Overview

Building off Season 3, this season really starts to gel in certain areas. Which is odd, because the characters are written so that they are NOT gelling…Castle finished off Season 3 with a big pronouncement, and Beckett says she doesn’t remember it. So they are at odds for most of the season. They have their moments, but then they have large stumbling blocks. While a lot of Seasons 1-3 were about Castle growing up a little, finding something to care about besides being a playboy writer, this season is about Beckett growing as a person, finding something to care about other than her job.

Episodes That I Liked

The season has surprising depth in it, including Beckett adjusting to life after being shot (E01) and dealing with a sniper (E09). And they have some solid fun episodes with superheroes (E02), ghosts (E06), hostages (E07), politics (E12), and eager reporters (E19). But even beyond those 7 episodes, they have another 7 that just rock…Beckett and Castle wake up cuffed together, and there’s a tiger in the room next door? (E10) Awesome! There is a WILD episode just watching some pick-up artists describe their buddy’s operation (E11), plus a two-parter dealing with the CIA (E15, E16). And while every procedural wants to deal with the drug ketamine, this one was different enough to be interesting (E22).

But the two outstanding episodes are one in the middle of the season and the last one. The season ends with Castle and Beckett reaching an impasse — Castle isn’t willing to watch Beckett keep putting herself in danger with no backup, and she’s not willing to yield or bend (E23). Yet the EP that blew me away is the mid-season one (E14, The Blue Butterfly), where an old case is re-imagined with all the regular Castle characters playing parts in the old case, done up Chicago noir-style, very Chandler-esque.

Episodes That Were Watchable

So there are fourteen EPs that are great (above), and then 4 here that are blah — E04 for family intrigue for Romeo and Juliet done gangster-style, E08 that should have been awesome with the boys in Atlantic City, E17 for a bit of the supernatural with vampires, and a romantic interest for Beckett from England (E20).

Episodes That I Didn’t Like

With those other EPs out of the way, there are 5 others that just fail to deliver…some need a better plot (E03 about Cryogenics, E21 with Castle working with Slaughter); another needs a better motive (E05 about a museum murder); and two others try to go topical with reality TV and dog shows (E18 and E13), with the gimmick just not working for either episode as nobody cares who killed who.

List of Episodes from Season 4

The Bottom Line

Time to rename the show Beckett, cuz she ran the season

Overview

Season 2 starts with Beckett and Castle on the outs, as she’s pissed at him for looking into her mother’s case at the end of season 1. By the end of Season 2, Castle is starting to give up the romantic chase, just as Beckett starts to think she likes it.

Episodes That I Liked

Two episodes rock the season, Sucker Punch (E13) about the Irish mob, hitmen and Beckett’s mother, and A Deadly Game (E24) involving spy games, aka a variation on Gotcha. However, there are nine other episodes that are pretty solid — E05 where Castle might get to write a Bond novel; E08 for an old case of Montgomery’s; E10 where a dead man had two near-wives, or did he; E11 as a brilliant story of a man with amnesia, and the way his life works on the softer side; E12 with a wedding murder and gasp the bride is Castle’s ex; E14 with a cool idea of a squatter who stays in empty homes while people are away; E17 and E18 where a serial killer is playing with Nikki Heat and the FBI; and E20 about late-night talk shows.

Episodes That Were Watchable

Nine episodes were watchable, but nothing exciting…E01 has someone stealing their dead body; E02 rips off Hitchcock with criss-cross storylines; E04 is initially interesting with a grifter being killed while pretending to be at the North Pole; E06 checks in for Hallowe’en with the wannabe vampire set; E07 about a rock star balladeer that Alexis loves; E09 with a mystery pimp and call girls; E16 returns to the sex industry focused on bondage for graduate students; E21 added Detective Demming to the mix; and E22 for Kitchen Wars.

Episodes That I Didn’t Like

Overall, four episodes were yawners. E03 strutted for Fashion Week, but it was all retread stuff; E15 introduced a dead baseball player with obvious back stories; E19 had a death by mummy but with a huge obvious cameo; and E23 had Castle and Demming dueling to be master detective (soul-crushing).

List of Episodes from Season 2

The Bottom Line

If you play hard-to-get too long, people might stop chasing.