Castle Season 5 (including Spoilers)

[Jan]

I love Alexis and hope that we get to see a lot of her in next week's episode.

[Vendikarr]

Christopher wrote:

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Except that they were speaking Arabic. They were following Sara, so they knew who her friends were, so they would've known Alexis was one of them. They were probably monitoring the blogs of all her friends.

I think this is all about Castle's father. If he is a spy, perhaps enemies learned who his family is. He is probably the one who killed the guy in the farmhouse trying to get information about Alexis. I am probably over thinking it, but I didn't get the feeling Sara was their target. That would be too simple.

[Mutenroshi]

FYI, those police sirens you can hear at the end of the episode are no longer in service!
They should update their sound banks because that sounds really outdated, like 1960s France.

[Christopher]

Vendikarr wrote:

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I think this is all about Castle's father. If he is a spy, perhaps enemies learned who his family is. He is probably the one who killed the guy in the farmhouse trying to get information about Alexis. I am probably over thinking it, but I didn't get the feeling Sara was their target. That would be too simple.

You may be on to something there.

We did see that one of the original kidnappers was tortured to death by someone else. So perhaps the original plot was to snatch Sara, but someone else piggybacked on that kidnapping and re-kidnapped the girls in order to get Alexis and use her as leverage against spy-daddy.

Although the idea of Castle's father being a spy doesn't appeal to me. We've already had Beckett's mother's murder turn out to be part of a Vast Conspiracy. That's enough melodrama for me.

[Vendikarr]

Christopher wrote:

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You may be on to something there.

We did see that one of the original kidnappers was tortured to death by someone else. So perhaps the original plot was to snatch Sara, but someone else piggybacked on that kidnapping and re-kidnapped the girls in order to get Alexis and use her as leverage against spy-daddy.

Although the idea of Castle's father being a spy doesn't appeal to me. We've already had Beckett's mother's murder turn out to be part of a Vast Conspiracy. That's enough melodrama for me.

I would prefer Castle dad be something else, but last season's two-parter had Castle's ex spy girlfriend drop the daddy spy reveal. So if they follow up on daddy, the spy thing should play in.

[Data Holmes]

I loved that they let Castle go so dark in the search for his daughter that he "reasoned" the farmhouse location from the driver. And the exchange between Castle and Beckett where she said she didn't know he had that side to him...

I also loved how the usual hard Gates gave her people the "all clear" to do whatever they had to do to get Alexis back to Castle. For all the guff she gives him, she still sees him as "part of the family".

It will be interesting if these events have any lasting effects on them. Castle going as far as he did, Beckett letting him, how Alexis handles it long term.

[Christopher]

Data Holmes wrote:

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I loved that they let Castle go so dark in the search for his daughter that he "reasoned" the farmhouse location from the driver.

I hated that part, because it reinforced the dangerous lie that torture is actually effective at getting useful information out of interrogation subjects. There are countless interrogation experts who agree that that's just not true, that there are far more reliable ways, involving making a connection with the subject, winning their trust, offering them positive incentives to talk. Torture generally makes it harder, not easier, to get reliable intelligence.

[intrinsical]

I could be totally mistaken, but isn't Castle's ex-wife Meredith living in Paris?

[Nick Ryder]

Well for all you know, Rick just poked his belly where he was shot. Wouldn't necessarily call it 'torture' since the dude was already in a lot of pain and scared shitless even before that point - basically it's like when you ask your buddy where you're going and he keeps going "it's a secret man!" and it isn't until you annoy the hell out of him or keep poking him or something that he goes "Alright alright already we're going to a frat party!" or something.

Guy was probably scared that Castle WOULD do something nasty instead of just poking him. Or he hit him in the nuts...

C'mon this is Castle we're talking about - he's got a dark side that's also inspired by comic books, movies and tv shows - BUT he's also got a light side that's inspired by the same thing. He's driven but he probably has it in his head that this is "Liam Neeson" moment where he uses all the skills he learned at Beckett's side to save his daughter, just like a character from one of his novels.

Although what I'd like to see is... Alexis becoming more a part of the "team" as it were. I kind of liked seeing her as Lanie's little assistant for a couple episodes there. Honestly I LOVE Alexis - she's the only "child" star that I can tolerate and I do sincerely hope she keeps the same level head she's had all this time. Doesn't either turn into another Lindsay Lohan or something. She's a beautiful girl, got a great comedic timing, as well as dramatic timing.

And frankly... after seeing her in this episode, I'm convinced that if Fox or Marvel ever wanted to do something with Hope Summers - she would be a kick ass Hope Summers.

