Rick Castle’s first case as Beckett’s official shadow. A nanny is found dead in a dryer in the building where she worked, and the suspects range from the couple she worked for to her angry ex-boyfriend…but none of them were the culprit. Conundrum!
This episode definitely gave me a scare near the beginning, when it looked like maybe the couple who employed her had killed her off. I’m pretty sure that was an intentional mislead, looking like another she’s-having-an-affair-with-the-husband story, where either he or the wife decides to take her out of the picture over it. But I’m not sure if this miscue was to lead us toward the wrong suspect, or to make us think the show was going to use a ridiculously simplistic story so we’d be surprised when it turned out to be someone else.
Whichever way, the story they went with was maybe not a ridiculous mastermind murder but neither was it the most obvious and yawn-worthy story. I was pleased by that, because I came out of the episode feeling engaged with the show rather than rolling my eyes at it.
Nathan Fillion really hit his stride in this episode, proving why this show is called by his character’s name and why he’s a good man for the job of carrying a series on his shoulders. There was less of the self-conscious wit, although a couple of the quips were again worthy of a cringe more than a chuckle. But the moments where he really shone were more dramatic. When he is discussing possible suspects with the team of detectives, he spins a possible scenario of a stalker from the building. His simple narration is delivered so skillfully and believably that his listeners start to believe it. That scene made it clear why Rick Castle is such a successful crime writer: he knows how to draw out exposition for maximum suspense. He is a natural storyteller, and Nathan Fillion is a natural in that role.
The other scenes where Fillion is at his best are the ones with his daughter. Their interactions are really touching, and feel like the strongest natural chemistry between actors in this cast. And the view of him as a devoted and involved father make his cockiness around Beckett seem like an act. Perhaps one that he has adopted so fully that it has become part of who he is–but nonetheless an act that he puts aside with his daughter.
We are learning little pieces of Beckett along with Castle; this week we learned, as he wrote in his manuscript, that someone had broken her heart somewhere along the way. But we still don’t know much about her yet. So far the show is still on track for Castle’s unraveling of the mystery of Beckett to be a large part of the overarching plot of the series.
So, this murder set-up was interesting enough that I’ll tune in again next week. I’m still testing the waters, not quite ready to jump into being a devotee yet, but–so far, so good.
I was sure that the doorman was the murderer — because they kept on saying “the doorman said this” and “the doorman said that.” As the show progresses and all the other suspects proved innocent, I was expecting them to all look up at the same time and realize that all of their information was coming from the doorman!
I actually find Castle’s daughter way too perfect, calm, and well-adjusted given how messed up the rest of the family is. She needs to be more of a teenager — see for example Zoe on Eureka, a similar relationship in a similar kind of show that I think works a lot better.
Ha! Yeah, the doorman definitely fits the crime show bill of “minor character who shows up at the beginning and comes back later as the killer.” That would also have been a good twist.
I actually disagree with you on the daughter, probably because she reminds me of myself. I never went through a rebellious teenager phase, nor did I fight with my parents. The reason I didn’t was precisely BECAUSE my home life was kind of crazy without my helping it along. I was also secure in my parents’ love and interest in me (which this episode did a great job of showing Castle has) and that kept me from wanting to lash out at them for being imperfect. So their relationship really speaks to me as reminiscent of what mine was like with my parents at that age. But I was certainly in a minority among my friends, so it may be that most people will have your perspective on it.
Re: the daughter, sure, that’s a good point. Just because a person is more likely to react to a certain situation in a certain way, doesn’t mean that everybody reacts to that situation in the same way — there’s a lot of individual variance. I guess, so early in the show, the daughter hasn’t had enough “screen time” for me to really see her as an individual; if she reminds you of yourself, it may be easier for you to do so.
True story. I definitely hope that as the series goes on we get to know her in more depth than we have in these 2 ep’s.