Take Two - Death Becomes Him - Review

Calling all Castle fans! Today’s guest star is Seamus Dever, formerly known as Kevin Ryan. Here he plays Todd Garlin, a man who is much better with tinkering than he is with people. Finding out that he has pancreatic cancer, he hires a hitman to kill him. Trouble is that he isn’t really dying and he was so good at hiding his plan that he doesn’t know how to stop the hit. Enter Eddie and Sam, who find the hitman in less than 20 minutes, cracks about lengthy legwork notwithstanding. Sadly, the hitman also finds them and

locks them in a Faraday cage, meaning it’s electrified and cancels out phone service. Not one to wait to be murdered, Sam stops Eddie’s heartfelt apology for likely getting her killed and takes off Eddie’s belt and her bra to Eddie’s interest and confusion. Let’s just say Eddie was right in the intro. “It’s never what you think it is.” Sam isn’t making a move; not even this show moves that fast. Instead she MacGyver’s a way to try to get Eddie’s gun back. 30 seconds later, Eddie fries the hitman with his own electric cage and it’s case solved. They could make this show a sitcom in that time. Unfortunately, the hitman may be in police custody but Todd is still not safe. While on the phone with him, Eddie realizes that a bomb is about to go off in Todd’s car and Todd narrowly escapes death...again! From there, wacky hijinks and red herrings ensue as they follow the clues to the first person most viewers probably suspected.

Highlights:

~Despite their relationship being as cliché

 as you can get, Eddie and Sam have chemistry and they balance each other out nicely. Sam brings a sunny attitude and levity to the show, while Eddie brings the know-how without crushing her spirit or making her feel unduly stupid. They give and take well, especially for having so few episodes.

~Like all good camp, Take Two doesn’t take itself very seriously. There are winks and jabs at the traditional crime procedural even while they are doing the same thing. Case in point, Eddie tells Sam that fake deaths on TV are nonsense and a lot of work. The very next scene, he’s convincing Chris to pull together the logistics to do just that and viola, they have one still breathing dead guy.

~Speaking of Chris Rollins, she was a delight in this episode. Nothing made me laugh harder than when she asks what kind of statement they want her to make about the evidence bag with Sam’s bra and Eddie’s belt in it. Just the expression on her face cracked me up. I am truly glad that they are not making Chris and Sam rivals. I hope they have time to create a real friendship between them. I also liked Chris’ dry humor at the hospital. I’m committed to my pension too.

~Eddie, surprisingly, gets the big emotional moments most of the time. He saves Sam from the judge’s jail sentence and talks her down from a panic attack over her ex. I really enjoyed how they reverse that this time. It is Sam who takes charge of the heartfelt discourse and who ends up getting Eddie just the right present to help him remember his dreams. It’s another example of balance between the characters.



~It was good to see Seamus Dever back on my TV. The Ryan and Esposito bromance was my favorite thing about Castle.

Issues:

~It’s a good thing that the leads are engaging on Take Two because the writing is still weak. The “bad guy” was instantly predictable and the red herrings could have come with title cards, they were so obvious. This episode also had pacing issues. I like a good “where’s my life going” conversation but there were too many of them, it felt clunky, and the exposition was all over the place. Plus, as much as I like Sam making the big gesture this time, it is highly unlikely that, with what she knew from Eddie’s story, she could have tracked down the surfboard. That required a little too much suspension of disbelief from me just to hammer home the theme.

~While Chris got better this episode, I liked Monica less. Her character seemed forced and the subplot didn’t help the overall pacing of the story. I did like how Berto got a bit of backstory, but they need to develop his character more. Being the 5th episode though, they have plenty of time to flesh out both characters.

~Sam needs skills. They rely way too much on her being an actor so they have to force the episode to incorporate it. The entire funeral scene was a fail for me. It was dumb and it was dangerous. They need to approach Sam more like Elementary’s Watson. Sam can use her acting experience and it can be valuable, but she also needs to be picking up detective skills on the way. She has shown that she is smart enough to be a detective so use it.




Grade: B

~Overall this episode was fun and the leads are well-cast. The show is starting to find its rhythm and it makes for good, light-hearted summer viewing. However, they need to tighten up the writing, slow down the romance cliches, and continue to develop the characters. I also like how this episode was a great way to reminisce about Castle. They would do well to bring back others from the show too.

Best Quotes:

1. Eddie: “Chris, I’m just trying to keep the guy alive. Look cops and doctors, aren’t they all committed to saving lives?” Chris: “No, they’re committed to keeping their jobs and pensions.”
2. Sam: “I think that gun takes more than a C-cup.”
3. Todd: “Anyway, this is like Final Destination. Maybe I was really supposed to die of cancer and this is God’s way of fixing His mistake.” Eddie: “God doesn’t plant car bombs.”
4. Sam: “I am not going down without a fight and I’m definitely not dying in some dank garage in the Valley.”

5. Berto: “I faked my death once.” Eddie: “Who were you running from? A gang?” Berto: “A girl. She wouldn’t leave me alone. When I was like 14, this girl Chloe was sweatin’ me so I had a friend of mine tell her that I was dead.” Chris: “You literally ghosted her.”
6. Eddie: “You know there’s 2 things that I’ve learned in life, Sam. Nothing good happens after 3 am and it’s never what you think it is.”
7. Sam: “I told you to find someone who stands out, not be someone who stands out.”
8. Eddie: “All we’re saying is that if you know a Todd Garlin, and he did hire you to kill him, he just wants to terminate his contract.” Sam: “Bad choice of words.”

Episode Awards:

Best Reason to Watch - Eddie and Sam complement each other’s skills
Best Plan - Eddie pulls the killer forward and shorts out the Faraday cage
Best Bait and Switch - it looks like Todd is going to shoot his brother but he’s really there with the police
Best Moment - Sam and Todd talk about him becoming a better husband and father
Best Product Name (tie) - Aorta Recorda / Intella-brella
Biggest Aww Moment - Sam tracks down Eddie’s old surfboard
Biggest Laugh - Chris hands Eddie back his belt and Sam back her bra
Biggest Surprise - they take down a contract killer in 20 minutes
Dumbest Idea - bringing the “dead” man to the funeral
Weirdest Close-Up - the stairway handrail
Least Surprising - the brother did it
Least Realistic - finding the surfboard
Most Disconcerting - Seeing Niall Matter as an attempted murderer after watching him play the good guy in all those Hallmark Christmas movies
Most Realistic - faking a death is harder than it seems on a TV episode, even this one
Most Dramatic - the “very important” music swells in the score
Most Improved Character - Chris Rollins
The “Smooth Move” Award - Eddie drops his gun right when they need it most
The "Welcome Back" Award - Seamus Dever, Niall Matter, Christine Chatelain



Screencaps by SpoilerTV, Give Me My Remote, IMDb, Laughing Place, ABC Go, TV Time, and Tumblr.