Compare it to this official trailer...
And JOHN CARTER (not of Mars)...
- Bill
TODAY'S SCRIPT TIP: Dramatizing Emotions And a film that won THREE Oscars.
Dinner: Taco Bell - and not even the Dorito-Taco.
TV: CASTLE - okay, I probably haven’t mentioned that I’m a big fan of this show, but as a mystery writer how could I not be? This has been a really good season so far - which is amazing because by this point most shows are limping along. KILL SHOT dealt with Beckett’s PTSS over being *shot* at the end of last season and almost dying - and really dug deep into her character’s fears. This has been one of the great things this season - they have taken these characters we know from the outside and takes us deep inside - like in KICK THE BALLISTICS, where Ryan’s stolen gun is used in a murder and he has to deal with his guilt over losing it... that episode also had a triple twist ending that was great. The other episodes have been fun - Castle & Beckett handcuffed together in bed, etc... and though I didn’t like the 1940s Noir episode, it was at least trying to be different and fun (I just didn’t think it worked).
Now we come to this 2 parter, and it just kicked ass in many ways. Part 2 (Monday night) was amazing - but it took part 1 to set it up. What starts out as a murder takes a strange turn when their suspect - a mysterious man named Gage - says that they are in over their heads and the whole case will vanish... and it does! The body vanishes from the Medical Examiner’s table and Gage vanished from a locked cell. All of this brings them to a secret CIA operation in NYC run by the always sexy Jennifer Beals - who is Castle’s ex-lover. So we get some great tension and a nice triangle and Gage is an assassin who is after some target in NYC... but who? As bodies pile up, Castle & Beckett find clues that the CIA never considered and all of this leads to a dead man - who is still alive: a scientist working on a “linchpin theory” that one small event can change the world - create a domino run of events that will result in the destruction of the US economy. As soon as they find this guy, he gets shot by a sniper (Gage?) and Beckett and Castle get rammed into the Hudson in Beckett’s car...
Part 2: The car sinking into the Hudson, slowly filling with water as they try to escape, is a big feature film type scene. Just amazing. And some great suspense. It’s hard to believe you can do stuff like this on TV - it seems like something out of a BOURNE film. And that Linchpin Theory is an awesome concept - when they break it down in this episode you can see how easy it would be to destroy the world with a single bullet - provided you could figure out the one person to shoot who would cause the domino run. The great thing about these two episodes is that they are like a feature film - and yet still have a bunch of series running plot material. The CIA forbids them from discussing the case with Ryan and Esposito... and Iron Gates. So that fuels those running plots. Plus the ex-lover creates conflict between Castle and Beckett - and there’s a nice scene in part 2 where Beals and Beckett discuss how a romance with Castle plays out... Beals’ past and maybe Beckett’s future. The story still has a bunch of plot twists and a great race against time to prevent the assassination of a little kid!
Season 4 of a show that kind of has a simple premise, but still manages to find interesting ways to explore it... and hasn’t run out of steam yet. Created by Nicholl winner Andrew Marlowe who also wrote AIR FORCE ONE.
1 comment:
That first trailer makes me want to see the film. All the others I've seen so far have left me feeling a bit meh about it.
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