Castle

Eric and I don't watch a lot of tv. Or rather, we don't watch a lot of tv when it actually airs. Usually we watch reruns of shows, or Netflix them and watch them after they are off the air, or we start them a couple of seasons in. I've really only ever kept up with a couple of shows while they've been airing, and one of them is Castle. Even that we don't watch at its regular air time, because 9:00 on a Monday just gets too late for us with a baby. A little pathetic, I know, but when you have to get up at the crack of dawn, and in the middle of the night to take care of a baby, you go to bed much earlier. So we usually end up watching Castle online during the weekends, but we watch it the weekend after it airs so we can still be considered up to date with it.

Castle is a great show. The entire cast is excellent, and I really like that they have been doing a little bit more each season with some of the other characters. But the show really revolves around the title character, Richard Castle, a msytery novelist, and his muse, homicide detective Kate Beckett of the NYPD. The first season Castle shadowed Beckett to get inspiration for his books, and while he still shadows her, it doesn't have the same purpose. In fact, I'm starting to wonder how long that excuse is going to be valid and what other ideas the writers could come up with to keep these two together solving cases. It's a funny show, but also serious sometimes, but it's still lighter than most crime shows.

The character Castle is played by Nathan Fillion, who starred in the short-lived but enjoyable "Firefly" series, and that's part of the reason Eric and I started watching this show. That, and a chance encounter with a Castle first season re-run. (We actually only started watching it regularly after the first season because the first episode we saw was one of the last episodes of the season airing after the season's ending, so we Netflixed the whole first season.) Fillion plays, in my opinion, a much more likeable character. And of course there is the romantic tension between Castle and Beckett which I'm hoping they won't drag out so long that it becomes boring and stupid like every other television show. I think and hope the writers can creatively get them together and keep them together so that it is still entertaining. I'm not even a writer and I can think of a few good ideas after they become a couple.

I'm not really doing the show justice in my description, but it's an excellent show. Very funny, with likeable characters. I hope they continue to build up some of the supporting cast, especially Castle's family. They did a lot with his family the first season or so, but now have been giving some of the other characters, especially the other two major detectives in the show, more background and characterization. It really makes the show more enjoyable to have not only 2 strong main characters but also a good cast of supporting characters that seem more like real people and not just static characters who are playing cookie cutter roles. So I hope they keep building them up over the course of the series.

The worst part about watching a show when it actually airs is the breaks between airings. They'll do a 4 week stretch, and then nothing for 2 or 3 weeks, then a 2 week stretch, then another break. I hate it. I wish they wouldn't do it, and I'm not entirely sure why they do. It really makes it frustrating because I don't want to have to wait that long! I'm not patient. That's why I do better with movies, I can get an entire plot all in one shot without having to wonder (most of the time) what happens next and how they are going to resolve certain issues or bring characters together, etc. But Castle is worth it.