February 21, 2014

Castle: Smells Like Teen Spirit (6x15)

Ehh... I know a lot of people thought this episode was really cute because of all the Beckett/Castle relationship stuff. But I found the actual plot to be really dull, and even some cute Caskett banter wasn't enough to make up for it. Let's take a brief look.

Two girls in a cab are talking to their friend in a video chat when suddenly the friend is thrown across the room by an invisible force, and murdered. Castle and Beckett find out that a recent incident at this girl's school involved the supposed telekinetic powers of one of the students. Predictably, Castle believes in the power of telekinesis and is convinced that the girl with the powers must be the murderer. However, very quickly they learn that their victim wasn't entirely an innocent. She had been running a black market for stolen goods along with her two friends (the ones who saw her death). In the end, it turns out that the telekinetic death was just a joke video, and that one of the two friends had used this ready-made murder scene as a way of murdering her friend in real life. The murderer was tired of all of their stealing, but her friend wouldn't let her out of the deal. Along the way, the girl with supposed "powers" struggles to cope with bullying, and finds a  friend in a magician at the school.

Castle and Beckett discover that they don't have a song to dance to at their wedding, both of them thinking of different songs when they discuss it. However, after struggling to come up with something, they dance to a song at the high school's dance, and both declare their love for it simultaneously. Happily, they decide to dance to that song at their wedding.

Okay. So what did I not like about this episode? Well... the case. I'm a bit fed up with cases where things look fantastical and Castle believes in the supernatural explanation and Beckett doesn't, and then Beckett is right in the end. (Except for that one time that they made time travel a real thing in one episode and then never brought it up again). It's old hat at this point.

In addition to that, the explanation was so convoluted. All of the setup that it would have taken... all of the perfect coincidences... I don't know. It seems like way too much. I know that on TV shows murderers are always more creative than in real life, but this just seemed way out of reach.

But, there were things to like about the episode as well.

The Castle/Beckett stuff was unashamedly fluffy, and I'll admit I ate it up. I loved their adorable dance and that kiss. It was really special. I think Beckett and Castle are the best example of how to maintain interest in a TV show like this, even after the couple finally gets together.

There were a lot of female characters, here. All of the people involved with the case were girls, with a few exceptions. And I appreciated the nuance of some of these characters. We didn't just have the bullies and the nerds. There was real depth to some of the relationship dynamics being portrayed. (That being said, the bullying scene in the cafeteria was laughably cliche).

In all, this is one of those episodes that had a few cute memorable moments, but nothing worth re-watching, in my opinion.

6.5/10

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