Castle Season 4 Review

Good day to you ladies and gentlemen, today I continue my TV reviews with the fourth season of Castle. I have pretty much been addicted to this show for the last two weeks and have bleeding through it faster than most shows I watch these days. Season 1, 2 and 3 especially have been some of the best TV I’ve seen in a while, so I knew season 4 wouldn’t be too far behind. So how does season 4 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 now Castle and Beckett continue to work together on various crimes as they their relationship continues to grow and become deeper.

Story-wise this season is very good, however it goes in a much more moody and serious direction than before, this is obviously due to what happened to Beckett last season, but even beyond that there is a lot of dramatic and emotional things going on throughout. There’s still plenty of moments of humour and super strange material and that’ll make you laugh and think a lot when they come, however they aren’t as frequent as before. This season’s themes are all about healing and change, this not only heavily applies to Castle and Beckett, but also to Castle’s family, the people at 12th precinct and even some of the episodic stories themselves. By the end of the season finale all I could say was THANK GOD and that’s because after some heavy drama, the one thing I want to happen in this show finally happened and the satisfaction was there in full force.

Episode highlights include:

• Rise (personal favourite)
• Heroes and Villains
• Kick the Ballistics
• Eye of the Beholder (personal favourite)
• Cops and Robbers (personal favourite)
• Heartbreak Hotel (personal favourite)
• Kill Shot (personal favourite)
• Cuffed
• The Blue Butterfly
• Pandora (personal favourite)
• Linchpin (personal favourite)
• 47 Seconds (personal favourite)
• The Limey
• Headhunters
• Undead Again
• Always (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 still the best man ever. Castle is still absurd, silly and hilarious, but also very insightful and courageous. Outside of his light-hearted side we see Castle again growing up and becoming more sensible as he adjusts to the changes in his life and how he starts to accept them. Seeing him in a more serious and caring manner really makes him a great character to get behind and root for. Stana Katic as Kate Beckett once again is amazing in this role. This season we see Beckett at her most vulnerable and emotional levels yet, after the season 3 finale the woman has to not only recover physically and mentally, this makes for some incredible scenes with Beckett not being broken and trying to rebuild herself. Beyond that she is still the wonderful, head-strong woman who still has secrets and still doesn’t want to come to terms with the way she feels about Castle. Together the chemistry of Fillion and Katic is hotter than ever, anytime they are together it is either fun, hilarious, dramatic or romantic. These two seem to be in more and more dangerous situations where they could die at any time and it just interesting to see them evolve and strengthen their partnership.

Molly Quinn is once again good as Alexis Castle. Here’s growing even more, starting to live her own life and getting ready for university, all of these factors build her character up and make her more adult and seeing how Castle has to deal with her father’s feelings about her growing up and drifting away from him was really interesting and emotional. That being said again I’m finding myself less and less interested in her. Susan Sullivan is awesome as Martha Rodgers, she’s definitely becoming more than just the stay-at-home-mother, she’s started acting classes and becoming more active outside of her son’s activities with the police. And while she’s still funny and witty from time to time, she also has some really great scenes with her son, talking to him about his relationship with Beckett and giving him some much-needed advice.

Jon Huertas and Seamus Dever still can’t seem to do anything wrong as Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan. As a pair they really kill it offering great moments of comedic timing but also being great emotional support for Castle and Beckett. However I feel like these two have developed more again with Esposito showing off more of his loyalty, while Ryan also showed some levels of devotion to his friends but also being having to make tough calls and follow police protocols. Tamala Jones is still great as Lanie Parish, again its always nice to see her around, but even better was that in this season it showed her and Beckett talking about relationships and how Lanie was giving advice to Beckett about Castle. And then of course there is the new addition of Penny Johnson Jerald who is really good as the new captain, Victoria “Iron” Gates. From the moment she steps on the scene she’s mean, serious, does things by-the-book and takes no sass from no one, especially Castle. Honestly I hated this character at first, but I did start to like her eventually once she started to show a little appreciation for the good work that Beckett and co. were doing. I also want to give shout out to Tahmoh Penikett (Dollhouse) for his appearance in this season as it was so brutal, cool and totally and unexpected.

So is there anything I didn’t like? Well after the season last season finale things changed in the dynamic between Beckett and Castle, especially when it comes to their relationship. However after a few episodes we go back to the whole “will they or won’t they?” scenario and that was kind of frustrating. Thankfully the people behind the show rectified that issue by the end of the season but god, the lead up to it was SO painful. Also because of the more serious nature of this season I kind of missed the more light-hearted and humourous side that came with the last few seasons, I know that there was a great deal of dark subject matters to deal with, but it also took out a lot for some melancholy TV which wasn’t as fun to watch this time around.

In conclusion Castle season 4 is another solid season for this great TV show. There’s a lot of change in the air and things get a lot darker, more serious and murkier not only in the individual stories but also for Beckett and Castle. It is great to watch a show that is so engaging, fun and dramatic and knows how to rectify its problems quickly. While not as great overall as last season, it is definitely has its moments that make it stand out.

Rating: 8.5/10

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. 😀