I need to talk with Caskett fans that are also LnC fans about the most recent finale.


[Adding spoiler warning to header just in case - LabRat ]

I raise my hand. I just saw the finale. Hubby and I analyzed the heck out of the ep.

Artemis

I loved how the proposal happened just as the episode ended. It reminded me so much of the LnC season finale of Season 2 (only in the proposal cliffie).

I see it as Marlowe using the finale to rile up the fan base so everyone will be talking about it all during the off season.

The number of fanfics that have come out in the last few days since the episode (and even before) is incredible.

Marlowe cleverly left things open for a lot of interpetations coming back. Kate was offered the job, but we don't know her answer. Castle proposes but doesn't exactly project an enthusiastic attitude. Lots of room for fighting coming back.

The fans were told that Castle and Beckett wouldn't be breaking up, but there will be some 'bumps' along the way.

Tank (who isn't saying that Kate (Stana) needs to go back to a short hairstyle, but the producers definately need to dial back the current length... too many buns, and ponytails)

I didn't like the (apparent) reasons for the proposal. Castle seems to want to bind Beckett to him no matter what she chooses in regards to the job offer. It's kind of sweet but at the same time a little suffocating. He's putting her under even more pressure and they still haven't talked about where they stand in their relationship. Complicated as always.

I'm looking forward to next season (already confirmed!) to see how Marlowe plays this one out. I haven't been disappointed in the ride so far.

His timing is rotten, I suspect that she will not be happy.

They also seem to confuse writing for a TV show and writing as a novelist. He certainly can afford a second home even at DC prices and if he goes to the publishers once a month that is about 4-5 times as often as most writers see the publisher in person.

Considering how much I expect he's paying for the NY apartment, it's very likely he could afford it. I hadn't thought about how his timing was but if you think about it, that's not much different from out other favorite couple (proposing BEFORE the secret anyone?)

It's been a while since the last message but I thought it made more sense to resurrect this topic rather than open a new one.

The thing is: I just saw last night's Castle and I really needed to get this out of my system . Major spoiler ahead!

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Was it me or that wedding was a lot like the one on L&C? I've always thought there were many similarities between both shows, but this time it felt extreme. How Castle tells Kate to just marry him right then, the cliff, the sunset,...

I'm WAY behind on this show these days (having to get the 2yo to bed by 9 is difficult, not falling asleep in the process is impossible these days!) so I'll have to squeeze with you guys in a week or so.

I said that exact same thing to my husband as I was watching it!!! Homage or blatant rip off?

I haven't seen the episode yet--moving literally out of our house as I type this (and the tvs were packed yesterday during the day...Argh! )--but I saw the ads for this episode, and just even from the advertisements I was thinking the same.

No wonder we are liking Castle, huh?

Must-Catch-Up-On-Castle!
Laura

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The whole season so far has reminded me very much of the amnesia and delayed wedding plots from L&C - next episode someone will probably abandon a baby outside Castle's door...








Yes, the whole amnesia plot this season

A better explanation for the amnesia however.

Haha, um, they kind of already did that in "The Good, the Bad, and the Baby" ... :P

First time back in a couple weeks, happy to find this thread! Just watched last night's episode and was excited, but a little disappointed in some ways. It did feel a *LOT* like LnC to me (which is what prompted me to hop back on over here) and I didn't mind that, I just was hoping to see a little bit more. Felt like they squeezed it in last second.

But I can't wait for next week's ep!

Speaking of next week's episode. The thing looks a lot like Castle does SoulMates with the Old West theme and them dressing up and Kate letting go with the pistol.

I personally did not like the fact that they had the BIG wedding planned and then this time the groom did not show up and was missing, when they get him back he has amnesia and while he knew everyone, they then have this episode where everyone does not know him (the reverse of Forget Me Not), then the decision to have a hasty wedding that everyone has pointed out looks just like it came from the L&C REAL wedding. I am beginning to get annoyed as they are playing us just like L&C did the last of Season 3 and beginning of Season 4. Back and forth, wedding, no wedding, wedding. What next? I know Castle or Beckett will get framed for murder and get sentenced to death. No there must be clones, this is not the real Richard Castle!! As Mouse said they have already done Family Hour...

