Castle – Rise

Castle is back! This was definitely one of my top five, if not my most, anticipated season premieres this fall. (Though the Castle makeover my site got may have clued you in, and don’t forget the giveaway! Ten days left.) And I was not disappointed.

Spoilers, as usual, abound in this episode review, so come back later if you haven’t yet seen “Rise”!

Of course we knew Beckett wasn’t dead. The episode opened (after a quick “previously on”) just minutes after the shooting, with Lanie trying to keep Kate alive. In an interesting twist, Josh is the one who has to start operating on her until another doctor gets there. It’s kind of nice that we got a little bit of closure on him before Beckett breaks up with him somewhere in the three-month hiatus.

Yes, after Castle visits Kate in the hospital for two minutes, in which she tells him that she doesn’t remember what happened (including his profession of love) and that she needs space, they don’t talk for three entire months. And while I hate how terrible that was for Castle, I think it was a great move for the episode and this season. It helps the two get back to their camaraderie without negating what Castle told her – it instead tempers it with time and silence. It clues the viewers in that it’s still going to be a while until these characters get together.

The three months gave Ryan and Esposito time to figure out Gates, the new captain, while still making her new to Beckett. I love how they’re sneaking around Gates’ back, and I like the twist that they have to be extra careful that Gates doesn’t investigate Montgomery.

While Beckett recovered, Castle kept himself busy, finishing his book (though less than three months from finishing first draft to published novel is a bit of a fantasy) and helping Ryan and Esposito hunt the killer. I absolutely love how Beckett approaches him at the book signing.

The case in this episode is understandably non-twisty, given that there are far weightier matters to take up screen time. It simply gave us the opportunity to see that Castle’s out-of-the-box thinking is still a valuable asset to the team, and Beckett’s emotional scars are going to take a little longer to heal.

I assumed that Montgomery sent the files to Castle, but instead they went to someone else, as insurance to protect Beckett and the others (too bad they hadn’t arrived before the shooting at the funeral). And now Castle has to keep Beckett from pursuing the case. I love that Castle confided in his mom about it, and how concerned Alexis was for her father, not only with him being in danger physically, but emotionally as well. They were the two who had to pick up his pieces during those three months of silence.

And the final twist of the episode, where Kate admits the truth to her psychiatrist, I definitely saw coming. It was obvious in the way she reacted in the hospital that she remembered Castle’s “I love you.” Now the big question is, when will she tell Castle the truth?

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Castle – September Giveaway

This giveaway is over – check out my latest giveaway here!

I’ve only blogged specifically about Castle once before, which is sad considering that it’s one of my favorite shows. I plan to do better with season four, which starts this month. And in honor of the new season, and to celebrate the new Castle-themed look for my sidebar, I’m giving away a Castle season one DVD set!

Already have it? No worries. If the winner prefers, they can receive a $10 Amazon gift card instead. Last month’s winner was Abbi!

Castle is what happens when a charming novelist teams up with a passionate cop to solve crimes in New York City. The writing and acting on this show is top-notch, and it mixes humor, drama, and simmering-just-under-the-surface romance perfectly.

 

To enter the giveaway:

Leave a comment on any blog post on this website. Your comment should add to the discussion (at least several sentences is good), and be relevant to the post’s subject. For example, you can comment on this post about what you love about Castle, what sort of giveaways you’d enjoy in the future, or what you think will happen in the season premiere. Any posts flagged as spam will not qualify (though I plan to scan through them to make sure all real comments get through). Every post you leave a comment on will count as one entry. If you leave relevant comments on 50 posts, you will get 50 entries.

Tweeting about the contest with a link back to this page will give you 5 extra entries the first time you tweet, and 1 extra entry per day for any tweets after that.

Linking to this contest on your blog, Facebook, or Google+ will give you 10 extra entries the first time, and 1 extra entry per day after that.

The Rules:

Contest begins September 1, 2011 at 12:01AM EDT and ends September 30, 2011, at 11:59PM EDT. All entries received outside that time period are invalid.

Winner will be chosen at random from all eligible entries received.

Open to everyone 16 or older with a valid email and mailing address. A winner residing outside the US may have to pay an additional fee for shipping. (Feel free to select an e-gift card instead!)

Winner must provide a way to contact (email, website, Facebook, etc.) and respond to winning notification within 3 days or prize may be awarded to someone else.

To receive your additional entries for promoting this contest, email me at katie at tvbreakroom dot com to let me know what promotion you did.

What counts as a relevant comment will be at my sole discretion. Comments should be made in English. You may leave as many comments per day as you wish, but only one comment per blog post will be counted as an entry for the contest.

These rules may change at my discretion.

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Castle – Lotto Cash, Lotto Suspects

Castle is one of those rare shows I fell in love with before the first episode ended.

Of course, the premise was chock-full of things to make me fall in love with it.

Genre? Check. I love crime dramas. I’m currently watching about 8 different ones that are still running.

Actor? Check. I’ve been a fan of Nathan Fillion since the first episode of Firefly.

Setting? Check. New York City is awesome.

And then they threw in the clincher – the show is about a writer. And not just any kind of writer, but a novelist.

I didn’t need to watch it to love it.

But on top of all that promise, they added other great actors (especially the lovely Stana Katic), beautiful visuals, and a stellar script.

I think it was destined to become one of my favorite shows.

After last week’s intense episode, I was looking forward how Castle would return to a “typical” episode this week without being boring. They succeeded. From Castle’s insistence that the butler did it to the rapping brothers, this episode had hairpin turns, humor, and heart. The only thing that seemed lacking was that Ryan and Esposito’s conversation about Lanie was a bit too short.

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