Castle – The Complete Second Season (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

September 9, 2010 by Dennis Amith 

Another exciting and fun-filled season of “Castle”!    Season two features episodes that are well-written, well-acted and more character utilization (including special guest appearances).  If you are a big fan of the series, “Castle – The Complete Second Series” is a pretty solid with 24-episodes and a good number of special features.  Definitely recommended!

Images courtesy of © Walt Disney Studios Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: CASTLE – The Complete Second Season

TELEVISION AIR DATE: 2009-2010

DURATION: 24 episodes (1018 minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, French and Spanish Subtitles, Widescreen (1:78:1) – Enhanced for 16×9 Televisions

COMPANY: abc studios

RATED: TV 14 DLSV

RELEASE DATE: September 21, 2010

Created by Andrew J. Marlowe

Directed by Rob Bowman, Bryan Spicer, John Terlesky, Bill Roe, Thomas J. Wright

Written by Andrew J. Marlow, David Grae, Alexi Hawley, Elizabeth Davis, Moira Kirland, Terence Paul Winter, Will Beall, Terri Miller, Rene Echevarria, Jose Molina

Executive Producer: Rob Bowman, Andrew W. Marlowe, Laurie Zaks, Rene Echevarria, Marc A. Kahn, Terri Miller

Co-Executive Producer: Gabrielle G. Stanton, Harry Werksman

Producer: D. Howard Grigsby, David Grae

Co-Producer: Marc A. Kahn, Terri Miller

Music by Robert Duncan

Cinematography by Bill Roe

Edited by Warren Bowman, Sue Blainey, Marta Evry

Casting by Kendra Castleberry, Donna Rosenstein

Production Design by Alfred Sole

Art Direction by Jim Wallis, Gershon Ginsburg

Set Decoration by Christopher Marsteller

Costume Design by Salvador Perez Jr.

 

Starring:

Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle

Stana Katic as Detective Kate Beckett

Susan Sullivan as Martha Rodgers

Ruben Santiago-Hudson as Captain Roy Montgomery

Molly C. Quinn as Alexis Castle

Jon Huertas as Detective Javier Esposito

Seamus Dever as Detective Kevin Ryan

Tamala Jones as Dr. Lanie Parish

Bailey Chase as WIll Sorenson

Dan Castellaneta as Judge Markway

Joseph C. Phillips as Mayor

Dana Delany as Special Agent Jordan Shaw

Michael Trucco as Detective Tom Demming

Castle and Beckett’s unconventional partnership and banter creates humorous situations and romantic tension unlike anything on TV. During this past season, Castle and Beckett’s relationship has grown stronger as they’ve dodged bullets, captured killers, and solved countless murder cases in their unorthodox partnership. But by the Season Two finale, Beckett’s new relationship with a robbery detective has pushed Castle away, forcing them both to confront their feelings for one another. When Castle leaves to finish writing his second Nikki Heat novel, Naked Heat, Beckett has to watch him walk away, unable to express her true feelings and unsure whether he will return to the precinct.

Witty, suspenseful and fresh! The first season of “CASTLE” is the modern “Moonlighting” featuring a cool cast and each episode with an entertaining storyline.

“CASTLE” debuted on ABC as a mid-season replacement and began airing on March 2009. Created by Andrew M. Marlowe (“Air Force One”, “End of Days” and “Hollyw Man”) and executive produced by Rob Bowman (“The A-Team”, “The X-Files”, “Day Break”) comes a new drama series on crime solving.

The first season which featured 10 episodes stars actor Nathan Fillion (“Firefly”, “Drive” and “Desperate Housewives”) as Richard Castle. The famous mystery novelist who is adored by many but behind-the-scenes, he is a playboy who has an on-and-off fling with his ex-wife (who is an actress), another ex-wife who is his publisher and lives with his bright teenage daughter Alexis (Molly Quinn, “My One and Only”) and his meddlesome mother and former Broadway actress, Martha Rodgers (Susan Sullivan, “The Nine”, “Dharma & Greg”).

