REVIEW: Castle “Countdown” S3 E17

I hadn’t had a chance to blog myself about this episode yet but I was able to read some other people’s thoughts on the episode and talk to some people about the episode who are also big fans of the show.  I was surprised how much of a split there was out there regarding “Countdown.”   People either really liked it, really hated it, or were stuck in the middle not knowing what to think.   I thought for the most part people were going to love it but be very frustrated with Castle and Beckett’s end result.   But the emotions ranged from the plot/ending was absurd to it was like watching the best show from “24”…from C&B went 10 steps backwards to C&B are closer now than ever….from it was disappointing to it was the most epic episode ever.   Wow!!!  But that’s what is so great about TV…all the different view points people have watching the same exact thing.  It really is interesting to see what people take away from certain episodes.    My opinion, I loved it.  Was it predictable and a bit far-fetched?   Sure.      Did I care?   Not one bit.   I sometimes get perturbed when shows really push the limits of reality to the point where it is simply asinine.  And yes, you could argue that Castle pulling all the bomb wires at once was as asinine as it gets.  But the way it led up to that point and really all that was left to do was try it so they don’t die, didn’t really bother me.   It was a last resort.  If it was the plan, I would be shouting more about it.   If everyone was debating what to do and pushed everyone aside and just pulled them, I would be screaming about it.  But there was one second left and it was either have it detonate and die, or try to pull all the wires and probably die but hope for the best.   That’s why it didn’t bother me.  Honestly, did you expect C&B to blow up and die?   Did I miss the part about Castle being cancelled?  Of course they were going to be ok and save the city!!!  It’s Castle and it’s a TV show!!!  They catch the bad guys and everything is right with the world.  Nothing wrong with that.   Although I will say the one part that did bother me…how quickly C&B recovered from almost freezing to death but more on that later.  But let’s get into the stuff that really matters!

Agent Fallon

Last week we were introduced to Mega-Douche, Homeland Security Agent Mark Fallon (Adrian Pasdar.)  This week, however, we learned that Fallon really isn’t the Uber-Douche we thought he was.  In fact, he’s a pretty good guy with a devastated heart.   You see, Fallon’s wife was in the WTC on 9/11 and he was on the phone with her when the tower went down.  As a result, he is on a mission to make sure no other family goes through what he had to go through.   It’s not surprising.  You knew there had to be some reason why he was acting the way he was acting and a family member dying on 9/11 was the perfect explanation.  I actually found myself with a whole new level of respect for him that he was able to stay in check as well as he did.

After the case was solved and he was packing up to leave, he pulled C&B aside and explained to them that who he is outside of work, is not who he has to be when he does his job.  I found it interesting that he felt the need to do that.  It wasn’t corny in any way, he was just letting them know that basically he’s a good guy, but when it comes to nailing terrorists and saving people from these threats, he will do whatever it takes.  I think C&B already knew that, deep down, so Fallon was really just confirming what they already knew.  But it was a nice scene.   I also liked when Fallon was talking to C&B after their remarkable recovery from hypothermia.  When Beckett went to see Josh, Fallon said to Castle, “you know it’s funny, when I first met you two, I thought you were together.”  Wishful thinking there Mark!  Which leads us to….

Castle and Beckett

We talked last week about how “Setup” really started to show the depth of C&B’s feelings for one another.  Watching “Countdown” hasn’t changed my feelings about where C&B stand at all.  I know some fans (and yes I am one of them) of C&B wanted to see some sort of movement forward between them after what went down.  And I think in a very small and subtle way, we did.  But we aren’t going to enjoy the fruits of that advancement until later on.

