08.30 Rules Of Engagement
01.00 Castle
Rules Of Engagement. Season 3, Episode 10. "Family Style" Jeff overreacts when someone takes some food off his plate, and Russell sends Timmy to a psychiatrist... posing as Russell.
Adhir Kalyan is the best thing that ever happened to this show. He gets all the big laughs in this episode and his character's presence has opened up the character of Russell. And made him more believably/accessible. This is one of the scripts that tries to give Russell some depth and heart, and those are my favourite Russell stories.
Castle. Episode 10. "A Death in the Family" A plastic surgeon is killed in a mob hit. Why?
For it's season finale, Castle delivers another good case-of-the-week, several funny Nathan Fillion moments, a tiny bit of romantic sparkle and a loads of solid character development for the major characters.
Castle's mother and daughter get some of the very best scenes of the episode. In a lesser show, the mother would just exist for lame jokes and the daughter would just exist for soft and fuzzy father/daughter moments but on this show they round out the cast in an intelligent and complimentary fashion.
Castle's speech about his vision of his future with his daughter is one of the sweetest and saddest speeches I've heard on TV in a long time. Both performers nailed it, too. I'd expect no less of Nathan Fillion, to be honest, but where did they find Molly Quinn? It was a lovely moment. Two lesser performers would have mangled the material. These two found the truth in the moment and ran with it.
Then there was Susan Sullivan. As the series has gone on, her character has been written better and better. It's amusing to think of her as a lush that Castle has to look out for, but I like it better when she's written as a mother who can give good advise. Her impact on Rick here was one of the best part of the script. Urging him to tell Beckett about his investigation into her mother's murder was great for her character, was great for his character (showing that he's not all that wise, really, when it comes to women) and it added great tension to the story. Now suddenly we have more than our own suspicions (that Beckett will take his interference badly) to make us worry. We have another character telling Rick to back off. Great stuff.
The episode also made great use of Beckett's ex-boyfriend and the scenes using the doughnuts were wonderful. Wonderful. What a great way for the character to communicate her feelings! Seems so, so right for her.
Robert Picardo was underused but, hopefully, we'll see more of him in Season Two... (Please let there be a Season Two...)
The case-of-the-week was strong and interesting. Castle's telling Kate that she was extraordinary was heart-stoppingly good and the cliffhanger was... infuriating and annoying. And, let's face it, a perfect cliff-hanger. Because, more than anything else, I want to know what he said next.
And what she said back to him...
Highlight? Castle (cliff-hanger)
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Tue, May 12, 09 - Rules Of Engagement, Castle
