Castle Season 2 Review

Good day to you ladies and gentlemen, today I return to the realm of television with a new review and it will be on the second season of Castle. After really enjoying the first season I was immediately curious to see what goes down in the following season and with 24 episodes to check out things can only get better with an extended episode count right? So how does season 2 fare? Well read on and find out.

The plot for this show involves Richard Castle, a famous mystery novelist who is called in to assist the New York police when a serial killer begins committing copycat murders based on situations in his books. After Castle helps crack the case, he then decides to kill off his longtime character and create a new one, named “Nikki Heat,” and research her by shadowing Det. Kate Beckett. And in this season Castle and Beckett continue to work together on various crimes as they their relationship continues to grow and become more complex.

Story-wise the show continues to be really good with the wonderful episodic stories, while also establishing some continuing narrative over the course of the season. With a bigger episode count, it allows for so much more adventures with Castle, Beckett and the rest of the crew in and outside of different cases. I love the variety of cases in this season whether it be the world of modelling, illegal immigration, politics, marriage, underground mobs, S&M, baseball and so much more, this season has it all. The show also continues be primarily humourous with loads of laughs that keeps things interesting and there’s never a moment, but beyond the humour there are some genuinely dramatic and emotional moments which are very well done and go deeper into that serious territory than the last season. Most if these moments involve Castle and Beckett, sometimes the scenes are subtle and sometimes its full-on and it was some of the most moving and emotional stuff going on in the show. Oh and the way this season ends just broke my heart, so much emotions were going on me (I know I sound like a girl but I can’t help it).

Episode highlights include:

• Deep in Death
• Fool Me Once…
• When the Bough Breaks
• Vampire Weekend (personal favourite)
• Famous Last Words
• Love Me Dead
• A Rose for Everafter (personal favourite)
  
• Sucker Punch (personal favourite)
• The Mistress Always Spanks Twice
• Tick, Tick, Tick… (personal favourite)
• Boom! (personal favourite)
• Den of Thieves
• Food to Die For
• Overkill
• A Deadly Game (personal favourite)

When it comes to the cast they’re really back in full force with the returning cast being even better than before, while newcomers make a good effort to get stuck in. Again these are all relatable and developed characters who you really feel attached to.

So let’s start with Nathan Fillion returns again as Richard Castle and he’s even cooler than before awesome. Castle is just a fun kind of guy who is consistently cool, full of surprises and there’s never a dull moment when he’s around because he’s always doing or saying something that’s funny. But beyond that we see more of the dramatic side of Castle as we learn about his past and see how he deals with some of his current situations and learns important life lessons which really develops him as a character. Stana Katic as Det. Kate Beckett is even better than before. Firstly Katic looks in insanely hot in this season, to be honest I fell for her in this season, her looks along with her acting makes her a very attractive woman. In this season while she’s still a ‘work before play’ kind of person who is tough and has a strict code of conduct, but we also get to see the layers underneath and see more of her emotions like being playful and jealous. Fillion and Katic again have great chemistry on-screen whether they’re having playful conversation, moments of sexual tension, awkward moments or when they’re piecing clues together finishing each others sentences (that’s so cute). But most importantly this season highlighted the fact that these two are totally interested in each other. It is just the subtle stares or unspoken words that stand out or how the two of them avoid each other is both interesting and painful as the watcher because you just want things to work out.

Molly Quinn as Alexis Castle is again amazing, she’s smart, beautiful, loyal and cute, how anyone can dislike her is impossible. I liked seeing Alexis start to grow up and diversify her interests, much to the dismay of her dad haha. Susan Sullivan is good as Martha Rodgers, she continues to be the voice of wisdom as well as humour and it was interesting to have her character develop and move on with her relationship and acting career. Ruben Santiago-Hudson as Captain Roy Montgomery is still awesome, the man is a great authoritative role, the way he can balance seriousness and humour is really good and keeps him from being boring. I also really liked Jon Huertas and Seamus Dever as Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan, besides just cracking jokes, the two of these characters were given a significant amount more screen time and development, especially for Esposito which I really appreciated, plus their friendship with Castle is so cool too. Tamala Jones continues to be good Lanie Parish, she is very still pretty funny and sassy and very pretty. Also shout outs to Jenna Leigh Green (Libby from Sabrina the Teenage Witch) and Erin Cahill (Jen from Power Rangers Time Force), seeing them in this show made me smile a lot.

So is there anything I didn’t like? Well just a few tiny points. I wasn’t keen on how much the police co-workers liked to gang up on Castle, he’s my favourite dude, so I wasn’t keen on when he’s the subject of jokes and ridicule. Also this season has a very start and stop nature when it comes to its dramatic tones, for the most part the show is funny and light-hearted, but when it does get series especially whether it has to do with character development for either Castle or Beckett or both, the show will then move on like nothing happened beforehand like a cartoon show with no continuous narrative between episodes. Now I’m not saying that everything has to be linked between episodes, but when it is character building I’d prefer it to be more consistent. Other than those nitpicks everything else was great.

In conclusion the second season of Castle is amazing. There is so much more going on than before with all the various cases and thought-provoking stories. But it is mainly about the characters and this show gives us a well-developed bunch of people who you really feel attached to and the cast do an excellent job in their roles. The main center point is Castle and Beckett and their relationship which honestly one of the most engaging pairings I’ve seen on TV in a while. I seriously can’t wait to watch the next season. I am obsessed lol.

Rating: 9/10 (Everything gets better and I can’t get enough)

So have you do watched Castle and if so are you casual watcher or an avid fan? And if not you’re watching this show, then why not? Whatever your thoughts are be sure to drop them in the comments below and I’ll see you on the next review yo. 😀