Castle 4.03: "Head Case"

[icepixie]

Okay, the writer of that has to be a Fringe fan, I mean really. Becket & co. wander, guns drawn, into a spooky cryo facility storing bodies in space age capsules? Esposito and Ryan find a homemade operating room of horrors in a no tell motel? The victim's frozen head is stolen? Hell, the ending, with Castle and Becket hoping the frozen lovers get their happy ending in the future, is kind of Fringey, both for the sci-fi aspect (not to mention the "using sci-fi to illuminate a story about love" method it uses) and the hopeful twist Fringe often ends its episodes with. Not to mention there was that completely unconnected opening where we track from space down to the city, which just set the scene.

Even at the very beginning of the episode, when Ryan said, "Ack, that word, 'pattern.' Jenny and I are..." I was sure he was going to finish that sentence with "watching Fringe, and now patterns freak me out." Because you Ryan is totally the type to get into that show.

So, yeah, that was basically what I got from that episode. There was also Alexis thankfully getting rejected from Stanford; maybe now they'll let up on her Ashley obsession. Poor kid, though. I've totally been in that place where you realize you were only good at school and now you have to find something else (haha, I've been in that place for about five years now), so I can certainly empathize with what she's going through. I was glad they at least gave us the one line about Alexis being disappointed because she wanted to go to Stanford on her own, not just because Ashley was there.

Back to the case for one moment: to use a pun Castle would be proud of, when chasing Dr. Whatshisface down the fire escape, why did neither Beckett nor Castle think to head him off at the pass the moment they heard the window break rather than sloooooowly following him down the fire escape? Presumably there was an actual staircase in the hall. Ah, well, at least it provided the impetus for some banter and one-liners.

Comments

[nickless.livejournal.com]

All I kept thinking was that Beckett's snakeskin-print shirt buttoned all the way to the top was godawful UGLY...

[icepixie]

I...totally missed it. I mean, I remember that it was a black/white/gray animal print, but nothing more than that. Probably a good thing! :)

[rowdycamels.livejournal.com]

Ha, opening an episode IN SPACE is always promising! Super Fringe-y! And no, Ryan, you are not allowed to use the word "pattern" in this episode.

Hooraaaaaayyyy Alexis didn't get into Stanford! Apparently the only thing strong enough to snap her out of the Ashley obsession was a hit to her pride. But I just can't buy the context. The Castles let Alexis apply to just one school? Granted, it's early, but just one school?? I don't care how precocious and adorable your kid is, you don't let her get away with thinking that getting into a top school is just a matter of ticking a box! Castle is not that bad a parent! Castle is not that unworrying a parent! Poor Alexis has been getting TERRIBLE writing lately!

Giving her her first big stumbling block was a good move, though. Nice to get her used to the crushing disappointment that is early adulthood right out of the gate.

why did neither Beckett nor Castle think to head him off at the pass the moment they heard the window break rather than sloooooowly following him down the fire escape?

Uh, why was nobody stationed in the alley when they were approaching a suspect likely to not want to talk to cops? Doesn't this scenario happen constantly on, like, every cop show? Don't Beckett and Castle watch tv?

This was excellent, though:

C: "OMG LOOK HE WENT OUT THE WINDOW AND DOWN THE FIRE ESCAPE!!!"
B: "Gee, ya think?"
C: "Just excited."

[icepixie]

Ha, opening an episode IN SPACE is always promising!

Haha, I was watching it on Hulu, and when it did that I seriously wondered if I had clicked on some other show by mistake.

Super Fringe-y!

Insanely so.

And no, Ryan, you are not allowed to use the word "pattern" in this episode.

I so wish they'd had him say he and Jenny were marathoning the show! But I guess ABC might get ticked at them for promoting a show on a competing network.

Hooraaaaaayyyy Alexis didn't get into Stanford!

Yaaaaay I feel like a horrible person but yaaaaaaaaay!

Apparently the only thing strong enough to snap her out of the Ashley obsession was a hit to her pride.

I have a feeling that's true for a lot of people, especially teens...

The Castles let Alexis apply to just one school? Granted, it's early, but just one school??

But isn't she starting the admissions process a semester early? So she has a whole semester to apply for regular fall admission at a mess of schools.

Giving her her first big stumbling block was a good move, though. Nice to get her used to the crushing disappointment that is early adulthood right out of the gate.

