Castle: "Knockout"

[icepixie]

I...you know, I really am just not sure what to make of this episode. It made me tear up, it left me vibrating in my chair with the tension, it made me curse and yell at the TV a hell of a lot, and in the end I just...don't know where to go with it. I think...it might be the best of the serious episodes they've done? But I'm not sure. I think I need to process for a while.

I was super, super, SUPER pissed off about Montgomery being the third cop, because JESUS, what a way to assassinate a character, but then he got his big redemption moment and outsmarted/killed Lockwood, and I was suddenly completely--well, all right, not entirely, but mostly--okay with it. I think I have more of a problem with him lying to Beckett since the day he met her than I do with him being a bad cop in his misspent youth. But I guess my disillusionment as an audience member was meant to mirror the other characters', so bravo there.

(Speaking of which, we need to talk for a moment about that text message Ryspoito sent Beckett. First of all, is this really the kind of news you deliver through text message? Also, the way it was phrased, "3rd cop - It's Montgomery!" just kind of made it sound like he'd won a game show or something. Maybe exclamation marks don't need to be used in this kind of scenario.)

I have similarly mixed feelings on the rest of the episode. First off, I loved SO VERY, VERY MUCH the angry conversation between Beckett and Castle where he called her on the way she'd disappeared into her mother's case and on the relationship dance they're doing, and she got angry, and he got angry in return (and wow, he sounded like Captain Mal right there!), and then she said it was over between them. That was so awesome, and it really needed to happen, especially the bits about their will they/won't they thing.

I've grown a bit tired of everyone and their dog telling Castle and Beckett it's obvious they have FEEEEEELINGS for each other, but I do like it when Martha says these things, because I can absolutely buy her being meddlesome in her son's emotional life. I mean, hell, it's Martha! That's what she does! And I liked her phrasing of it this time, too. Beckett's father...maybe not so much, but whatever, it was fine.

I don't know what to do with Castle literally carrying Beckett away from the scene when Lockwood & co. have their showdown with Montgomery. My not-so-inner-really feminist bristles, but at the same time, that was Montgomery's moment, and Kate wasn't leaving any other way, so...yeah, I guess that was kind of it. The whole scene was really nicely shot and acted. Beckett and Castle half-collapsing against the side of the car, her hating him and at the same time taking comfort from him, while Montgomery did his thing was particularly poignant.

The ending...oh, dear. I'm not entirely sold on it. Beckett getting shot at the funeral--okay, fine. It's a season finale, I guess they wanted a cliffhanger of some sort. Castle saying "I love you"...maybe less okay, although I guess the moments with Martha and Beckett's dad, not to mention Beckett's own glance at him when she said the bit about if you're lucky you'll find someone to stand with you, didn't leave a lot of wiggle-room.

But if Beckett wakes up in S4 with amnesia, I am going to be SO TICKED OFF. REALLY.

Okay, on the whole I guess I'm falling more on the "amazing" side, with some caveats. This does give the writers a lot of interesting territory to play with next season.

1. Is Beckett going to just go back to her job, even though obviously the Big Bad Dude is really gunning for her? (Heh. Gunning for her. Sorry.) Surely they have to resolve that in some manner, or at least put it to rest for a while, because otherwise she's stuck in Witness Protection.

2. Who's going to take Montgomery's place? (Please let it be a female character! I would love that!)

3. And of course, what's going to happen with Beckett and Castle? Are we finally going to get some real forward movement, or are they just going to forget it ever happened? (If they do, I quit.) How are things going to change now that it's out there?

*

And for your completely unrelated amusement: this clip from a late episode of Cheers in which Dana Delany is the worst kindergarten teacher ever. Heh. I could see Megan doing something like that if she were a kindergarten teacher.

(P.S. I think we had those same pictures of animals with the color names on them in my early elementary school classes! This was 1992, so it would've been around the same time...)

Comments

[rensong.livejournal.com]

I spoiled myself, so it wasn't as shocking as it could've been. I think I agree with you on most of it, though - the whole scene from the moment she got the text to the moment she ran back into the hanger was phenomenal, and I dearly loved it even as I was pissed off about the Writers That Be making him the third cop. The scene with Becket and Castle at her apartment was also great and I agree, very much needed to be done.