One of my problems with TV is the total lack of imagination and innovation but this seems to be taking it to the extreme. The show is very good when they have a case to work on but the relationship approach seems so much like a clone (there's that word again) of the L&C series.

Mike

I've often wondered it I like it for the show itself or because it reminds me of L&C. I like the characters, I like the chemistry but then come times like yesterday watching the wedding... And the thing is I actually liked that it caught me by surprise; I don't know if the promos hinted at it, but I'm not too curious for them and TV in Spain is a few weeks behind on every show (it used to be over a year behind in times of L&C (!) when there was no other option but TV to watch a show) so avoiding promos is fairly easy. But still, it wasn't quite enough. I kept thinking how fake the sunset looked and how there was something not quite right, just like with L&C. And how much like the actual L&C wedding it was. I wondered for a moment if they might share writers, but then thought that no writer would copy himself so blatantly, right?

So overall I guess mixed feelings. I hated the end of last season and I've hated the games, but I thought the first two episodes of the season were pretty solid -and I felt last season had only a handful of truly, solid, well constructed episodes-.

Both Hubby and myself like Castle because it is a detective show and one without much blood. We've also read the books, including Derrick Storm. We are not into Supernatural, Vampires, Blood Suckers of any ilk. I'm doing Flash, Arrow and Doctor Who, but hubby is not. We're still loyal to NCIS in all its incarnations because that is our past. So yay Castle.

Artemis

Cristina is right! This is so familiar to LnC's wedding. Right down to only having immediate family members. Javi, Lanie, Kevin and Jennie were left out completely.

Huge Castle fan over here. I got into it after season 4 had aired, but then basically marathon-ed the whole series in about a week. I have developed what I believe to be a healthy obsession with it ever since; fanfiction and tumblr blogging, mostly. If anyone is looking for Castle FF recs, I can offer up a metric tonne that could satisfy.

As I rewatch L&C after nearly a decade away (as evidenced by the last time I posted on these MBs), I'm reminded why I love this show and it's fairly clear to me why Castle appeals to me as well. A lot of similarities in their dynamic and emotional chemistry, if nothing else, to KB and RC. So glad to see that L&C's community is still active and fics are still being written while the favourites of my day are still available to read! (Reading Wendymr's Poison if anyone is interested in reading a classic!)

So glad to be back!

Jocelyn it is nice to welcome you back! Please comment and let us know what you think of this crew of writers.

Heh, I should have looked here earlier for fellow Castle fans. I knew there were a lot of FoLCs that loved the show, but I think there are even more than I suspected! It was fun to read through this thread -- I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed all the similarities between L&C and Castle. I've been trying to describe it to some FoLC friends who don't watch the show and I'm all, "they're doing their version of the argh! Thankfully without frogs ..." and "At least there was no Mike at the wedding." They get it, but of course, not completely.

Jocelyn, if you check back, I'd love to see your fanfic rec list. I'm so totally obsessed with this show, and I think in large part it's because there is SO MUCH AMAZING FANFIC. It reminds me of the heyday of L&C, when there was so much quality stuff to read. If you have a ff.net profile with a list of favorite stories/authors that you'd be willing to PM me, I'd be happy to send you mine in return. Maybe we each have some authors the other hasn't come across yet. (That goes for anyone else who has a rec list; I'd be delighted for new rec's! Please PM me!)

I came to the show through the DVDs, which I'm happy about, especially when I see all the gnashing of teeth in the fandom about the direction of various seasons, waiting through cliffhangers, etc. Brings back so many memories. I lived all that with L&C and while it really was the "time of my life", there is a lot to be said for just enjoying the heck out of a show without stressing about what's going to come next, if/when they will finally get together, etc. I'm trying really hard to stay in that happy place this season, too. Sometimes easier said than done, LOL, but so far, so good.

