Let's Talk About Castle Overall

Castle overall

Castle's cancellation heralds the end of what was largely a glittering tenure: the show went from strength to strength in its depiction of the Castle-Beckett relationship, and its growth of popular side characters from daughter Alexis to our side detectives Esposito and Ryan, hell, even Perlmutter's goatee! I rather curtly skated over my ordering of seasons in my previous Castle roundup, so today, I thought I'd spend a short while discussing them with you, before Person of Interest rings around again early next week and I bombard you with roundups of that!

End of an Era

Firstly, I would like to say that, regardless of my feelings towards the final season, for anyone who enjoys smart, light-hearted cop procedurals that are insanely hilarious, this is the show for you. And it's ending, while demanded and probably necessary to save its reputation from a cataclysmic implosion, means that we won't be seeing anymore Castle and Beckett together on our TV, in whatever capacity. And that's a sad day.

But let's start.

SEASON 1 - 4th/8

It's perhaps contentious for me to put the first three seasons as low as I have, given that at the starting point of any show there is so much creativity as it tries to find its perfect formula, and Castle was no different. For the most part of season 1, the writers were only just beginning to play around with the Castle/Beckett relationship and the murders felt fresh and new, but in terms of Caskett and extended storyline there is little to mention.

Castle and Beckett, s1

One of the murder cases I left off my top 5 list which, in a top 10 would make number 6 or 7, was 1x03's Hedge Fund Homeboys. Brilliantly constructed, and one of those episodes where, while the killer is unearthed much earlier than normal, the race to convict him is so much more interesting than in later seasons, given the little evidence available. But we also have 1x02, Nanny McDead, where the victim turns up in a washing machine, or 1x08, where, to find the murderer of a woman today, the NYPD must investigate a 20-year-old cold case about a ship bombing. There are numerous others in season 1 - and it's short, only 10 episodes long, as it debuted in the off-season with 7.6-11m viewers.

Season 1 was a fabulous start to this show, and I regret its low status in my order.

SEASON 2 - 5th/8

A travesty to come in at 5th - but then someone has to and later seasons were very very good, too. So let's not linger on that.

Season 2 picked up where season 1 left off, Beckett eventually letting Castle back in to work with her after he broke her trust and opened up her mother's unsolved murder case. It continued in its proven format in its new fall-schedule position, with 24 episodes. And it came up with some stellar episodes, too, such as 2x02's The Double Down (see my previous Castle roundup; link further down), 2x10's One Man's Treasure (where the victim has a wife AND fiancee hidden from each other - great start!) and 2x11's "The Fifth Bullet", where a man with amnesia declares himself to have committed a murder - is he innocent or not? The first two-parter Castle ever did introduced Dana Delaney as FBI Agent Jordan Shaw, investigating a serial killer who was targeting Beckett due to his obsession with the character based on her, Nikki Heat, in Castle's novels.

Castle and Beckett s2

Not much else occurred this season - we met the man who killed Beckett's mum, but didn't discover the reason why - and were introduced to Detective Tom Demming, who served no purpose other than to be that multi-episode cockblocker in the Castle/Beckett will they won't they? But the show was still coming into its own, and cut off a Caskett relationship prematurely when Beckett, set to admit her feelings to Castle, was shown up as he returned to the precinct announcing he was off to the Hamptons with his ex-wife/old-new girlfriend. A sad ending to what had been, until Demming's introduction, another great season.

(Honourable mention to "Honey Milk", the hilariously effeminate nickname assigned to Detective Ryan when he accidentally admits to enjoying the beverage at nights with his wife. It becomes a much-used nickname for the rest of season 2, but sadly is remembered only sporadically afterwards.)

Season 2 reigned in 14.5m viewers at its highest, and only one episode went below 9m. A season 3 was assured.

SEASON 3 - 6th/8

Again, I'll allude to the fact that this is unjustly low on my list, but I can't put three in one slot and there is more to come in the other positions.

