The theme of HEROES & VILLAINS?
Oooooo! I’m thinking it’s a toss up between projected personas or masks & unmasking?
Let’s run through the entire episode, shall we?
The wearing of spandex or Lycra is entirely at the reader’s discretion…But I get first dibbs on being Storm from X- Men, ‘kay? C’mon, how cool would it be to control the weather?
Yeah, where was I? Right. The episode!
It opens in a dark alley where a bad man is about to do bad things…then bad things happen to him. (Firstly, he wouldn’t be using that hand to fire a gun any time soon. I think we can all agree that piano lessons would be a waste of money? Then he gets chopped in two. Piano is definitely out of the question.)
Castle’s loft, were we lay our scene…where making omelettes makes Castle’s hands unclean. *cough* Damn Shakespeare! That man creeps into everything! Tell you one thing though, that Shakespeare? He sure did put people in plenty of disguises in his plays. Women disguised as men, Duke’s disguised as friars…ya get the idea! It fits in with our theme, so we’ll leave it in.
Martha is making costumes for her acting school. (“Proper wardrobe helps an actor connect to the words.”)
TIMEOUT: That exchange between Castle and his mother? The one that sounds a lot like this:
Castle: I seem to remember asking you to make me an ET Halloween costume and you told me you didn’t know how to sew.
Martha: Details…Besides you were 32 at the time.
That was funny for me on two levels. It is just plain funny. I laughed out loud! It’s even funnier for me because last Christmas I dressed up as an Elf. (I think I’ve seen the film Elf one too many times, you know?) I made the entire thing myself. By hand. No sewing machine. I’ve got a green elf pinafore dress made entirely out of green felt and I have elf boots. I was 30 at the time! Yes, I identify more with Castle than with Beckett. Why do you ask?
RESUME PLAY…
The scene at Castle’s loft also brings into play the ‘Ashley at Stanford’ story. Yeah…more on that story later. We leave Martha (presumably hard at work on her sewing machine) and Alexis (presumably hard at work trying to stay awake as she reads through the outlines of Ashley’s economics classes) to hit the mean streets of New York with Castle and Beckett.
The mean streets of New York where men blame tears on chopping onions…only to partially rescind that statement later! I love that Castle discusses Alexis with Beckett. (Beckett’s take on the situation, that Castle’s not ready but Alexis is ready? That they’re not on the same page? I have sooooo many comments, soooooo little time. Moving on!)
The crime scene cracked me up for some macabre reason. It could have been the fact that there were two pieces of yellow plastic (separated by a good few feet of crimson smeared space) with only the boots sticking out of the bottom. Never has so much gore been suggested by so little.
MINI TIMEOUT: The entire thing with the “unit” cracked me up. In fact I’m making Castle’s line: “Then you do not understand the sacred bond between a man and his unit.” My QUOTE OF THE WEEK!
I loved how Beckett and Castle discuss the case as they strolled down the alley. That alley must be pretty narrow. They bump elbows a lot during that exchange. They bump shoulders. Personal space is sometimes overrated.
(The victim’s mother is a hoot! “We’re very sorry for your loss.” Followed by “Don’t sweat it” LOL! And they brought him back in two body bags? Hahahahaaa! Mmmmyeah. My sense of humour is warped.)
Tony “The Butcher” cracked me up. Yes, I know he ends up being the bad guy, he’s still funny! Castle’s lines: “He’s half the man he used to be…a man divided…split personality” LOL! Beckett’s face when Tony drops his trousers is priceless. I suppose that’s a little too close to his unit for her liking?
HELLO WARDROBE DEPARTMENT (Yes. I know you’re there) Beckett & Castle from arrival at the crime scene riiiight through to interrogation are clad in dark jackets and crisp shirts. Beckett’s shirt is white, Castle’s is blue…but it’s still close enough. Gates is in charcoal grey and RED…it’s gonna be a long day!
So…we catch a first look at one of the Lone Vengeances (Lone Vengencesess? Anywayz…) and Castle has his jacket on while Beckett is just in her shirt during a conversation. Unbalanced wardrobe and were back to a slightly more heated exchange.
Loved Castle’s “Comic Book Murder Board” (I’m sure Beckett would love to peruse his issues. I’m sure Beckett wouldn’t mind access to his unit either…*cough*) and the entire “which comic book character would you be?” was great. This would not have happened a couple of seasons back. Beckett would have rolled her eyes, told him to mind his own business or come up with a cheep shot about a tight fitting costume.
