Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
06.30 Cougar Town
07.00 The Closer
08.00 House
12.30 Arrested Development
01.00 Castle
Cougar Town. Episode 2. "Into the Great Wide Open"
Yes, I'm still laughing. But I'm wondering where can they go with this idea? Does it have legs? Much of this felt like a remake of the pilot, sans the romance plot.
I'm not complaining. I'm just wondering whether it's always going to be about this lady clinging to her lost youth. Can they pull that off? 22 times a year for 4/5 years?
Right now, though, what matters most is that the cast (every one of them) is on top form and there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments.
The Closer. Season 5, Episode 8. "Elysian Fields" Cold case.
For the second time in a row, the show allows us to sympathise with Brenda while at the same time feel empathy for the viewpoint of the person she's in conflict with.
Tom Skerritt guests as an ex-cop breaking rules to try and solve an old case that haunts him. Brenda must repeatedly cross swords with him, however (thanks to flashbacks to an episode from last season) we can see that Brenda is, herself, haunted by an unresolved case from her past. It's a nice contrast and the script (by Michael Alaimo) doesn't beat it to death. It's there. We can see it. But it has no other bearing on the story.
Flynn, for the third time this season, gets some great scenes. Funny scenes, and scenes that highlight his imperfect, but very real, character. Anthony John Denison rocks.
Provenza steals the episode, though, with his surly attitude towards the Skerritt character and his eagerness to tell him about his 29-year-old girlfriend.
House. Season 6, Episode 3. "The Tyrant" House returns to work.
House changed it's status quo at just the right time. To keep the show vital and interesting they ditched most of the House Team. Now, after two seasons, this episode finds the same four characters that started the series back in the same room again working on a case. And it feels great. It feels like a completely new show again. Even though it's just the old show back.
Is this change? Or the illusion of change? Who knows? Who cares? It was great.
Also, the episode delivered two fantastic plots, with two fantastic guest stars (David Marciano and James Earl Jones) and downbeat, surprising ending.
A+ House at it's absolute best.
Arrested Development. Season 3, Episode 7. "Prison Break-In"
Coming off a classic (and hilarious) episode, the show doesn't miss a beat. It's a fast-paced, deliberately chaotic installment where every character gets major story beats. There are several references to Prison Break and some (rare) nice scenes between the Bluth parents.
Castle. Season 2, Episode 3. "Inventing the Girl" Model.
Castle worries me. It flirts with mediocrity every week. And - every week - just as they have me worrying, they rein it in and deliver another good episode.
Take this week: it's about a murdered model and it sends our heroes into the crazy world of fashion modelling. Exactly the same way one hundred other cop shows have done over the years.
And to make it worse, the plot pin-balls from suspect to suspect in a manner that emulates all those other generic cop shows we've seen over the years.
But...
Castle is different.
Nathan Fillion is a true star. He's got presence. It allows the writers to stay true to the premise and keep Castle as - mostly - an observer. Fillion owns every scene, whether he has dialogue or not.
Rather than go the obvious route of making Rick Castle a rogue that learns the error of his ways through his association with Kate Beckett the show has opted to make him a overly decent individual. His only flaw, really, is being a bit of a goofball. And we'll allow him that. He's a millionaire, for frak sake, he's allowed not worry about responsibilities. So, rather than being a TV cliché, he's fun to watch and easy to like.
The stories are tweaked enough to make them good. Even the murder-in-the-world-of-fashion episode ended up with a good revelation and an enjoyable confrontation scene where the killer broke down and confessed. As the story played out I didn't expect them to make me care about the outcome, but when we got there... I found that I was involved. That happened a couple of times in Season One also. Castle has developed the art of the good ending to average stories.
Then there's Kate Beckett and the Castle/Kate relationship. The premise depends upon him being able to learn from her, on each case, or the show has no raison d'etre. And that had to be a challenge going in. How do you create a male hero who is subservient to his female co-worker but who isn't disempowered in the eyes of the audience. Casting Nathan Fillion was a big coup (that guy could project manliness while wearing a pink tutu) and the show is wise enough to make his character as smart, too, and capable of spotting stuff in his own right. More important the writers make Beckett smarter, still, and that makes her worthy of Rick's respect. And ours. So, since we can believe her as a smart cop we like to see Rick wearing his respect for her on his sleeve. Which he does. All the time. Which him seem all the more secure and... cool.
But there's more to her than smarts. The producers have made her real in other ways, too. This week she got jealous when Rick didn't give her the book to read. Other shows could easily have ruined that idea in the treatment, but Castle nailed it by keeping it low-key and human. That scene at the end was adorable. Both of them being very honest. It was my favourite moment from the whole episode, and it was pretty special.
And the last scene of all, with Castle and the young model, was also pretty special.
Great show all round. I wonder will they flirt with mediocrity next week?
Highlight? Castle (special)
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Cougar Town, The Closer, House, Arrested Development, Castle