Yup yup! I didn't really get that lesson until after graduating from Kenyon.

Uh, why was nobody stationed in the alley when they were approaching a suspect likely to not want to talk to cops? Doesn't this scenario happen constantly on, like, every cop show? Don't Beckett and Castle watch tv?

Seriously!!

C: "Just excited."

Awww, it's like we're back to S1, before the angst took over!

[rowdycamels.livejournal.com]

But I guess ABC might get ticked at them for promoting a show on a competing network.

Community and Cougar Town (NBC/ABC) do it!

I have a feeling that's true for a lot of people, especially teens...

At this point I'd support a horrific car accident for Alexis if it meant getting her old personality back. I'm a horrible person but yaaaaaaaay!

So she has a whole semester to apply for regular fall admission at a mess of schools.

I suppose so. But that Castle and Martha even let her take for granted that she would automatically get in, that's awful. Because you know she never had a backup plan.

Yup yup! I didn't really get that lesson until after graduating from Kenyon.

We were late arrivals to the Early Adult Life Sucks Pagent!

Awww, it's like we're back to S1, before the angst took over!

Awww, back in the day!

[graycardinal]

Unless I've been badly mis-hearing the dialogue, Alexis had applied to Stanford under an Early Decision process, in which the protocol is indeed that you apply to only one school -- but commit, should that school admit you, to actually accepting and attending that school. This can improve your odds of getting into your college of choice, as there is an advantage to the college in knowing that your applicant won't throw you over in favor of a better offer elsewhere. If one isn't accepted at one's Early Decision school, one simply moves on with the rest of the application process as normal, and then likely applies to several schools.

Mind you, I am surprised that Stanford didn't admit Alexis, although not for the reason one might think. Given that her academic record is good enough that she'd consider applying ED in the first place, the Stanford admissions people should have fallen all over themselves to accept Richard Castle's daughter, with the attendant likelihood of generous donations to the endowment down the line (and the attendant prestige for Stanford of having a Castle in their student body).

Also, this episode leaves entirely untouched the shoe-dropping line from a certain prior conversation, about Alexis proposing to move in with Ashley. That remark will certainly have caused Castle (if not most of us viewers) to leap to certain conclusions regarding the closeness of the Alexis/Ashley relationship. Yet Ashley is evidently still alive as of this week, and that subject completely fails to come up in connection with the present discussions, as Castle talks both with Alexis and with Beckett. This is...odd, to say the least.

[rowdycamels.livejournal.com]

Is it still technically Early Decision if she's applying to start school in January? How does one even apply for January-of-senior-year-in-high-school admittance into a fancypants school? Besides being Richard Castle's daughter and loaded, I mean? And wouldn't the application period be significantly earlier than three months prior to the intended enrollment date?

Still, I can't believe Castle and Martha let her cruise along in her "Well obviously I'll get into Stanford, dur!" mindset without making her squeeze out at least some sort of safety school, if not a fully-realized Plan B. October of your senior year is a bit late for beginning your "Hm, what sort of prestigious college might I like to apply to?" research, if I remember correctly.

the Stanford admissions people should have fallen all over themselves to accept Richard Castle's daughter

This too! Alexis is practically oozing money and fame for whichever school she ends up at! So much of this college subplot has so little to do with logic and reality!

Also, this episode leaves entirely untouched the shoe-dropping line from a certain prior conversation, about Alexis proposing to move in with Ashley.

...I had completely forgotten that. Possibly because the show pretended that it never happened. Why isn't Ashley the subject of the latest murder investigation? Why doesn't the writing for Alexis make any sort of sense anymore?

[alethialia.livejournal.com]

I was glad they at least gave us the one line about Alexis being disappointed because she wanted to go to Stanford on her own, not just because Ashley was there.

WORD. But at the same time...we never actually saw her wanting to go there for any other reason than Ashley. So while I'm pleased we at least got the line, they still could've done better with this.

But hey, I'll take what I can get.

[icepixie]

we never actually saw her wanting to go there for any other reason than Ashley.

I feel like we got something last season, but I can't remember what it was or which episode. It might have been as simple as, "Hey, it's a great school and I'd like to move to California." Either way, though, not nearly enough. They could've at least given her an intended major that Stanford has a highly-regarded program in.