Matt Roush's Take on the Castle breakup from TVInsider
Oct 1, 2015 11:57:51 GMT -5
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Post by ProudTVJunkie on Oct 1, 2015 11:57:51 GMT -5
Here's the question and answer. Both are very well said:
Question: I was very excited about Castle this season and the incoming new showrunners promising to shake things up. Now, though, I'm not really sure what I feel about the show going forward. Watching Castle, usually live on Mondays, has become such a habit for so many years that the idea of jumping ship is difficult, but the decision to break up Castle and Beckett just feels like lazy writing. This feels like a regression rather than progression. The Bracken-murdered-Beckett's-mother storyline was resolved in a satisfying way in Season 6, and there doesn't seem to be any real benefit to opening that up again. Further, the new showrunners stated that they brought this break-up storyline about in order "to actually put the spark back in, and the stakes back in, which give us the fun and the juice." This seems like another way of saying that the writers find it too difficult to create interesting drama in the relationship without resorting to a breakup, which is lazy. I quite liked most of last season, in which Castle and Beckett were happily married, and I didn't feel it was dramatically lacking just because they were together.
The reasoning presented for the breakup is that Beckett wants to look into the new LOCKSAT conspiracy without endangering Castle due to his involvement. If they continue to work together (which is essential for the show), even if he is not working on LOCKSAT with her, then the people she is going after still know they can hurt Beckett by hurting Castle, which makes him a potential target anyway. And that renders the point of the separation moot. Please give me a reason to hang in there and continue watching. I really don't want to throw in the towel on this show. It just seems that the execution of this most recent hour was so sloppy, and I really don't see the potential paying any dramatic dividends that would be greater than if Castle and Beckett were still together. — Jake
Matt Roush: You're hardly alone in your discontent. Jenny wrote in to add that while she believes "Beckett loves Castle, I just think the writers have made her obsession ridiculous and it's gone on way too long, especially at the expense of the love story we all stuck around for from Day 1." Echoing Jake, Jenny ends her remarks by wondering, "Should we have faith?" And this is the crux of the current Castle dilemma.
From what I can tell, the fans truly want to keep enjoying this show, but the producers (or whoever) are making it way too difficult. Much like when Castle vanished on their first wedding day, these obstacles grow tiresome, and at this stage of the show's life, unnecessary. Longtime viewers are obviously torn about sticking with a show that has once again reneged on the payoff, the worst kind of deja view. In TV Guide Magazine's Returning Favorites issue, one of the producers promised, "The DNA of the show will always be the ongoing love story between Castle and Beckett. We still treat every episode as a romantic comedy. With murder." I don't doubt that we're meant to still believe Castle and Beckett are in love for the long haul, but putting them through this kind of emotional wringer again is neither compelling nor original. At this stage, would it be such a tragedy to let the show just be an escapist Hart to Hart-style romp? That's the show I'd prefer to see.
Original link: www.tvinsider.com/article/44180/ask-matt-is-the-good-wife-better-now-plus-the-castle-breakup-csi-finale/
Question: I was very excited about Castle this season and the incoming new showrunners promising to shake things up. Now, though, I'm not really sure what I feel about the show going forward. Watching Castle, usually live on Mondays, has become such a habit for so many years that the idea of jumping ship is difficult, but the decision to break up Castle and Beckett just feels like lazy writing. This feels like a regression rather than progression. The Bracken-murdered-Beckett's-mother storyline was resolved in a satisfying way in Season 6, and there doesn't seem to be any real benefit to opening that up again. Further, the new showrunners stated that they brought this break-up storyline about in order "to actually put the spark back in, and the stakes back in, which give us the fun and the juice." This seems like another way of saying that the writers find it too difficult to create interesting drama in the relationship without resorting to a breakup, which is lazy. I quite liked most of last season, in which Castle and Beckett were happily married, and I didn't feel it was dramatically lacking just because they were together.
The reasoning presented for the breakup is that Beckett wants to look into the new LOCKSAT conspiracy without endangering Castle due to his involvement. If they continue to work together (which is essential for the show), even if he is not working on LOCKSAT with her, then the people she is going after still know they can hurt Beckett by hurting Castle, which makes him a potential target anyway. And that renders the point of the separation moot. Please give me a reason to hang in there and continue watching. I really don't want to throw in the towel on this show. It just seems that the execution of this most recent hour was so sloppy, and I really don't see the potential paying any dramatic dividends that would be greater than if Castle and Beckett were still together. — Jake
Matt Roush: You're hardly alone in your discontent. Jenny wrote in to add that while she believes "Beckett loves Castle, I just think the writers have made her obsession ridiculous and it's gone on way too long, especially at the expense of the love story we all stuck around for from Day 1." Echoing Jake, Jenny ends her remarks by wondering, "Should we have faith?" And this is the crux of the current Castle dilemma.
From what I can tell, the fans truly want to keep enjoying this show, but the producers (or whoever) are making it way too difficult. Much like when Castle vanished on their first wedding day, these obstacles grow tiresome, and at this stage of the show's life, unnecessary. Longtime viewers are obviously torn about sticking with a show that has once again reneged on the payoff, the worst kind of deja view. In TV Guide Magazine's Returning Favorites issue, one of the producers promised, "The DNA of the show will always be the ongoing love story between Castle and Beckett. We still treat every episode as a romantic comedy. With murder." I don't doubt that we're meant to still believe Castle and Beckett are in love for the long haul, but putting them through this kind of emotional wringer again is neither compelling nor original. At this stage, would it be such a tragedy to let the show just be an escapist Hart to Hart-style romp? That's the show I'd prefer to see.
Original link: www.tvinsider.com/article/44180/ask-matt-is-the-good-wife-better-now-plus-the-castle-breakup-csi-finale/