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

September 8, 2011 by Dennis Amith 

“Castle – The Complete Third Season” features another fun humorous, exciting and explosive season and the writers really stepped up their game with a good balance of plot twists, sexual tension and drama.  The best season of the series thus far!  Definitely recommended!

Images courtesy of © ABC Studios. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: CASTLE – The Complete Third Season

TELEVISION AIR DATE: 2010-2011

DURATION: 24 episodes (1025 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 20, 2011

Created by Andrew J. Marlowe

Directed by Rob Bowman, Bryan Spicer, John Terlesky, Bill Roe, Thomas J. Wright, Jeff Bleckner, David Barrett

Written by Andrew J. Marlow, Shalisha Francis, David Grae, Alexi Hawley, Elizabeth Davis, Moira Kirland, Terence Paul Winter, Will Beall, Terri Miller, Rene Echevarria, Jose Molina, David Amann, Matt Pyken, Scott Williams

Executive Producer: Armyan Bernstein, Rob Bowman, Andrew W. Marlowe, Laurie Zaks

Co-Executive Producer: Jose Molina, Matt Pyken, Scott Williams,

Producer: D. Howard Grigsby, David Grae

Co-Producer: Marc A. Kahn, Terri Miller, Alexi Hawley, Joan Van Horn

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 Claire Kaufman

Costume Design by Luke Reichie

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

Monet Mazur as Gina Cowell

Arye Gross as M.E. Sidney Perlmutter

Scott Paulin as Jim Beckett

Ken Baumann as Ashley

Victor Webster as Josh Davidson

Max Martini as Hal Lockwood

Adrian Pasdar as Agent Mark Fallon

Laura Prepon as Natalie Rhodes

Famous mystery  novelist Richard Castle and NYPD detective Kate Beckett return for the suspenseful Third Season of ABC’s brilliantly funny series, Castle.  Enjoy every inspired idea and flirtatious moment at this fiery duo solve the strangest homicides New York has to offer.

It’s the most entertaining season yet as Castle’s wildly funny storytelling skills work their way into every case.  Between his mixed-up partnership with Beckett and his relationships with his diva mother and his clever daughter, Alexis, Castle is always on his toes.

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 Detective 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.

In this third season of “Castle”, with Castle having ended his research with Detective Beckett, Beckett and her team are reunited with Beckett who has not communicated with them for several months.  But now Beckett wants to be involved with the research and team up with Beckett once again.

Meanwhile, Castle is trying to get used to being a father when his daughter is dating and Castle’s publisher and second ex-wife Gina is back into Castle’s life and with Beckett dating another man, Castle finds himself reuniting with his ex-wife, despite starting to have more feelings towards Beckett.

As for Detective Beckett, when she finds out that a police officer investigating her mother’s murder has new information for her, something tragic happens.  But also, when an assassin who may know information of what happened to her mother, manages to escape while on trial.  As Beckett has been trying to find out who killed her mother, what new information do these individuals have?  And what happens when Beckett’s mother’s case becomes so big that may lead to her own death.  Castle and everyone knows the danger that Beckett is getting involved with but how much more explosive can things get.

“Castle – The Complete Third Season” is another humorous, exciting and explosive season with a good balance of plot twists, sexual tension and drama.

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

DISC: 1

• EPISODE 35 – A Deadly Affair - Detective Beckett and her team investigate a murder and meet up with Castle (who they have not seen in months).
• EPISODE 36 – He’s Dead, She’s Dead – Detective Beckett and Castle investigate the murder of a famous psychic.
• EPISODE 37 – Under the Gun – Becket and Castle meet up with Beckett’s first training officer Mike Royce, meanwhile investigating a murder of a bail bondsman.
• EPISODE 38 – Punked - Becket and Castle investigate a murder of a young executive.
• EPISODE 39 – Anatomy of a Murder - Detective Beckett and Castle investigate  case in which a doctor’s body is found inside another person’s casket.

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 40 – 3XK – The Triple Killer has returned and Beckett and Castle must investigate.
• EPISODE 41 – Almost Famous – Castle and Beckett investigate a murder of a male stripper wearing a police officer uniform.
• EPISODE 42 – Murder Most Fowl – Castle and Beckett investigate a kidnapping of a boy.
• EPISODE 43 – Close Encounters of the Murderous Kind – Castle and Beckett investigate the murder of an astrophysicist.
• EPISODE 44 – Last Call – Castle and Beckett investigate a death of a bar owner.

DISC 3:

• EPISODE 45 – Nikki Heat – Natalie Rhodes who plays the role Nikki Heat in the film adaptation of “Heat Wave” joins Beckett and Castle on an investigation. Guest Star: Laura Prepon
• EPISODE 46 – Poof! You’re Dead – Detective Beckett and Castle investigate the death of a Magician.
• EPISODE 47 – Knockdown – A detective who is investigate Beckett’s mother’s murder is shot in front of Beckett before he can show her new evidence he had found.
• EPISODE 48 – Lucky Stiff – Detective Beckett and Castle investigate the murder of a lottery winner.
• EPISODE 49 – The Final Nail – Detective Beckett and Castle investigate the death of a wealthy woman.

