Castle – Season 4, Episode 1: Rise

Editor: Please welcome new guest author Jenny who will be recapping Castle episodes this season. I’m sure you’ll agree, there’s no mystery, Jenny’s a great addition to the team.

Finally! It’s finally here! The Castle Season 4 premiere. We left off last season with Captain Montgomery’s final stand, Detective Beckett (Stana Katic) getting shot, and Castle (Nathan Fillion) confessing his love.

In a most satisfying fashion, we come back after months of waiting to find that only minutes have passed in the Castleverse. With so many shows that like to fast-forward through what are admittedly the most problematic bits of plot arcs and sometimes showing what happened through flashbacks (Desperate Housewives, Dexter, Rizzoli & Isles, to name a few), it was really refreshing to rejoin the show right where we left off. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like the former technique distances the audience from the show and the characters because they didn’t get to go through the traumatic period with them. Not Castle. The audience gets to be part of the precinct family in the hospital, waiting to hear Kate Beckett’s fate.

Stana Katic on twitter: http://twitter.com/stana_katic

Maybe showrunner Andrew Marlowe and the rest of the crew on Castle just understand this show’s audience’s need to feel involved. Twice in just this episode they have characters playing the part of the audience by proxy: the first time is Alexis yelling at Josh and angrily trying to shove him after he accuses Castle, her Dad, of being responsible for Beckett’s shooting, the second time is when Ryan and Esposito refuse to let Beckett escape into the break room for coffee after she tells them she hasn’t spoken to Castle in months. They ask question after question on the tips of the audience’s brains while watching. Even though the audience doesn’t get to directly participate, there’s a real sense of satisfaction about having these questions and then characters on the show asking and getting answers.

Speaking of Kevin Ryan, he is one stylish dude. Look at him here in his purple shirt and his little vest. Don’t you just wanna pinch his cheeks? No, I meant the ones on his face.

We’ve got Ominous Man being introduced in this episode and he’s obviously very well informed and connected and so also, presumably, dangerous. He calls Castle on his home line and tells him to get Beckett to drop the case or they’ll keep trying to kill her.

Nathan Fillion on Twitter: http://twitter.com/nathanfillion

Maybe it’s me, but this seems awfully charitable. We know she’s already done a lot of digging and we obviously don’t have a problem killing people for almost nothing, but as long as she stops, we’ll take a big chance and just let her keep on living. It’s cool. It’s TV though, so Willful Suspension of Disbelief (or WSD) applies.

We also meet the new Cap, Victoria “Iron” Gates. In about two sentences of exposition, we learn all we need to know about her character: she worked her way up through internal affairs and so doesn’t trust anyone, especially cops and that “she’s no Montgomery,” meaning she is not going to be their friend. We see her close the door to her office quietly, signaling that she’s closed herself off from the rest of the precinct; she’s not interested in being part of the family. Later on, she asks Beckett to either call her “Sir” or “Captain,” never “Ma’am.” This is a particularly juicy little piece of character information. We learn that she knows the power of words, she’s probably experienced sexism in the workplace first hand, and she doesn’t play games. She seems to like Beckett to begin with, probably feeling a kinship with her, but this seems to fade. Is it me or is she interested in having this pissing match that Beckett on the whole finds kind of funny? She obviously feels threatened by Beckett’s authority over Ryan and Esposito.

“It’s not like it was before!” Kevin informs Beckett and the audience. “If we get caught investigating this, we could all lose our badges.” None of them even thinks for a minute about stopping the investigation, though. It is awfully fun to watch them Harry, Ron, and Hermione their way around the precinct, avoiding getting caught talking about the case they’re not supposed to be working. Even more fun when Castle joins them.

Speaking of Castle, I was really pleased that he was openly mad at Beckett for not calling him. The Richard Castle we know and love is no one’s doormat, right? Their heart-to-heart on the swings is very sweet and Beckett tells Castle that she and Josh have broken up (Bye bye, Motorcycle Boy!) and that, in so many words, she won’t be able to move on and have a real relationship with someone (read: Castle) until her Mother’s murder is solved. Bummer, because we find out in that scene where Ominous Man calls Castle that if she keeps investigating, they’ll kill her.

This puts Castle in a strange place, and ultimately he solves the dilemma by sidetracking Beckett (this scene almost feels like betrayal as you watch it, but it’s clear that it’s necessary because Beckett is straight up losing her mind) and setting up his own fancy touch-screen murder board in his home office to pursue the case on his own.

Alexis tells Castle that he has to grow up and stop playing cop. Castle tells her that she’s right and he’s going to. Is he really, though? I mean, on one hand he’s shouldering this responsibility himself, but on the other, wouldn’t everyone be better off if they all just let it go? Then again, I guess Beckett’s never going to let it go and the only way to keep her from being killed is to solve it before she gets a chance.

Next Week: A comic book killer! Looks like an episode full of laughs and geek culture references. Can’t wait!

Jenny is an occasional college student, works for Walt, and watches a lot of TV. She is newly Floridian and amazed by the number of scary bugs that exist there. She has a Twitter and a blog where she says very silly things.

Castle airs on Mondays @ 10/9c on ABC.