[Forbin]

She ain't a child no more!

[TheSeeker]

Finally watched it last night and really enjoyed it. It was nice to see Fillion get the chance to do a little more dramatic acting. I also liked that the fact that when the shit hit the fan Gates was 100% supportive. Can't wait for next week!

intrinsical wrote:

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I could be totally mistaken, but isn't Castle's ex-wife Meredith living in Paris?

I had the same thought. The last time we saw her I believe she was leaving for France.

[FPAlpha]

Nick Ryder wrote:

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Well for all you know, Rick just poked his belly where he was shot. Wouldn't necessarily call it 'torture' since the dude was already in a lot of pain and scared shitless even before that point - basically it's like when you ask your buddy where you're going and he keeps going "it's a secret man!" and it isn't until you annoy the hell out of him or keep poking him or something that he goes "Alright alright already we're going to a frat party!" or something.

Guy was probably scared that Castle WOULD do something nasty instead of just poking him. Or he hit him in the nuts...

C'mon this is Castle we're talking about - he's got a dark side that's also inspired by comic books, movies and tv shows - BUT he's also got a light side that's inspired by the same thing. He's driven but he probably has it in his head that this is "Liam Neeson" moment where he uses all the skills he learned at Beckett's side to save his daughter, just like a character from one of his novels.

Although what I'd like to see is... Alexis becoming more a part of the "team" as it were. I kind of liked seeing her as Lanie's little assistant for a couple episodes there. Honestly I LOVE Alexis - she's the only "child" star that I can tolerate and I do sincerely hope she keeps the same level head she's had all this time. Doesn't either turn into another Lindsay Lohan or something. She's a beautiful girl, got a great comedic timing, as well as dramatic timing.

And frankly... after seeing her in this episode, I'm convinced that if Fox or Marvel ever wanted to do something with Hope Summers - she would be a kick ass Hope Summers.

Uhm.. no. The way the guy screamed it was torture and i literally jumped in my seat because while we knew something bad was going to happen once the door closed i didn't expect actual torture.

We know Castle is hugely protective of his family and friends and isn't above violence to accomplish that such as when he clocked Slaughter just for insinuating he'd like to do Alexis.

That time it came off as funny but this one was very shocking. It was definitely one of the best episodes this season and i can't wait for the conclusion.

[TheSeeker]

One nitpick I have with the episode is with how the highly trained bodyguard died. Are you telling me he was too stupid to jump out of the way of the van at the last second? Even if he had killed the driver the van wouldn't have magically come to a complete stop.

[Neroon]

I put off watching this episode until I was in a better, more rested mood. Stories in which the protagonist's child is in danger tend to have a powerful effect on me. The fact that I have a daughter just about the same age as Alexis is in this story... well, you can reason the rest. Overall, I enjoyed the episode, including the surprise at the end of them being in Paris. When I watched the episode a 2nd time, I noticed how hard the director works to keep you believing they are likely still in New York state or at least in the US.

That said, I really felt Castle's fear in this, his frustration. I came through almost palpably and that added to the overall effect of the episode. Martha's insistence that things would be alright.... and the slight humor added in that scene kept the episode from becoming too melodramatic. Seeing the trailer last week, my wife's initial reaction was not great for the overall theme. She felt "you guys are going there, like so many other shows have done before?" and I can understand that. However, she seemed to think it was well enough done that she ended up enjoying it. Privately, I'm betting she felt the same way I tend to - stores where a child's life is threatened put us on edge. My wife just didn't ant to admit it, yet.

[Christopher]

TheSeeker wrote:

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One nitpick I have with the episode is with how the highly trained bodyguard died. Are you telling me he was too stupid to jump out of the way of the van at the last second? Even if he had killed the driver the van wouldn't have magically come to a complete stop.

I think the idea was that he was so dedicated to the girl's protection that he was willing to sacrifice his life if he could ensure that he took out the kidnappers. If he'd jumped out of the way, he might've missed an opportunity to take a final shot that would stop or kill the driver. So he kept on firing right up to the bitter end, not out of stupidity but because he put the girl's life ahead of his own.

Neroon wrote:

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Seeing the trailer last week, my wife's initial reaction was not great for the overall theme. She felt "you guys are going there, like so many other shows have done before?" and I can understand that.

As it happens, ABC's Tuesday 10 PM show Body of Proof began its new season this past week with part 1 of a 2-parter in which the lead character's teenage daughter is kidnapped. That's bad planning on ABC's part, I think, to have two such similar plotlines in the same 2-week span in shows that are broadcast on consecutive nights in the same time slot.