Living the Fictional Dream

Last night, I tuned into the premier of the new show, Castle. It’s another crime procedural, but it stars Nathan Fillian (Firefly, Drive), so as a fan, I had to give Castle a try.

I’d heard some bad things about it — that it was silly and badly written with campy dialog — but I have to say that I don’t totally agree. There was an emphasis on humor in the show, but I didn’t find it silly or badly written. Maybe the person who wrote the review that I read just isn’t used to humor in crime procedurals?

Nathan was his charming self, of course, as the author Castle. A little over the top, it’s true, but I think that was an appropriate choice for a character with such celebrity status. And it seemed that the smarmy side of him was more his public side — we saw glimpses of the man underneath the persona, such as when he was with his daughter or great scene when he analyzed the female lead.

The female lead (whose name, I have sadly forgotten), a police officer, was all right as a straight woman. The best line of the whole thing was when she got assigned to work with Castle, and her co-worker said, “The control freak saddled with something she can’t control? This is going to be better than Shark Week!” The female lead’s character was a bit flat to me in the pilot, but I think there are opportunities for her to grow, assuming the show isn’t yanked off the air after four episodes. Her main purpose at the get-go is to be a foil for Castle’s antics, which she did well, and over time, they will be able to deepen her into something more than the straight woman.

If you don’t know the set-up to this show, basically, Castle writes mystery/crime novels and he gets partnered up with a straight-laced female cop to help solve real crimes (under the guise that he is doing research for his latest book). The cop works in the system and plays by the rules. Castle is used to his charm and fame getting him what he wants when he wants it. There is also an old-for-her-age teenaged daughter (a la Rory from Gilmore Girls) and a wacky mother (the actress who plays the mother is a scene stealer!).

My biggest nitpick with the pilot episode had to be Castle’s celebrity status. Are there really fiction authors out there who are treated like rock stars? Authors who have a book launch or an autograph signing and young girls come in skimpy dresses begging him to sign their chests? Now, granted, I’ve never been to a Stephen King signing — I’m sure they are crazy, but it’s hard for me to picture even him being thrust upon by sexy bimbos. Sure, the actor who plays Edward in the Twilight movie gets that, but does Stephanie Meyer?

Ah well, as a conceit of the show, I can suspend my disbelief. And, as a wanna-be published novelist, it sure would be nice to believe that a few best sellers would get an author movie star treatment.

My favorite scene in the pilot was when Castle attended his regular poker game with three other writers in his genre. I loved how they ribbed Castle for killing off the main character of his popular book series (he was bored writing the character) and how they proclaimed that they would all be earning royalties off their main characters until they had no other options. And I enjoyed it when Castle laid out the case he was helping the police with (someone did a series of copy cat murders based on Castles lesser-known works) as if it were a mystery novel, and the other authors were aghast at the simplistic plot structure.

All in all, I thought it was an enjoyable show, and worth watching. I’m not a big crime procedural fan, but Castle, like Bones, twists the formulaic genre into something a little different and a lot more interesting. Sure, there is still the formulaic crime solving, but it’s tempered by unique characters that (hopefully, if Castle is follows the Bones model) have continuing character arcs that give the show more focus that merely the bloody murder. And, to me, characters are the most important thing — especially in the TV medium where you have to want to come back week after week. The undercurrent of humor also gave the show a lighter tone that most procedurals, something that makes it all the more palatable to me.