castle: s02 e01

The full review, as before, is on Examiner, and, also as before, I'll give the less professional reactions to the episode here, and follow with actual reviews later.

- I love Nathan Fillion. Seriously. He's got that quality that I really love in an actor, where he can switch gears in no time flat: silly and flirty to sudden recognition of his own wrongdoing? No problem. Serious as a heart attack to goofy and charming? Easy peasy. He's all over the emotional depth, and I adore watching him. This show would be boring without him, and I'm glad he gets to keep it.

- Stana Katic does uptight and self-righteous very well, but there's that edge of fun that she doesn't need for the part, but it's presence makes Beckett more interesting, like she's repressing a much more fun self that she's decided isn't useful. She comes across as smart enough to keep up with Castle, bold enough to run a team, and sure enough to know who she is and where her morality lies-- and to follow up on that when it's not necessary, like when Castle gets himself in trouble. Which he does whether she's mad at him or not.

- The crime drama could have been a little more forefront, but it's the second season, and they're allowed to loosen up a little. Just don't go all Bones-Season-4, where the crime is hardly even there, when it's supposed to be the purpose of their partnership.

- I like that he's a writer, and that he's actually seen writing. This is good. And it's good that when he's shown writing, it's just him on a computer, and nothing fancy, because that's how writing actually is.

- Alexis needs something to do. She's just uniformly sweet and unintentionally insightful, and there's got to be something else. I don't want her to go down the troubled-teen path (every teen on TV does that), but it'd be nice if she got to be somewhere other than the house, got to be involved in something, got to have a life of her own where she can be more interesting. She should be a pillar of society, since her dad is such a child most of the time.

- And the cops-- I don't even remember their names. They need to be fleshed out, too. Characters, back stories, events in their own lives. I like them, but they're just sort of a greek chorus of snarkiness now, and I'd like them to have stories of their own.

- Over all, it's a good start to the season, though, and I'm glad they didn't draw out the issue of Castle being exiled from the team. It's the partnership that makes the show work, and when they're separate, there's really no reason for them to be in one show.