There is a lot of pressure on Nathan to create another book and with him stuck, his luck starts to change when he meets by-the-book Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic, “Heroes”, “The Spirit”, “Quantum of Solace”) who is investigating several murders which have taken place and the way that they were done were like the murders featured in several of his novels. Because of his knowledge of how things end up with his books, he gets the opportunity to assist the detectives in their case.

Eventually, Richard Castle discovers that he can do several things in his life. Write his new book based on Detective Beckett, see if he can woo Detective Beckett and most of all to investigate other murders which he can incorporate ideas for his new book. At first, it seems implausible but with Castle being so well-known and friends with the mayor, Captain Montgomery (Ruben Santiago-Huds0n) will do what he can to make the mayor and his boss happy, so he allows Richard to tag along with Detective Beckett.

Needless to say, she’s not happy about it but with his skills of mystery writing and her skills as a detective, the two find out that together, they can be an effective duo in crime solving. Also, joining Beckett are Detective Javier Esposito (Jon Huertas), Detective Kevin Ryan (Seamus Dever) and forensics doctor Dr. Lanie Parish (Tamala Jones).

In the first season, Detective Beckett and Richard Castle have worked together in handling various cases.  But one case that Richard would like to investigate is the death of Detective Beckett’s mother but Beckett doesn’t want him getting into her personal business.

In the second season, Richard continues to work with Dr. Beckett and together they try to solve a variety of murder cases including one that deals with a serial killer going after Detective Beckett.  This season also shows us how Castle and Beckett seem to  start showing some affection towards each other but in the process, Beckett becomes closer with Detective Demming.

“CASTLE – The Complete Second Season” features 24 episodes on five discs. Included are (spoiler-less summaries):

DISC: 1

• EPISODE 11 – Deep In Death - Castle and Beckett go into the underground of the Chinese and Russian mafia to find out why one would try to steal a dead man.
• EPISODE 12 – The Double Down – Two murders and somehow they are connected or are they?
• EPISODE 13 – Inventing the Girl – A model is found murdered and Nathan helps Dr. Beckett find the killer.
• EPISODE 14 – Feel Me Once… - Castle and Beckett investigate the mysterious death of an Arctic explorer.
• EPISODE 15 – When the Bough Breaks – It’s the day before the release of “Nikki Heat” and Castle’s agent has an offer that he probably can’t refuse and it will mean an end to working with Beckett.

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 16 – Vampire Weekend – It’s Halloween time and a man is found murdered with a stake through his heart and he was wearing fangs.  Castle and Beckett investigate the murder.
• EPISODE 17 – Famous Last Words – Castle and Beckett investigate a rock star’s death but how she died is similar to the way she dies in her own music video.
• EPISODE 18 – Kill the Messenger – Castle and Beckett investigate the murder of a bike messenger.
• EPISODE 19 – Love Me Dead – Castle and Beckett investigate the murder of an assistant District Attorney.
• EPISODE 20 – One Man’s Treasure – Castle and Beckett investigate a death of a man who was stuffed down a garbage chute.

DISC 3:

• EPISODE 21 – The Fifth Bullet – Castle and Beckett investigate an art dealer who was shot and killed.  But a bullet is missing from the crime scene and now they look for the missing bullet.
• EPISODE 22 – A Rose For Everafter – Detective Beckett and Castle investigate the death of a bridesmaid at a wedding but finds out the bride is his former girlfriend (played by Alyssa Milano).
• EPISODE 23 – Sucker Punch – Detective Beckett and Castle investigate the death of an Irish mobster and the killer may be involved in the death of Beckett’s mother.
• EPISODE 24 – The Third Man – Detective Beckett and Castle investigate the murder of a man found at the vacation home of a family.  Castle is nominated as one of New York’s 10 most eligible bachelors.
• EPISODE 25 – The Suicide Squeeze – With the death of a baseball star who came back from Cuba, both Beckett and Castle come in contact with former Yankees coach Joe Torre.