Season 3 was a brilliant season, too. The formula for Castle was working, the cast had great chemistry and the actors were loved, perhaps beloved even then. Castle returns with a bang in 3x01, being found at a murder scene with the gun in his hand having made no contact with the NYPD for the whole summer. Beckett has a new boyfriend in Dr Josh Davidson spanning the whole season, (though he appears in all of 4 episodes) and provides nothing to the plot except drawing out the Caskett will they won't they, while Castle breaks up with his ex-wife early on. (Minor gripe there. Fuck Josh.)

Beckett forgives Castle for his running to the Hamptons last season, and we return to that trusted format, where every now and then we are dished some stunning episodes. A few from season 3 would include 3x04's "Punked"; where the victim is killed by a 200-year-old bullet, 3x06's "3XK", where serial killer The Triple Killer's four-season long arc begins; and 3x11's "Nikki Heat", where Laura Prepon guest stars as an actress looking to prove her worth to Castle in order to gain his approval to play the titular character Heat in the upcoming movie adaptation of Castle's books. Two episodes, including the finale, involve Beckett's mum's murder, and a very compelling storyline about a group of rogue cops who used to kidnap mobsters for ransom back in the day; and season 3's two-parter offers a nuclear bomb threat in New York.

Alexis got her first boyfriend in Ashley, and Molly Quinn's portrayal of her love for him was more genuine than you usually see from actors. Martha got married to her childhood sweetheart (who promptly died) and worried about her future; Esposito and Medical Examiner Lanie embarked on a secret relationship that everyone knew about; and Detective Ryan just sort of existed in every other episode than "Nikki Heat", where he proposed to his girlfriend Jenny (played by Dever's real life wife, Julianna).

This was another fantastic season, and the love between Castle and Beckett grew tremendously leaving us on the cliffhanger that, when Beckett was shot in the finale, Castle finally admitted his love for her. Was it too late?

The Castle s3 Cliffhanger

Season 3 brought in 13m viewers in its finale, and 9-12 throughout the majority of its season, with only 3 episodes this time slipping under that 9m line. We were - THANK THE LORD - guaranteed a season 4.

SEASON 4 - 2nd/8

Now we're getting to the juicy seasons.

Following from the finale, Beckett is rushed to hospital and saved by her boyfriend in his final appearance in the show (yay!). Two months later and she returns to work, although she claims to Castle not to remember anything of the day she was shot, rendering his revelation of love useless - until she tells her psychiatrist later on that episode that she DOES remember, but isn't ready for the relationship. Why not just tell him that???

Anyway, season 4 continues at a heightened pace. Alexis gets a job at Lanie's morgue as an intern in a hilarious arc; Esposito and Lanie break up early on (thanks to Jenny Ryan suggesting they get married); Ryan and Jenny themselves prepare for their wedding and get married; and I can't even remember a Martha arc.

The season's top episodes include 4x07-10, (which includes Castle and Martha being held in a bank robbery, an episode involving Elvis impersonations in Atlantic City, an episode where Beckett's PTSD from her shooting worsens and one where Castle and Beckett wake up handcuffed to each other in a warehouse - with a tiger); 4x,18's "A Dance With Death" (which would have come 6th or 7th in my top 10 alongside "Hedge Fund Homeboys"); 4x19's "47 Seconds" (see my previous blog at http://tvrroundup.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/anybody-watch-castle.html); 4x21's "Headhunters", where Adam Baldwin guest stars as crazy cop Ethan Slaughter and puts him and Castle in ridiculously deadly situations for the hell of it; and a continuation of Beckett's mum's murder arc in the finale, 4x23's "Always" (again, see my previous blog).

We have to discuss the end of this season. Following Castle accidentally overhearing Beckett's revelation that she DOES remember him admitting he loves her - and presuming she has therefore rejected his feelings - we see the most growth between the characters ever, I think. In 4x20, Castle struggles to come to a decision - stay and be rejected or go and move on? In 4x21, he tries getting a new muse in Slaughter and has to be rescued by Beckett. In 4x22, he returns to the playboy of old, in an attempt to both move on AND remain working with the NYPD. And in 4x23, when all hope is lost, Beckett admits she's a colossal douchenozzle and she and Castle sleep together.

Beckett wants Castle, s4 finale

This season's status as second best of them all is uncontested. Given the secrets Castle and Beckett held from each other (Castle withholding info about Beckett's mum's murder to keep her safe), it was always going to be an explosive end. The arcs were good, the percentage of top draw episodes was larger, it was outrageously funny and beautifully written. Can only be bested by one season.

