"Castle" - the best show you may not be watching

Let me start by saying that I've been a longtime fan of actor Nathan Fillion.

My fascination started with a silly little sitcom in the late 90s called "Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place."  The geek in me loved the Joss Whedon science fiction series "Firefly" for the single season that FOX gave it in 2002 and the movie spin-off from that series, "Serenity." (Browncoats anyone?)  Then there was an amazing independent film called "Waitress" starring him, Keri Russell, Jeremy Sisto (from another one of my favorites, "Six Feet Under"), and Andy Griffith. I've reference this movie in a previous blog. It's a good one.

So, when "Castle" debuted as a replacement series in the spring of 2009, there was no doubt I was going to give it a try. I'm sometimes hesitant about "cop shows," since so many of them seem to follow a similar pattern and I often get bored, but this one seemed to have a unique premise - a bestselling mystery novelist named Richard Castle has become so bored with his main character that he's killed him off and ended a very successful and long-running series of books.  Now he needs to find inspiration for a new character and a new series, but he's a little bit blocked.

When Castle gets involved in an NYPD murder investigation because the murder is a copycat of one of his novels, he meets Detective Kate Beckett and is inspired to create a character based upon her, who he names "Nikki Heat."  Castle also provides enough assistance with the copycat case that the precinct's Captain allows him to follow Beckett around during the investigation. Detective Beckett doesn't want to inspire a character, doesn't want to be anyone's muse, is embarrassed by the character's name, and doesn't want Castle to follow her around and "interfere" with her investigation style.  

Of course, Castle is friends with the Mayor and the Chief, so he manages to get permanent position to "study" Detective Beckett by continuing to follow her, even after the copycat murder case is solved. Thus, a television series is born.

I am here three seasons later to tell you that, if you aren't watching "Castle," you should start - maybe during reruns this summer. But why? Why is it worth your time? (Trust me. I'm critical. I don't watch TV just for noise. If I commit to a series, there's a reason!)

1. The series is incredibly well-written. It's witty. Dry. Funny at times. Often poignant. Always smart.
2. Nathan Fillion is incredibly charming and the same can be said for the character of Richard Castle.
3. Stana Katic, who plays Detective Kate Beckett, seems to have a surprisingly broad range as an actress. The character of Beckett is very deep and Katic plays all of that very well. The actress is far too beautiful to be an NYPD murder detective (seriously!), but that's part of where Nikki Heat came from after all and the character is successful and driven (mostly because of a horrible crime from her past that I won't spoil for you here if you're not a viewer).
4. The supporting cast is great. In the precinct - the two supporting detectives, named Esposito and Ryan and played by Jon Huertas and Seamus Deaver, are actually fleshed out characters, not just background flunkies. There aren't a million different characters to keep track of as representing the police force; the captain and medical examiner round out the primary precinct characters. At home - the Castle character is provided additional depth by the inclusion of his daughter Alexis and his mother, a Broadway actress named Martha Rodgers, who is played by the very familiar Susan Sullivan ("Falcon Crest," "Dharma & Greg").
5. The murders are creative, thematic, and unique. The shows aren't completely predictable. Often the guilty party is a surprise. There's usually an intriguing twist.
6. There is that whole will they/won't they tension between the leads that can be traced back farther even than some of my favorite early iterations like "Remington Steele" and "Moonlighting," but it's not contrived. There's a lot going on with each of these characters and they're both struggling with what's right and wrong for their situation. In other actors' hands, it might come across as hokey, but not here. They maintain that delicate balance that keeps it believable.
7. Someone behind the scenes at the show or ABC is a marketing genius, allowing the character of Richard Castle to become a "real" author. Two Nikki Heat books have been released thus far, "Heat Wave" and "Naked Heat" (both of which I've read and both of which were very good - they seem to have a great ghost writer involved), and a third book is coming out in September. Richard Castle (the author) even has his own website - http://www.richardcastle.net/.

So, if summer reruns get you down or you're just looking for a new Monday night diversion, I'd sincerely recommend one of the only shows that I (apparently the last person on earth who does not have a DVR) actually make a point to watch every single week - "Castle" on ABC.