“Together again, yay!” -Castle
“Castle” is back from its three week hiatus, missing one of its key members. Despite one of the leads absent, it was still a surprisingly (or unsurprisingly?) enjoyable episode. It was quirky and it was funny, even if it was far-fetched at times, and “Cool Boys” gave us an exciting reunion. I’m aware, this wasn’t the reunion most of the viewers wanted, but it’s still a reunion I was impatiently awaiting. Slaughter and Castle are a pair I enjoy watching interact; they truly make an interesting dynamic. Also, with Beckett out of sight, she was somewhat out of mind. Castle wasn’t as focused on her, and that was a nice break from their drama, for me at least. Ideally, I wouldn’t have placed the episode coming back from the short hiatus, but that’s on the network more than the producers.
This week’s episode started in action-fueled scene, as a SWAT Team in full motion, protecting Ryan and Esposito, entered what looked like an abandoned warehouse where the team comes face to face with a bruised up Castle and Slaughter, waiting for them. We then get retrace the characters steps from that morning to this moment.
Ethan Slaughter, presenting himself to Alexis as an old friend of Castle’s, (LOL) comes to the PI Office wanting Castle’s help with a case. As any united family would, Martha, Alexis and Castle are all initially against the idea of this partnership given the fact that Castle almost got shot, six times, the last time he had investigated with Slaughter, way back when. A couple of great facial expressions later, Castle’s writer curiosity had the best of him, and he decided to pair up the reckless detective in order to hear his crazy stories. With that the pair found themselves together again, much like Butch and Sundance, except they don’t die at the end.
“What are you, inspector gadget? This is a gun not a pen, you don’t keep it in your desk, you strap it to your side, or in your case you keep it in your purse.” –Slaughter
The case wasn’t the weirdest, wasn’t the most shocking or most interesting, but that doesn’t matter. I’ve never really cared that much about the murder part of the storyline, anyways, it’s all about the characters. It’s always been about the characters, and Ethan Slaughter did not disappoint.
Realising he isn’t the sharpest crayon in the box, Slaughter enlists Castle and his brain to help him with the B&E he’s investigating in New York’s most secure building, a case, way above his intellectual paygrade. Esposito and Ryan soon join the party as Slaughter’s CI winds up dead, a knife stuck in his neck.
A big part of the episode was structured around the premise of whether or not Slaughter was one of the bad guys when Slaughter’s prints are found on the murder weapon. This piece of evidence is enough for Ryan and Esposito to bring him in, but not for Castle who believes in Slaughter’s innocence, believes in Slaughter’s weak explanation. Evidence piles up for Ryan and Esposito, leading the duo to believe Slaughter is only using Castle to find out where his partner hid the microchip, but everything against him is still not enough for Castle to believe in his guilt, so they both head out to find the real killer and clear his name, lying to his friends in the process.
“Cool Boys” had an incredibly different dynamic than “Headhunters.” Slaughter needs Castle, and not the other way around, which means Castle has a certain leverage, a certain power over Slaughter, which makes for a nice shift. He makes it a rule to go about their investigation without intimidation and violence, a condition Slaughter finds himself struggling at. He’s really bad at playing nice, caricaturally bad at it actually, but it worked for them. Adam Baldwin made it work for the character.
“Castle just stole our murder suspect. And our car.” –Esposito
When Ryan and Esposito, following the same trail of clues as Slaughter and Castle, catch up with them, the two cops arrest Slaughter, their prime murder suspect. Still convinced of Slaughter’s innocence, Castle uses a trick to get Espo’s keys and get away with Slaughter. Esposito was slinging his keys in front of Castle though, almost as if he was just waiting for him to take them from him. Espo and Ryan continue to be the butt of the joke, and that’s honestly okay with me, but what I disliked was how easily Castle believed Slaughter, how he put all his trust in a man he hung out with once, and almost had him killed. I get following his instincts, but he couldn’t be 100% sure. It’s not like Esposito and Ryan are bad cops, it’s not like they wouldn’t condemn him if they didn’t have all the evidence against him. They just wanted to talk… Anyhow, rant over. Anyone felt the same way?
One question remains though, and that’s: how did Slaughter get out of the cuffs?
On the run, Slaughter and Castle crash at Ethan’s ex-wife’s place, where we get to witness a softer side of the badass detective who studied in musical theatre in College. Slaughter suddenly seems even less menacing to Castle, just a guy with a sharp edges, but an incredibly gooey center.
“You’re too smart to be talking that stupid, Sherlock. If you really love that broad, you figure out what the problem is and you do something.” -Slaughter
After a less insightful suggestion to get over Beckett and winning her back by moving on with a his cousin’s nympho roommate, Slaughter gets a lot more pertinent. He suggests Castle stops asking permission and just figure out what exactly is eating at Beckett. I would have never thought Castle would need to be told that, but I guess he does, because 3 episodes in and he still hasn’t started to try and connect the dots together. He doesn’t deserve his nickname right now. He used to be the guy that dug even when she asked him not to, even when he knew she’d be hurt by it, if he thought it was the right thing to do. Slaughter’s interrogations on the why, should be bothering Castle more than it actually is. Why isn’t Castle trying to understand the why? Why isn’t he digging for the story? There’s always a story, and he’s usually fueled by it. I’m not saying he should be trying to win her back, but if he is, he should at least be going at it the right way and right now, he isn’t focusing his efforts on the real issue at hand. Him trying to figure out why she left is a lot more in character and understandable than just waiting for her to be ready.
I really enjoyed the interactions between a slightly softer and more insightful Slaughter, and a more mature and posed Castle. There was no bullshit, no teasing. Slaughter just states things as they are.
“Only you can make two guys talking about a chick and make it weird.” -Slaughter
It’s at Slaughter’s ex-wife’s place of residence that the genius troubled teen makes contact with them, leading them to the warehouse we were introduced to in the opening scene of the episode. In the end, Ryan and Esposito did not need to call Beckett in for backup in order to find Slaughter and Castle, but I can imagine how this phone-call would have sounded, and that’s pretty ridiculous, even for them, and I’m guessing Beckett would have been laughing a lot less than them at the news.
Castle and Slaughter, being reckless together, enter the warehouse without calling for back-up, gunless, thinking they would only have to face one guy to save the kid. It’s not that easy and they are faced with the entire crew, and their guns. In true, Castel, incredibly far-fetched fashion, Castle creates a diversion with a rendition of a West Side Story song. This is Castle, yeah? Last episode their witness could smell Beckett’s pheromone output, so if you’re looking for realism, go watch CSI, I guess. Distracting their opponents through song, Castle and Slaughter end up, with their bare hands, beating the whole crew of thieves, who are out cold when Ryan, Esposito and the cavalry arrive.
The real murderer is discovered when it comes to light that more than the microchip, 15 million was also stolen from the building owner’s. The revelation that the kid’s counsellor was the killer was not a big deal, because the case was only secondary to the story, as usual.
I wouldn’t mind, homicide and robbery working together on a couple of cases this season, much like when Demming had entered the mix, way back in season 2. I’m probably getting beheaded for saying this, but I didn’t miss Beckett here. This episode showed that “Castle” can still be good without Beckett, but I doubt this statement to be true the other way around. Without Castle, the show it just becomes a normal procedural. Castle brings the humour and the quirkiness that made me love the show. I’d rather have them both on, but if I have to choose, if the season 1-4 vibe is dead and impossible to revive with both leads, I choose Castle. This leads me to believe that the series could have worked if, in a parallel universe, Kate had taken the job at the Senate and popped in once in a while, as Castle continues working on cases with the boys.
Guys, this is my opinion, don't go hating on me, okay?
