TV Tuesday: Castle - Season 1; Episode 1 (2009)

 

Castle - 2009

Coming up next on TV Tuesday is 2009's hit crime drama "Castle".  In the first episode of the series, we find NYC Detective Kate Beckett team up with best-selling author Richard Castle to bring down a murderer whose crimes seem eerily familiar to both of them.

The episode's cast includes Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic, Susan Sullivan, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Jon Huertas, Seamus Dever, Tamala Jones, Molly C. Quinn, Monet Mazur, James Patterson, Stephen J. Cannell, and Dan Castellaneta.

In New York City, a murder has taken place.  This one, however, is quite the unusual case.

The case falls into the hands of Detective Kate Beckett, who notices something very familiar about the scene.

She's very ably assisted by a superb team, which includes Detectives Ryan and Esposito, as well as Dr. Lanie Parish, a medical examiner.

The reason why the scene is so familiar to Detective Beckett is because it comes straight out of a novel written by best-selling author Richard Castle.  The novel is called "Flowers For Your Grave".

He comes with two sidekicks of his own: his mother Martha and his daughter Alexis.

Beckett quickly connects the dots between the murder scene and the novel, and she promptly shows up to ask Castle a few questions.  However, it doesn't take her long to realize that he is not the murderer.

Because of a friendship with the mayor, Castle is able to maneuver his way into the investigation as a consultant.  The chief breaks the news to Beckett, who is not happy at all.

Another one of Castle's fictional murders is played out in real life when a body is found in a swimming pool, mirroring the events in his book "Death Of A Prom Queen".

Things get incredibly complicated as the murder investigation goes off in one direction the suddenly veers to another.  No one is sure how it all is connected.

By the end of the show, however, Beckett (with Castle's help) is able to track down the killer and put them behind bars for good.

Just when Beckett thinks she's gotten rid of Castle, a surprise shows up.  Castle says he's found the inspiration for the hero of his next set of books: her.  And he needs to do research.  It's the beginning of a beautiful partnership, though Beckett doesn't see it that way yet.

Cast rundown:

   Nathan Fillion...................................Richard Castle

   Stana Katic......................................Det. Kate Beckett

   Susan Sullivan..................................Martha Rodgers

   Ruben Santiago-Hudson....................Captain Roy Montgomery

   Jon Huertas......................................Javier Esposito

   Seamus Dever...................................Kevin Ryan

   Tamala Jones.....................................Dr. Lanie Parish

   Molly C. Quinn...................................Alexis Castle

   Monet Mazur......................................Gina Cowell

   James Patterson................................Himself

   Stephen J. Cannell.............................Himself

   Dan Castellaneta................................Judge Markway

And that's it for Castle.  The show spanned eight incredible seasons, and it almost left us on a cliffhanger.  Several books authored by "Richard Castle" were also published by ABC as a marketing tool.  Real-life authors James Patterson and Stephen J. Cannell appeared in this episode playing poker with Castle, and they made sporadic appearances in other episodes as well.  Following Cannell's death in 2010, an empty chair was kept at the poker table for a year in his honor.

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