And at one moment, I thought that might actually happen in the scene.

However, I was glad that it didn’t go that way because I appreciated 1) Beckett having a moment of her own (as she is often overshadowed by the Castle charm), and 2) that she was shown as more than competent at her job and fully capable of handling things with or without Castle. Too many shows allow the female role to be diminished to a pathetic ‘needs a guy to save her all the time’ position, so I appreciate it when a show will offer a stronger alternative. I like that there are more and more shows out there these days that present a kick-ass female lead.

Though I do appreciate that Castle charm as well.

Just saying, lol…

I was so glad when the scene became a moment for Beckett instead. It highlighted that she knows what she’s doing, that she’s not some cheesy character for one of Castle’s novels; instead, she’s a strong, smart woman who knows what she’s doing (and he should write her that way). And it highlighted Castle in an interesting way, too. He’s always got a smart-ass quip, he’s always the arrogant charmer, but this was a situation where his brand of humor and charm weren’t going to work. If he had tried, he might have messed things up and gotten the girl or someone else killed. He doesn’t know everything, and it was very cool to see him step back and look like he was actually glad to do so because he knew damn well he didn’t have the proper skills to handle the situation. In fact, he kind of looked shaken by the whole experience. By the time the girl gave in, he looked so relieved (and I loved how he went home and hugged his own daughter, so grateful that she wasn’t in some sort of dangerous mess like the girl in the laundry room). It was fascinating to me. I really liked it a lot. From that moment on, I felt invested in the characters and their partnership. It became more interesting to me. I felt like the writers went with a smart choice rather than going the flashy route. That impressed me.

I will definitely be watching tonight. Enjoy the show, Gary!

I wouldn’t say Castle is anything particularly standout (yet), but I do like Nathan Fillion, and I think there were later episodes in which the story allowed for him to do something a little more in-depth.

There’s a particular scene I’m thinking of, where Castle and Beckett stand off with a girl in a laundry room. She’s got a knife, she’s making these little cuts on her leg and bleeding all over the place, and it’s uncertain whether or not she may try to kill herself. At first I was afraid the show would take a stereotypical, melodramatic route, and have Castle try and charm her or something, be all ‘big hero’ and then lord it over Beckett. But that’s not what they ultimately did.

Instead, he stayed back, in the doorway, while Beckett talked the girl down from the proverbial ledge. In fact, at one point he opened his mouth and closed it immediately; he seemed at a total loss as to what to say or how to handle the situation. So he didn’t — he waited and kept his mouth shut, and Beckett helped the girl and got her to surrender her knife and give herself up to the police for the crimes she’d committed.

And Nathan played it beautifully; he presented Castle as someone who seemed a bit terrified and out of his element throughout the moment, someone who felt sorry for the girl, and as someone who was finally seeing Beckett in a new light, seeing her for her talents, her skills as a police detective, rather than simply as someone he’d been having fun aggravating and teasing. The look on his face conveyed all of that and was so impressive. I just thought that was a terrific moment, and after that, I became much more interested in his character and in the potential for his character’s evolution throughout the series. I thought it was a smart way to approach the scene, and from that I was willing to give the show my attention. I think the episodes got stronger and more entertaining as they went along, and I really enjoy Castle’s relationship with his daughter. I think that is written and portrayed beautifully.

I would recommend giving it a chance. You might like it.

How, you ask?

Magic.

As for Castle… yeah I just wondered because it was picked up for a second season so I kind of thought it must be doing something right, but it really did kind of seem like… well boring.

I am attempting to watch all of them. I tried programming my DVR for tonight and it just shrugged, shook its head at me and turned itself off. So many great returning this Monday. I’m going to have to get out a pad and paper to make some nerdy calculations to see how I can enjoy them all.

@ Joshi

I’ve attempted to watch Castle multiple times. I was only able to make it to the third episode and gave up half way through that. It’s not Nathan Fillion that makes it unwatchable. He’s playing his “ego” character. It’s much like Captain Hammer. It’s just that everything else isn’t really that interesting. I just couldn’t stick with it.

I also loved the Dr. Horrible ‘interruption’ in the middle of the show. Neil and Nathan were hilarious.

Pardon me while I get up on my soap box for a moment, regarding Neil Patrick Harris.

He was ROBBED, I say, ROBBED of winning an Emmy! Don’t get me wrong… as a fan of Jon Cryer from his Pretty in Pink days, it was cool to see “Ducky” win an award. However, what he won it for? Two and a Half Men? Seriously? Juvenile humor at best. No real depth to that program.

In contrast, Neil’s performances on How I Met Your Mother this past year were both hilarious and heartbreaking (especially in episode 4×12 “Benefits”) — more Emmy-worthy, in my opinion. I know I’m biased because I’ve been a fan of Neil’s since way back when (the Doogie years, heh), but I really do think he deserved to win. *shakes head* A travesty.

LOL, just kidding, seriously though, didn’t get to see the Emmys, was working, as usual…

I always thought I’d enjoy anything with Nathan Fillion in it, but for some reason couldn’t even finish watching the first episode and never caught any others… although in fairness, I wasn’t putting in a lot of effort, doing other stuff while watching it and all.

I was just wondering if anyone here watched it and whether it was any good.

I really would recommend watching How I Met you Mother though (from the beginning, tonight’s show would be the first episode of season 5 and while it’s not horribly important to start from the beginning, it does make for a more enjoyable experience throughout). It’s somewhat like Friends in a lot of ways.

That is why it’s good that there is diversity. Personally, I find Big Bang Theory an awful boring show the few times I watched it. I’d much rather watch Family Guy or The Simpsons than ANY live sitcom, Two and a Half Men included. Actually, I’d even rather watch reruns of Friends or Seinfeld than most of the new, so-called “comedies.”

High ratings don’t mean a hell of a lot in a world of badly made reality TV being big hits. We’re all entitled to our opinions and Two and a Half Men isn’t the worst TV in the world, but personally, I find it to be unwatchable and in a world where there is much better written comedy TV out there, Big Bang Theory and How I met your Mother being two examples, (new seasons starting tonight ) I’ve not once found a reason to watch it other than a few times out of pure curiosity.