Ryan and Esposito near broke my heart when they found out, especially Esposito's reaction once they got back out in the ally and Ryan being so... *partnerly* and awesome and I have so much love for those two. And thank to your spoilers (I read them when I was about halfway through the episode during one of the Hulu commercials, cause I figure I had restrained myself long enough), I was able to almost not notice the exclamation point in the text. :)

After all that with Montgomery and the showdown and the awesomely done scenes before it, Kate getting shot at the funeral just seemed... kind of tacked on, almost to the point of taking away Montgomery's sacrifice. It would've been better without that, or even if they had faded to black the moment the shot was fired and we were left not knowing who was hit. Really unhappy with the "I love you" from Castle, too, because again, it just seemed... less... than it could've been. If they just had to leave in the shooting and Beckett falling and bleeding and passing out, I would've been more impressed if he had left it at "Kate, stay with me" or "Please don't leave me".

Dear Castle Writers

You have such amazing characters and some phenomenal moments and scenes that are Made of Awesome all on their own. Then you take away from them by doing something... typical.

Stop trying to be the popular, cool kid who is exactly the same as every other popular, cool kid in every other school (or network in your case), because trust me - these days, "popular and cool" is about a dime a dozen and I know I am not the only one who is kind of tired of them. Instead, try for the class clown who everyone likes just because they are not afraid to be just exactly the way they are - you're good at that, or at least you have been in the past and that is why I started loving you. If that isn't good enough, how about the quiet unassuming type who proceeds to blow everyone the f**** away the moment he picks up a violin? There is such great potential in your writerly brains, it seems a shame to waste it on trying be exactly the same as everyone else out there.

Cliches are boring. Seriously, you can do better.

[singer-shaper.livejournal.com]

I just finished watching, and it strikes me more like a TV movie than a real episode. I've never really liked the huge drama shift the show does whenever it deals with Beckett's mother, and the "hand of God" coming into it with Lockwood and Montgomery just seemed totally inconsistent with the normal tone of the show.

Having said that, I also like Castle calling Beckett out on halting the will-they/won't-they, and I'll probably be watching Season 4 just to see what happens.

[rowdycamels.livejournal.com]

it made me curse and yell at the TV a hell of a lot

I know! I was all, "Stop fighting! You love each other!" At... Ryan and Esposito, lol. But seriously, watching them get angry at each other was painful to watch. Those two need more emotional scenes than they get.

I think my biggest complaint about this episode (besides the occasional clunky dialogue) was that I saw the whole Montgomery thing coming pretty much from start to finish. And you know if I saw it coming, something's wrong with the script. But as for the whole 3rd cop thing... it worked for me. It was sad, though, that when Castle needed somebody to talk to, he went to his mother, and Beckett... went to Montgomery. Aww. (And this makes the LA thing less ridiculous in retrospect: it was the final proof of "really, Montgomery, you can't call Beckett off a case.")

Maybe exclamation marks don't need to be used in this kind of scenario.

Well, it's not quite a period sort of information delivery either, really...

(and wow, he sounded like Captain Mal right there!)

Heh, yes. I think Castle was channeling his inner cowboy there. I liked that he got pissed at her - he's always so meek and supportive of her, and it's about time he blew up and called her out on all her crap.

Beckett's father...maybe not so much, but whatever, it was fine.

I enjoyed that scene just for the moment of sheer terror in Castle's eyes at finding her dad on his doorstep.

My not-so-inner-really feminist bristles, but at the same time, that was Montgomery's moment, and Kate wasn't leaving any other way, so...yeah, I guess that was kind of it.

Arg, I know, I'm right there with you. On the one hand, I thought, "Beckett, you're a cop, you can fight him!" but a) Castle is a hefty guy, and b) part of her recognized she needed to be dragged away.

As for the funeral... yeah, there needed to be the obvious threat of Shadowy Dude still hunting Beckett, so yeah, shooting, fine. And Castle's emotional logorrhea... I saw it not so much as bad writing (not that that wasn't present here) but more of a sign that Castle is becoming unhinged on the subject, and geez Beckett, you really need to address this issue before he goes completely bonkers.

WHICH IS WHY SHE DOESN'T NEED AMNESIA NEXT SEASON.

Also, while you are spewing Feelings, Castle, she is spewing blood. APPLY PRESSURE TO THE WOUND AUUUURRRRRGHHHHH!!!

But yes, good episode, overall.


a late episode of Cheers in which Dana Delany is the worst kindergarten teacher ever

bwahahaha! (but 1992? She STILL looks ten years younger than her age, even then!) Also, those color-animals look eerily familiar to me, as well...