CASTLE: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON
(not rated)
MOVIE: ***1/2 (out of 5)
DVD EXPERIENCE: **** (out of 5)
BY KEVIN CARR
I’m not wild about procedurals simply because there are so many of them out there. When I do get interested in a police procedural show, there has to be some sort of catch. Where “Psych” and “The Mentalist” play off the fake psychic role, “Castle” plays off the writer-turned-detective. Sure, this was done from a different angle with “Murder She Wrote” for 187 seasons, but “Castle” has differentiated itself well.
The characters are really hitting their stride in this season. There’s less of a race to push the sexual tension between Castle and Beckett, although that’s not totally gone. The stories have become less overtly formulaic and predictable. While it does further the overall show’s plot, I’m not wild about the “shit gets real” episodes featuring the search for the people who killed Beckett’s mother. However, the show handles these episodes fairly well and throw in some surprises. On the whole, season three is when the show it taking off, and it’s got some broadcast security and plenty of comic relief from the very loveable Nathan Fillion in the title role.
The DVD set has some nice features, especially for a third season release, which is when the show starts to run out of bonus content to put on the DVD. In addition to commentaries on select episodes, there’s the standard slate of deleted scenes and bloopers. There’s also a look at the guy who creates the murder boards for the show in “Murder Board 101,” a spotlight on the Hollywood episode where they could stop pretending L.A. is New York City in “Castle Goes Hollywood” and an unappealing but bizarre music video for “Get on the Floor.” Finally, “Murder They Wrote” features a meaty roundtable discussion about the development of the mysteries with real mystery writers, show producers and Nathan Fillion.