Let’s start with the freezer scene in the beginning.  When doing everything they can to try to get out of freezer isn’t working, they do the best they can to stay warm…including snuggling!!  They are going downhill fast.  Beckett starts saying how when she thought she would die as a cop, she thought it would be by a bullet, not freezing to death.  She then wishes they were in one of Castle’s books and he could write them a better ending.  He then apologizes to her for what has happened: “I’m sorry for being me.  For going rogue and getting you into this.  If we hadn’t gone on our own…”  Beckett hushes him (very sweetly) and tells him that he was right and they found the bomb but just a little too late.  She then turns to him and tells him, very faintly “thank you, for being there.”  “Always” he replies.  “I just wanted you to know how much I….”   HOW MUCH YOU WHAT???   AAAAAHHHH!!!!  Now the debate on the street is that her next word was about to start with an “L.”   I guess we will never know.  As C&B pass out, the doors open and Ryan and Esposito are there to save them.  When Castle wakes up in the ambulance, his first instinct is to look for Beckett and make sure she is ok.  When he sees her, he goes to talk to her and you can tell they are both happy to see each other.  Unfortunately someone else is there too…Josh.  He didn’t leave for Hatti and honestly, I’m not really sure why he is there.  But he is.    Castle goes to see Beckett and points out how her man is back in town.  She smiles and when Castle asks her what that means to her, she says “it means we have a chance.”

There are a couple of ways to look at this:

1. Castle and Beckett still aren’t ready to make the move to each other yet, so she is going to stay with Josh to see where it goes.
2. Beckett was about to profess her love to Castle so why would she be so happy to see Josh?
3. Castle should have asked her what she was about to say before she passed out so he could respond to it.
4. Castle and Beckett showed once again how much they mean to each other yet are still keeping that distance out of fear.
5. The hypothermia froze their brains to the point that they aren’t thinking clearly.  🙂

I think #5 is the most obvious but not as much fun to discuss!  We all know that Castle and Beckett love each other.  And as I mentioned in my “Setup” post, I think they aren’t taking that chance because they are afraid to lose what they have as colleagues and friends ( more so Beckett than Castle.)  It seems like people had a big problem with how Beckett reacted to seeing Josh after almost confessing her love to Castle.  Again, we are assuming Beckett was going to profess her love to Castle but we don’t know that for sure.  I don’t think it’s out of the ordinary for her to be excited to see Josh.  She has been dating him for a while and you can tell she really cares about him.  Since Castle isn’t an option for her right now, Josh is and I truly believe Beckett wants to make an honest go of it with Josh.   And Castle isn’t going to mess with that and he is going to respect (but not like) Beckett’s relationship with Josh.

I think the main thing people have to remember is that C&B are going to get together, just not right now.  Beckett isn’t quite ready yet to take that leap.  But she will be.  And because she works so closely with Castle and because they get closer and more trusting of each other with every case they work, it will happen.  Just not right now.  I know as C&B fans, we don’t want to hear that and we don’t want this to turn into another Bones situation but I don’t think it will.  But getting back to my original point about how I think they did take steps forward instead of backwards and their relationship is growing to another level not being squashed, just look at how they were with one another throughout the episode.  They were so happy to see the other was ok after the freezer scare.  They still had each other’s backs the entire time during the investigation.  When they went to chase down Amir’s wife to stop the bomb, they were together (fighting like a married couple about directions I might add.)  When they realized the bomb was going to go off and they look at each other thinking they were about to die, they held each other’s hand.  When Castle managed to stop the bomb from exploding, not only did he do the most adorable victory dance, but he and Beckett hugged and celebrated like they had new life.  At the office, when the 12th was celebrating their victory and Esposito tells them how lucky they are, Castle looks at Beckett and says he knows.  And finally outside the office, Castle was going to ask Beckett out dinner, I believe.  But then that pesky Josh showed up and instead of wanting to take Beckett out, leaves to let her celebrate with Josh.  But who does she stare at the whole time she is hugging Josh?   Castle.  I know it looks like Castle got screwed twice in this episode…once when Kate passed out before telling him how she felt and twice when Josh showed up ruining his moment with her.  And I guess he did.  But ultimately, they are still on a good path towards eventually being together.

I really love these high intensity episodes of Castle.  It reminds me of how wonderful the cast and writing teams are.  But I am ready to get back to a sillier version of Castle.  And I think next week’s or in two weeks, we get the soap opera episode paying homage to Fillion’s One Life to Live days.  Awesome!

What did you think of “Countdown?”   Were you as angry as some people were out there?   Did you love it like other people?  Or were you indifferent towards it?   Sound off below!