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Wednesday, May 14, 2014

TV Recap: Castle 6-23 - For Better or Worse

I wish I could say I was super surprised by the end of the season finale.  But this is Castle.  It just didn't seem to be a natural fit for them to end the season as advertised.

But most of the episode was as advertised.  They had fun.  I laughed.  Yes, it was out there and probably not that realistic, but I enjoyed it.

You see, with just three days to go before the wedding, Castle and Beckett go down to get their marriage license only to discover that Beckett is already married.  At 19, she went to Vegas, got drunk, and went through a drive through wedding chapel.  She thought it was a big joke, only it was real.  So for the past 15 years, she's been married.  Now, she has to track down her husband and get it annulled in 3 days.

The guy is a scumbag who has been in and out of jail for various schemes and frauds (including passing himself off as an FBI agent).  But he's been out of jail for 5 years and is living in upstate New York.  Beckett heads up there to get the papers signed, only he wants Beckett to do something for him first.  She does that only to watch as he is kidnapped.

That's when Castle joins her and together they start tracking him down.  No one in town seems to like his much, including his ex-girlfriend who he ripped off getting money for a failed scheme.  Then there are the bikers who stole a camera for him and show up demanding payment.  The camera is from a local stripper who just happens to be blackmailing the local pastor who went into the club one night.

And that stripper just happens to be the girlfriend of a mobster who is hiding on the outskirts of town.  Beckett and Castle realize that when they go to free the husband.  And the reason he stole those pictures?  He wanted the money from the pastor to pay his ex-girlfriend back.  However, it looks like all three of them might get killed by the mobster.  Since he's in hiding and there are some pictures of him on the camera, he wants it back.  Castle tells him it is in the husband's apartment, and they all go back - only to run into the bike gang who has come back for the rest of their money.  Beckett convinces them to take the mobster instead, and everyone walks away happy.

Meanwhile, the wedding has been falling apart.  The venue almost burned down, Beckett's dress gets ruined (yes!), and Ryan's tux is the wrong size.  Fortunately, the rest of the characters are able to move things to the Hamptons and get Beckett a new dress.

So we are finally ready for the wedding.  However, Castle is cutting it close since he had to file the paper work so they can legally get married.  He's 20 minutes out when he spies a big, dark SUV.  It is obviously following him.  Then it pulls up next to him.  We cut to the wedding where everyone is waiting impatiently on Castle to show up.  Then Beckett gets the call.  She rushes to the scene of the accident where Castle's car is on fire, but there is no sign of the writer.

The first thing that went through my head?  The talk of the characters getting married in September was more than just talk.  It was a clue that they wouldn't get married in May.

Honestly, I think if this had been anything other than a season finale, we would have gotten a real wedding episode.  But since they like to give us cliffhangers, Castle had to vanish.  And it was his turn since the last time one of them was in danger at the end of a season, it was Beckett in season 3.

I know a lot of fans are up in arms over this ending.  I'm not saying I like it.  But I will reserve judgment until I see where they go next season.  I know this is just a delay, not a real end of their relationship.  After all, the show is called Castle.  It's not like he's dead.

I've also seen people point out that there is no way Beckett would have gotten the job she had at the beginning of the episode with this guy as her husband.  Plus, she would have found out at that point.  They're probably right, but I don't care.  It was a very fun episode, so I can forgive a lot of stuff that isn't realistic.

Now I'm not saying I loved the ending.  I would have much rather seen the wedding we were promised.  I just expected them to pull a switch on us like that.  As long as they are married by November sweeps, I'll be fine.  Well, they had also better not introduce clones like Lois and Clark did.

What did you think?  I'm curious who was behind this.  Any theories while we wait out the summer?


And please feel free to keep visiting over the summer since I'll continue to offer new content even if it isn't on Castle.

14 comments:

  1. Castle has been kidnapped obviously. Of course Kate doesn't know that, yet.

    I thought it was a great episode. Lots of fun and funny that when they walked into the apartment the motorcycle gang was there and they out-powered the mobsters. I love Kate's new (actually old seeing as how it was her Mother's) dress. Much better than the one she was going to wear - the one that dress designer gave her. Also loved what Castle's Mom said to her as she gave her the earrings. Everything was perfect until Richard got in trouble. Oh well, that's how these season endings go anymore. Also, those photos I took at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour and was told they were prepping for Castle - well, that was last night's episode. I recognized a lot of background that I saw that day. Especially the house where they went to talk to the girlfriend. And now we know they filmed a lot of the episode the beginning of April.

