When the last season ended, Beckett and Castle had once again skirted the issues of their feelings and had gone their separate ways. Castle had gone off to focus on his book and get into a new relationship with his second ex-wife and book publisher. When this season opens, Castle hasn't made his presence known to his police friends since he had supposedly been back in town, and when he keeps showing up at crime scenes, he finds he not only has to explain his presence at these locations, but earn back his friends' trust.
This season's episodes have a few interesting murders that include everything from an old-fashioned pistol duel, a murder over some prohibition-era whiskey stash and even one involving magicians. One good episode has the actress who will play Nikki Heat in the upcoming movie based on Castle's books shadowing Castle and Beckett as they work through a murder. Laura Prepon (That 70's Show) plays in-show actress Natalie Rhodes. While Castle is, at first, reluctant to accept her in the role, as she learns how Beckett behaves, he is impressed with her ability to take on the detective's quirks.
There are a few storylines that span multiple episodes this season. Not only is Beckett's mother's murder something that comes up several times throughout the season, but we also get to meet Beckett's training officer who taught her everything she needs to know about being a cop. Now off the force, Michael Royce (Jason Beghe), is a bounty hunter and he throws a few twists at both Beckett and Castle.
Adrian Pasdar (Heroes) makes an appearance in a two-part episode as Agent Mark Fallon. When what appears to be a dirty bomb shows up in the area, what starts off as a standard murder investigation becomes a possible terrorist attack in New York City.
This DVD release comes with several special features that are sure to make most fans of the show happy. Besides a nice selection of bloopers, deleted scenes and the occasional commentary, there is also a lengthy round-table interview where show creator Andrew Marlowe, Executive Producer Rob Bowman, mystery novelist Michael Connelly, graphic novelist Brian Michael Bendis and Fillion discuss writing, another on the episode that takes place in L.A. and one on the dry erase boards seen throughout the season called Murder Boards. This last one discusses how they build multiple versions of each episode's boards so that the episode can be filmed in non-chronological order, as most episodes are filmed. There is also a music video for "Get On The Floor," a rap song written for and featured in the episode "Lucky stiff."
I can safely say that I feel like this has been the best season of Castle yet. The characters are well established so they have a bit more freedom in their various roles, and the actors have definitely hit their stride. While not every episode pushed some of the overarching stories in the series, they are all good. While jumping in this late in the game ins't the best idea, this is still a great time to catch up and see how things come together. Highly recommended.
