Castle: Significant Others – A Good Cop/Bad Cop Review

Castle: Significant others

 

Castle was back after a brief winter break, and the show returned with quite a bang. Well, it wasn’t exactly a bang, but there were a few “pops” of jealousy every now and then. But who wouldn’t experience a bit of the green-eyed monster when sharing a home with their significant other and a scantily-clad, flirtatious significant-other’s ex?

Sure, there was a murder, as always, but the victim sort of took a seat in the wings while the relationship aspect of the series played out on center stage. And the lovey-dovey/goo-goo eyes portion of this recap and review is where the “good cop” comes in. So take it away, Melanie…

Melanie Atkins

Talk about conflict! Writers, if you want to add relationship conflict to your manuscript, watch Significant Others. Rick Castle, his girlfriend Kate Beckett, and  his ex-wife Meredith, not to mention Alexis and Martha, all together in the same apartment? Throw in a case to distract our dynamic duo, Kate’s determination to stay at the loft, and Meredith tossing out a little gem just as she leaves town, and you’ve got a recipe for hilarity topped by bubbling doubt. Poor Rick. He just can’t win for losing.

Alexis has mono, so instead of flying to Paris to meet Meredith after Christmas, she hunkers down at the loft to fight the bug. Then lo and behold, Meredith shows up at Rick’s door to take care of Alexis — the same day Kate comes to stay with Rick because her apartment is being fumigated. Yikes! That’s a recipe for disaster if I’ve ever heard one.

Kate gives her okay about Meredith joining them, albeit reluctantly, because what else is she supposed to do with everyone staring at her? Rick later promises to send Meredith packing, but his plan backfires when Meredith pulls her I’m so glad you and Kate are so secure in your relationship speech. Meredith stays, even after Ryan and Esposito learn what’s going on and rag Castle about it. Even after Lanie prods Kate to stand her ground and Meredith parades around the loft in her underwear. Kate is not amused. Still, however, she refuses to throw in the towel. Oh, no. She even turns down a chance to stay at a fancy hotel with Rick in order to share the loft with Meredith. No way is she backing down from his ex-wife.

Then Meredith asks Kate to dinner. Alone. Egged on by Ryan and Esposito, Rick freaks out and tries to dissuade Kate from going. She laughs at him and goes anyway. Later that night, Rick wears a path in the floor while he waits for them to get home and drives his mother stark raving mad. Did you see those pants Martha had on? Holy moly. What was she thinking? Sorry, but I digress. Kate and Meredith play on Rick’s fears and trick him when they finally arrive to make him think Meredith had filled Kate’s ears with all sorts of sordid secrets. Too funny. Apparently, the two of them bonded pretty well over Rick-talk. Still, that Kate-Meredith hug really surprised me. Kate later takes pity on Rick and tells him she likes him even more after talking to his ex all evening. Loved that scene, and the delicious kiss. Woohoo! If only Kate hadn’t answered the freaking phone. Really?

At the end of the show, Kate’s apartment is once again habitable, so she packs to leave the loft. Rick wants her to stay, and she tells him that if he wants to be with her he can come to her place for the night. That appeases him. Then Meredith surprises them both by coming downstairs all packed and ready to head to Paris after all… but not before sliding a splinter of doubt beneath Kate’s skin. After Rick heads upstairs to get Meredith’s purse, Kate asks his ex why she and Rick divorced. Meredith claims their relationship was like a soufflé that eventually collapse because it was one-sided. He knew everything about her, but never shared much of himself. Her revelation stunned Kate and sent her spiraling into introspection. Too much of that is never good. I sense more conflict on the horizon. Hopefully, conflict followed by Rick opening up to Kate.

I really didn’t pay too much attention to the case in this episode. Was there a case? I focused on the relationship scenes instead and found them to be way more interesting. Loved the episode, but I am apprehensive about the bumps in the road up ahead. Still, I’m trusting Andrew Marlowe to give us a happy ending.

Lee Lofland

You know, last night’s episode reminded me (sort of) of the earlier shows, where Castle was fun to watch. Remember? We never had to take the murder cases too seriously because the characters delivered cute and funny lines at a pace that was almost, but not quite, too quick to absorb. Anyway, I enjoyed watching last night, even though I wasn’t crazy about the dual/matching plot lines, where the murder involved a sea of ex-husbands and wives while Castle and Beckett dealt with his ex-wife. I found that to be a bit too convenient—a cheap way for the writers to insert jokes and one-liners. But my job is to discuss the police procedure and forensics, not to pick apart other aspects of the show. So here goes. First up…Lanie.

