Watch What We Say: Castle
By Jason Lee
March 11, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
This week on Watch What We Say: A smarter, handsomer, cockier Stephen King.
By the late '90s, the ABC Television network had finally clawed their way to the top of the ratings. "How did they do it?" you might ask. Well, they had the help of a little reality TV show called "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" Airing three times a week, each weeknight show typically found its way onto Nielsen's weekly top ten list. Alas, the network execs committed the cardinal TV sin of overstaying the show's welcome and oversaturation eventually led to the show's departure from primetime to a syndicated daytime slot.
In the years that followed, ABC struggled to regain its form, eventually finding success in a trio of new shows - Desperate Housewives, Lost and Grey's Anatomy - that cumulatively indicated a new creative direction for the network: quality dramas marked by high-production values and uber-dramatic characters. Shows like Dirty Sexy Money and Brothers & Sisters have followed from this mold.
Which brings us to Castle. Not only does Castle fulfill the aforementioned two requirements (high-production values and uber-dramatic characters), it also includes two more ingredients for success: it's a police procedural and it features an actor who seems ripe for major, break-out success (Nathan Fillion, whom most of BOP readers will know from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly).
The series premiere quickly introduces us to the main characters. Fillion plays titular character Richard Castle, an author famous for penning a series of ridiculously successful murder novels but who has recently been stricken with a serious case of writer's block. His randy mother is clearly made in the mold of Golden Girl Blanche Devereaux, a constant gossip who's always looking to get laid. His 15-year-old daughter has obviously had it "up to here" with her dad's antics, wearing a perpetual frown of disapproval even as she politely refuses her father's insistence that she get drunk at his book party so that she can "do something inappropriate." Lordy lord, what a family.
The show gets its gears in motion when police detective Kate Beckett is assigned to a case in which an apparent serial killer has begun to murder his victims using tactics found in Castle's fictional crime novels. Beckett goes to Castle to solicit his point of view and ends up getting far more than she bargained for. In short, Castle decides that solving this case (and "unraveling the story") will be a great cure for his writer's block and participates enthusiastically in the investigation - contaminating crime scenes, stealing confidential files from police headquarters...you know, all those little annoying things that makes Beckett regret ever involving him. I won't bore you (or spoil you) with any additional details on the case or the requisite plot twists that take place.
So that's basically what happens, but is the show any good? On this front, I will concede two points. Number one, the storyline and murder investigation were interesting, engaging and even surprising at times. Number two, the characters are witty and well-spoken. No stupid people here.
And yet, during the entire episode, I felt like I was having deja vu. Here we have an arrogant, self-aggrandizing man who's not only overly impressed with his own intellectual skills but also seems hell-bent on incessantly exercising his considerable romantic charms on nearly every female that crosses his path. To be honest, I found him 100% obnoxious.
If this description and my reaction reminds you of CBS's The Mentalist, then I totally agree. I have the same reservations and problems with both shows - specifically, that I cannot stand their main characters. If I want to be treated to an endless drone of undeserved self-congratulation then I'll tune in to Dick Cheney's latest interview. I don't need any of that in my regular TV schedule.
The confounding thing is that the show is actually good. As the episode progressed, I found myself growing more and more interested in what was going to happen, despite the fact that I abhorred every action and every word from Richard Castle. I would liken it to eating a slice of pizza that includes your least favorite topping: you can enjoy eating the pizza, but every bite is flavored with something you hate.
In the end, I think that Castle (the show, not the character) deserves a chance. I'm concerned about the ability of the show to sustain its premise (suspense author uses his knowledge of the criminal mind to help the police solve cases) and I'm also hesitant to recommend a show that contains such an unlikable main character...but who knows? With a good team behind the camera, it's entirely possible that what's in front of the camera will turn out to be pretty good. Only time will tell.
Watch What We Say rating: Two-and-a-Half TiVos
Watch What We Say: Rating System
Four TiVos: This is television content raised to the level of a transcendent art form. Not only should you TiVo this program for yourself, you should keep it on your TiVo for future generations to watch and savor.
Three TiVos: This is a very good show with a regular spot in my TiVo rotation. I watch every week and will often invite my friends over to share the enjoyable experience.
Two TiVos: I'll TiVo this show if I need something to watch while I'm folding laundry or dusting furniture.
One TiVo: I actively dislike this show and never allow it to take up space in my TiVo. Often times, I'll gripe about the show's producers, ridicule the actors and lambaste the network for keeping it on the air.
Zero TiVos: If this show is on, I unplug my TiVo for fear that the show is accidentally recorded and my entire home entertainment system gets contaminated with this malignant, diseased trash.