το καλυτερο review του επεισοδιου...ΤΟ ΚΑΛΥΤΕΡΟ....10000% συμφωνω σε ολα....
To be completely
honest, I had some concerns coming into this episode, the biggest ones
being how they could introduce Castle’s dad with enough bang, how (if)
some of the issues that cropped up between Castle and Beckett in
“Target” would be resolved, and how credible the resolution of the case
would be. I’m happy to say that “Hunt” hit two out of the three straight
out of the ballpark, and the other could still be an infield homerun
depending on how they run the bases. (Can you tell that spring training
has begun for the MLB?)
I’ve Always Been Proud of You. Always.I think that ever since Sophia Turner brought up
Papa Castle in last year’s two-parter, most everybody has pretty much
concluded that Castle’s father is a spy—oh excuse me, I mean an
‘intelligence operative.’ *wink wink nudge nudge* The difficulty, I
think, has always been in finding a story big enough to lure the big guy
out of hiding. There’s such a danger of having the Papa Castle
storyline be a huge letdown and I was thankful when Andrew Marlowe
repeatedly said that they wanted to approach with caution.
And it paid off in this episode.
I feel like I’m not even qualified to comment on
the likes of James Brolin, but let’s just say that the man an acting
veteran for a reason. He had to convey such a wild mess of emotions,
from concern for his granddaughter to joy at reuniting with his son to
guilt for not being the father Castle deserved to pride in the man
Castle became to complete badassery. Yet, all these emotions were
conveyed through great restraint simply by nature of the kind of person
he had to become to be an asset.
But perhaps my favorite part of how they did this
father-son reunion is the callback to Season 2’s episode when Castle
says to Martha, “He’s [James Bond] the reason I became a writer!” And in
“Hunt” we find out that the man who inadvertently inspired Castle’s
whole career and really his whole life was indeed his own father. Hunt
was the man who gave Castle a copy of
Casino Royale when he was
ten, and this kind of tying up loose ends from three seasons ago
absolutely delights my detail-obsessed heart. Beautifully, smartly
done.
I also thought that how Castle’s father introduced himself was pretty note-worthy.
<blockquote>
“Hunt. Jackson Hunt,”
Castle replies, “Sounds made up.”
Hunt grins. “It is.”
</blockquote>
Maybe I’m overthinking (who me?), but I thought
that it was interesting how Castle reinvented his own identity (i.e.
changed his name from Richard Alexander Rodgers to Richard Edgar Castle)
much like how his own father did. I don’t know whether this similarity
was done purposefully or not (I’m choosing to believe it was), but I
think it adds a connection and a layer of hereditary continuity, if you
will.
The only downside I have about this storyline is
that it was WAY too overexposed in terms of media leaks. The impact of
introducing Castle’s dad would have been SO much more powerful if they’d
kept their cards closer to their chests. And in this, I blame ABC
because Marlowe said in a recent interview that if he’d been given the
choice, he wouldn’t have revealed that Castle’s dad would be showing up
in the two-parter.
While I’m on the topic of parents, I just wanted to
also give a huge round of applause for Susan Sullivan. The scene when
she realizes that Castle took off for France himself was an incredibly
painful and visceral thing to watch. Martha battled through this
dangerous mix of fear and worry and anger and panic; it hurt and yet it
was such a beautiful display of love. I also like how they ended the
episode with a moment between Castle and Martha. To me, it spoke of
Martha’s steady, if eccentric, presence in Castle’s life. The
delivery of the Casino Royale novel was symbolic of this new presence in
all their lives, if a bit predictable once Hunt told Castle that he
wouldn’t know officially if Hunt made it out alive.
I’m not a cop today, honey.Wowzers. No really.
Wowzers. I totally
jumped in my seat when Beckett kicked the girl’s chair out from under
her because I wasn’t expecting it, but man oh man, Beckett is
intimidating when she wants to be. The funny thing is that when she was
pretending to be pissed off in 5.14, she just ended up looking adorably
like a little girl pretending to be mad, but in “Hunt,” Beckett was on
edge and dangerous. I don’t blame the girlfriend for shaking as much as
she was. When Beckett reaches the end of her rope like that, she is one
frightening woman.
