May 28, 2013

LOOKING FORWARD FROM FINALES OF CASTLE, CHICAGO FIRE, ELEMENTARY, GLEE, NASHVILLE, REVENGE, SCANDAL and THE VAMPIRE DIARIES – PART I


CASTLE season five & CHICAGO FIRE season one


CASTLE season 5 finale
So I made an observation after watching the CASTLE season finale that BONES and CASTLE had quite similar cliffhangers. Both shows, crime procedurals, have had this building chemistry between their respective protagonist pairs. And in recent seasons, the pairs ended up as couples. And now, here we are, both the shows had proposals in the season finales. One engagement had to be terminated, and the other, well, it’s not an engagement yet. But I like that CASTLE didn’t conclude its season with the big central story of Kate bringing her mother’s killer to justice. I suppose they’re saving that for a later season, having already established that it’s a big powerful politician. It’ll probably require a lot of strategizing on Beckett’s part to bring him down. Meanwhile, there’s this big career opportunity, which is coming in the way of her relationship with Castle. I liked that they built up, towards the end of the season, the whole question of where they were going in the relationship, having completed a year of being together. However, while I understand the need to end in a cliffhanger like they did, I think that even if Beckett moves to DC, they could still manage their relationship. DC is on the east coast. Castle could travel there, and his job doesn’t require him to be at an office or anything. He could write from anywhere. But, it’s quite clear that Beckett will not move to DC, because that would kill the premise of the show. She’s going to stay and continue solving murders with Ryan, Esposito, Lanie, and even Castle, whether or not she’s in a relationship with him. Although, I do hope that they resolve this new-job-offer-and-proposal issue well in season six, so as not to make the job offer simply feel like a season-ending gimmick. Imagine this: Beckett and Castle break up, because she decides to go to DC. And by the end of the season six premiere, the job offer falls through, and she has to stay back in NYPD homicide. But, she doesn’t get back with Castle, because the rejection of the proposal leaves a gaping wound in their relationship. That would give the writers a season or two to explore the dynamic between two exes working together solving crimes. It would give them the opportunity to again play with the emotional and sexual tension between Castle and Beckett, which we saw through the first four seasons, but on a whole new level. I’d like to watch that in season six!

CHICAGO FIRE season 1 finale
This fire department procedural ended its debut season with quite a bang, with all that went down with the smoke and blackout and lockdown and hostage situation and paramedic emergency and everything else with the one big rescue mission that the team undertakes. It was all quite well played out, and made for some good season finale material, but what caught our attention in the end, as we look forward to season two, is the turmoil that people’s lives were left in. Shay didn’t get pregnant and Renée shows up, pregnant with Severide’s baby, making Shay feel even worse, ’cause she was trying to have a baby with Severide. Mills doesn’t make Squad, but heads over for a Chicago PD application. Dawson revealed to Mills, in not so many words, that she does have feelings for Casey, but of course, Casey is a total mess, while dealing with Hallie’s death. It’s not like we should’ve expected Casey and Dawson to get together in the first season itself. I see them as the show’s ‘it’ couple, and they’re going to be on a long rollercoaster ride before they come anywhere close to being happy together. Which brings me back to Hallie...Her death made it clear that her return to Casey’s life was a good means to stop him from getting together with Dawson, as well as a good way to set the ball rolling on the spinoff! I must commend the writers at the good job they’ve done through the season, with subtly interplaying the working of the CPD with the CFD. They gave us a character, Voight, whom we hated, and then brought him back, making him turn over a new leaf, so that we get on board with him as a crucial part of the spinoff. What I liked is that Voight still maintains his relationship with the influential criminals out there, but will now use them for more constructive purposes. On the other hand Antonio Dawson is going to be a prominent part of the spinoff and, as it seems, so will Peter Mills. I think that the close connections between the characters in CHICAGO FIRE and CHICAGO PD, and the fact that they’ll both be set in the same place, offers them a lot of scope for crossovers. However, for the latter to stand on its own, I’m sure they’ll try to avoid crossovers, which will make us question why and how the characters in CHICAGO PD will suddenly get cut off completely from those in CHICAGO FIRE. More than the CHICAGO FIRE cliffhangers, I’m more interested in how the showrunners of the two shows will manages to keep the two shows apart and also keep the audience satisfied.


