Castle – “Overkill” – review

An episode title worthy of Castle himself’s wordplay.  It refers both to the fact that Beckett has not one but two men helping her work the case, in Castle and Demming, and to the way the case wrapped up.  

This episode was surprisingly delightful.  I will admit that the preview last week made me wince, but the actual playing out of all those moments was engaging and amusing.  For the first time I was actually a little bit unclear on all parts of the mystery, which says this episode really was about the characters’ story, not what was going on around them.  Basically, the part I didn’t get was where the blackmail came into the murderers’ knowledge?  If they both paid the ransom…how did they both know about it? I don’t think that was very well explained–the why was there, but not the how.

But like I said, this episode wasn’t really about the murder. It was about the investigation, and Beckett having on one hand Detective Demming assisting her with the robbery angle, and and on the other hand Castle and the Ambiguously Gay Duo of the 9^th Precinct working the murder angle.  Honestly, I’m surprised they didn’t use an old Spindoctors’ song, because “Two Princes” would have been wonderfully apropos to the situation. Perhaps the producers are saving it for next week?

First, this was a really funny episode to me. I thought it had a lot of cast moments, where only someone who’s been watching the show for a while will get why it’s hilarious.  Alexis’s annoyance at his spelling errors (haven’t you been writing long enough to know this?) and her reaction to his new character, Detective Schlemming (cut him!  He came out of nowhere).  Martha’s glee over her archrival’s failing play.  (Although this was followed later with her acknowledgment that the woman had truly earned that part and her classy congratulatory note.)   The AGD were especially unambiguous this week with their oohing and ahing over the high-end men’s grooming products Castle introduced them to and their reaction after the products turned out to be not-so-safe.  And Honeymilk’s girlfriend-gossip session about whether anyone but Castle feels like Demming shouldn’t be working homicide cases if he’s robbery–”But that’s not why it bothers you, is it?”  God, Ryan might as well have batted his eyes after asking Castle that rhetorical question.  Though, to be fair, Castle himself came off very metrosexual with his love of the product line and his knowledge of Sex and the City. That was a great set of lines, Beckett saying that they’re like SATC for men and Castle being upset that he’d “have to be Miranda.” Lolz.  It also underscored again his high-end, pretty-boy lifestyle, in direct contrast to Demming’s simpler one. 

The comparisons and parallels between Castle and Demming were punched up all over the place.  It was funny to see them trying to one-up each other in the investigation.  Although my big question is, why did Demming participate, if he’s definitely seeing Beckett, as this episode made clear he is?  Shouldn’t he be above that kind of ego play?  But maybe he realizes that Castle wants her, even if he had no actual CLAIM on her to tell Demming to back off, when he asked.  So Demming and Castle were both hustling to get breaks and crack witnesss.  I will say, the ending with Castle getting to interrogate someone alone was wack.  Like that’s any kind of legal. I know the show normally runs a fine line between realism and fantasy, anyway, but I thought that moment overstepped just a bit too far.

Demming’s best moment came when Castle and Beckett are doing their thing as they finally solve the puzzle, interlocking pieces back and forth while he just sits there watching and trying to interject.  And failing.  It was a well-played scene from all of them, but I thought especially from Michael Trucco.  And it opened the door for Beckett’s comment to Castle at the end, after she has just kissed Demming—”We make a good team.”  Is the implication there that, yes, they do make a great team…of detectives, and of detectives only?

Castle had two moments of real emotion and emotional awareness, and both were sad and poignant as knives.  He’s talking to his mother about how she shouldn’t be congratulating her archrival but plotting to crush her, and Martha asks “Are you all right?”  Castle takes a moment to hear what he has just been saying and answers, “No…no, I’m not,” and leaves the room without elaborating.  Obviously he’s aware of his own jealousy over Beckett.  Then, at the end of the episode when he sees Beckett kiss Demming, he lets his mask  slip so we can see how shaken he was by that.  I thought Nathan Fillion did an excellent job of showing that slip, and then the hasty resumption of the mask before Beckett could see that he had seen.  Brilliantly played on his part.

The jealousy/hurt over Beckett seeing Demming continues my point from  the week before last, though, that Castle hasn’t really earned the right to be jealous, because he’s never done anything to indicate to Beckett that he’s romantically interested. So as much as I have a sympathy for him because we as the audience get to see his side of things, I can’t give it carte blanche because I also see where he’s done nothing to express his feelings to Beckett herself. Right now he just seems like a spoiled little kid who didn’t get the toy he wanted for his birthday.  He needs to decide if Beckett the woman is more important to him than Beckett the muse (since his proposing a romantic involvement might be the end of their working together, whether she agrees to get involved with him or not), and do it fast—because, brother, if she’s willing to risk being seen kissing Demming at the place they both work, after her speech post Heat Wave about how hard she’s worked to desexualize herself at the precinct, then Demming is about to lock that down. 

Will he turn that key before the end of the season, though?  Guess we’ll find out next week….