Castle Seasons 1-4
"When a psychopath commits murders based on novelist Castle's books, Detective Beckett seeks his help to solve the case. He decides to work with her and uses his experiences as research for his novels."
- IMDB
Castle was one of my favorite shows of all time during high school. Nathan Fillion has been such a constant face in my life. Returning to the best seasons of Castle was quite nostalgic and a fun blast from the past.
Season 1 was a such a solid start. We were introduced to Castle & Beckett, portrayed by the amazing Nathan Fillion & Stana Katic. When I was younger, obviously I shipped them, but I did not realize just how deep their on screen chemistry actually was. Caskett is so flirting with each other on day 0. I don’t know, I just don’t remember these 2 being this ON with each other so soon, and I watched these seasons at least 5 times in high school. Maybe because it’s been so long since I’ve watched, but yeah.... they are definitely the highlight of the show in so many ways, the characters and actors, and it’s so great to see that established so early on in the show, whereas some shows take a while for everything to set up.
I love their other counterparts as well. Beckett’s team – consisting of the iconic Ryan and Espo and Lany – are always a joy to watch especially with each other. Making Castle a dad was literally the greatest thing they could’ve possibly done. His relationship and scenes with Alexis bring so much depth and heart to the character. Otherwise, it would just be 40 minutes of Nathan Fillion being a ruggedly handsome charismatic a-hole. Which.... you know... is fine too.
Beckett’s own backstory is equally important to Beckett’s depth. There’s really a lot to pull apart from the arc and what comes with it. It ends up being a grand scheme that has dire consequences.... like it gets deep. Though it’s only vaguely touched upon in this initial season.
Season 2 - everything picks up. Not just Beckett’s arc, but the cases, the humor, the stories. This is honestly one of my favorite seasons. The banter is top notch. Our first two-parter..... I probably needed a lot of therapy from how Castle two-parters made me feel. But that first cliffhanger with Beckett’s apartment exploding is my first memory of the series. I was hooked, and it didn’t take long because it’s followed by the cursed mummy episode, which is totally my favorite. And there was a solid Halloween episode that includes a scene of Nathan Fillion standing in a graveyard making a Buffy reference whilst wearing his iconic Firefly costume....... that happened.
It’s so weird how I’ve seen this season so many times, though I haven’t seen it in like 10 years, there are so many lines and scenes that I just quoted. Obviously the intro is included in this.... The familiarity was so weird, like how did I quote a scene before it happened? I kind of wanna watch Bones again because that was the other show I watched obsessively like this. Nothing more dangerous than a teenage fangirl with a dvd player.
Getting into season 3, I was kind of getting annoyed with Alexis a little bit. Well not her, but her episodic arcs. I’m tired of people looking at Castle like he’s dumb like “dumby she’s a teenage girl how don’t you know these things” like bro I was a teen girl and I have no idea what Alexis is on about sometimes and she comes across as annoying in these moments.
The rest of the season was pretty solid. Had some great episodes like Close Encounters of the Murderous Kind, the bomb two-parter. O m f g I didn’t realize just how much Knockdown altered my brain chemistry. Rather, I completely forgot. I printed out screen shots and taped them to my wall for a time, but dang.... watching now I don’t think this was overreacting. This was the episode with the first always, their first KISS. They took down the hitman and when Beckett was like I’ll be here week... after week.... oooooohh. And it all started with the "she was pretty tasty" interrogation when she slammed him into the glass daaaaang Knockdown was it. It really was.
Now... again.... I’ve watched this season multiple times but somehow.... I just never realized how much foreshadowing there was to the season finale. Literally, season 3 premiere hinted at the sniping incident. There was just so many passing comments through the season that caught me off guard, like even in the freezer when Beckett was like "thought I’d take a bullet instead of freezing to death" – had screenshots of that episode too - but the writers were just waiting. And then it happened...... The captain is dead, Beckett is shot, Castle says "I love you kate." The summer of 2011 was not kind to me....
You know I always... uh... always knew Stana and Nathan were brilliant in these roles, but this latest marathon, I see it so much clearly then when I was in high school. The season 4 premiere was so solid because of this. Obviously we had an intense start, Beckett basically died. Seeing her loved ones at the ER, it was just a whole emotional scene. When Beckett talks to Castle again on the swing – there it was. Not just the brilliance but the ingenious dialogue. Again, their dialogue has always been well written, but the way Beckett talked about the walls she built and the way Stana’a eyes were saying “dude imma pretend I don’t know but please hear my words "I just want you" ahhh too soon. Anyways, one of the best premieres of the series followed by one of the best finales. "everyone is gone castle" okay bro sorry I’ll stop talking about the premiere lol "I remember everything" OKAY okay okay....okay....
I lied. Season 4 is my favorite season, Cops and robber, killshot, cuffed, Blue butterfly – This is effing Castle guys. The bomb episode where Castle learns the truth was dark.... followed by a couple episodes where Castle was stupidly annoying.... but you forget all about that in the season finale. Oh.... the season finale??? The episode entitled ALWAYS !!!!!!!! If Knockdown altered my brain chemistry, then Always was just a whole nuclear explosion. That summer, I must’ve watched that episode on our dvr like twice a week. I have Alexis’s speech still memorized, much to my surprise. The ending scene when they get together, still memorized because that scene lives rent free in my mind. In my veins... still one of my favorite songs. Looking back.... every episode leading to the season 4 finale was such a well written story. If there weren’t a handful of fun episodes after, I’d say, end your marathon here because after this finale, you’ve seen Castle at it’s peak. Like seriously.
Now one could say rewatching this show was a bit of a relapse. Not sure how I found the time, but I managed to watch all 4 season with 3 weeks... really don’t know how I accomplished this. Once an addict always an addict, as they say. But it was so fun to reminisce. It was great to unlock so many memories and revisit such a comfort show.
I’ve found a new appreciation for Stana Katic, one of my major gay awakenings. She really is a phenomenal actress. She brings such a presence to interrogation scenes specifically, brings out the lighter side to Beckett when she can, and has unmatched on screen chemistry with Nathan Fillion. Literally any other on screen partner Nathan Fillion has had just has never hit the same.
Nathan Fillion himself...... God, I love him. He’s been the most consistent actor in my life for over 10 years. I have Firefly marathons about every other year. I watched Castle from season 2 every week until it completed in 2016. And since 2018, I’ve been an avid follower of the Rookie. It’s one of the shows currently airing that I watch like that, which is a big deal. And you know..... He really is ruggedly handsome.
I also want to bring up Alexis’s graduation speech again..... When I moved in the middle of high school, I recited her speech every night for several months, it was like an evening prayer..... Those were the words I needed in a weird period of life. And dwelling on this makes me realize how important this show truly was in my life. It wasn’t just a pass time... It was.... It was Castle.... my favorite show....
My Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