(Coming Up Next: Part  II – ELEMENTARY and GLEE)

6 comments:

  1. Ehh NOT to your castle theory!

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  2. AnonymousMay 28, 2013

    Uh, no on your Castle theory. If they do that, it'll ruin the show.

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  3. AnonymousMay 28, 2013

    If Kate were to say "no" outright it would end the show. Rick would never go back to following her around and there would be no reason for him to be at the precinct. She can say "yes" without having to start planning a wedding right away. I would like her to say yes on condition that they visit Dr. Burke to help them learn to communicate and get over their insecurities.

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  4. Your castle theory sucks!!!UM NO!!!!! I want her to say yes but they need to talk. I want them to be happy. No more of the angst. We have already had 4 yrs of that.I don't want another 2 seasons of them being apart. Stupid. I want them engaged then married and then to have kids. I want to see them dealing with that whole dynamic while still solving crimes together. I want to see some passion in this relationship. I'm tired of bad lighting and teenage closed mouth kisses. I don't need explicit detail but come on already. They showed hotter scenes with the deep fried twinkie than with these two. I love this show and want them to be happy. I want to see scenes outside of work like going to dinner, movies. Them having a date night. They need to show castle writing his books and going to book signings again. Tired of seeing castle playing with toys like some child. He is a grown man. I know guys play video games but come on already.

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  5. AnonymousMay 28, 2013

    Please don't even put B**es and Castle in the same sentence! They are NOTHING like each other! Andrew Marlowe knows how to think ahead and his story arcs are FABULOUS. Hart Hanson? Hasn't got half Marlowe's talent!

    You need to watch Castle with an eye to the details. Rewatch the episodes prior to the finale, rewatch Watershed!!! Beckett is not going to DC. The job interview alone should have clued you into that one. The rest of the episode is slight of hand, smoke and mirrors to throw you off your game. The final interrogation scene that Beckett conducts, her remarks and facial expressions to Ryan and Esposito right after that, who she calls (and what she never gets the chance to say due to Castle's proposal) all STRONGLY point to her NOT going to DC.

    In the season 4 finale we got to see Beckett choose to be with Castle. She wanted him. At the start of Season 5 Beckett went back to working at the 12th, back to being a cop...but it was more acquiescence than a deliberate choice. The Season 5 finale gives Beckett a chance to CHOSE to be a cop and to CHOSE Castle.

    It is not a cheap plot device designed to reset the relationship that some showrunners favour (Hart Hanson) giving a blank canvass to start the same old cliché storylines again and again. Andrew Marlowe does not write the Castle & Beckett relationship like an Etch A Sketch. Castle and Beckett are about the long journey, pushing through the hard times, working it out. They are not temporary. They are always.

    From Tinkonbrink.

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  6. There are ways in which the writers can work around bringing Castle back to the precinct even after the refusal of the proposal, if that were to happen. Having said that, all I want is for this proposal and job offer in DC to not simply be an end-of-season cliffhanger. It should mean something and lead to an evolution of the storylines and the series. Them breaking up temporarily is just a way for that to happen. Otherwise, their status quo remains the same and the show doesn't evolve. I'm sure the writers have thought of/will think of various ways in which they can take this forward. I just hope it doesn't just turn out to be a gimmick.

    And while I very strongly agree that Castle and Beckett are definitely not temporary, they need to bring about some major upheavals in their relationship at this point, and not just the kinds caused by death threats and bomb scares. There needs to be some serious tension in the relationship that isn't simply resolved by a marriage proposal.

    Even if they don't break up, I hope this latest development challenges the relationship further on a personal level for both of them, before they go into a happy, shiny place, and definitely before they make commitments like getting married and starting a family together.

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