(Quick note: Castle's creator, Andrew Marlowe, said at PaleyFest for season 4 that he was a man who believed in bringing characters together organically, not at the end of a season like usual. He then promptly waited until the end of the season to bring the characters together...)

Season 4 drew ratings almost identical to the previous season: mainly 9-12, reached 13 once and dipped below 9 on only 3 occasions.

SEASON 5 - 1st/8

Top of the tree - finally. And deservedly.

Caskett is finally a thing, except they have to hide it from the NYPD due to police regulations against relationships between coworkers. That, and them trying to find their way as a couple is hilarious to watch, and not something you see in most shows, where the characters usually have a perfect relationship until such time the writers decide to fuck them over. Not here. It was real, organic and well-written. And funny.

We finally learn just who ordered Beckett's mum to be killed - Senator William Bracken - and Beckett resolves to one day bring him down. 3XK returns in one of the best episodes, 5x05's "Murder, He Wrote", where he almost perfectly frames Castle for murder with the intention of murdering him later. Other top episodes include 5x10, where Beckett meets Castle's first ex-wife Meredith and Castle worries about what Meredith will reveal; and the best two-parter and 5x19's "The Lives of Others" (see my previous blog for details of both).

While this season offers less quality in the murders, the Caskett arc grows hilariously as they hide themselves from the public at first (leading Castle to get jumped by a horny news reporter), and then grow to giving each other gifts (which Castle manages to fuck up spectacularly by giving it to the precinct captain instead of Beckett). Eventually, in 5x22's "Still", a clip show hashed together when ABC ordered another episode and the production didn't have time to film a full one, Caskett are given permission by the NYPD Captain Gates to do as they please as long as their work isn't disrupted.

Castle and Beckett are shocked when Martha returns home unexpectedly.

Elsewhere, Alexis goes to college; Ryan and Jenny eventually get pregnant; Espo and Lanie get back together; but Martha do anything at all, really? Perhaps not, but given everything else, this season is undeniably the best of them all.

It concludes with Beckett unsure of how stable their relationship is or how much of a future they have together, something I felt was against the flow of the season and a dumb catalyst for prompting Castle to propose. I understand the need for speed in today's cut-throat TV world, but I felt this plot was rushed - the show spent 4 seasons throwing Caskett together and then shoved in a silly worry to make them get engaged. Or do they? Season 5 ends with Castle proposing, but no answer from Beckett.

Ratings-wise, it starts to decline a tad, with the average of 9-11m and a drop below 9m five times. But a season 6 was virtually assured, so the cliffhanger ending worked perfectly.

SEASON 6 - 7th/8

I'll get ratings out of the way here, because it's not an appropriate end to this segment: all but 4 episodes got 9m+, and of the 4 that didn't, one was between 7-8m and 3 between 8-9m. Not too bad.

Beckett's announcement of their engagement, s6

Given that I thought the proposal was rushed and season 6 continues the wedding preparation arc, I found this season hard to swallow and it's rightfully second bottom. It has it's humour and it's great episodes, but overall it's not a brilliant season.

It starts with Beckett having accepted Castle's proposal AND working out of the Attorney-General's office in D.C., and kicks off with the two-parter, where Castle, visiting Beckett, accidentally is exposed to a deadly chemical agent and has only one day to live. After the two-parter, the AG arc closes with episode 3 and Caskett return to the NYPD, where they begin building their wedding prep.

Other storylines include Alexis moving in with her boyfriend Pi; Lanie and Espo kind of break up; Jenny and Ryan have a baby girl, Sarah Grace; and Martha again does probably nothing, although she does have an acting school that is frequently mentioned.

The other big problem with season 6 is that, aside from the episodes involving Beckett's mum's murder (6x17 and 6x22) - the latter of which is an explosive episode and as good as the season 3 conclusion - and the episode on 3XK and his new accomplice, psychotic plastic surgeon Kelly Nieman (6x09's "Disciple"), there are no outstanding episodes this season whatsoever. There are good episodes, yes, certainly, but nothing truly matching the previous five seasons and the dull murders were in abundance.

