Castle – “Suicide Squeeze”
Review & Highlights
By Michal – Staff Writer

“No, us Castles are mostly con artists and circus folks, sir.” – Castle

I have a love/hate relationship with baseball.  My family is made of baseball and I never got into the spirit.  Sure I’ll watch a game, but not on my own.  I do know all the words to “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and that should count for something!

But onto last night’s festivities…if you haven’t watched the episode yet, the standard spoiler warning applies and you should stop reading now.

Review

Well, I knew there was a reason I never liked those automatic pitching arms and now I know why.  I understand that Cano Vego, the murdered baseball player in the episode, was dead, but it still feels like insult to injury to be pelted by baseballs after dying.

While the episode felt like mostly filler and I figured out the daughter twist far too early, it was still a fun outing for Castle, Beckett & Company.  To be honest, for me the episode’s strength was not the murder, but actually based on how compelling Lara was and the casting of Ray Wise as a delicious agent/murderer.  Nobody does menacing evil better that Wise.  I mean by the end, his portrayal of the Devil was the only thing that made Reaper worthwhile.

As is often the case, it was the family moments that really shined in the episode.  I usually enjoy Castle and his ladies and this episode has a bonus moment: the touching moment between Lara and Vega’s widow at the end of the episode.  I kind of wish the show would revisit them in the future, but I know that will never happen.  In my head, they form a happy and supportive family unit around the memory of the slain Vega.

I especially appreciate how the writers are handling Castle’s father…or lack there of.  I guess since we got some resolution on who killed Beckett’s mother, the show decided to give us a new mystery: who’s Castle’s daddy?  I find it intriguing how cool Castle is with it.  Growing up with his crazy mom and surrounded by women have helped to mold him into the man he is and he makes a couple of valid points with Alexis brings it up:

“That’s the beauty of the mystery.  Right now my father could be an astronaut, a pirate, a humanitarian, a winner of the Nobel Prize.  What one man could live up to all of that?”

Castle’s outlook on life is always a bit askew and I really appreciate that about the character in general.  Plus it makes sense that he would become an author if he kept imagining who his father was and what he did for a living.  Perhaps as Castle claimed, he did invent whip cream!  I guess those possibilities will have to see us through the upcoming hiatus.

Miscellaneous Highlights & Thoughts

Alexis: “Gran’s teaching me how to read minds.”
Castle: “Yes, you come from a long line of hucksters and charlatans, me included.”

How adorable was Beckett’s reaction to meeting Joe Torre??  Her character has loosed up so much from season one.  Hanging around Castle has done her a world of good…even if it happened while she was kicking and screaming.

“Your Gran told me that she loved a lifetime the night she met him.”

I’m absolutely loving Ryan and Esposito more and more each week.  Who knew that Ryan was so whipped or Esposito could speak fluent Spanish.  I’m intrigued what learn more about them.

Well, that’s it for me.  So what did you all think?  Do you agree with me? Were we watching the same show?  Leave your comments below!