– Beckett and Castle approach Lanie, who’s at the scene of the crime/murder. She says (paraphrasing here), “The victim took an ice pick to the neck.” And you know what? That’s basically all she said. And that was enough. No wacky predictions. No voodoo medicine. Nothing. Just a simple observation. And it was believable. I tell you, she’s a different woman, and she’s delivering her lines in a way that’s totally believable. And, she successfully morphed into BFF mode a bit later when she lectured Beckett about Castle’s ex-wife.

Sure, there was an iffy moment when Lanie told Beckett she processed the victim’s clothing, and that she was personally running the DNA test on the blood she’d found on a jacket button (we all know the lab/scientists would perform these tasks). But Lanie pulled it off. So, my hat’s off to her for delivering believable make believe again this episode. My fingers are crossed for the future.

– I’m a bit curious as to why the high-profile woman attorney/murder victim hired a guy who’d been arrested for attempted murder several times, as well as numerous other crimes, to take photos and run other errands. Why didn’t she hire a legitimate PI? After all, the guy may have been asked to testify in court at some point, and his credibility would have been questionable to say the least. Also, the victim was supposed to be a real “bulldog” type of attorney. A real take charge person. Yet, she appeared quite “mousey” on the video. I can’t imagine for one second that attorney Gloria Allred would ever appear as anything other than “in charge” at all times.

– Beckett stands by while the wife of one of the red herrings damaged and broke a ton of expensive things. Or, was the vase-throwing woman the wife of the killer? Who knows. There were so many red herrings in this episode it was difficult to keep up with who was married to which character. Let’s see…there was Walter, Billy, Billy’s dead wife who wasn’t really dead, the forensic accountant, vase-smashing lady, R. Garrison, Noah, the photographer, and, well, you get the idea. So many characters. However, it was quite easy to pinpoint the killer, as always—-the man or woman who has the smallest part in the show.

So there you have it… Wait a minute. I forgot about the murder investigation. There was one, right? Maybe I was too busy watching Castle squirm during the entire episode to notice. And squirm he did. I would not have wanted to be in those shoes. No sir. Not me.

What’d you think? Was this episode a hit? Or was it a miss?

Oh, one last thing…the opening song in last night’s show, Secret, is a great tune by Missy Higgins.

 

13 replies
  1. Raphael Salgado
    Raphael Salgado says:

    So glad that Castle is back, as well as your reviews and introspective.

    I got lost with all the pointless details and turns with the case, so I just concentrated on the characters this episode.

    Glad to see that the formula of keeping the show going after the two main characters get together is working. Remember how we all were concerned about that a while back?

    That being said, I hope we get to see a good, deep murder mystery soon, and maybe that hint at the end will turn the story towards Castle’s backstory. Who is his father and where is he? Or, are we really done with 3XK and the Senator? I still miss Captain Montgomery. He’s really dead, right? 🙂

  2. Elizabeth
    Elizabeth says:

    You make an excellent point Gwise! Maybe I’m suffering from generalized grumpiness ;), but I still think the murder was weak. I feel like they (the writers) have a hard time with balance–like those guys with the spinning plates. I want to have fun with the romance, but I LOVE a good murder mystery.

  3. Marni Graff
    Marni Graff says:

    Mixed feelings: the murder case was absurd and third place after the ex antics with Rick and Kate, but the fun is back! Until Kate at the very end is thinking maybe the ex is right and Rick doesn’t reveal much of him self . . . It can’t all be good news from the writers POV!

  4. Gwise
    Gwise says:

    I liked the murder; it was a good mystery. Stretched enough to keep us guessing but not too far-fetched. And Elizabeth, you’re forgetting that if the truth had come out the woman’s marriage could have been ruined. That’s powerful motive.

    Also, Martha had the best line in the whole episode.

    “Adios dear, have fun.”

  5. Melanie Atkins
    Melanie Atkins says:

    Lauwer, I agree with you about the kisses. That phone call really irked me. I’d love to see just one steamy scene that lasted longer than ten seconds. I mean, really.

