Castle: "The Fifth Bullet" 12/7/09 - Grading & Discussion
- Thread starter Aragorn
- Start date
Yeah, I missed the episode because Zap2It said that it was a repeat. Great.
Didn't care for this one. They set up an interesting mystery at the start -- even named the episode after it -- but instead of having it investigated and cracked through detective work, they just had the answer handed to them six minutes later. What a disappointment.
And the amnesia thing was silly, perpetuating most of the media myths about amnesia. If it had been strictly psychological, it might be borderline credible, but bringing in the "bump on the head" thing is what scuttles it. Amnesia brought on by head trauma is usually connected with skill impairment, personality changes, and anterograde amnesia, the loss of ability to form new memories. And even purely psychological amnesia is rarely comprehensive. This was pure fantasy and lazy cliche.
(Ironically, though, I experienced a bit of amnesia of my own -- I knew I'd seen the actress playing the ex-wife before, but I couldn't for the life of me remember where. I had to rewind and check the credits for her name, Anne Dudek, and then I had to mull it over a bit longer before I remembered she was Amber on House.)
I also didn't like the revelation of the real killer. The big reveal was predicated on information that we weren't given until that scene -- that the assistant was using his roommate's identity, that he was an art forger, and that he'd bribed the doorman. That's unfair to the audience. If the necessary information for solving a case isn't even revealed until the exposure scene, then the audience has no chance to solve the mystery themselves. And it's cheating to just pull random revelations out of thin air.
And the amnesia thing was silly, perpetuating most of the media myths about amnesia. If it had been strictly psychological, it might be borderline credible, but bringing in the "bump on the head" thing is what scuttles it. Amnesia brought on by head trauma is usually connected with skill impairment, personality changes, and anterograde amnesia, the loss of ability to form new memories. And even purely psychological amnesia is rarely comprehensive. This was pure fantasy and lazy cliche.
(Ironically, though, I experienced a bit of amnesia of my own -- I knew I'd seen the actress playing the ex-wife before, but I couldn't for the life of me remember where. I had to rewind and check the credits for her name, Anne Dudek, and then I had to mull it over a bit longer before I remembered she was Amber on House.)
I also didn't like the revelation of the real killer. The big reveal was predicated on information that we weren't given until that scene -- that the assistant was using his roommate's identity, that he was an art forger, and that he'd bribed the doorman. That's unfair to the audience. If the necessary information for solving a case isn't even revealed until the exposure scene, then the audience has no chance to solve the mystery themselves. And it's cheating to just pull random revelations out of thin air.
I was too busy loving seeing Marc Blucas again and enjoying how his character affected Castle and Beckett to be bothered by the mystery's shortcomings. And of course, the first words out of Castle's mouth upon seeing "Jay" for the first time - "What's up with Riley over there?" I about fell over. 
I loved the whole "Ice Bullet" thing that Castle was on. I did have a problem with the amnesia guy not having any other noticeable injuries. I'm no expert, but I would tend to thing that if he had head trauma serious enough to cause amnesia then it would cause other problems as well. Other than that I enjoyed the episode, I won't put it up there with one of the best ever, but enjoyable none the less.
On another note, I was just introduced to this last night and found it hilarious. Despite it's confusing name it is quite work safe.
Nathan Fillion PG Porn
On another note, I was just introduced to this last night and found it hilarious. Despite it's confusing name it is quite work safe.
Nathan Fillion PG Porn
I guess Castle doesn't watch Mythbusters, or he'd know that an ice bullet would vaporize upon firing.
You're right. Here's a paper about amnesia myths. I wanted to link to it in my initial post, but wouldn't you know it, I forgot where I found it.
Don't invade my fantasy with your lame reality!!! 
You're right. Here's a paper about amnesia myths. I wanted to link to it in my initial post, but wouldn't you know it, I forgot where I found it.
I was actually hoping we'd hear one of the detectives say something like "Ice bullets are impossible. Don't you watch Mythbusters?"
This was a pretty shitty episode. Big disappointment. First since show start that I ended up playing in the background because I walked away to do other things. Even staring at Beckett didn't save it. (By the way, other than showing Stana in a wet shirt, what exactly was the point of the scene with Castle spilling coffee on her? It seemed to just be there, with no set up or follow up. She somehow wasn't burned badly, changed and that was it.)
The end reveal was retarded, as pointed out, and the whole amnesia bit was cliche as well as handled ineptly, what with the near constant reference to Jay being unable to remember shit.
"How do you take your coffee?"
"Good question. I don't know...because I have amnesia."
The writer, Grae, has done two other eps that were decent. Don't know about the director. Nearly everything about the ep felt off, though. Kind of a going through the motions, but no one was really up for it this week or something.
The end reveal was retarded, as pointed out, and the whole amnesia bit was cliche as well as handled ineptly, what with the near constant reference to Jay being unable to remember shit.
"How do you take your coffee?"
"Good question. I don't know...because I have amnesia."
The writer, Grae, has done two other eps that were decent. Don't know about the director. Nearly everything about the ep felt off, though. Kind of a going through the motions, but no one was really up for it this week or something.
I'm kind of glad that I missed this episode now.
Yeah, I thought that scene stuck out like a sore thumb and didn't have much of a point. It's like they were short of footage for the episode and thought it would be funny to have Castle spill hot coffee on Becket's chest. Wrong!