TV Theory: 'Castle' review (Week 3, Term 2)

'Flowers for Your Grave'

Genre: Crime, Comedy

A writer is recruited to help the police when a murderer begins imitating crime scene from his novels.

Castle is an American crime drama from the ABC network, now streamed through Amazon Prime. It was created by Andrew W. Marlowe, and stars Nathan Fillion as novelist Richard Castle and Stana Katic as NYPD Detective Kate Beckett. It aired for 173 episodes over 8 seasons from 2009-2016.

Analysis:

Analogy is when two things are compared to each other. 

A metaphor is when something is described 'as' something else, even though these things are not explicitly linked. These can be static, where the meaning is obvious and constant, but usually reflects just one character and one characteristic. Dynamic metaphors are where new information is provided about them as the narrative progresses, and are often shared with other characters, and/or found in new locations and situations. 

Metaphors are similar to allegories, which are extended metaphors that have both literal and symbolic meaning. 

Allegory

The two main characters in Castle can be seen to represent an allegory. At the start of the episode its literal meaning is revealed as Castle is seen as bad, and Beckett is seen as good. He works directly against her and her orders, seeming unconcerned about death and murder, seeing them only as another story for his novels, which can be sold. Beckett is seen as good as she cares about the victims and wants to solve the cases so that justice can be served, protecting the city.

However, as more details about the murders are uncovered, these two characters' good vs. bad stance can be seen to take on a more symbolic meaning. The murders take place as Castle wrote them, so it could be said that he symbolises the Devil, because all the horrible crimes he writes about then happen to people in consequence of him selling them for his own profit. Therefore, because of her direct good opposition to him, Beckett could be seen as God. This is most evident when Castle uses her as the inspiration for his latest series of novels, as what she does in real life creates this fictional world, which is then reflected back into real life because of the criminal's imitation of the books.

Beckett is also a control freak because of her wish to protect everyone, as she knows the consequences of crime. However, Castle never obeys her, which can sometimes lead them into more dangerous situations she then has to get them out off.

Review:

What drew me to watching this show is that it sounded like an interesting, original idea, which can be seen in the narrative of the episode as it is quite comical to see a novelist working with the police. The characters were well portrayed, and an interesting combination, however, what I didn't like is that from the ending of this first episode it is somewhat obvious that they will end up together, as is typical. Although, I think the show will still be engaging to watch if they continue to solve crimes with as many twists and turns as the one depicted here, especially with as little gore as there seemed to not be too much in this episode. I also enjoyed the minor characters as they were not flat characters, especially the character of Castle's mother, as every line of dialogue she said contributed something new about her character. This helped to establish the characters relationships and the tone of these relationships quickly, but not so that it was confusing. The only other thing I didn't enjoy was how Castle's celebrity status as a best-selling writer was played up, as difficult obstacles seemed too easy for him to overcome in places because of a coincidence of him knowing someone or someone being a fan of his work. Overall, I would like to see more of this show because of how much I liked the characters and the storylines, which allow each character to express their different personalities, even though it is a big commitment at 8 seasons.