Kathy

It took me a very long time to come to love Castle. I'd been in serious love with Nathan since Firefly, so I was excited to view it, but for some unknown reason I took an instant dislike to the character of Kate. So, gave up after S1.

Then, in September of this year, I was idly browsing Netflix and decided since nothing else appealed to give it another go. This time around, I had no clue what it was about Kate that irked me previously. By midway through S2 I was completely hooked. Netflix only had up to S3, so I dashed over to Amazon and bought 1-5 on DVD. Actually squeed out loud at the proposal. I've bought myself S6 for Christmas and can't wait to catchup.

For me, it has all the elements I loved about LNC, but I also love it for the relationship Castle has with his Mom and daughter and the comic element they provide is hilarious. Also love all the sneaky little nods to Firefly they manage to get in. Think my favourites were Castle barking Chinese at the restaurant staff - and the Halloween costume, of course! LOL!

LabRat

Lab, what really sent me over the edge was the books. It never occurred to me at the beginning that the books would be real. Talk about a squeal-out-loud moment. I was downright giddy when they came, and I would grin so hard when I recognized things from the show -- not just the cases and settings that he wove throughout the books, but things like Rick having Alexis duct-tape him to a chair to figure out how Nikki will get out of it ... and then seeing Nikki in that very situation, or seeing Rick explore his relationship with Kate through Nikki and Rook's relationship. Brilliant promotion on the part of the show.

I'm quite late coming to this thread because of the troubles I've had with this website recognizing me on my newer computer. For some mysterious reason it seems like I'm okay for the present.

I will admit that I really like Castle and have been an avid fan of it since the beginning. Can't understand why? I mean I'm just a guy who thinks that Lois Lane is the best fictional character ever, and this show has a strong, independent, beautiful woman as one of the leads. Go figure.

I have also embraced the fanfiction on fanfic.net even if that website is a monster. I've written a couple of Castle fics but wouldn't have a clue as to how I would post on that monolith of ficdom. There is a much wider variety of quality there than here (the writing is consistently better here) and there seems to be a higher percentage of stories interested in getting the couple together sexually, than in 'procedural' storlines.

There are quite a few similarities between the two series but I think you would find that true with any two series that have the romantic growth of the leads as a driving force in the show. There are iconic moments in the evolution of a relationship that would be visited in any of these shows. I've seen moments that are similar in several shows that are currently airing let alone, from a show that is twenty years old. I'll bet you'll be able to find similar scenes if you go back even farther, like with shows like "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" or "Remington Steele".

Yes, television is famous for continually borrowing from itself. Why work too hard to come up with something new when you can fall back on a 'tried and true'. Also, in a limited time format it is a common practice to rely on the 'known' rather than try to spend the air time explaining something new or different.

Like Lois and Clark, I love the growth and evolution of the relationship between Kate and Rick and I hope that they can sustain storylines now that they are married. I do have some hope for this given that whereas Lois and Clark did the relationship very well, they didn't put as much effort into the so-called "A-plot" storylines. In that the Castle writers have shown an excellence that the L&C writers fell short of.

It could be simply the difference between doing something 20 years ago that was more fantasy based than a show grounded closer to reality (though Castle has strayed a bit afield a few times).

I also think the complimentary marketing with the books and graphic novels is brilliant. I've read them all and they have all been well written.

Having said all that, I do fear that this could be the final season for Castle mostly because Nathan's contract is up and I don't know if he doesn't want to try something else. Also, it seems like the other networks have counter programed heavily against Castle. Not only has a really good show "The Blacklist" airing opposite Castle, but now CBS has stuck one of their NCIS shows against them also.

I for one, very much would like to see another season.

