"Castle" season 4 begins tonight

[Sheep]

It's certainly a good thing Alexis and Martha weren't home at the end, wasn't it?

I generally love the Castle "event" episodes and this was no exception. Was dreading them leaving things on a cliffhanger with Beckett dangling from the building but I should know by now the writers wouldn't pull something that predictable. Alexis' valedictorian voiceover was a great touch too.

 

[Guy Gardener]

More predictable than that 3 years from now we discover that she's still on the ledge and is dreaming all this as she falls towards the ground... She's a cop, that totally tracks with Ashes to Ashes/life on Mars.

 

[TimmyWl]

It was a good episode. The chemistry seemed a bit off given that the two have been off and on for some time. I feel bad for Espesito's partner who wanted to do the right thing. In the end all he got was an empty room for what he did.

I hope the show does well in the next season.

 

[Forbin]

This ep was shot and scored with the quality of a big-budget movie. GREAT job all around. I was getting a little tired of the yellow hue, but what the hell, it set a mood. I LOVED the music!

I could swear I could actually hear a million shippers squeeling with glee at the end.

 

[intrinsical]

A thought crossed my mind...

Spoiler: Beckett

now that she's quit the police force, would we see her as a private eye next season?

 

[Christopher]

Alexis' valedictorian voiceover was a great touch too.

It was good, but it was undermined by having a song playing at the same time. The "song under closing montage" thing is overused enough already, but it was particularly intrusive here. Having multiple scenes (some with dialogue) playing out and Alexis's speech and the lyrics of the song all competing with each other was too cluttered. They should've just gone with instrumental music and let Alexis be the sole voiceover unifying the sequence.

A thought crossed my mind...

Spoiler: Beckett

now that she's quit the police force, would we see her as a private eye next season?

Interesting idea...

 

[Kirby]

I'm worried that this may happen:

Spoiler: Beckett

They planned all this. Beckett quitting is just a ruse to throw off whoever the infomant is in the Precinct. Beckett and Esposito can work the case on the 'outside' while Ryan can stay on the 'inside' and figure out who the informant is. Beckett is using Castle as an excuse to further throw off the trail because having a relationship while working cases for the city would be inappropriate, but the relationship would give the impression that she isn't interested in the case anymore. Castle probably is oblivious to the plan. Gates is possibly involved with Big Bad.

 

[Christopher]

^I'd say that's unlikely. Ryan's reactions seemed way too sincere, even in scenes when he was alone and had no one to put on an act for.

 

[FPAlpha]

From my posting over at CastleTV.net:

Spoiler: My thoughts on the finale

I'm a 36 year old guy and even a good half hour or so after seeing the finale i'm still wiping away the moisture in my eyes.. i'm so happy right now (as much as anyone should and could be happy about a fictional couple).
Being weak as me means you've seen the previews and the big special one where she rushes in to kiss him but as i expected the whole scenes were so much better in context and scope. They did it again.. after the brilliant but shocking season 3 finale they didn an equally brilliant but replaced the shock with huge emotions and i can only applaud the staff and Marlowe for pulling off such a finale.
I loved every bit of it.. the buildup through the first half which was intense but still yet another case of the week which soon turned dead serious. Castle's mounting fear and dread when he realizes that Beckett can't be controlled anymore putting her in immediate mortal danger was just heartbreaking to watch and my heart broke again when he confessed his love out in the open with no option to take it back.
It was even more of a "I Love you". He had no idea how she would react and he was at his end.. no more options save one. He put everything on the table and risked the love of his life turning away just to save her life.. if it meant she couldn't get past the "betrayal" so be it.. at least she would live and to me that is one of the biggest signs of love.. something that transcends sex, intimacy, watching movies together or going out. You risk your own well being, your own wishes and needs, your own happiness for the other without asking for anything in return. There is no bigger proof of love that i know of.
It was only natural that Beckett couldn't react to his feelings.. logic and rational arguments fall on deaf ears when emotions run this high and for me it would have felt wrong if she would have rushed into his arms immediately. I can understand her feelings of betrayal.. that case is the center of her life, she built everything around it and for someone she considered one of her best friends and maybe her love.. it must have felt even more painful. She drove Castle away for good in those moments when he realized she wouldn't stop and i can't blame him for leaving.. when you do everything for a person you love, give everything and that person still stays on their course then you have to make a decision.. be there for the inevitable end or walk away to salvage what little life you can get out of it and i can't blame Castle for leaving.
However it was not all done.. when she got her ass kicked by the assassin and was dangling from the roof she made the final leap.. she finally realized that she got something even more important in her life and that she wants that. Her development is complete, the wall is gone and she is ready.. i actually made a little "Awww.. the swings" when she walked and sat there in the pouring rain thinking her life over and where she stands. This was the most brilliant way to show her development over the 4th season.. it kind of started there with her wall metaphor and it ended there with the wall gone.
When she got to Castle's place it was all done.. the mother of all kissess, the passion and the small moments.. i especially loved how she placed his hand on her scar and i felt in that moment that it had become their scar. Here was the man who dove in front of a bullet ready to give his life for her and it will only be him who is allowed to touch it and see it.. it is Kate at her most vulnerable but that's ok because it'll be Rick who will be around with her.. forever.
I'm really happy how it turned out and it's maybe one of the best lovestories written on TV that i know of.. the development, the buildup, the pitfalls and the delays.. many of us know how life can play havoc with our feelings and that it can be cruel but also so rewarding when it finally happens.
Now it happened and i'll be smiling the entire summer when i think of Castle's hand on her scar.
I love this show.