  6. lauwer
    lauwer says:

    I really liked this episodes and it also reminded me of the early Castle days, with the banter and an easy-to-forget-case. If only they let Castle and Beckett properly kiss, seriously why must they ALWAYS be interrupted, are the writer afraid to write some steamy scenes? I;ve waited 4 bloddy years. Maybe Stana and Nathan are hesitant..owh well.
    Lee, why did Beckett let the scorned ex-wife throw all that stuff on the ground and ruin an expensive painting? I was like, she is a member of the police and she just stands by letting her damage somebody else’s property? Or can she only arrest people for murder because she is a detective?

  7. mars
    mars says:

    I liked the episode a lot. The actress who plays Meredith does a good job. It would be easy to take that character way over the top but she seems to know where the line is. Something seemed off with Stana last night. She looked sick to me – I found myself wondering if she had the flu while they were filming.

  8. Elizabeth
    Elizabeth says:

    I really didn’t like this episode. The murder was ridiculous. What was the motive? All the woman really did was trash her ex’s reputation–not nice, but not much of a crime. Why kill her lawyer? Even assuming the lawyer figured out her faked death, and assuming she felt sorry for the obnoxious ex, there’s a little thing called confidentiality. Yes, the wife could, theoretically, be charged with several light-weight crimes if the lawyer ratted her out, but the husband was not convicted, he presumably got all of the estate, he was bitter–so what? An icepick to the neck seemed a bit much. I just didn’t buy it.

  9. t
    t says:

    I liked this episode better that I’ve liked past episodes this season. It was actually kind of fun and bantery, like the past seasons that made me get hooked on the show. The case was cute as well.

    I loved Ryan and Esposito. I really think those two are what kept me watching this season. Without them? Well.

    I think the actress who plays Meredith is pretty darned good. I sort of wish she’d been picked as a lead.

    I really didn’t like them portraying Castle as a wimp who couldn’t say no to his ex-wife. The final scene should have been Castle filling Meredith in on the details of her reservations at the 4-Seasons and how to skype chat with Alexis. Instead it was Alexis who finally kicked Meredith out. Nobody wanted her there. Why Castle couldn’t have been the one to tell her, I don’t know.

    And Stana Katic needs to practice her acting more or the directors should stop pressuring her so much or something. I finally see why people call her “wooden”. Her facial expressions remind me of bad claymation, with missing frames or something. The movement from expression to expression is sort of sudden and without transition, as if the director is saying, “okay, smile”. Okay, now look gloomy. And the final scene, the loud music. What was that? Was she supposed to be realizing how much she loves him, or how much of a disaster their relationship was going to turn out to be. Or both? Neither? Maybe she was remembering how much she likes souffle? I know, subtext. But subtext is supposed to be fairly unambiguous, if it’s going to tell a story. Really, I wish this show had director’s commentary, since the directing sometimes is fairly awful.

    But believe it — or not based on my comments, LOL, I did like the show, for the funny moments. It was lightly entertaining without the usual flaw this season of being distractingly cringe-worthy. But I have very little interest in the romance at all anymore. I actually want them to screw up, to break up, not for sexual tension, but so they can see other people and maybe have some chemistry with them or something. Is that what Marlowe wants? Again, maybe director commentary is needed so we know what we’re supposed to want ;-).

    And finally. I like the following version of the song that was featured on the show. Very age inappropriate for a 7-year old girl to sing, but so cute. This is Maisy Stella of the famous Lennon/Maisy Stella sister duo that appear on another ABC show, Nashville. If you don’t know who they are, look them up on You Tube. These girls have a career for certain. I wonder if the Castle Music Dept picked the song based on hearing Maisy sing it.

  10. thumper
    thumper says:

    i also completely forgot there was a murder to solve. meredith, kate under the same roof? it was like watching two trains on the same track heading straight for each other and i couldn’t tear my eyes away from that lol. what i would want to be a fly on the wall during this meredith/kate dinner. but the ending for me was a splash of cold water to the face in realizing what meredith said about castle is true: we’ve been so focused on kate’s backstory we have not paid as much attention to castle’s… i share kate’s realization of that as well.

    but everything will be okay…. right? right? 0_o

  11. Liberty Speidel
    Liberty Speidel says:

    I want to watch the episode again as I was distracted through much of the opening segment and my antenna was acting up and I kept losing sentences from scenes, but I’d say it was a hit. It was most definitely fun, and I wasn’t so focused on the case. The last scene where Rick’s talking, but Kate’s so busy reflecting on what his ex-wife said about the souffle-relationship I felt was well done with the music slowly fading Rick’s voice out. Very classy way to do it, in my humble opinion.

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