What do you want to see the second half of the season? More Caskett as a couple? Less Castle? Less Beckett?
Hmm, good question. I don’t think my list that I blogged about before the premiere has really changed all that much, but we’ll give it a go.
1) I really want some more family stuff. We’ve gotten a bit of it here and there, but its usually been Castle and Beckett discussing something with Martha and Alexis just kind of in the background. Maybe there’s some sort of storyline where Alexis seeks out Beckett, and it’s all done without Castle being the buffer. And I want more Martha/Beckett stuff too. And Castle/Martha, because that’s been sorely lacking and I want to see what’s going on with them when Castle isn’t in crisis.
And just traditional scenes. All of them eating a meal together and discussing life, I’m still holding out for laser tag between Castle, Beckett and Alexis etc.
2). Actual character development for the supporting cast. I know that’s probably an unpopular opinion, but it’s very sad to me that last week there was an entire episode about Esposito and I walked away with one additional little factoid about him that may or may not be true (i.e. being ready for kids/commitment). They’ve done a fairly good job with Ryan’s story, but its comical that after nearly seven and a half years I probably can’t write fifteen facts about Esposito or Lanie in terms of their life before the 12th Precinct or what they do outside of work. And it’s not even for lack of opportunities, not for Esposito, they just don’t seem to want to make these people have more depth and nuance. That’s very sad to me and, for my money, if we’re going to have supporting character episodes I want to learn something about those characters. That’s what makes it interesting and exciting.
I’ll even take it a step down and say that one on one scenes could be utilized better. Last night was a prime opportunity for Beckett and Lanie to discuss Lanie and Esposito’s relationship in addition to her apartment. But, instead, the scene remained about Beckett. Two or three more lines, another minute or two of a scene can make a world of difference.
3). More stuff about Castle. For all the hype about his mythology, and as good as the first two episodes were, I’m kind of ‘meh’ about it all. Not on the storyline itself, that I think has loads of potential and can be very interesting, but just that we haven’t touched on it at all since episode two. I am disappointed that the fallout of his disappearance and how it emotionally affected everyone has been reduced to these conversations and resolutions that have happened off screen. One of the biggest weaknesses this writing staff has is their inability to juggle more than one storyline or b-plot at a time. I don’t know if its because they think the audience can’t handle it or what, but that’s been a consistent issue I’ve had since I’ve started watching.
4). Fewer ‘themed’ episodes. As fun as the Western was, and last night’s episode, and the Invisible Killer, I’m kind of themed out. I’m not sure how the show got onto this concept that every episode and case needed to be a homage to a specific genre, or another show/movie, but I’d like some run of the mill murder episodes? Let’s take a trip back to season one style where everything had an emotional layer and you really were appalled by the killer and concerned for the victim’s loved ones.
That’s the stuff where this cast really shines, not that they are terrible at the stuff they are doing now. It’s just that sometimes things seem a little one note and ‘this is our gimmick of the week’, and it’s a better show with better actors and better writers than that. The gimmicky theme stuff is one of the reasons why I stopped watching Bones actually. I didn’t want to watch Booth and Bones undercover as ballroom dancers or whatever.
And wow, that got really long. Kudos if anyone read all of that.
