Woah no! Part of the charm of Castle is his family life and Alexis is a big part of that. The only thing bothering me is that she's been in too few episodes in recent memory so in this one i was happy to see her.. i love her daughter/father interactions because it looks so much fun. Next weeks episode she's in too and that's fine with me.
I just explained the problem: I think that mystery writers would be more inclined to think critically and see through deception, and thus less inclined to buy into all the supernatural nonsense they keep having Castle believe in, stuff like UFOs and psychics and now ghosts. I think it's a mischaracterization. He already was a fun character in the first two seasons, but then I gather there was a change in the writing staff in season three and they turned him into this gullible buffoon, which I think is a caricature of how he was originally portrayed. I don't think idiocy is fun, especially in a character who should logically know better.
^ That is your problem with the character though and that is fine if you feel that way. I don't see a problem with the way he's been written, he is a fictional mystery writer after all. Castle has been a critical thinker before even with the goofy stuff and it is in his nature to get carried away. That's why Kate is there. To keep him in check. I don't see how Rick has been portrayed as an idiot either.
Well.. how many highly literate and academically educated people believe in horoscopes and astrology (and even if they don't admit it openly they still peek at the horoscope section of the news)? I don't see this as a huge contradiction.. in fact i don't think Castle believes in these things at all but enjoys the what ifs and the "scaryness" of it all.. he watches Zombie movies with Alexis and reacts in "panic" and fear to events in the movie. It's the same with all horror movies and halloween where people like to be scared and scare others with stories and such even though the rest of the year they are quite logical and "sane". It's why people watch horror/supernatural movies at all.. entertainment and the fun of getting scared for a time and i believe Castle falls into that category big time (and one of his trademark character bits is that he likes to annoy and tease people for fun, especially Beckett, so that's a tool he has). He just likes to goof around and in that he's been written pretty consistently.
Castle also marks out...to use a wrestling term here...to things he is passionate and interested in as well. I don't see a problem with that either. I see it as a natural response and well within what has been established with his character.
I don't think theres a guide book to how mystery writers should act and behave + It seems to me Castle doesn't really believe in this stuff but it amuses him because of the reactions he can get off Beckett.
Also another point...Rick is a mystery writer. Key word being mystery. I don't see how he could not be interested in paranormal and ufo related stuff, he likes the MYSTERY these subjects create. Are these things real? Aren't they real and all the other big questions that relate to the subjects. It makes total and logical sense to me why he is interested in them or "buys" into them.
At the very least, he'd have to be able to get pretty deep into the ideas in order to set up the story and break it down later on. Without that, he can't get the characters off on the wrong track before the reveal. Doesn't have to believe these things, just be willing to explore them before busting them. Mostly, though, he seems to enjoy annoying Kate. And part of their 'process' seems to be that he throws out wacky theories, she gives the logical reasons that doesn't make sense, and then along that route, you work out what could really be going on based on those reasons...
^ Agreed about annoying Kate. I like how she got him with the gag about her childhood...he was actually riveted by the story (as was I).
Christopher, have you ever met a writer? Writers are as prone to be batshit insane as the rest of the world. I'd give you examples, but life's just too short.
I knew I recognized her from somewhere! She was also in the first Big Bang Pilot. As other's have said, He just has fun coming up with weird scenarios that annoy Beckett. When it came down to it he had no hesitation in going with a real world solution to the "haunted" house. Also, I don't know if you are familiar with the author Peter James but he is a very good mystery writer whose wife also happens to be a psychic. He's also had his main character in the Roy Grace series of novels consult psychics on more than one occasion. Yep! Both my wife and I commented on it as soon as we saw him. For a second there I thought they were going to be adding a rival for Castle after Beckett seemed to give him a little look.
The little look is what caught our eye. No uniform gets THAT much attention. We had to rewind to be sure it was him. Just a weird funny moment. Wonder how it came about.
It seems like all of the CT cast is doing cameos on other shows this fall http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/10/13/cougar-town-cast-crossovers/