Castle (TV Series) Suicide Squeeze (2010) User Reviews

decent episode but bizarre casting

[ivko · 7/10 · 1 August 2020]

I'm always distracted by the casting of a pivotal character in this episode. Without giving away the plot, one of the characters is supposed to be the child of another character. From the age of the "father", which isn't specified exactly but can be reasonably inferred as late thirties to early forties at the most, the age of the child is supposed to be teenage or very early twenties at the most, but the actor cast is in their early thirties. That's weird enough, but the show compounds that oddity by dressing the actor as a child and having the other characters act as though the child was, well, a child. Every time I see this episode my brain interprets this as creepy. Maybe it's just me because I don't see anyone else calling it out, but it feels so off to me.

Anyway, a decent if unspectacular episode where Castle and Beckett investigate the murder of a famous baseball player who was born in Cuba. Fairly predictable, the villain is a good actor but also one who tends to play villains a lot so it kind of tips you off. But we do get to see Beckett completely star struck at meeting Joe Torre, which is fun.

Come on, writers! You can do better

[kabosse · 5/10 · 10 February 2010]

I love this show. It is like chocolate: no nutritional value whatsoever, but a guilty pleasure I cannot deny myself now and then. And, digested over an extended period of time, not only instantly happiness-producing, but quite addictive as well.

Usually, I am quite happy with the plot development, since it never is or has been the series' main focus anyway (I would wager a great sum of money that the majority of viewers, at least the female ones, are much more interested in two subplots: 1-when will we learn who killed Kate Beckett's mother?; 2-will Beckett and Castle ever admit to-and act on-their mutual attraction?).

But this episode is so stupid, I cannot even enjoy the "candy factor" properly. Come on! Who really did not see that one coming?! I won't tell, but I would not need to, because apart from the writers, who clearly and criminally underestimate the intellectual capacities of the viewers, everybody will have figured it out from the very first mentioning of the very first clue. It is a formula that has been done before a thousand times, and has been done much better.

I am disappointed. But the interaction between Castle and his daughter is sweet, so that, in a way, saves this episode for me. Nonetheless, I hope the writers will do better next time. No pleasure in eating last year's chocolate easter bunny.