Problematically, the series ends with an absolutely atrocious finale in which it is revealed Beckett is ALREADY married (to a random guy she got drunk with one week and went to a drive-through wedding chapel). I hate this trope with a passion and it's more of an issue to me than the actual season cliffhanger.

However, get to the season 6 cliffhanger and you start to really see why this season sucked. To cap it all off, Castle goes missing on the way to his wedding, knocked off-road by a chasing SUV, which is left to burn in a ditch.

Dear Lord.

SEASON 7 - 3rd/8

Given the still-going-strong ratings, season 7 was assured, and, thankfully, it was much, much better than season 6. In some ways I regret putting this 3rd, ahead of seasons 1-3, because character-wise season 7 was rubbish. Alexis stopped getting arcs, Martha disappeared for long periods and the format of Caskett's relationship became boring. They stopped working towards anything as a couple, and instead we received a season of simple banter without any progress.

Castle and Beckett's honeymoon, episode 7x07

However, the first 2/3 of murders this season were stunning. A return to form from the writers saw classic episodes such as 7x01 and 7x02 (Castle's return from the missing and his search for more answers, respectively, which were very well-written and enjoyable even if you hated the storyline [side note: this is not the two-parter for season 7]); 7x03 which gives us invisibility cloaks; 7x06 (Castle ends up in a parallel universe where Beckett, Espo and Ryan don't know who he is);7x07 (Castle and Beckett's honeymoon in a dude ranch in Arizona); a three episode arc from 7x11-7x13 where Castle, banned from the precinct, sets up his own P.I. business to insinuate his way into cases; and the actual two parter in 7x14 and 7x15 - where they finally close down the 4-season-long 3XK arc.

There was good stuff later on, but the best was in this bracket.

Espo and Ryan didn't do much this season, but Ryan did have an arc with his struggling finances, given the baby girl he was now supporting as well as himself and Jenny. Castle and Beckett experienced no growth in their relationship, as I said, and Alexis was involved sparingly, including one episode where she and Castle had to solve a murder on a plane.

The problem with season 7 was that its ratings declined massively. Only one episode (the premiere) got more than 10m viewers, and only 6 episodes (including the premiere) between 7x01 and 7x08 got more than 9m viewers - everything after was below. To break that down, there were 11 episodes with ratings between 8-9m; 5 episodes with ratings between 7-8m and one that even dropped to 6.77m. Compare that to the previous seasons, where only 3 episodes between 1x01 and 6x23 (128 episodes in total) slipped below 8m, and compare those that slipped below 9m to the information I've provided for each of the seasons above. It's an astonishing decline.

Some of it occurred because of the P.I. arc - certainly most fans were displeased by it - and it duly recovered afterwards, with only one episode (7x16) following the 3XK closure episode in 7x15 dropping below 8m. But it was enough to create a worry for the producers as to whether s8 would return, so they filmed an absolutely PERFECT ending scene to wrap up the series, and stuck it at the end of the finale in which we discovered WHY Castle became a mystery writer. Absolutely beautiful way to close the show and I maintain it should have been cancelled then.

It was not...

SEASON 8 - 8th/8

I'm not going to comment on season 8 here, I've done so already in my previous Castle blog and you can go read that if you'd like to learn more about why words cannot comprehend the trash this season was. What I will do is show you the ratings and you can make your own judgements on how this season went.

Prior to season 8, only 9 episodes had dropped below 8m - 8 got between 7-8m, and one got 6.77m.

Comparatively, in season 8, EVERY. SINGLE. EPISODE. (Bar the finale), got less than 7m viewers. Six of those got between 5-6m and one of them got 4.19m.

Castle ratings comparison seasons 1-8

If you want visual aid to show you how things went so bad, have a look at this.

Cue a (weirdly drawn-out) decision to cancel the show completely, ending the show's legacy with not even a whimper. A death. Literally. Watch the finale.

Final words

So this is my roundup of the Castle seasons and why I rated them as I did. I hope everyone enjoyed it and knows not to ever watch season 8. I don't see why I'd have call to go over this show again, so I'm putting it at 99% that this will be my last Castle roundup.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you Tuesday, after I view the latest Person of Interest episode!

Sam