    I didn't realize people were upset over the ending. Sheesh - of course there was going to be some kind of hitch. Kate should put two and two together pretty quickly that when he called he was 20 minutes out. It's been over an hour. When she gets there the car is burning furiously. Nope - the flames would be out or died down considerably in that amount of time. Plus they will either find no body in the wreckage or if there is a body it will turn out not to be Castle when Lanie (or that other man) examines it and does dental records.

    Have a good Summer. I check in now and then :)

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    1. I was wondering as I was watching the obvious studio city streets if this was the one you saw.

      Glad I'm not the only one who enjoyed the episode. Believe me, I've seen plenty of complaints from fans over the ending. Oh well, I'm sure they'll be over it by the end of the summer. Glad you felt like I did about it.

      Don't be a stranger. :)

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  2. I don't know why some are very upset about the finale. I think it was good. It had everything: laughter, action and drama at the end. I think this is 3XK's work, this kidnapping

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    1. 3XK is my first guess as well, but from the way the creator was talking in an interview, it may be the introduction of the next "big" mystery. We'll have to see what they ultimately do in the fall.

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  3. Ah - forgot about 3XK, but that does make sense. Personally I would rather see a new "big" mystery.

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  4. I did not like this episode much. Yes there were good moments - the one between Martha and Kate with the earrings was wonderful. Overall, right now, I don't like it. Maybe I will feel differently once the new season starts. It hasn't happened often, but there have been other episodes that I didn't like. Probably what I don't like the most is that they got so close to the wedding - Kate in the dress and Rick just 20 minutes away - and then they pulled something to mess up the wedding. I have seen too many other shows do that and I'm tired of it - though it is better than them getting married and walking back up the aisle and then 3XK popping up and shooting one of them. Honestly, if the wedding had happened and then Rick vanished, I wouldn't be as annoyed. I guess I just want them to have their day already. I'm just getting to the point where I'm tired of cliffhangers in general. Anymore they mostly just annoy me.

    Rick could have been kidnapped. If an accident happened right after Rick called, when he was 20 minutes away, there is no way the car would still be burning over an hour later when Kate got there. And the car wouldn't have been in the shape it was. It would have all been burned and the fire out in that time.

    It could have been 3XK..maybe someone tied to Bracken. Heck, maybe Rick has a psycho, stalker fan who flipped out over the wedding and a Misery situation is going on. Though I would think it would be someone with connections to be able to pull off everything, and know that the wedding had moved.

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    1. Yeah, the timing of all of it is pretty suspect. And I'm definitely cliffhangered out after this week, too. Now we just wait until September, I guess.

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  5. I hate the long wait for new seasons to start. I will probably end up watching my DVD sets again before long..I have been feeling the urge for another Castle marathon. Then read the Nikki Heat books.

    By the way, the new Derrick Storm book is entertaining. I just finished it. I can't remember if you posted about reading the one that came out last year or not.

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    1. Actually, I haven't read any of the Derrick Storm books. Too many books to read, but I'm sticking with Nikki.

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    2. I understand about too many books. I'm behind with a few series..yet I keep getting other new books. Never mind what my wish list at Amazon looks like.

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    3. I hear you completely. I've got multiple firsts in series waiting to be read, meanwhile, I haven't gotten to book two in other series I really enjoyed yet....

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    4. I understand that too. Or I got to book 2 like a year ago...and now books 3 and 4 are out.
      I need more hours in the day to get to all the stuff I want to watch and all the books I want to read.

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  6. This was definitely not my favorite episode, but I was expecting something to go wrong. My first thought was someone connected with Bracken. My second thought was 3XK. I'm not as upset as some are because I still think they will pull it all together in the fall. The waiting is hard though!

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    1. I hope they've concluded with Bracken. I feel like we've reached a natural conclusion and it is time to move on to something else.

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