Castle – “Law & Murder” – review

Okay, Castle fans, I’m back after a loooooooooooooong hiatus from talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly of this show. There’s a few points from the middle third of this season that I want to bring up, but, shit, they’ve waited this long, they can wait till the end of this post. Right now? I want to talk about the newest episode, “Law & Murder.”

First, I thought this was an interesting premise for a murder, definitely out of the ordinary run even for this show’s wack-tastic ways and means of death. The murder trial added a second level of depth to the backstory that was different than the usual twist in the investigation, and the politicking of the D.A. lent it an even greater gravitas than one of their normal “serious” episodes have.

My thought on that angle of the show: “Someone at Castle must read Radley Balko.” The corrupt D.A. pushing the wrong crime onto suspects guilty of other crimes is a theme that also just came up for me in The Lincoln Lawyer, so perhaps it’s simply a hot topic currently in crime and mystery writing. Either way, it created an intersection of justice and political power that tested the integrity of everyone on the show, especially Captain Montgomery. Happily, he passed the test.

All of that created a great backdrop to an investigation that went through the twists and turns that are the norm for cases on this program.

There were a couple personal moments I want to point out that were especially great. Castle “texting my poker group, calling dibs on this story” was hilarious. And a reminder that his poker group consists of real-life crime authors in one of this series’ many delightful collisions with the real world.

The situation with Alexis this week that was, as always, a direct parallel to the situation with the victim and his brother. I loved Beckett’s take—“You have the best kid in the world, what were you thinking?!” Mostly I just wanted to point out the final scene between Castle and Alexis, though…it’s been a while since they had any really emotionally charged scene, so it was nice to get back to the father/daughter chemistry they have, which I have always felt was some of the most natural on the show. And I love Castle’s paternal reactions…angry and proud. Such a good way to put it. Such a realistic way to feel when you do trust your kid but also want to protect them from him/herself.

The very end was greatness, with Castle pretending like he hadn’t been about to go see Forbidden Planet by himself to trick Beckett into inviting him to go with her. I hadn’t pegged her for a closet nerd, but she sold it.

So let’s get back to those older episodes. Speaking of real-life collisions—if, that is, Heat Wave gets made into a movie, which I predict right now will happen—let’s talk about Donna from That 70’s Show as Nikki Heat. That guest appearance was hilarious. I have to admit, I was very skeptical when I saw that she was playing that part, because she just…doesn’t seem all that similar to Beckett, who is of course who Nikki Heat is. Sort of. But in the second book I felt Nikki started becoming a character distinct from Beckett, and Laura Prepon actually fit that sexier, more playful Nikki quite well. Also, watching her follow Beckett around and mimic her and slowly freak Beckett out was just funny. I hope we get to see her again at some point. And I’d totally be on board for her playing Nikki in the real-world movie.

The episode where an old friend of Castle’s was accused of murder gave us the most insight we’ve had into why Castle became a writer. This was the person who convinced him he had talent at writing, which he got into when he was a lonely misfit at boarding school. We still haven’t quite made it to why Castle is so fascinated with murder, but we at least know the genesis of his attraction to writing.

The double-episode with the dirty bomb was, on the whole, disappointing for me. It started really well, but I felt like it had too much convenience both in Castle and Beckett getting out of that freezer, and then the ultimate resolution of the bomb situation. I couldn’t feel much tension because I never felt they were in true jeopardy, this series being what it is.

Finally, the episode where Beckett finds out why her mother was killed. Okay, am I the only one who was surprised at how quickly this came up? I would have expected it to be a season finale type break in the cold case, since so far there has been about one episode per season with a break in her mother’s case, and season 3 had already had one. That was one of the best episodes of this show, hands down. Maybe the best. I think I watched it about 6 times before I finally let it delete off my DVR. It was intense, it was emotional, it was unexpected, it was an answer that only led to more questions. I hope the resolution that was hinted at, with her telling the convicted sniper that she’d be back every week to ask him if he was ready to give up who hired him, comes up as the season finale. If that arc was planned out to be resolved this season before they got word of renewal then that should happen…but will season 4 being announced with so much lead time one the end of this season roll it over to next?

I’ll just let you ponder that, and quote Beckett’s best line from this episode to put it in perspective: “Like your theory all you want but mine is less convoluted and contrived.”