Castle Show Review

(Spoilers Below)

I start writing this not knowing how I should feel, I mean for all extensive purposes this show was great. I spent hundreds of hours side by side with the characters solving mysteries and becoming engulfed in their lives. But some feeling, deep down just can't have me write that this series is all rainbows and butterflies. When you get to the end you aren't left with a great feeling, but instead puzzled if you liked this show or had it just gone away from itself in the past few seasons. I’m reassured since I have taken a step back, that i did in fact like the show and just needed the separation from the last two seasons. This show isn't expanding any genres or breaking molds, it is in all its glory a regular cop drama that puts the spin of having a regular guy around the action, even though Richard Castle is far from regular. The show teases, tickles, has you swelling, gasping, yearning and at the end of each episode rushing to find the remote to hit next episode.

A show that prides itself on being realistic when it comes down to the mystery/crime aspect of the show. The real story of this is the underlying will they wont they story line between the leads, Katherine Beckett and Richard Castle. The on screen chemistry between the two was there and showed in the small facial expressions they swapped with one another.

Off Screen these two apparently did not get along with some sources online saying they wouldn't talk after filming and even as far as her crying in her trailer between shoots. It didn't fully show up on screen when they were together, but that's exactly where you could notice it. In the final few seasons Detective Beckett and Castle shared less and less screen time with one another. Some episodes Beckett was completely gone from, off searching for something.

The show starts off with a great six seasons, after the show runner left and the show went away from what made it successful. The last two seasons had the couple we had emotionally invested into fighting or pulling away from one another in pursuit of a ridiculous story line that had to be introduced to keep it going.

Character development was great in this show as we saw them grow over the seasons, greeting each challenge of life coming at them with different tactics.

The introduction of a few characters did make me mad like Vikram who for the most part wanted Kate to separate completely from castle after we had seen them fight to be with one another for so long. It wasn't until midway though the season that the characters caught up to my thinking in that there was no reason he needed to be shielded from the plot. I mean he was her husband, what top level CIA operative would not go after him in any scenario. The premise was outlandish on a show that constantly went over the top. They wrote Kate to be hated and I bit on this as she shunned everyone in pursuit of something that had ultimately been closed and did not concern her directly. It made me hate scenes she was in as I was left thinking that she left everything behind to get no further ahead and not have her best asset in fighting mysteries beside her.

The story line they had going for the ninth season before officially being cancelled would have just made me mad. Kate was scheduled to die in that kitchen shooting and we were going the see castle hunt down all those who were responsible. The worst part would have been this would have made it so that the bogeyman that we had been chasing the past few seasons would have been rendered useless, as bracken was in season eight. The short forward flash to see the couple happy with kids was to appease fans but after the horrendous season eight they put us through it was better to end then keep it going.

On Rotten tomatoes this has an eighty seven and while I agree the first six seasons were above eight five the last two could be best described as train wrecks earning mid fifty ratings from me at best.

I don't remember why I clicked on the Hulu tile for castle, but once I had started, there was no turning back. It may have had to do with my hankering for the rookie every week, so maybe I’m just a Nathan Fillion fan. Shows try and grip audiences in many different ways when they start, some try over the top story lines, or maybe crazy effects, in castle they start the development of the back and forth you come to love between the two leads. With Katherine Beckett and Richard Castle going toe to toe from the very first case, in the end coming together to catch the killer. Throughout the first few seasons, we had to endure bad timing, other relationships, and plenty of almost PDA’s. This led to the viewer urning for the leads to take any step forward with each other, the first of which came on a case where they had the pretend for a second to be a couple and while detective Beckett wanted to pull her gun, castle had her stop and then they embraced for a kiss. the first of which was not convincing to the mobster approaching so Kate went back in, this time a little more passionate. This on the case kiss transformed the two and how they looked at each other going forward. The weird thing about their relationship is that they like each other and want each other but timing isn't the issue as much as it is their own personal lives. Kate cant let go of so much in her life, her mom and LokSat being the two that seemed to always be brought up. Its not that I didn't like these story lines, its just how they never really ended, there always seemed to be another layer that was just that much more unbelievable.

The show could have ended with season six and the departure of the show runner, but instead the network kept it going. Im not saying I didn't appreciate the final few seasons but its taken me a little time to step away and see them a little different. They allowed us to see the characters for two more seasons, not necessarily great seasons but we still got to see them. I would recommend mend watching castle but with the caveat that you are going to need a lot of time, but its worth it.

8.6/10

Worth a Watch