Castle: The Nose (8x05)

This season of Castle has been enormously frustrating thus far. Each of these episodes seems to have moments and ideas that prove it still knows how to be a good product. But the whole thing is dragged down by a completely nonsensical and forced conflict between Castle and Beckett! This episode had quite a few problems, actually. There were a few great elements, though. It's confusing!

Cons:

Beckett and Castle's separation still makes no sense. I won't rant about this too much, I swear. Suffice it to say, all of the longing glances, and the sniffing of each other's clothes... it would be touching, if I thought there was any good reason for them to be separated in the first place. I'm not buying the whole wistful glances thing. Why the heck aren't you two just together, then, if you both so clearly love each other? Stupid.

Ryan and Esposito's story dovetailed into outright ridiculousness this week. We find out that Esposito passed his Sergeant's exam, but that Ryan did not. That part is fine - I actually find it interesting. But then later, while they're trying to track down a suspect, Ryan accidentally shoots Espo in the ass. This is played entirely for laughs, as the two continue to bicker about it. Eventually, Ryan even bends over and tells Espo to shoot him in the ass to make up for it. What the heck? This is so... weird! The slapstick humor thing is okay occasionally, but shouldn't this be a bit of a bigger deal? I would expect Ryan shooting Espo to be a cause for some serious angst and drama, not a couple of quick lackluster laughs. And shouldn't Ryan get into trouble? This just really bothered me.

We've got Castle and Beckett separated on one hand, and then Ryan and Espo fighting on the other. Why so much forced conflict?

Then there's Hayley. She's back in this episode, because apparently she's been asked to retrieve the expensive painting that the victim was carrying when he died. I understand that Hayley is probably going to have relevance again, and they wanted to bring her in to the story to remind us of who she was. But honestly... she served no purpose. She was barely in the episode. She came up with zero ideas, had no real insight to offer, and didn't appear to develop relationships with any of our main cast. Why even bother to bring her in if she's not going to be utilized?

Pros:

Mia Laszlo. The main guest character this week was an interesting witness. This woman has hyperosmia, meaning that her sense of smell is intensely heightened. She is able to use her sense of smell to help them find the killer. The only thing is, she's enormously resistant to the idea, because she hates being out in the real world, where she risks smells becoming overwhelming. Castle thinks that her life must be a very lonely one, and tries to pull her out of her shell. This character was awesome. She was funny, and snarky, and seemed like a real person. She was obviously closed off, but she did want to help, and she ended up having a good time helping to solve the crime.

There was an excellent moment towards the end where Castle disarms a man with a gun to save himself, Mia, and Martha. In the process of incapacitating this man, he also breaks Mia's nose. She gets to have a break from smelling everything, but eventually her sense of smell will return. The two share a hug, and Castle brings her some paper flowers to apologize for breaking her nose, and to thank her for all her help. I loved Mia. Honestly I'd be thrilled to see her back as a recurring guest character. She was delightfully grumpy but still kind. She tells Castle that she can tell Beckett still has a deep love for him, which of course cheers Castle up.

The case itself wasn't the best one ever, but it had a clear story line, a few interesting twists and turns, and the result ended up kind of heartbreaking. Turns out, the victim's own brother was his killer. I tend to think procedurals try too hard sometimes with the cases of the week. It's okay to stay simple, and this was a successful example of that.

Esposito and Ryan's slapstick fight was aggravating, but I liked the earlier parts of the episode, where we learn that Espo has made sergeant and Ryan hasn't. I would have loved a more serious consideration of this. There was a great moment where Espo asks Ryan if he's really okay - he says he knows that Ryan must be upset, but that he hasn't even congratulated his partner. If the stupid humor had been taken out of this plot thread, we could have had a great examination of the shifting power dynamics going on here. Beckett has been their boss for a while now, but now she's even further ahead of them. And now Ryan is the bottom of the totem pole. Maybe there will be a better examination of this in the coming weeks.

So... yeah. If it wasn't for the excellent guest character of Mia Laszlo, I'd be calling this episode a total dud. Mia did a lot to pull this out of the dump, but she can't work miracles on her own. I'm hoping we can find a better balance as we continue with this season of Castle.

6/10