Castle: Time Will Tell Review
Castle has returned to its classic form in this nostalgic trip back to the future!
Castle is back in form after a few rocky episodes that did not make the Den of Geek grade. Thankfully the mainstay ABC drama lands on solid ground with an episode that goes back to the canon’s earlier glory days. While starting with a routine murder of a random parole officer, Caskett and company realize that there is something amiss with their victim and the circumstances around her violent murder. Despite starting off as a deceivingly run of the mill episode, it made a hard right into an awesome sci-fi geeky spin. Best of all, the episode revolves around time traveling eco-warriors! The energy wars of 2031 have turned the world upside down, calling for temporal anthropologist’s to travel through time changing future events. Time travel plus Caskett and company? Count me in. When the plot begins to unfold and we get to meet these random future people that are have come back to murder a young scientist that will supposedly become a leader against the ecological holocaust of the future. I thought like you…this doesn’t sound like Castle case! But man, do these future people sell it as being actually plausible. Naturally Rick is enamored with the prospect of hearing from someone of the future about how events are going to play out. For those interested, Castle and Beckett have three kids and Rick shies away from mystery writing to take up English literature. The episode combines everything we love about Castle from its eccentric episodes of years past. While the structure of the episode is of a standard quality, it does a great job of holding its cards until the very mysterious ending. It is fun and quirky, and definitely a departure from the norm. It is also easily the best episode thus far of Fall 2013. I know its early in the season still, but I always like to keep track of which ones are stinkers and which ones are winners. I think that the locale of the 12th is what suits the show best, as opposed to the episodes where Beckett was working as federal agent. Although it was a short tenure with the feds, it has made diehard fans appreciate everything being back to normal. There is an absence of Captain Gates despite being billed in the opening credits. I think that they need to include her a little more in the show to keep the flow going. When she misses an episode, it can feel a little too fast and loose, and she is a great character to rein in the gang. As the time traveling saga continues, Castle is addicted to the possibility that these future people are actually telling the truth. However, Beckett cannot be bothered with the notion that maybe there is a teeny, tiny part of her that believes that these people are legit. Hell, even I pushed my chips in to the pot thinking that this actually may be for real. And without giving too much away, I will say that the ending does a nice job of leaving the plot open ended with us having to make our own decision at just what exactly has transpired in the episode. There is a great to deal to like in the episode, and it really feels like the show is back in its wheelhouse. The all-encompassing hour strattles the line between the X-Files and Doctor Who, but it manages to remain faithful to the crime drama genre without overdoing it. This was a definite welcome after the last two weeks’ episodes that landed like lead balloons. It was good to see the gang back in form and back to what makes the show such an excellent watch. Whether it is the last season for Castle or not is yet to be determined, but if they keep up with fresh episodes like tonight’s, then I can see a long term future for the gang. Or maybe its the past…who knows.Den of Geek Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
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Jarrett Kruse has been writing professionally since graduating the University of Wisconsin-Madison cutting his teeth writing script coverage for major movie studios like MIRAMAX, 20th Century…