Rise Review

After sharing some of my thoughts with someone today about last night's Castle, I was told that I was insightful, however, this person also told me that they never think that deeply about it, saying "It's just a TV show." But just a TV show it is not, at least not to me. 

I have watched Castle from the beginning and somewhere along the way I fell in love with these characters and became fully invested in their lives and in their story. I am a huge fan of will they/won't they story lines but I have never seen one handled in quite the way they do it on Castle. We have actually been able to witness Castle & Beckett slowly fall deeply in love with each other and that is beautiful.

With that said, I wanted to give a recap and add my own thoughts on "Rise."

I have waited, somewhat impatiently, for the next chapter of Castle to grace me with its presence on my TV screen. Yesterday, what I have been waiting so long for finally happened and it met all of my expectations. 


The first few minutes of "Rise" had me on the edge of my seat. It's not that the fate of Beckett's life was any question in my mind, I knew she would survive, but seeing how she was saved was the important part. I love that they showed her actual surgery. It made the scene that much more intense and made the moment seem even more dire. I felt  more connected to the story by seeing Beckett in the operating room than I would have if they had only shown the worried faces of her loves ones, followed by a Dr. walking up to them to reveal her fate. We were able to experience both sides of the story and I appreciated that.


I was relieved to see Jim Beckett again because not having him in the hospital would have seemed unrealistic. I just hope we get to see more of him in the future. I would also like to know how Jim feels about Castle being in his daughters life. Hopefully, that's something that will be brought up later in the season. 


I never liked Josh. Not because he was a bad person but because I would dislike anyone who came between Castle & Beckett. I actually preferred that they didn't make Josh a bad guy. In spite of his anger at Castle, which I'm sure made most fans dislike him even more, you could tell he actually cared about Kate. His anger stemmed from worry and even though it upset me to see him shove Castle and hear his stinging words, it was actually a very natural reaction for someone in his situation. Although, I did think Josh trying to pick a fight in the hallway of a hospital in front of all of Beckett's friends and family was a little insensitive on his part. 


One of my favorite parts is when Castle checks his reflection and fixes his hair before going in to see Beckett. There is nothing more endearing than seeing him nervous and in love.


Nathan Fillion's performance in the hospital room scene was nothing less than genuinely heartbreaking. When Kate tells him that she doesn't remember anything, including his confession of love for her, his crestfallen expression filled my heart with sadness. I have never so badly wanted to give a fictional character a reassuring hug. 


Side note: Why do TV shows have to glam up their female leads by putting make up on them during hospital scenes? That is just one of my pet peeves. I'd like to see a realistic portrayal of someone recovering after a surgery for once.

After Beckett returns to the precinct, it upset me to hear that she had let so much time pass without calling Castle. I can only imagine that Castle must have been waiting to hear from her for weeks until he began to worry that she had decided not to bother getting in touch with him at all. I did, however, appreciate the fact that Beckett took full responsibility for the reason why her and Castle had not had any contact. I was a bit shocked over the fact that Beckett seemed surprised after hearing that Castle had been with Ryan and Esposito every day trying to help them find her shooter. She seemed touched by it which was nice but you'd think after all this time, she should know by now how much Castle is actually willing to sacrifice for her. I also was happy to see that Esposito was looking out for Castle, wondering if he would even want to come back after Beckett had left him hanging for 3 months.


I'm not quite sure how I feel about the new Captain yet. My emotions are still raw from the loss of Captain Montgomery and so far the only silver lining has been my amusement over everyone calling her "Sir." Yes, she does seem tougher than Montgomery was but still not as much of a drill sergeant type as I was expecting.


When I heard a few weeks ago that there was going to be a scene at a book signing, I immediately put two and two together and couldn't imagine a better scenario than one where Kate Beckett shows up to get Castle to sign her book. But it's the scene before she even shows up that had my emotions swirling. I thought they did an amazing job portraying what Castle was feeling every time he had to glance down at his book, only to be reminded of Kate and everything that had happened. 

