“Beckett, how come you don’t wear a uniform like that?” – one of the cops she works with (I know, I’m going to have to learn their names eventually)
“Because I don’t want to get paid in singles.” – Beckett
I wrote in my preview post that Castle‘s season two premiere was not only great, but it held many promises that season two could be even stronger than season one. Now I can’t wait to get into the particulars with you, since they aren’t spoilers anymore.
Beckett’s sidekicks — they had lines! Real lines! I bet their mothers are proud, but it’s also nice to give the secondary characters something to do. I like to be entertained even when Beckett and Castle aren’t on screen. And this quote?
“I don’t think she’s gonna make it. She’s got that Scanners look, you know, right before her head’s about to explode.” – one of the sidekicks about Beckett, as she’s being interviewed about Castle
Entertaining.
I’m also really enjoying the slight grounding they’ve given Castle’s mom. She actually counseled him in this episode on what to do about Beckett being angry with him about him poking into her mother’s murder, a good start for making her more real and more likable. And Castle’s daughter? Still likable, still giving great advice and still the perfect foil for her grandmother.
I do have a couple of complaints, but they are just itsy-bitsy ones. I know she’s listed in the credits, and probably she was even in the episode, but just who the hell is Lanie? All of a sudden she’s Beckett’s BFF and confidante, and I literally do not remember her from season one. Is it just me? I wish they had made this relationship grow a bit more organically, but I suppose it is another secondary character that they’re trying to strengthen this season, so more power to them, I guess.
You all know that I embrace any poker game on Castle with unabashed glee, but really, did you find this one a bit underused? Yes, we learned that all of Castle’s poker buds think he’s got a crush on Beckett, and also the name of the club with the murdering Russian, but beyond that, a very uneventful poker game. Stephen J. Cannell and Michael Connelly were wasted. More please?
Other stuff:
Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Sep 21, 2009 @ 23:00 EST5EDT
I don’t know the sidekicks names either but if Lanie is the coroner she was in almost every episode in the first season and I believe they established her and Beckett as friends in the pilot. They gossiped and had girl talk (such as it was) about Castle when he first showed up I think. I’ll have to re-watch.
*POST AUTHOR*
Man, she was so under the radar for me. It seemed really unnatural to have her be such a big part of the premiere when I barely remember her from the first season.
Aside from the pilot you see Beckett waiting around for Lanie at the morgue in the dead politician episode right before she and Castle talk to the escort (“Guess who’s got a date with a prostitute” — Castle) and Lanie is there to help Beckett go through her closet for the charity black-tie event. I don’t think it is that inorganic. There is only so much air time you can give, but I believe the friendship.
Javier and Kevin are the guys, I think. And yeah, like Michael said, Lanie was in most, if not all, of last seasons episodes.
I like that they veered away from Castle’s novels as a catalyst or they’d have to seriously view him as a serial killer. I also liked that they gave Lanie a better role. Although they featured her in the first 5 minutes of each episode as the coroner/Beckett’s only friend, I felt the character lacked depth, particularly considering her limited lines fit into ‘sassy, single sidekick’ or ‘sassy black woman’ stereotypes.
However, I still want to see more development for Beckett’s team. And, towards the mid-to-end eps, they revised mama Castle to be less shallow while keeping the fun, but this time, I felt they muted her too much.
Also, I have one mini-fem rant. I’ve noticed that the Mentalist, The Listener, and a BBC show ‘City’-something typically feature the head female detective in non-business wear such as tank tops, jeans and 2.5 inch heels, while her male team members sport suits. So, I liked that S1 Castle allowed Beckett to wear flats she could run in and business suits, but they did away with that 4 S2 :(
Yeah,Javier Esposito is the black one and Kevin Ryan is the skinny white one,I like Ryan,he’s funny,but Rick’s hot.