Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoilers

[Greg Cox]

Re: Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoi

On another board, some Firefly fanboy is complaining about a no-name with no resume like Laura Prepon landing the role instead of a big name superstar like... Jewel Staite? An argument he makes against Prepon is that she's only known for one thing.

Okay, that's hilarious. Talk about fannish tunnel vision!

 

[Christopher]

Re: Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoi

Well, Jewel Staite is known for Space Cases and Stargate Atlantis as well as Firefly. But that's still short of superstar status.

Still, Staite is an odd suggestion for Nikki Heat. If you were limiting it to FF cast members, I'd think Morena Baccarin or Gina Torres would be more the direction to go.

I still think it would've been really wild if they'd actually made a feature film based on Heat Wave and had the real actress starring in the film guest-star as herself in this episode.

 

[ancientone51]

Re: Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoi

Oh my, we have the last act and wrap to go and I don't care who did it...I want to know what Becket is going to do about what she just saw.

Interesting it comes just after her line about "what's next steal my boyfriend..."

 

[Christopher]

Re: Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoi

This was a fun episode with a lot of laughs, but I was just not happy with the casting of this Laura Prepon person. She's statuesque, I'll give her that, but I don't like her face or voice, and I didn't think she was nearly as good a Beckett impersonator as the script claimed. And I certainly couldn't buy that she was as irresistibly sexy as the script claimed.

There was verisimilitude in the way the actress initially thought of Heat Wave only as a script and was barely aware of the book. Hollywood can be a pretty insular culture, and the people involved in making a movie have their own particular focuses. So sometimes if one producer at a studio acquires a book and commissions a movie script based on it, the other people who get hired to work on that movie, or the executives overseeing it for the studio, aren't necessarily even aware that it was based on a book. It's just the next script on their slate, and they're concerned with it as the project they're working on, not as the source it came from.

Was I the only one who barely noticed what was going on with the murder plot? The case of the week has rarely been so sidelined as it was here.

 

[ancientone51]

Re: Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoi

I agree, the muder was the B plot tonight.

Would it have been as much fun if the angle was an actress who llloovvveeed the book, and had gotten the option on it? I think it was cool the way he got shuffled off to the side at first.

While it is true many actors only look at the script, I like that she did read the book. Actually going for Castle was a bit much for research, but it could happen.

 

[Christopher]

Re: Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoi

Actually I'm not sure I agree with her decision to read the book. If the script went in a substantially different direction, then her initial reasoning was sound: she should base her performance only on the script's version of the character and not confuse things by considering an alternate slant. (Just as actors playing a character that's previously been played by someone else often choose not to watch the earlier performances, wishing to create their own distinct characterization rather than just imitating someone else.) A book is the creation of one person, but a film is the work of many. Her director might have a vision for his version of Nikki Heat that's substantially different from what's in the book, so if she draws too much on the book, it might clash with what the director wants from her.

 

[Sakrysta]

Re: Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoi

This was a fun episode with a lot of laughs, but I was just not happy with the casting of this Laura Prepon person. She's statuesque, I'll give her that, but I don't like her face or voice, and I didn't think she was nearly as good a Beckett impersonator as the script claimed. And I certainly couldn't buy that she was as irresistibly sexy as the script claimed.

I completely agree. When she first appeared on screen, my one thought was, "Is there any part of her face that hasn't been botoxed?" I think they pushed her obsession with character just a little too far, and the pursuit of Castle sexually just was over the top.

My favorite bit was the proposal at the end. That was just plain perfect.

 

[Forbin]

Re: Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoi

I don't think Prepon has had any surgery - she's always been odd/pretty. But they went WAY overboard with eye makeup on her!

It still kills me that she's gone blonde, though. She's an awesome natural redhead.

 

[TheSeeker]

Re: Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoi

^Yeah, she doesn't look good as a blond. She looked way better in the Beckett wig.

 

[Sakrysta]

Re: Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoi

I don't think Prepon has had any surgery - she's always been odd/pretty.

Well, I didn't seriously think her whole face was full of blowtox, but it just seemed so puffy seeing her for the first time. While I was never really sold on her playing Nikki Heat, she wasn't horrible in the part either. Everyone's reactions to her helped things tremendously.

 

[Thestral]

Re: Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoi

This was a fun episode with a lot of laughs, but I was just not happy with the casting of this Laura Prepon person. She's statuesque, I'll give her that, but I don't like her face or voice, and I didn't think she was nearly as good a Beckett impersonator as the script claimed. And I certainly couldn't buy that she was as irresistibly sexy as the script claimed.

I wasn't sold on her at first (and this is as somebody who loved redheaded Prepon on That 70s show), but once she got the wig and the clothes - oh wow. I thought she did a great job. I think to some extent I just don't like Laura Prepon as a blonde. I definitely grew to like Natalie more as the episode went on, and the scene where they're all "hiding from creepy Beckett" was great. I don't think we've seen Kate that flustered.