 

[Christopher]

What was the significance of the swingset? I assume we've seen it before, but I've forgotten it.

 

[FPAlpha]

It goes back to the season 4 starter episode where they meet up again proper after the shooting. She talks to him while sitting on the very same swing and him beside her about the reasons why she can't have a real and lasting relationship until she resolves her issues with her mother's murder.

Now that she's there a year after with all her therapy, her ever developing feelings for Castle and what happened prior in the episode it works sort of like the end of a very important chapter and the beginning of a new one.

That's how i interpret it at least.

 

[Neroon]

This has been a bit of intense tonight!

But one question so far...

Spoiler: tonight's episode

from where did they get the DNA sample to match her shooter with that of who killed the guy at the beginning of tonight's episode?

Presumably

Spoiler: Always

from the surface of the rifle they recovered

.

I had thought of that, but it seems unlikely given that this was a professional hit on Beckett. Leaving behind something like that would strike me as terribly sloppy for someone of that proficiency.

Meanwhile, I'm so glad

Spoiler: Always

Kate and Rick have finally hooked up. Though it's weird they're still on a last-name basis.

True... but maybe it's more a force of habit. After being together for a few years and calling each other by their last names all that time .....


BTW... are spoiler tags really necessary given that this thread is an on-going discussion about the episodes currently on air ... or that have aired, now that S4 is done?


In case anyone is interested, here is the text of Alexis' commencement speech, which granted was somewhat simplistic... but still nice and pretty much in character for the episode:

"There is a universal truth that we all have to face, whether we want to or not. Everything eventually ends. As much as I've looked forward to this day, I've always disliked endings. Last day of summer, the final chapter of a great book, parting ways with a close friend. But ... endings are inevitable. Leaves fall. You close the book. You say "goodbye". Today is one of those days for us. Today we say goodbye to everything that was familiar, everything that was comfortable. We're moving on. But just beause we're leaving, and that hurts, there are some people who are so much a part of us, they'll be with us no matter what. They are our solid ground, our North Star, and the small clear voices in our hearts that will be with us always."

 

[ThunderAeroI]

So a Cylon is a hired gun for his employer?

And Garrius was a zombie the episode before?

Suppose your going to tell me a man named jane was in the episode before that?

 

[Sakrysta]

Yep, that about covers it.

 

[Scout101]

So a Cylon is a hired gun for his employer?

Helo was about the only one that turned out NOT to be a Cylon. Married to one...

 

[ThunderAeroI]

So a Cylon is a hired gun for his employer?

Helo was about the only one that turned out NOT to be a Cylon. Married to one...

I may need to recheck the series out cause I could have sworn he was one of the final five - he at least had a child with Athena. You know it's funny and at the risk of derailing the thread its quite sad when the mini-series is the happy point of the series.

 

[cardinal biggles]

^Nope, Helo was definitely not a Cylon. The final five were

Spoiler: about a TV show that ended three years ago, but what the hell.

Col. Tigh, Tyrol, Anders, Tory, and Ellen Tigh

 

[Christopher]

I may need to recheck the series out cause I could have sworn he was one of the final five - he at least had a child with Athena.

The fact that the human Helo and the Cylon Athena were able to love each other, form a lasting relationship, and bear a child together was of immense importance to the series. Indeed, their human-Cylon hybrid child, Hera, turned out to be critical to the future of both races. It would've been a vastly different series if Helo had been a Cylon.

 

[ThunderAeroI]

^Nope, Helo was definitely not a Cylon. The final five were

Spoiler: about a TV show that ended three years ago, but what the hell.

Col. Tigh, Tyrol, Anders, Tory, and Ellen Tigh

Sounds correct. Must have had a brain fart.

I may need to recheck the series out cause I could have sworn he was one of the final five - he at least had a child with Athena.

The fact that the human Helo and the Cylon Athena were able to love each other, form a lasting relationship, and bear a child together was of immense importance to the series. Indeed, their human-Cylon hybrid child, Hera, turned out to be critical to the future of both races. It would've been a vastly different series if Helo had been a Cylon.

No doubt, although I stopped actually caring about the series after 2.5 about the time "she" shot and killed herself I completely didn't care anymore. I watched the show but I wasn't as emotionally invested as I should have or would have maybe liked to have been.

 

[Forbin]

I was watching the 2nd season Dollhouse premiere with commentary last night. Tomaoh was of course a regular, and Jamie Bamber was the guest villain. During the big fight scene, Whedon said "This is, of course, only here to see who can kick who's ass, Helo or Apollo."