CASTLE: Always Buy Retail
April 14, 2009 by Philiana
Instead of focusing on the week’s murder mystery, last night’s episode was strictly about Castle and his past relationship with his first ex-wife, Meredith. While there was an interesting spin on the Nigerian religious killings that had to do with knockoffs on Canal Street, Aldis Hodge (“Leverage”) and symbolic images from the Vudon religion that Castle somehow had knowledge of, it was like an afterthought – especially when viewers were thrust into the raunchy, R-rated action of Castle and his former significant other in the first few seconds. So even though procedurals have stand-alone storylines that often display or present different aspects of the show’s main characters, today the focus will remain solely on Castle and his family.
It has been mentioned many times before, but there is no harm in saying this again: “Castle” earns its charm and endearment through the depictions of Castle’s non-workplace encounters between his wise-beyond-her-years daughter Alexis and his former Broadway diva of a mother Martha. It is the way Castle, who can be overly cheesy and bratty at times, is brought down to a human level and seen as someone we could all somehow relate to and respect. The thing that is interesting about the Castle character is the lack of urgency or significance the writers have shown in regards to his single parenthood status. It is not everyday (especially on television) when a good-looking and successful businessman/creative type has an unconventional family life. There were several moments in the past few episodes in which I asked myself, “How did Castle get into his current situation? How was it decided that Castle would be the day-to-day parental figure to Alexis?”
Last night’s episode briefly implied that perhaps it was Alexis’ mother’s lackadaisical nature and professional career as an actress that prompted her to leave and pursue her dreams of making it on the marquee. Meredith, who can be boxed into the generic Los Angeles high-maintenance girl stereotype, draws comparisons to Castle’s wild, party-loving mother – and Castle, though in a joking way, responds to his mother’s question about why he even married her in the first place. He simply stated that she was just like his own mom. Ouch. But, knowing his mother, she would probably consider it a compliment, even though she despises Meredith like nobody’s business.
Throughout the episode, we got to see Meredith with her daughter and also at the police station while Castle and Beckett were hard at work. In the former, she “kidnaps” Alexis from school by using a foolproof excuse by saying someone from her family passed away. In reality, that member of the family had been deceased for six years. In the latter, after Meredith and Alexis’ mini shopping trip around New York City, they stop by the police station while Castle and Beckett and their team look at evidence photos. Proving that her expansive knowledge on fake and real designer goods would someday prove beneficial, Meredith pointed at that the stitching in the Chanel handbag that the second victim had was clearly inferior to the ones from the real product – forwarding the case along with blinding speed.
From the first moment we saw Meredith in the opening segment to the last time we saw her when she left Castle’s loft, it raised several questions that weren’t quite answered in the episode. What did Castle see in her that got him to marry her? Clearly he was not the quintessential gentleman one would assume would settle down, but maybe that was the whole point. Based upon the flurry of events that seemed to happen in one day (but in reality must have spanned at least a week), Meredith’s uncouth demeanor combined with Castle’s boyish charisma would make for some interesting and unique events.
Memorable Quotes:
* Beckett: “How shallow are you?”
Castle: “Very.”
* “I wonder if she could get arrested in New York. I know people now.” – Castle
What are your thoughts on this week’s ritualistic killings? Did you think it took a backseat to Castle’s family and former ex-wife? Were you surprised by Castle’s first ex-wife, Meredith, or was she who you thought she would be? Do you want to learn more about Castle’s former wives, now that you’ve met his first?
Philiana Ng is a senior majoring in communication and music industry at the University of Southern California. She currently interns at Reveille, LLC in Universal City. In addition to “Castle,” she also covers “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia for GMMR.
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Very entertaining episode, as always. Loved the humour, the sly looks Castle gives, and of course the backstory of his crazy ex-wife, Meredith. I love all of the scenes with Alexis, and that young actress is BRILLIANT! Getting to see the “whole Castle family” together was pretty hilarious too. And gaining the nickname “Kitten” was utterly hilarious, especially when Beckett used it on Castle.
Also had a LOL moment with Castle’s “Writer” Kevlar … too funny. The whole hidden passport/ritual killings storyline was good, but a bit overshadowed by the hilarity with Castle’s former wife, and family.
The murder definately took a backseat to the rest of the story this week. Not that I really care.
I can totally see Castle marrying the fried twinkie and then regretting it. Since my perfect husband would either live next door in a different house or travel at least two weeks out of the month? I can see him thinking he is in love and Meredith not showing or Castle not seeing the super crazy stuff until he got a cavity from all the sex.
I love his daughter more every week. Kimber, I agree, the actress is brilliant. I really love this show and wish it wasn’t in a Monday death slot.
Decent episode this week, solid. I like on procedurals like this when they take the chance to change it up a bit and have the WhoDunnIt take the backseat. It keeps the show away from always hitting the same beats and one episode like this allows for lots of future tie-ins of his personal life. Whereas had it all been done as part of the B storyline, it would’ve taken a lot longer to get all the info out over several episodes and some of it may have gotten lost. Making it the focus of this one episode allows for more to be done with Castle’s personal life in future episodes, while still keeping it as the background storyline. That made absolutely no sense, did it? 🙂
The actress that plays the daughter is really good, love that they use the father/daughter relationship to keep him more grounded and real. Totally agree that without that, Castle could seem a little too cheesy and a little immature at times. But one hug of his daughter and a kiss to the top of her head? Makes him seem more real and not all crazy writer, a little more adult. I suppose the flighty self-involved ex-wife helps illustrate that point as well.
Patty – I suppose we *technically* got shirtless NF, but I expect more in the future.
I believe the murder took backseat, but I didn’t mind because this episode answered the all-important question that had been bugging me since episode one: How the hell does a guy like Castle get custody of his daughter after a divorce????
Answer: his ex-wife is even more immature, flighty, and able to take care of herself than he is.
Also: Yay for Castle’s first gunfight! And his vest was perfection. I adore all the scenes at home; I wouldn’t mind more episodes where the murder is more of a B story. Although the deep-fried twinkie thing worked well and my friend and I kept discussing things in terms of deep-fried twinkies for the rest of the night 😀
Really liked last nights episode. It seems to be getting even better every week. I thought it was hilarious how Beckett kept calling Castle “kitten” LOL
As always, a very entertaining show. Loved all the banter, the deep-fried twinkies, the champagne shot, Martha’s disdain of Meredith, how well Beckett kept her head.
I hope the show gets better ratings, I want it to stick around.
Why do I get here when I clicked on Chuck?
Kate, regarding “Castle’s” ratings, it is actually one of the few freshman shows that has retained its audience week in and week out – though last night’s 7.6 million total viewers was a series low. And since ABC only ordered 9 episodes and last night’s was episode 6, if the decision was made in comparison to other failed freshman shows (i.e. “Kings”), then “Castle” should be back.
And thank you all for your input on the episode. I completely forgot about “Kitten” and “deep fried Twinkies.” Priceless!
Angie, they had better get to the realy shirtless NF soon. Maybe a bomb to blow his clothes off?
I really enjoy this show…the family dynamics, the sly poking fun at writer/celebrities, …I particularly liked this episode because Becket didn’treally seem to care particularly that Castle had sex with his ex (as he blurted out). Sure she is attracted to him but she is not totally defined as a character by that attraction so far which is very refreshing….and realistic
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