TV: Premiere of Castle

*Posted March 15, 2009*

Nathan Fillion's career has been an odd one. He was on a soap for 3 years, joined an sitcom halfway through their 4 year run, has had bit roles in TV and in Film (most notably Saving Private Ryan and Waitress), spearheaded two failed shows (Firefly, Drive), and has spearheaded one feature (Serenity, also a failure). That being said, it's great that with his limited success so many people in the media are rooting for him to have a hit because he deserves one. Many also think that Castle is not that hit, but it's not terrible. He plays the lead, Richard Castle, a murder mystey author who is brought in to consult because a serial killer is murdering victims like he did in his books. The long term story is that he needs inspiration for a new character, and he finds it in the detective he teams up with, a hard nosed chick. Castle is an immature man boy that takes everything lightly, including murder, so it's nice to see that even though we have another procedural show on the air, it's not as heavy as CSI or Law and Order. In one funny bit, Castle asks the cop for the pictures of the mimicked murder scenes so he can show them off to his writer buddies. The mix between her knowledge of criminals and procedure and his of what would make a good story is also a refreshing way of solving cases from a new perspective. I personally gave the pilot a chance because I'm a Mal Reynolds fan, and if the writing improves a little bit, there's no reason this can't a moderately successful network show. It's on Monday's at 10/9c, so watch it after 24.