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Why Castle is the Funniest Crime Procedural on TV
“Sorry, I don’t like shows about Medieval times.”
If you haven’t been watching Castle because you thought it was a sequel to Kings, you’ve been missing out. On the surface, it’s just a police procedural with an implausible premise — a famous mystery writer is granted permission to tag along with an NYPD detective on her murder investigations. But if you can suspend your disbelief (haven’t you ever watched an episode of Supernatural?), it’s worth it, because the show is consistently, hysterically funny. The stories, the cast and the dialogue are all pitch-perfect, and you get a tense crime story each week to go with it. Here are the things we love about the show. — Zach Oat
Nathan Fillion is a Laugh Riot
We loved the man on Firefly, love-hated him on Buffy, cursed him for making us watch Desperate Housewives and blink-and-missed him on Drive, but we’re glad the road has led Fillion to Castle, because his smug, womanizing, Richard Castle is the biggest reason to watch. Not only is Fillion great at being full of himself, but he also sells it as a caring, concerned father and a fun-loving goofball. The love he has for his daughter is evident in all of their scenes together, and his childlike innocence shines through every time he gets a phone call from Beckett about a murder. …Did we mention that he’s also a bit of a ghoul?
Stana Katic Gets Better Every Episode
Having seen her performance as a vampire in the last Librarian movie, we weren’t sure what to expect from one-time 24 actress Katic. But after a stiff start playing Detective Kate Beckett as a humorless ice queen, we’ve started to see her warm to Castle, show off her fangirl side (she’s read all his books, gets starstruck around former Yankees manager Joe Torre) and occasionally act as childish as he does. And while her sense of humor is as dry as they come, her putdowns of Castle never seem to get old, especially when they make him wince.
Castle’s Daughter is Far From a Clichéd Teen
When we saw that Castle would be raising his teenage daughter, we predicted horribleness on a Dawn-from-Buffy level. But Molly C. Quinn’s Alexis turned out to be as smart as her father, definitely more mature, and also pretty damn funny in her own right. While Castle still plays the dad when Alexis has her first date or goes to prom, the two also regularly have sword fights and laser tag battles, and their relationship’s as much a friendship between equals as a father-daughter thing. It reminds us a lot of the connection between Rory and Lorelei Gilmore, in that they both sometimes behave like 16-year-old girls.
The Sassy Grandma? Also Surprisingly Unlame
Well, if Castle’s teenage daughter doesn’t provide the embarrassing storylines, then surely his aging, live-in, washed-up actress mother must, right? Wrong again. Dharma & Greg and The Nine veteran Susan Sullivan is another master of comic timing, and while we occasionally hear a bit too much about her love life, her age-inappropriate career changes and love of parties is a perpetual source of consternation for Castle and Alexis, and comedy for us.
Their Back-Up Deserve Their Own Show
Far from being cardboard cutouts, there only to support the leads and make them look even funnier, Detectives Ryan and Esposito (Seamus Dever and Jon Huertas) are a comedy duo all on their own, constantly mocking each other, teasing Beckett and forming a three-man boys’ club with Castle. Once, when they were working their own case (because apparently not every case needs three detectives), they were even rivals to Castle and Beckett, competing to close their case first.
Hell, Even the Medical Examiner is Funny
Most crime procedural medical examiners possess a dry sense of humor, if any, and Dr. Lanie Parish (Tamala Jones) is no different. But rather than being confined to delivering the facts of the case in a morbidly humorous manner, Parish is also a friend to Beckett — maybe her best friend, not that Beckett has many — and hooks her up with hot firemen when she’s looking for a date. Plus, she doesn’t take any sass from Castle, either.
The Cases Are Screwier Than Anything on SVU
Eschewing the traditional “ripped-from-the-headlines” approach to crime scenarios, Castle instead comes up with murders that could very well have been ripped from the pages of a Richard Castle mystery novel — in fact, the first episode dealt with that very situation. A man with fangs staked in a graveyard, a woman found in a dryer, a con man killed while faking an arctic expedition, a woman drowned in motor oil… each dead body feels like the start of a crime novel, one that Castle then tries to bring to a conclusion by using his highly imaginative writer’s mind.
The Pop-Culture References Come Fast and Furious
As someone in the entertainment business (and an overgrown kid), Castle loves movies, TV and all forms of fiction, and fortunately so do Beckett and the other detectives. This leads to numerous references to pop culture while working a case, including nods to Turner & Hooch, Miami Vice, Snakes on Plane and James Bond. The greatest moment (so far) has undeniably been Castle dressing up like Nathan Fillion’s second-best-known character, Mal Reynolds from Firefly, for Halloween.
Great Guest Stars of Fire
Castle doesn’t need a celebrity guest star in every episode, but when they get them, they’re knockouts. Ray Wise is their most recent famous face, but they’ve already had Debi Mazar as Castle’s agent, Arye Gross as a back-up medical examiner, Marc Blucas as an amnesiac and Alyssa Milano as Castle’s first love. Castle used to play cards and discuss cases with three famous mystery authors (James Patterson, Stephen J. Cannell and Michael Connelly), but that gimmick seems to have been phased out. What, three novelists playing cards isn’t good TV?
He’s Goofier than the Mentalist, She’s Sexier than Bones
Don’t get us wrong, The Mentalist and Bones are both pretty good shows, but aside from the inter-gender, mixed-background crime-fighting similarities, Castle leaves them in the dust. Simon Baker’s fake-psychic character on The Mentalist can do wacky stunts to elicit confessions from people, but he’s otherwise pretty inscrutable, which makes it hard to identify with him; also, we totally don’t buy Robin Tunney as an FBI– sorry, CBI agent. And while David Boreanaz may occasionally be as wacky as Castle on Bones, Emily Deschanel’s robotic Brennan and the show’s love of rotting corpses takes a lot of the sex appeal out of the whole affair. With Castle, you get warmth with your funny, and fresh bodies that won’t ruin the mood. The perfect package!
The Romantic Tension Is So Thick You Could Stab it With a Knife
There may one day come a time when the bubble bursts, perhaps thanks to a tension-killing hookup or an ill-advised dream sequence, but for now, the love-hate relationship between Castle and Beckett is moving along very nicely. Castle alternates between shamelessly making plays for Beckett and hooking up with random women, and Beckett occasionally teases Castle with her feminine wiles when she’s not acting utterly disgusted by his behavior. And that’s not even counting all of the times when he’s expressed real concern for her, and she’s shown jealousy towards his indiscriminate flirtiness. So as long as it doesn’t detour into brother-sister territory, we’ll be watching for as long as it takes.