Castle should not be as entertaining as it is. For starters, it follows the ‘Bones’ school of procedural drama by not being much of a procedural or a drama. Yet rather than rendering it a mess, by focusing on humor and character over gore and science, Castle differentiates itself from the traditional cop shows on TV.
Then, of course, there’s Castle himself, Nathan Fillion. If there’s anything Nathan Fillion can’t play convincingly, I certainly haven’t found it yet. (But I digress into a loving lust for Fillion that gets us far off track.) His latest foray into series television is his most ego-driven character to date, and also, possibly, the smartest.
There’s no question that Castle is the star, not only of the show, but in his own life, as well. Here’s a guy who lives with his mother and teenage daughter and still manages to make it all look cool and glamorous. Then there’s his partner – Kate Beckett is being forced to work with him, and while we should at least try to take her side, it’s more fun to be amused by Castle’s crime solving methods – detective school by way of crime research on dozens of mystery novels.
Part of what makes Castle work so well is that he’s not just a bumbling writer, wrecking all of Beckett’s cases like some crime-solving Gilligan. He’s got an eye for detail – what writer doesn’t? – and was actually paying attention when he did all those research inspired interviews. Plus, a man ballsy enough to kill off the main character in his mystery series is clearly meant for more than his next bestseller.
The show will be returning this fall. The last few episodes of season one spent some time developing an over-arcing mystery concerning the long-ago murder of Beckett’s mother. While Castle is entertaining enough to watch even without a spine, spending next season unraveling a real, honest to goodness mystery will up the stakes considerably.
Haven’t seen Castle yet? Watch the Castle Starter Kit, a 3 minute video that will tell you all about the show and get you up to speed.
Watch episodes of Castle at Hulu.com. You can watch the last five episodes of the show at any given time.