And really to some extent you have to give Prepon credit. She was playing an actress (Natalie Rhodes) becoming a character (Nikki Heat) who is a fictionalized version of a character (Kate Beckett) brought to life by another actress (Stana Katic).

Yeah, I thought this was a fantastic episode.

 

[AJBryant]

Re: Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoi

Actually I'm not sure I agree with her decision to read the book. If the script went in a substantially different direction, then her initial reasoning was sound: she should base her performance only on the script's version of the character and not confuse things by considering an alternate slant. (Just as actors playing a character that's previously been played by someone else often choose not to watch the earlier performances, wishing to create their own distinct characterization rather than just imitating someone else.) A book is the creation of one person, but a film is the work of many. Her director might have a vision for his version of Nikki Heat that's substantially different from what's in the book, so if she draws too much on the book, it might clash with what the director wants from her.

Don't you think, though, that that same logic would NEGATE going to the "original person" of the character to get tips?

(And add me to the "Prepon is better as a redhead" club.)

 

[Christopher]

Re: Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoi

Actually I'm not sure I agree with her decision to read the book. If the script went in a substantially different direction, then her initial reasoning was sound: she should base her performance only on the script's version of the character and not confuse things by considering an alternate slant. (Just as actors playing a character that's previously been played by someone else often choose not to watch the earlier performances, wishing to create their own distinct characterization rather than just imitating someone else.) A book is the creation of one person, but a film is the work of many. Her director might have a vision for his version of Nikki Heat that's substantially different from what's in the book, so if she draws too much on the book, it might clash with what the director wants from her.

Don't you think, though, that that same logic would NEGATE going to the "original person" of the character to get tips?

Hmm, maybe. I hadn't thought of that. But the idea here was that the Natalie character was very "Method," feeling she had to experience the reality of a role in order to get into character. The reality is Beckett; the book's Nikki Heat is Castle's interpretation of her. The screenwriter's Nikki Heat is a different interpretation (although an interpretation of Castle's interpretation). So I can understand her wanting to experience the reality yet not be distracted by an additional fictional interpretation. Drawing on too many sources of inspiration could hamstring an actress, limit her ability to bring something fresh to a role.

But maybe you're right. Maybe her insistence on "Method" here, on learning to mimic the real Beckett, is a bad idea. After all, Heat isn't Beckett. She's presumably a more sensationalized, glamourized, sexualized version of Beckett. (I haven't read the book yet. Keep meaning to get it from the library.)


Hey, come to think of it, how the heck did Castle get hold of this actress's audition tape for the movie? Who in Hollywood bothers to keep the writer in the loop? Although I guess he's a big enough name that he could've gotten an Executive Consultant role or something.

 

[Aragorn]

Re: Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoi

Spoiler: 3x12: "Poof! You're Dead"

Castle and Beckett investigate the murder of the owner of a historic magic shop found dead in a Houdini's water torture tank.

 

[Buck Bokai]

Re: Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoi

I definitely grew to like Natalie more as the episode went on, and the scene where they're all "hiding from creepy Beckett" was great. I don't think we've seen Kate that flustered.

My wife and I both had to double-take at the beginning of that scene to make sure which "Beckett" was at the murder board.

Good episode all the way around!

 

[Vendikarr]

Re: Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoi

ABC handed Castle a renewal for next season.

http://www.tvline.com/2011/01/abc-renews-greys-private-middle-modern-family/

 

[IcecreamLtDan]

Re: Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoi

ABC handed Castle a renewal for next season.

http://www.tvline.com/2011/01/abc-renews-greys-private-middle-modern-family/

 

[ancientone51]

Re: Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoi

Woot woot!!!!!! way to go!!!!!

 

[Christopher]

Re: Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoi

I'm glad the characters on this show are good at figuring things out. At 10:47 EST, once they'd established that the rich guy's plane had blown up and they were watching the footage of the catering truck driving up, it struck me: "He faked his own death." It was a story about magic and misdirection, so naturally nothing could be what it seemed. I was afraid this would be one of those cases where it took the characters until the end of the episode to catch up with me and I was yelling at them "He faked his own death!" over and over until they finally caught on. But instead, they figured it out by 10:49, less than two minutes later (though somewhat longer in-story, allowing for scene shifts).

I have to confess that I still don't really care that much about the characters other than the Castle family and Beckett, so the stuff lately about Ryan's and Esposito's love lives really isn't doing much for me, aside from the initial surprise reaction of seeing Espo and Lainie together.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Re: Castle: Season 3 (Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic) - Discussion & Spoi

ABC pulled a little "synergy" on it's Soap One Life To Live. ( a show Fillion used to appear on). A character in a bookstore picked ap a book by Castle looked at the author photo and asked another character if Castle didn't look familar.