Tank (who says that one thing Castle has going for it is they do very well in the three additional day surveying the ratings folks use to take into account time shifted viewing due to On Demand, Hulu, Netflix, and such)

Can you believe I spent al of this week's episode thinking I've se en that guy somewhere an it wasn't until the last scene that I figures out why. I was watching with muy sister, yelled "Deter!" And she looked at me as if I were crazy...

It took me awhile to figure out who he was, too. I just knew that I knew his face from somewhere though ...

A fun connection to the show. And K Callan was on in an episode also, right?

Laura

Haha, I recognized Deter right away and thought of this thread. Yet another Castle/L&C mind meld moment.

Re: Tanks's comments -- I agree, the amount of fanfic on ff.net is a bit overwhelming, though with nearly 7 seasons worth of material, it makes sense that there would be a lot more to wade through. I've had the best luck finding a few good authors (via recs or just good luck), then seeing who their favorite authors/stories are, and continuing on from there. That said, I've already read a ton of stories and my "to read" list is still super long. It's a great problem to have. I think that's one thing that really sucked me in, that absolute joy in having SO MUCH GOOD FANFIC to read. It's kind of like Christmas morning. (Until you exhaust the A+, A, and A- stories, that is, and find yourself rummaging through the B's and B-'s, increasingly desperate for something better to give you that high, like a junkie looking for a fix ... ahem. )

Can't say I personally mind about the romance-vs-procedural focus of many of the authors. The same was/is probably true for L&C. Granted, I do love longer, meaty stories, but with a 10 pm show that includes a lot of adult-geared dialogue, odds are you're going to get a lot of M rated stories. But as it was for L&C, it's those well done combined-focus stories (i.e., M or T rated multi-chapter romance/dramas) that are the Holy Grail for me. And if I can find an author who is still writing such stories (as opposed to ones who had fabulous material in the early/middle seasons but has since stopped updating), it's squeeing time.

As for getting an 8th season, I would certainly love it, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up. I got the feeling last year that Nathan was getting a bit bored in the role -- he just didn't seem to be into things as much, not putting as much into his scenes as in previous years. (Unlike Stana, who, my goodness, just gets better and better each season.) But that seems to have turned around this season so far. They've given him more of those humor-focused episodes that he seems to enjoy best, not to mention getting back to the Castle who always "knows a guy", which Nathan has said in interviews is something he wants to see more of. At least in this first half of the season, he seems to be having fun again on screen. Fingers crossed that it continues!

Kathy

Kathy, I love the romance also. As I've said in the past about L&C, so it goes for Castle. I really like stories the have the romantic angle as part of the storyline. What I don't need is a graphic telling of their sexual encounters. That is what I was referring to when I said there was more focus on the sexual aspects than on an actual story.

This has been an up and down year for the series. There have been some great episodes like Driven, and Montreal, but there have been some snoozers too (like the kiddie one).

I am afraid that after the holiday break we are going to get one of those time shifts and we won't get a chance to see how Kate, and the boys react to Castle's ouster from the precinct. The teaser made it look like they were jumping into a setting that takes place some time later.

That is one thing that I feel the writers have been missing in the last year or so. We never got to see how their friends and loved ones reacted to all those 'changes' in their relationship.
We never saw the boys' reactions to Kate leaving for D.C. nor the reactions of anyone to their engagement. We just jumped a couple of months ahead to her working in D.C. The fan base for Castle is a lot like the fan base for Lois and Clark was. They want to see the 'couple' go through their evolution and see how it affects them and those around them, yet all the while still be entertained by a fun or interesting plotline.

A few miscues here and there, but for the most part, so far so good.

Tank (who says that Stana has also gained the extra status as having been a Lois Lane, as she did a great job voicing Lois in the fairly recent animated "Superman Unbound" DVD)

*about the mid-season finale* Yikes. It's a legitimate reason to let go of Castle but still. Yikes. I do wonder if Castle being out of the loop of her cases will result in him trying to find more info about his lost memory. Maybe it plays into his "invitation" to join the family.