Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Castle 8x07 “The Last Seduction” (Buffering) [Contributor: Hope]

"The Last Seduction"
Original Airdate: November 16, 2015

Well, here we are again. Another week of TSTSNBN (The Storyline That Shall Not Be Named. The acronym grew on me, what can I say?) Except this time around, I felt like the case took up a larger portion of the episode than any other has so far this season (not counting the two-part premiere, since that case revolved around the main characters). Honestly, I just wasn’t that invested in this mystery. It got kind of convoluted, and while the final face-off between the murderer and Esposito gave us some great scenes, the case didn’t hold my attention like some of the others have this season.

HAYLEY

Hayley popped in on an errand unrelated to the case, and got enlisted to go undercover with Beckett. She found out that Esposito and Ryan were working with Castle, and she mentioned it in Beckett’s presence, not realizing it was a secret. I appreciate that she knows the rest of the team well enough at this point to know when to run out of the room. Once again, the writers slowly-but-surely added to her dynamic with the team, and it seems like a good sign. As I said last week, I’m hoping her and Beckett become good friends, because Hayley fits in so well with the rest of the group and Beckett needs some other women to interact with.

Seriously. I know that Lanie doesn’t exactly get a lot of screen time to begin with, but I feel like we really haven’t seen much of her this season. It’s a shame, because she’s funny and provides a good dose of common sense. Right now Beckett’s the one dishing out the common sense, and let’s face it, you can’t dish common sense out to yourself.

Here’s my question, and I know I’m still under the Hayley header, but bear with me –– are they keeping Lanie away in order to pull off TSTSNBN? Surely she’d be slapping Beckett upside the head for this whole mess, even if it is supposedly for the greater good. I’m just saying.


CASTLE AND BECKETT

Don’t even get me started with these two.

The single balloon appearing out of nowhere was sweet and surprisingly subtle, and the whole surprise anniversary thing made for a great few scenes. Ryan and Esposito got to work with Castle and be sneaky, which lightened up their little spat a bit. I approve of this whole aspect of the episode, because it called back to the giant cupcake that began the season.

Castle and Beckett gave Ryan and Esposito some relationship advice, and there was a little –– subtle, but there –– contrast between their points of view. While Beckett believed that a solid relationship could withstand anything, Castle said it could face everything except lies. He knows full well that Beckett is working on that case –– and he’s probably going to start figuring out what exactly it’s about, now that he’s seen that text –– so I’m not sure that I see the complete connection here. However, the main point is that for one person, love is invincible; and for the other, it’s not. Perhaps Castle is a little jaded from his previous two marriages, but I think it goes beyond this and their current perspectives, which they’re both biased towards. Castle is the childish one, but Beckett is the one with the idealistic concept of love. It makes them and TSTSNBN more complex, which is a good thing. I know they’re not actually back together, though, and the more complex something is, the longer it can be dragged out.

I didn’t like that expression on Castle’s face at the end of the episode. He looked worried and hurt and conflicted, all at once. He also looked torn about what to do, and I have very little doubt that he’s going to get involved in the case like Slaughter said to in last week’s episode. With next week’s episode being the winter finale, something somewhat decisive has got to happen, and I’m both nervous and relieved. This storyline needs to stay in 2015... agreed?


RYAN AND ESPOSITO

The episode started off with these two in therapy, where it was decided that they had trust and jealously issues (Esposito and Ryan, respectively). The therapist also suggested that they needed a "buffer." Castle, of course, was their go-to choice, and it was a different way to bring him into the storyline. There are only so many cases he can weasel his way into as a private investigator, after all. Ryan and Espo were tossing insults at each other and asking for other partners, so Castle introduced the concept of writing down their arguments in notepads to avoid saying anything in the heat of the moment. However, Castle acting as a buffer only dragged out their fight. The buffering might have bought them enough time to get to the face-off scene without completely bailing on each other beforehand, but they needed to face their problems, not stop those problems from happening.

That said, whole thing was pretty comical, but not something I wanted to be dragged out for too long. This was about to become The OTHER Storyline That Shall Not Be Named when the lawyer pulled a gun on Esposito. The expression on Espo’s face was simply scared, and I don’t know whether this was the director’s suggestion or Jon Huertas’ doing, but it was perfect. Then Ryan tackled him to the ground and in the process, got shot in the chest/notepad. When Ryan was lying on the ground and unresponsive, Espo knelt over him, so worried. It was a little reminiscent of "Knockout," from season three.

It doesn’t matter that this is a bromance. The bond these two is so strong and so crucial to the series. They made up back at the precinct. Esposito pointed out to Ryan, "You’ve got a pregnant wife at home, and a little girl who depends on you, and you still..." Then his voice broke off and they hugged it out. Now, the show needs to leave it at this. They reconciled, and that needs to be it. No more episode-long fights between these two, at least until the end of the season. A show can only mess with so many of its relationships consistently before it becomes annoying.

However, from next week’s promo, it seems that Ryan and Esposito might be on their own, so who knows what kind of drama the show will try to involve them in. Let’s just hope that it’s from an outside source and not a friendship-breaking argument. And let’s also hope that the title "Mr. and Mrs. Castle" is a good sign.

Notepad
  • "Congratulations, you’ve got yourself a buffer."
  • "Operation booyah!"
  • "Time out." Um, YOU’RE NOT CHILDREN.
  • The three wives recognized Beckett pretty quickly, and I’m glad. She’s a captain and the wife of a bestselling author. She should be recognizable to at least some people at this point.
  • On a related note: These three wives were so stereotypical. I get that this is a staple of Castle –– using trope characters to the show’s advantage –– and that if they spent more of the focus on these one-off characters, we’d get less of the main cast. However, it doesn’t take all that much to make a character round, because it can be done subtly if it’s done right. This is where I would go off into a rant, but I’ll spare you all that.
  • Beckett just snaps her fingers and Espo and Ryan just hand the video feed over.
  • "But like the stories you write, Mr. Castle, you get to decide how this story ends."
  • Once again, Alexis saved the day.
  • Alexis, Castle, Espo, and Ryan need to theorize together more often.
  • *Ryan and Espo get angry* *both whip out pens and notepads*
  • "You’re a wise man, Castle, with a big heart."
  • They couldn’t go to dinner because their friends needed them. PRIORITIES.
  • "One day we were finishing each other’s sentences, the next..." They really ARE like Caskett, aren’t they?
  • "Isn’t that why you put [the notepad] there?"
  • The Annoyingness of the Caskett Breakup Score: 7

1 comment:

  1. It got kind of convoluted, and while the final face-off between the murderer and Esposito gave us some great scenes, the case didn’t hold my attention like some of the others have this season.coaching seduction

    ReplyDelete