Castle is King

It’s easy to think that for television to be intelligent, it has to be innovative or complicated. It has to blow your mind, or make you see something differently. But every once in awhile, a show comes along to remind you that intelligent can be fun. Case in point: Castle.

Wow, I love this show! The dialogue is natural and witty. The character portrayals are genuine, likable, and believable. The murder mystery that each episode is framed around is usually pretty easy to figure out, but the clues develop nicely and never insult the viewers’ intelligence. And I usually laugh out loud at least three or four times each episode.

To start off with, Nathan Fillion is awesome. He is perfect as the mystery writer turned NYPD “consultant”. I love how he can transition seamlessly from wise-cracking trouble maker to thoughtful protective dad. Fillion has been everywhere – from Firefly, Buffy, and Lost to Desperate Housewives, Miss Match, and One Life to Live, and he’s the reason I first gave Castle a try.

I wasn’t familiar with Stana Katic, who plays the NYPD detective Castle works with. Her character is supposed to be kind of stiff and by the book, but she does a great job of making the character likable and showing little peeks of what she is hiding. As the show is developing, her back story is really helping to fill out the character.

The chemistry and banter between these two is intelligent and engaging, and it’s what the show is built around. But it doesn’t end there. Their interaction with the other detectives is just as fun, and Castle’s relationship with his mother (the hysterical Susan Sullivan) and his daughter is sweet and equally funny.

Overall, Castle is a comedy/mystery/drama that is smart, sexy, funny, won’t insult your intelligence, and won’t embarrass you if your kids happen to be in the room. The writing and dialogue pacing is so natural, and the acting is so spot on, these characters are all people you wish you knew personally.

If the promos didn’t pull you in, you HAVE to give Castle a try. It isn’t a show that will be hard to get into mid-season, and it’s a rare gem.