Castle (TV Series) A Chill Goes Through Her Veins (2009) User Reviews

The Frozen Corpse

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 13 April 2022]

When the frozen corpse of a woman is found in a construction site, Castle, Beckett and her team are assigned for the case. Soon the coroner identifies the thawed woman and they learn that she was reported missing five years ago by her husband, the bank manager Sam. Their further investigation indicates that she was murdered five years ago and kept in a freezer. Soon they also find that her husband was murdered one year ago, and the case turns into a homicide investigation.

"A Chill Goes Through Her Veins" is another great episode of "Castle", with an intriguing story of a murder case five years ago. The chemistry between the cunning Castle and Beckett is again a great attraction of this show. The resolution of the crime is excellent. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "A Chill Goes Through Her Veins"

Really good early episode

[xbatgirl-30029 · 9/10 · 21 March 2023]

First, I have to disagree with the reviewer who said Castle wasn't acting like himself in this episode because he was making rational suggestions while the gang makes far fetched ones. There is merely one brief scene where Ryan is joking about bizarre disappearances and sarcastically says maybe it was aliens. All the while, Castle is trying to make a point that there's a story that makes sense behind all disappearances. This never felt out of character to me.

That scene, and the episode in general, has a motive. The writers are showing exactly why Castle is so helpful to the police. He's looking at events like a writer. That's the whole premise for the show. Later on in the series, some of that is slightly lost. But I suppose it would get really tiring hearing him lecture about plot and story construction every single episode. But this is only episode five so we have to hear it. The writers have to convince viewers why it's not ridiculous for Castle to keep hanging around after his initial case. He can't be saying that it was ghosts or Bigfoot right at the beginning. I think they do a great job of making it all make sense (within the realms of fictional tv).

In the later seasons, I miss some of this show's dynamic. Kate and Castle spend a great deal of time just working though the case, going over the details. We see them talking over the clues. Sometimes, later on, Castle just seems to pull the correct answer out of thin air and then all the pieces just magically come together. Here we see more footwork. Castle also sees how hard Kate's job can be on her emotionally yet she faces it head on.

What *did* seem out of place was Castle cracking jokes right to the dead victim's face when she was first found. It struck me as very disrespectful. Perhaps he does do it throughout the show and I never noticed? Of course, they're always cracking jokes, but in front of a newly discovered body? (For the record, I work in a hospital and we can definitely have a dark sense of humor that visitors don't always get. But still there are boundaries.)

I do agree with the other reviewers that this seems like the show starting a new chapter. We've met all the main characters and the premise has been set up. Now certain nuances are definitely being worked in to the story. There's more flirtation and innuendo. Kate also sees another side of Castle when she visits his apartment. So there's a lot going on here.

The case itself is a good one. Lots of twists and turns and red herrings. I love the scene towards the end when they return to the victim's apartment to walk through events, all with the tenant watching. I also really like how the case is left. And how it was used as a parallel to solving Kate's backstory. The side characters were all interesting and well played. I'd definitely recommend new viewers to see this if they want to get hooked.

Best Episode Thus Far

[Feeny0902 · 10/10 · 10 April 2009]

This episode was so good! The crime storyline was complex and well thought out. And the personal revelations were long overdue! The show starts with a woman being found frozen. She has a complicated family life and past, and it all comes out in the end, and not exactly the way you expect. Beckett and Castle have become more civil toward each other, which makes for a more interesting dynamic, rather than the predictable opposites attract/love-hate relationship. We learn more about Beckett and her past. She willingly shares details with Castle, which is a nice change of pace, and it shows that she's beginning to trust him. It is also the first time she sees Castle's home life. And as always there are great loving scenes between Alexis and Castle - which pretty much solidifies the love I have for this character. They share some great moments. Watch this episode!

Must see to set up the rest of the series

[Jackbv123 · 10/10 · 9 February 2022]

One of the first things that jumped out to me in this episode, having seen all the series more than once, is Castle's role reversal. While going through files with the team, Castle shoots down one fanciful theory after another. Raised by other team members. All of them would have sounded just right coming from classic Rick Castle's mouth. Yet he's the one shooting them all down. Obviously new shows take a while settling into their own "normal", and writers vary so character personalities can vary too. But this is pretty strange.

This entire episode has Castle displaying a more mature personality than we're used to, and we've already seen in earlier episodes. Sure, there are a couple of times Castle degenerates, but otherwise this is not classic Rick Castle.

Despite this temporary role reversal, this is an amazing episode. I loved the first exchange between Alexis and her dad. It's scenes like this that made this show great and this was one of the better ones.

There's another great scene where Beckett first come's to Castle's apartment in the middle of a laser tag battle between Alexis and her dad.

And the "pretend we are married" scene. Here and the previous scene is one of the earliest, if not the first, Beckett and Castle synergy scenes where they finish each other's sentences while building a theory. And it's fascinating for the viewer.

This episode also begins a couple of other things for the series. First, while there are ups and downs, Castle and Beckett are really starting to accept one another. Also, this is when we learn part of Beckett's backstory which echoes through the entire rest of the series up to the last episode. Finally, the very last scene begins a thread, a very subtle one, of something that frequently divides them and pops up again and again until season 8 episode 15. I expand on that in my review for that episode.