have no idea it is in complete contrast to her persona.
We also have to accept Castle is both a ladies man and a good father. Huh. If the man is returning home after a scandalous .liaison then he has no regard for his daughter. We never see this at all.

In the second season is where the chemistry  comes to the fore. however at no stage do we get to know why Beckett is attracted to Castle and vica versa. Indeed at no time in the 8 seasons does she ask him about his divorces at all. Very realistic. We never find out what is so special about Beckett either.
In the finale we are to believe  Castle gets back with his second wife and she is going to spend the whole summer with him. Again wholly believable .

It is in the middle of the third season Beckett becomes smoking hot. It is all down to that long curly hair. We also meet her third boyfriend  since working. Unfortunately the writers could not make up their minds on whether he is a chest surgeon or becoming one. given he goes on Doctors without Borders he must be a full surgeon. We also get an absurd situation on where he helps out with medical help in an ambulance. No surgeons do not do that!!
We also find out Beckett has had a varied sex life which means  a lot of one night stands which is in complete contradiction to season one
The finale is equally silly. Roy Montgomery who is the Precinct Captain sens some important information to a valued friend. This person does not get it until not only is he dead but Beckett is shot. the US Portal Service is very slow.

The fourth season is enjoyable but again problems. Castle learns that Beckett knows all about him telling her he loves her. He think she is embarrassed by this. This man was supposed to be a former ladies man What a joke. He gets all uppity about her not telling him. Does he confront her. Nor on your nelly. He does nothing indeed he does not tell her which is rich in irony. In the finale Beckett goes off on her own ( going rogue in other words) in attempting to unravel her mother's murder.
Castle says he has been waiting four years to see him in the proper light. Only one problem, We know from the season 3 finale Castle had been there one year so this is THREE years not four. Guess what it is the same writer. The finale is the ONLY time Beckett ever apologises. It makes her one weak women.

I had high hopes for season 5, Surely Beckett would now tell Castle how much his books meant to her given her mother's murder. Nuh.
We meet Gates the new Captain. She has had a lot of experience in internal affairs so should know about every different division in a precinct yet her very first action is to split up the most successful homicide squad in New York. wow.
Two highlights . They go on a weekend away. No-one at the precinct can guess who Beckett is going with. Yep the Precinct is full of dopes apparently. There is no follow up from the weekend away. Usually people might think of living together and perhaps even marriage but not here.
I should add here Beckett knows about every woman Castle has had lengthy affairs with now. It would be obvious to anyone Castle in no ladies man indeed quite the opposite. He simply wants a successful marriage. In the last three episodes We see a lying and conniving Beckett. Somehow the idealistic homicide detective has vanished and an ambitious career driven has  appeared from nowhere. Why Beckett would even need to work given that Castle is worth at least $50m and earning $4m in income each year is apparently never though of. Even more absurdly a woman who has been suspended for gong rogue, only had homicide experience and never had a partner since being a detective is offered a job in national security.

As quickly as Beckett had become an ambitious career driven woman she goes back to being the  idealistic detective again. Indeed even though she resigned from the NYPD she goes back to being head of homicide.
The 'highlight is an episode where the leading presidential candidate is both a drug runner and a money launderer. Gates rings Becket up and tells her not to tell Castle. Great relationship eh. They want Beckett to go undercover even though she has  no experience,
We end with Beckett finding our she is already married. how about that neither the NYPD nor a  national security agency could find this out but a clerk could by simply hitting her computer.

Season 7 had no good episodes in it. We had the absurd story of Castle being barred from the Precinct by the Department of Justice for a clearly specious reason. no-one wants to fight city hall on this at all. No Castle decides to become a PI.
In another absurd episode Castle is arrested by two policemen who witness him attempt to kills 3XK who is a great villain. Castle believes he knows where Beckett is. man. Despite this there is no charge and then when the man is killed no investigation at all.
in the finale the writers cannot even get Castle's age correct. It gets worse we are shown two political operatives grilling Beckett. Only problem they do not know she has been suspended by the NYPD, she resigned from the NYPD and then was sacked from the  National Security Agency ( which incidentally had THREE different names.). This means she had NO political future at all.

Season 8 is a disaster. Beckett a mere detective is promoted to Precinct captain.Nothing occurs when she fails to turn up to work.. Aggh

The series failed because for whatever reason the creator Andrew Marlowe was a very lazy writer who continually had problems with continuity.

We had a ladies man who was continually written anything but a ladies man. We had a prim and proper lady who we find is not prim and proper. A woman who is sometimes an introvert and at other times an extrovert.
We find in season one Beckett went to the Prom but in season 6 she didn't.
In season two we find Beckett a member of a large female group from her school yet later we are told she was a rebel. She is such a rebel she defers to authority such as in the very first episode.

I could go on and on but you get the picture, poor writing ,little continuity, no research into topics.
If not for the chemistry this series would not have lasted two seasons. As it was we were seduced ( pun intended) by the chemistry until the absurd season 5 which confirmed completely the Moonlighting curse.

Okay some suggestions that could have made Castle better if Marlowe was not involved.

A season that was about Castle and Beckett finding and getting Beckett's mother's murderer. They get together and discuss their future. Beckett wants to find her mother's  murderer so they do it together with the NYPD's approval. This means plenty of interaction with the 12th Precinct.
Next season has then having children. Just remember they are quite old to be parents.Beckett is a full-time mum and Castle a part-time Dad when not writing. however because they are Castle and Beckett they come across murders all the time. Again plenty of interaction with the 12th Precinct.

Just remember this could have been the greatest series of all time but it was never going to be given Marlowe was involved.










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