DISC 4:

• EPISODE 26 – The Mistress Always Spanks Twice – A half-naked woman has been murdered and she was found hanging with bondage cuffs and covered in caramel.  Now Castle and Beckett must find out who killed her.
• EPISODE 27 – Tick, Tick, Tick… – Detective Beckett and Rick Castle work with the FBI to catch a serial killer using Castle’s book “Nikki Heat”. (Agent Shaw is played by Dana Delany)
• EPISODE 28 – Boom! – The second part of the story as Beckett’s apartment has exploded and proof that the serial killer is still alive.  Now the two along with Agent Shaw (Dana Delany) must find him.
• EPISODE 29 – Wrapped Up In Death – The assistant curator of the Natural History Museum has been killed and Castle and Beckett investigate.
• EPISODE 30 – The Late Shaft – Castle promotes his new book “Heat Wave” on a late-night talk show and during commercial break, the host tells Castle that someone wants him dead.  And sure enough, the TV host (played by Tom Bergeron) was found dead the following day.  Castle and Beckett investigate the murder.

DISC 5:

• EPISODE 31 – Den of Thieves – Castle and Beckett investigate a murder of a thief and find out that Detective Esposito may be involved.
• EPISODE 32 – Food to Die For – A former contestant of the reality TV show “Kitchen Wars” has been killed and Beckett and Castle investigate.
• EPISODE 33 – Overkill – Detective. Demming assists Beckett on her case but both Castle and Demming vie for her attention and Castle is learning that his time with Beckett is decreasing.
• EPISODE 34 – A Deadly Game – Detective Beckett has a relationship with Detective Demming and Castle can’t stand it.  Meanwhile, the two are working to find out who assassinated an intelligent operative.

VIDEO:

“CASTLE – The Complete Second Season” is presented in Widescreen (1:78:1) and is enhanced for 16×9 televisions. The drama series is quite slick as it gives you the feel of New York and like many abc studios related DVD releases, Disney has always done a good job with their TV show transfers. A show that balances outdoor and indoor shots with good lighting, the picture quality for “CASTLE” is pretty solid. I didn’t see any major artifacting issues or low level noise that was distracting.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

As for the audio, the series is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The series is front and center channel driven with a few episodes (that involve gun fights) utilizing the surround channels. The series does utilize quite a bit of music and for the most, the series is understandable and clear.

Subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“CASTLE – The Complete Second Season” includes the following special features:

 

DISC 5:

• On Set With Seamus & Jon – (7:39) Interviews with Seamus Deaver (Detective Kevin Ryan) and Jon Huertas (Detective Javier Esposito) giving a tour of the set of “Castle”.
• On Location With Nathan – (6:50) Featuring Nathan Fillion showing us the crew of “Castle” on location.  From those working in audio, craft services, assistant directors, transpo drivers, set production, props, etc.
• Manhattan’s Most Unusual Murders -(7:57) Creator/executive producer Andrew Marlowe along with other executive producers, writers, director and cast as they talk about coming up with interesting, unusual and innovative murder cases each week for Castle.
• Misdemeanors: Bloopers & Outtakes – (2:36) Outtakes from season 2 of “Castle”.
• Deleted Scenes – (9:07) Featuring three deleted scenes: Take 5, More Morlock and Alibi & Timeline.
• Music Videos – (2:37) First season bloopers.

“CASTLE” continues to be a fun and entertaining detective series.  Despite not being a detective, popular crime author Rick Castle is very good at solving cases and assisting Detective Beckett with her cases.  And through the first season, we know that sooner or later, the sparks are going to fly between the two characters (or will they?).

Both Rick Castle and Detective Kate Beckett are just polar opposites but you know that there is this sexual attraction there that makes their chemistry work onscreen. In a way, both are like Bruce Wayne (Batman) in the way they are keen in investigating things. Castle, as a mystery writer and having done a lot of research, puts himself in the shoes of the criminal and thinks of the many possibilities that can exist between the characters.  Detective Beckett, almost having a similar tragic Bruce Wayne story is a by-the-book detective and for the most part, have their unique way of feeding off each other in terms of handling a case.

Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic do a great job and have good chemistry onscreen.   Especially the number of verbal quips that writers have included this season for the characters. Here are a few examples from this season:

Castle: If something were to happen to me I want you to watch out for Alexis. She looks up to you, and if a worth man would get frisky you can shoot them.
Beckett: Nothing is gonna happen to you.
Castle: But if it does…?
Beckett: Ok.
Castle: And would you also go into my closet and get rid of my porn collection before she finds it?
Esposito: Don’t worry, Bro. I got you covered in that.

Castle: I knew there was something I didn’t like about him. Too pretty. Bet he takes yoga classes just so he can pick up girls… Probably subscribes to The New Yorker but doesn’t even read it… just leaves a copy layin’ out where people can see it.

Castle: Do you believe people get what they deserve?
Beckett: Well, if they do then I must have done something terrible to be punished with you.
Castle: Funny.

Beckett: You know Castle, sometimes I forget that you have such a capacity for pure innocence in your life.
Castle: Yeah, plus it was a great place to pickup chicks.
Beckett: Then you open your mouth and you ruin it.

Very hilarious season and the writing is also top notch.   The murder cases were absolutely interesting this season and I have to say that the more serious serial killer two-part storyline was fantastic and would love to see more of those serious storylines for season three.

With that being said, I often wonder where the characters of Castle and Beckett will go.  For season two, things are now becoming a little bit like “Moonlighting” (for those who remember the 1995-1998 detective series with Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis) in which there is sexual attraction and viewers are teased of when these two will actually hook up.  But whereas the hookup pretty much spelled the end of “Moonlighting”, hopefully “Castle” writers manages to do something different.   Personally, I liked where this Demming/Beckett story is going, especially seeing how Castle reacts with it.  Maybe Castle will find another woman in his life and it will be interesting to see how Beckett likes it.

Aside from the Castle/Beckett sexual tension of the season and the unique murder cases, season two also features more storylines involving characters Detective Esposito and Detective Ryan which was very cool.   It’s great to see the writers stepping things up and to tell you the truth, nothing wrong with adding a few more characters into the mix.  Would love to see another female detective (possible rival to Beckett).

This season also featured more Lanie Parish and very little of Captain Roy Montgomery.  It would be great to see the writers utilize these characters a bit more.    But overall, I’m glad the writers did utilize more characters in this season.  I definitely enjoyed the addition of Detective Tom Demming (Michael Trucco, “Battlestar Galactica”) and I felt the storyline involving the serial killer and Special Agent Jordan Shaw (Dana Delany) were fantastic!  But with Delany busy with “Desperate Housewives”, I doubt we are going to see more of her anytime soon.  And I definitely enjoy the storylines that involve Castle’s daughter Alexis and meddling mother Martha.  Although, it will be interesting to see a storyline that involves Alexis, that would be a great emotional storyline for Castle as his family’s life hasn’t really been pulled into anything serious.

But with two season’s playing it safe (despite season two’s exciting serial killer episodes), I get a feeling that season three may get a bit serious and possibly episodes leading to tragedy.  Dare I say it, with the majority of ALL  ABC drama series pulling the tragedy card this past season with the exception of “Castle”, I wouldn’t be surprised if “Castle” did the same for season three.

As for the DVD, “Castle – The Complete Second Season” is once again, another solid release.   Where the first season DVD box set, all we got was only ten episodes, we did get a good amount of special features including audio commentary.  With this season being 24-episode long, we get no commentary and several special features.    Also, the few special features on this second season DVD box set features Nathan Fillion, Jon Huertas and Seamus Dever but yet nothing on Stana Katic.  What’s up with that?  I’ll let it slide this time around but let’s have a Stana Katic special feature for next seasons DVD box set!

Overall, “CASTLE – The Complete Second Season” is another humorous, exciting and fun series and I look forward to the third season.  Definitely recommended!