Continuing the theme from “Target,” Beckett is
stuck in a hard place. She wants to be by Castle’s side, but she also
knows that the best way she can help get Alexis back is to head the
case. Other than the “I’m not a cop” line, I think my favorite line from
her tonight was this:
<blockquote>
Agent Harris, “We need to manage our expectations.”
To which Beckett replies, “Agent Harris, I’m not going to *manage* expectations. I’m going to solve a murder.”
</blockquote>
And this is the Beckett we know and love. This is
the Beckett who is frighteningly single-minded when she sees a goal.
She’ll run after it with guns a-blazing and a ferocity bordering on
terrifying. She will not back down.
And I think we needed to see that part of her because, on the other hand, she is incredibly frustrated and I think
hurt that
Castle took himself off to France without her. The way she closes her
eyes with almost a shake of her head when Martha’s on the phone with
Castle? That was her suppressing a pang of hurt and maybe even a little
bit of betrayal. Every time Beckett has tried to go off on her own,
Castle has been there to reel her in, and in the reverse situation,
Castle won’t even give her that chance to be by his side. So yes, that
has to hurt like crazy.
Yet, later in the station, she forces all those
emotions aside and she looks at this objectively. “He’s acting like a
father,” she says, “and I have to act like a cop.”
And that’s really the crux of her situation. The
very same love and concern that demands that she be by his side in
France is what ties her to New York because she knows that the best
thing she can do for him now is to give him all the support she can
States-side.
That’s a two-hundred dollar phone!It was nice to see Castle get a little bit of his
humor back in a dire situation and small as this line was, I think it
was a necessary touch for us to see that the core of Castle hasn’t
changed. He’s still the man who uses moment-inappropriate humor as a
coping mechanism, and we needed to see that. He is fundamentally the
same person, and just because some darker elements have been pulled out
of him because of the circumstances, I like that they’re not going to
make him a character who’s brooding all the time.
If “Target” was Nathan Fillion nailing the part of a
desperate father, then “Hunt” was Nathan perfecting the role of the
surprised son. The shock on his face when Hunt tells him who he is, and
the tears in his eyes when Castle tells Hunt that he needs more time… He
was a little boy again, one who’d finally found his dad and yet was
told that they’d be separated again. It was heartbreaking, really.
But, fortunately for us and for Castle, the way
they ended the episode definitely left room for Papa Castle’s return
sometime down the line.
Role ReversalIn “Recoil,” we had a something of a working role
reversal in that Beckett was the one with the wild theory and Castle was
the one dismissing it.
In “Hunt,” the role reversal was a personal one and
painful. This time, the rabbit hole was Castle’s; the recklessness was
Castle’s; the pulling away was Castle’s. Even the words “I need to do
this alone” were Castle’s.
From Castle refusing Beckett’s company to letting
her calls go to voicemail, I was thrown back to those moments in the
past when Beckett was drowning in her mother’s case. Only this time, it
was Castle getting lost. The scene when Beckett holds his hand
after they get Sara back safely but not Alexis was like watching
“Always” all over again. “You’re not in this alone,” he’d told her at
the time. There’s something really quite tragic about how Castle doesn’t
let Beckett do the same for him.
There was one line in particular that really struck
me wrong. Papa Castle just saved Castle’s life and Beckett calls again.
“I’m so glad you called,” he says, and I couldn’t help but think,
really? After you’d kept her out of the loop and went gallivanting off
to Paris and almost getting yourself killed?
But then I realized, oh wow. Both Castle and
Beckett might have needed exactly this to happen between them. It gave
them an opportunity to walk in the other’s shoes, if you will. For
Castle, it allowed him to see how easy it could be to disregard
everything for a singular goal; his goal was Alexis and Beckett’s goal
was solving her mother’s murder. For Beckett, it was to recognize the
pain she’d once caused Castle by being so determined to do it all on her
own. And I honestly think that this experience will only help them
understand each other better down the road.
My biggest—not really
complaint because
that’s too strong a word…concern maybe—is that I hope this issue of
Castle going off on his own will be addressed before the end of the
season. “Please don’t do anything like that again without me,” she says.