It was refreshing to see Castle walk right by Kate, clearly angry, forcing Beckett to be the one who had to chase him down and explain her actions as it has often been the other way around. It wounds me every time Castle clearly wants to say he loves her but keeps holding back now that he thinks his confession of love fell on deaf ears. 


While Beckett is trying to explain why she waited so long to call him, she reveals that her and Josh broke up. I like to call that moment "The SQUEE that rocked the Castle fandom."


Of course, having learned that little piece of information, Castle has no choice but to follow her. I thought it was a sweet location choice to have them sitting on a swing set while trying to sort out their issues. It's in that moment that Beckett gives Castle a glimmer of hope, insinuating that she would be open to a possible relationship as soon as she can put her mother's murder case behind her. 


Kate saying "I really liked him, but it wasn't enough." about Josh was a very telling statement. The fact that she used the word "liked" spoke volumes. She may have liked this guy but she loves Castle and no amount of wishing would have made that relationship successful because in her heart, Josh wasn't who she wanted. That is another reason why I am glad they made Josh a generally good person. If Josh was truly a horrible boyfriend, it would have made her choice less meaningful. In my heart, I believe that her decision was based on that fact that Castle is her "one and done" and not because she was dating a terrible man.


Kudos to Stana Katic for her portrayal of PTSD related anxiety while having a gun pointed at her for the first time after her own shooting. Her ragged breathing, stunned expression and shaking hands really brought her emotion to the forefront. 


When Beckett gets emotional in front of Castle, after getting frustrated that they didn't seem to have any leads left for the investigation to find her shooter, it really showed how close they have become. I've never seen her let her vulnerability show in front of him in such a blatant way. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to see Castle get up and hug her. I am hoping to see more physical contact between them this season even if it's only an occasional hand holding, a kiss on the cheek or a cuddle on the couch. 


I was expecting to see Alexis have a conversation with Beckett during this episode but since it didn't happen, I can only assume that it's something that will come up in the future. I can certainly understand where Alexis is coming from. She witnessed her father jump toward someone who had taken a bullet, putting his own life in jeopardy. I think she realizes how much danger her father is putting himself in. She fears for his life and that is perfectly understandable. I thought it was extremely sweet for her to ask him if Kate made him happy and when he said yes my heart did a somersault in my chest. I can only hope that Kate makes a similar admission at some point.


After Castle finds out that he has to keep Kate away from her mother's murder case or her life will be on the line, he convinces himself that he will be successful at keeping her away from it for a while. His theory turns out correct as he easily convinces her to take a break from all of it and focus on helping other people find justice for a while.


Toward the end, Beckett has another gun stand off after they find the real killer of the case their department was working on. Castle's soothing voice is able to calm her down and steady her hand as she tries to control her anxiety. After seeing that scene, one thing is for sure, Castle's love gives her strength. 


Then there is the reveal at the end. I was right about one thing, the end scene ended up being with Beckett in the therapist's office. She admits to remembering everything about the shooting. I think Kate's break up with Josh stems from that very knowledge. It was obvious in "Knockout" that Kate was trying to push Castle to tell her what he really feels. I think that is what she was waiting for all along but now that she has that information, she's too afraid to do anything about it right now. She doesn't want to ruin what they already have and she doesn't trust her own emotional state to jump into anything right now.


As the season goes on, I think her feelings for him will come out more and more. The ball is in her court now. She knows how she feels about him and she knows how he feels about her. Castle is still in the dark about how deep her feelings actually go but as time goes on, I think it will be more and more difficult for her to hide how much she really does love him. 


It will definitely be an interesting season to say the least. They are both hiding secrets from each other that can prove to be devastating when the truth finally comes to see the light of day. Hopefully their relationship can survive the betrayal they will both end up feeling as the truth comes out. 


All in all, I was very satisfied with the season 4 premiere of Castle and thought they successfully dealt with all the issues that needed to be addressed. This review ended up longer than I had anticipated but there were a lot of important factors in this episode. 


I am looking forward to next week's new Castle "Hero's & Villains." As much as I love the dramatic episodes, it will be a breath of fresh air to see them get back to the light hearted fun we all know and love.