TV Jots

So Far, So Fun

I just finished checking out the pilot episode of ABC’s new romantic crime dramedy Castle, and it sure is good to have lead Nathan Fillion back.

Despite some of the criticism I’ve come across — the writing is bad, Fillion’s female co-star Stana Katic is bad, the preliminary ratings are bad, the current state of television is bad — it gives me great pleasure to report that I found the entire episode, “Flowers for Your Grave,” to be a whole lot of fun. Meaningless, lightweight fun, but fun all the same.

The premise of the series is simple: wildly popular, best-selling crime novelist Richard Castle (Fillion) gets just the opportunity he needs to overcome his increasing boredom and writer’s block when an apparent serial killer begins leaving a trail of dead bodies around New York City that mimic the deaths in his more obscure novels.

Thanks to NYPD Detective Kate Beckett’s (Katic) penchant for reading mystery books, she immediately recognizes the pattern upon the discovery of the second body, which belongs to a 24-year-old social worker. We quickly learn the woman not only just happens to be the lone daughter of a prominent dying businessman worth millions of dollars, but also that she spurned that wealth in favor of a life helping others.

Sensing a little adventure and following his clearly evident ladies’-man instincts, Castle infiltrates Beckett’s investigation after she questions him about his relationships with the two victims identified thus far (a third murder occurs later). He doesn’t know either of them, but his insight as a crime writer allows him to provide substantial assistance to the detective and her team, whether she likes it or not. And, of course, she doesn’t like it, especially his constant flirting.

It ultimately turns out that two of the deaths were committed to throw the cops off and keep them from figuring out the murderer’s true motive and identity: the social worker’s only brother is in huge debt, and he wanted her share of the inheritance following their terminally ill father’s death to pay it.

Getting back at daddy by killing his favored child while he’s still alive was just icing on the evil cake. To get away with murdering his sibling, the brother sets up one of her mentally unstable patients to take the fall after discovering his obsession with Castle.

What Works for Me: Nathan Fillion, whose performance indicates a natural comedic talent, even if he doesn’t look quite like romantic leading-man material.

What Doesn’t Work for Me: The lack of character development for secondary characters, particularly Katic’s Detective Beckett, who should be on equal footing with Castle. However, there’s nothing to indicate that the series won’t be able to color the other players in a bit as the ten-episode first season continues, which is why I plan to watch for a few more weeks before deciding if Castle is worth my time or not. As of now, though, the show seems pretty good.

Overnight Ratings: 11.6 million viewers total and a 3.3 rating and 9 share for the 18–49 demographic. That’s respectable, in my opinion, but definitely a steep decline from the 22.5 million viewers and 6 rating/15 share earned by Castle‘s two-hour lead-in Dancing with the Stars.