The “without me” is huge because it goes right back to what I was
saying earlier: Castle didn’t even give Beckett the chance to stand by
him. I wasn’t entirely at ease with his response if only because they
didn’t really resolve the issue. Castle says, “I won’t,” but to me, this
is a giant billboard sign saying that he will. The reason is because he
hasn’t had to learn that lesson yet. That is to say, there were no
adverse consequences for him going to Paris by himself, and without
that, I find it hard to believe that he wouldn’t do the exact same thing
next time.
Let me be clear that this issue can be used quite
effectively in the future, so I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with
the story-telling. It’s just something to think about in the episodes
to come. I’m very patient when it comes to waiting for a story to
unfold, and like I said: as long as they come back to this by the end of
the season, I’ll be happy.
The BoysEspo had a great moment with Kate, and I’ve enjoyed
these little moments between the two of them. They’re really just solid
together, and I like how they’re willing to poke and prod a little bit.
But honestly? My favorite part about Espo and Ryan tonight was watching
their expressions when Beckett kicked down the door. It was just
whoa there, Beckett and I thought it was a nice touch to show how on the edge Beckett was in this episode.
The Case“Please, they have our daughter too.”
This line, I thought, was particularly well-done.
We could see Castle getting desperate and lashing out, and then Sara’s
mom totally puts a stop on his tirade with this teary-eyed line. And I
love how they captured Castle’s chagrin after that. He had such a tunnel
vision that he forgot that Alexis wasn’t the only daughter missing,
that he wasn’t the only parent hurting. And I thought this was a
powerful moment. I would never blame Castle for being selfish here
because this is his daughter on the line, but I think the writers added a
wonderful dimension of awareness. It’s easy to focus on Castle and
Alexis because, duh, they’re Castle and Alexis, but just like what they
did in “Recoil” with Kate having the epiphany that she was trying to
catch Melanie Rogers’ killer, the writers reminded us that there are
more involved here than just the protagonists. And that’s a wonderful
nuance to remember.
Speaking of nuances, I absolutely LOVED the fact
that Papa Castle reminded Castle to pick up the suitcase with three
million dollars in it. It was such a dad moment before Castle knew he
was his dad.
Also, the exploding walkie-talkie was a clever
touch. I was wondering what they had up their sleeves, and it definitely
caught me by surprise, so kudos to the writers for that. The watch was
pushing it a little, but if we’re going to play spy, we might as well go
all in, no?
Odds and EndsMolly Quinn once again did great with Alexis and
the quiet desperation by the end. Her little whimpers when she thought
Castle was going to get shot were heart-breaking, and just like Castle
said earlier in the episode, it sounded like she was a little girl
again. (Also, Molly was one adorable little girl. Those kid
pictures…d’awwww!)
And of course, who didn’t love how Beckett totally
engulfed Alexis in a giant hug at the end? I think it’ll be a while yet
before Beckett and Alexis get close, but oh, that moment made me
breathe such a happy sigh.
I wasn’t a big fan of the green screen, but the
cinematography in Paris was beautiful. Also, I don’t know if it was
because I was wearing headphones and I hear all the details better, but
wholly schmoly, the score was
fantastic. Just amazing, really. I
especially loved the creepiness and distortion in the scene with the
sound tech and also the music when Castle and Alexis are making their
great escape. Excellent stuff.
Also, this is speculation, but when Hunt said that
he’d been careless and that had resulted in people connecting Alexis and
Castle to him, I couldn’t help but wonder if Volkoff’s source was
Sophia Turner. After all, Turner was a KGB sleeper, and she knew all
about Castle’s relationship with Hunt. If I’m right, I just want to hug
the stuffing out of Andrew Marlowe and company. SO MANY CONNECTIONS TO
PREVIOUS EPISODES!!! Awesome.
All in all, this was a crazy, wild ride that did
total justice to the introduction of Papa Castle. The case itself
suffered from overexposure because once we knew Papa Castle was
involved, it was a tad predictable to figure out that Alexis was the
target all along. But, predictability and entertainment are not mutually
exclusive and I think this was one of the more riveting and engaging
episodes. There are still issues that need to be dealt with between
Castle and Beckett, but let’s leave them to bask in the afterglow of
being safe at home for a while, no? I’m sure all manner of craziness
will start cropping up by the end of the season anyway.
That’s it, folks. We have another loooong three weeks ahead of us, so until then, my dears!