First guy in a costume? Right costume. Wrong guy. Moving on…
Still with me? We’ve had Martha dressed as Desdemona, Chad Hockney dressed as the Lone Vengeance and now we get Alexis…copying Ashley. You see what’s going down here? All these people pretending to be something they’re not. Gah!
MINI TIMEOUT II: My, my, my…Beckett’s loft is certainly getting used this season. For a man attached to his cell phone Castle sure does like to pass on information personally…over at Beckett’s…*whistles innocently* Just wondering if Castle stayed round and waited while Beckett got changed before they both went down to the 12th? *resumes whistling *
Back with ya! Figuring out (in stereo) that it’s the reporter from the crime scene…Paul Whittaker goes up on the suspect side of the board. Ryan adopts the persona of Castle…yup. Stick to the day job buddy!
We’re into the home stretch now.
Paul Whittaker is assumed to be welding both the pen and the sword. He, however, is just the pen. Richard Castle…meet another “Richard Castle”! Having found “Castle” our attention is drawn in to the search for sword whealding “Beckett.”
Officer Anne Hastings turns out to be the real Lone Vengeance (and she’s like Beckett! Luke Reichle noted on Twitter @RedCarpetLuke: I dressed Ann Hastings costume to be visually aligned with Beckett. Check out the mirroring.) But it is our old pal, Drop-ya-pants-Tony that ultimately is the guilty party. Case closed.
FINAL THOUGHTS
A female cop as the masked superhero The Lone Vengeance
Two men copying the Lone Vengeance outfit. One in pursuit of justice (bless him!) The other using the costume as a disguise for evil wrongdoing.
Martha is once again in Shakespearian dress (King Lear) Another outfit for her school where she’ll teach people to pretend to be other people/characters.
Alexis stepping out of the shadow of both the men in her life. Stepping out of the childhood with her father, stepping away from copying Ashley’s classes. She is claiming her individuality.
A write and his muse & A writer and his muse! Whilst Ann is ‘masked’ as The Lone Vengeance, she has ‘unmasked’ her feelings for Paul. Beckett fights crime ‘unmasked’…her feelings for Castle have been (and are still, to a certain extent) ‘masked.’
Castle uses his job as a writer to celebrate and release his feelings for Beckett. (From lust/Sexual attraction S½ with Heat Wave, through to Nikki & Rook moving into something beyond sex.0 Beckett hides from her feelings using the job as part of The Wall.
We (the audience) are beginning to see the mask…the veil of Beckett being lifted. The looks Beckett gives Castle (when he’s not looking) and the way she looks at Ann & Paul as they are first reunited? She looks at them with longing? Reverence? Happiness/
Love the way Castle comes into the background of the shot, emerging from behind Paul as Beckett delivers the line: “…and you’ve got somebody who cares about you.” Beckett? Pot. Kettle. Black!
Castle says that Ann & Paul are just like them. The ‘other’ couple step into the elevator hand in hand and as the doors slide closed they kiss. As Castle and Beckett observe them it’s clear to both of them that Ann & Paul are ‘writer and muse’…‘just like them’…WITH ADDED BENEFITS!!! (Beckett literally bites her lip here. It’s a self silencing gesture. She’s not saying anything! She could also be imagining what she and Castle could get up to in the same elevator? Castle runs away (Song lyrics in the background mention “Run For Cover” They’re not wrong) from Awkward Situation S4 No1!…Right into what I’m gonna call Castle’s Heart Failure Moment S4No1: “Especially if we move in together” Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!
Interestingly enough “Richard Castle” maybe the most masked character of them all. Really Richard Alexander Rodgers, only half an origin story in place (missing father) and Castle has that dark secret. Where as Beckett’s big S4 bombshell is an emotional secret- Knowledge that Castle loves her (and she loves him) - it seems to make her lighter, softer and happier. Almost masked by her serious and dark cop exterior. Castle’s big S4 bombshell is possession of knowledge, of information (with potential emotional fallout) taking Castle down the dark rabbit hole. It makes him more serious, dark and brooding. A fact masked by his light, silly and happy behaviour.
That’s all I got.
I’ll be back next week!
Mwah.
Tue Sep 27, 2011 12:40 am
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