Well, folks, this one took me less time to actually write but more time to edit and condense as there was a great deal to say about this episode.
All in all, I hope I at least touched on the most important aspects of the episode. To me, the key in this episode was that it allowed us to see these characters for who they are and who they want people to see them as, so I focused the review tonight on those aspects of the story and how wonderfully each of the ensemble actors portrayed their characters throughout the episode.
I do hope you like it!!
As always, I will post the link tomorrow (or, more likely, Teel will post the link tomorrow if she's up and online before I am... lol) once TV Guide Canada has published the article on their site (tvguide.ca), but you folks here will get the first chance to read the unedited copy... I do require some cleaning up with my writing each week ;-)
PLEASE CLICK IT tvguide.ca/Watercooler/ReviewsandPreviews/Articles/121113_castle_LC.htm__________________________________________________________
A New Perspective on “Castle”
By Lisa Caputo
2012-11-13
A documentary-style episode reveals further insights about the Castle characters
For the past few seasons, the Castle team has created unique episodes that used new storytelling methods as a way of breaking the characters out of their usual routines in order to provide a different perspective on them. In Season 3, Castle and Beckett found themselves in Los Angeles to track down a killer, taking them out of their New York City bubble and using a new setting to change the game. In Season 4, the team investigated a murder with ties to the 1940’s, prompting Castle to imagine each of the characters in this past world as the audience was treated to his unique perspective on each of them throughout this classic tale. Now, in Season 5, Monday’s offering was a documentary-style episode that provided a fresh new viewpoint from which to observe the team.
“Swan Song” presented Castle and Beckett with a murder investigation revolving around the death of an up-and-coming musician, with a team of documentary filmmakers following his band behind the scenes of their attempted rise to fame. When the director managed to convince the Mayor to let them document the full murder investigation as a means of securing positive P.R. for the 12th Precinct, Beckett and her team were forced to allow the cameras to follow them around throughout their investigation.
What ensued was an hour of hilarious comedy, classic Castle sound-bites, and a very different look and feel to the episode than anything the audience has seen before on this series. Yet it also provided a unique opportunity for the viewers to connect to the characters in a new way and was the ultimate example of how layered and heartfelt this series can be. Beneath the guise of a comedic and entertaining hour lay a perfect character-driven episode that revealed the true nature of each of the characters and explored how they ultimately want others to perceive them.
With the documentary camera crew serving as the audience’s eyes and ears, Monday’s episode allowed viewers the rare opportunity to step inside the Castle world with the characters while also presenting an interesting challenge to the entire cast as they shed their training to never look directly at a camera and, instead, had to play to and with the cameras as another character entirely. While Susan Sullivan and Molly Quinn were unfortunately absent in this rare and unique episode, each of the other ensemble cast members turned in truly astounding performances throughout the hour.
Seamus Dever and Jon Huertas were hilarious as Ryan and Esposito, both seemingly annoyed by the cameras at first but soon enjoying their fifteen minutes of fame. Early in the episode, the two attempted to one-up each other as they debated who brought more to the team and listed their qualities and qualifications in front of the camera crew. While Esposito seemed more inclined to show himself off, Ryan let his work speak for itself. In the end, the two displayed why they are television’s greatest bromance as they credited each other for their part in breaking the case rather than hogging the spotlight themselves.
Meanwhile, the fabulous Penny Johnson Jerald turned in a wonderful performance as Captain Gates, giving the audience a chance to see the Captain we all know and love behind closed doors while also proving that Gates takes great pride in her individual image as well. She hilariously took every opportunity to show herself as a strong, fair, and supportive leader in the precinct while the cameras were rolling, concerned greatly about leaving a positive impression. Ironically, her value as the Captain and her true persona of a supportive and loyal leader is something we have actually begun to see more and more glimpses of even when she is being her stern and powerful self.
Though her role in Monday’s episode was short, Tamala Jones absolutely stole the show in her scenes as Lanie quickly found a keen interest in having the cameras around. Although she started the episode with a clear disdain for the invasion of privacy as she did her job, she soon took the opportunity to strut her stuff for the cameras, something Tamala was really quite impressive at. Despite her limited time on-screen, Lanie was priceless in this episode as she attempted to charm the cameras.
Castle and Beckett, meanwhile, were much the way we would have expected them to be in front of the cameras, with Castle hamming it up and attempting to impress the documentary team with his knowledge while Beckett shied away and showed amused annoyance for the way in which the rest of her team reveled in the spotlight. Yet underneath what we already knew and expected from these two came some truly profound and heartwarming moments that showed us so much more. Stana Katic and Nathan Fillion have already proven to be the greatest on-screen couple on television, and these stolen moments between them in Monday’s episode further cemented that.
Early on in the episode, Castle and Beckett snuck away as Beckett expressed her disdain for the invasion of both her privacy and her job while Castle warmly expressed to her a sentiment that showed how much he cares for her and how much he sees in her, as he tried to convince her to just be herself; “These cameras, they’re not going anywhere. They’re going to see something. I just want them to see what I see.” Throughout the remainder of the hour, despite his reveling in the cameras himself, Castle complimented Beckett, encouraged her, supported her, and helped her to become herself around the cameras, taking pride in watching her open up and in the cameras seeing the real Beckett.
Of course, having the cameras following them around at every turn meant that even their seemingly stolen moments were caught on video as well. When Captain Gates asked to see the raw camera footage to ensure her team was acting appropriately at all times, Castle and Beckett feared their secret relationship would be exposed. In the end, despite a brilliant twist that had the viewers believing they had been outed, Gates was actually none the wiser as the documentary crew kept the one incriminating tape away from her.
Thus, Castle and Beckett’s relationship remains a mystery to the Captain, or at least it would seem that way. For now.
Sorry. Way off topic here. *double 
;D