DISC 4:

• EPISODE 50 – Setup – Detective Beckett and Castle investigate the murder of an NYC taxi driver.  Part 1 of a two part episode.
• EPISODE 51 – Countdown – In part 2 of a two-part episode, the NYPD and Department of Homeland Security search for a dirty bomb, meanwhile Beckett and Castle are trapped ina frozen storage container.
• EPISODE 52 – One Life to Lose – Beckett and Castle investigate the death of a head writer of a long-running soap opera.
• EPISODE 53 – Law & Murder – During a trial of a socialite, one of the jurors dies from cyanide poisoning. Beckett and Castle must investigate the death of the juror.
• EPISODE 54 – Slice of Death – Detective Beckett and Castle investigate a reporter who is found dead inside a pizza oven.

DISC 5:

• EPISODE 55 – The Dead Pool – Castle and Beckett investigate the death of a future Olympic swimmer.
• EPISODE 56 – To Love and Die in L.A. -Beckett goes against orders and travels to LA to investigate the murder of her training officer Michael Royce.
• EPISODE 57 – Pretty Dead -  Castle and Beckett investigate the death of a beauty pageant contestant.
• EPISODE 58 – Knockout -  Season finale… Beckett and Castle try to track down an assassin who escapes custody during his trial and the person may have knowledge of how Beckett’s mother was murdered.  Meanwhile, Captain Montgomery’s secret is revealed and someone is shot.

VIDEO:

“Castle – The Complete Third 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, “Castle – The Complete Third Season” 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 clear and understandable.

Subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Castle – The Complete Third Season” includes the following special features:

DISC 1:

• Audio Commentary – Episode 301 ―A Deadly Affair‖ With Creator/Executive Producer/Writer Andrew W. Marlowe, Director/Executive Producer Rob Bowman And Actor Nathan Fillion

DISC 2:

• Audio Commentary – Episode 307 ―3XK‖ with Director Bill Roe, Executive Producer/Writer David Amann And Actors Seamus Dever & Jon Huertas

DISC 5:

• Murder The Wrote – (22:05) An exciting all-new roundtable featuring series star Nathan Fillion, New York Times best-selling author Michael Connelly, Andrew Marlowe (creator/executive producer), Rob Bowman (executive producer) and Brian Michael Bendis (graphic novelist) discuss the genre, tricks of the trade and more
• Castle Goes Hollywood – (8:00) An all new behind-the-scenes look at the season‘s episode that takes the series characters to Hollywood.
• Bloopers – (4:14) The outtakes from the third season of “Castle”.
• Deleted Scenes – Featuring three deleted scenes: Message from Royce, Honorary Badge and Out of Line.
• Murder Boards – (3:23) Rob Schow talks about the dry erase boards shown on the series  and how much planning goes into the boards and how they are utilized in the series.
• Get on the Floor – Music Video -  (2:15) The music video feat. “Get on the Floor” (Note: The song does have some mature lyrics that you may not want to play around children).

EXTRAS:

“Castle – The Complete Third Season” comes with a slip cover case.

Finally, after watching three seasons of wondering if Castle and Beckett will ever get together, perhaps longtime viewers have a glimmer of hope for the fourth season.

For so long, after seeing Beckett and Castle together and having this chemistry but none of them willing to cross the line beyond their professional working relationship, season three of “Castle” really takes things up a notch by showing the viewers that perhaps these two would be good together.

Granted, like the previous two seasons, the writers are not going to easily make that happen.  And I don’t blame them.

Back in the 1980′s, when ABC had the hit investigative series “Moonlighting” with Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd.  The writers kept these two apart for so long despite the chemistry and sexual tension of the characters and once they got together, it was the final nail in the coffin for the series and from that moment on, the two as a pair brought the downfall of the series.

So, sometimes its not a good thing to push relationships but the writers have done a great job of holding things off and building that chemistry.  Do viewers want to see Beckett and Castle together?  Or to continue this built-up sexual tension for between these characters for another season.

But the season finale makes you wonder how things will be in season four between these two.

Now, possibly the best thing going for season three is the fact that we learn that the murder of Detective Beckett’s mother is much bigger than she can ever realize.  In fact, as a viewer, I was even surprised to see how deep this storyline has gotten and I do like how things have gotten progressively bigger each season with this storyline and in this case, possibly quite tragic.  OK, probably not as there is no way Castle is going to die but…Beckett?  Would the writers go that far?  All I can say is that the season finale left me speechless.  Wow!

And last, if there is one thing that “Castle” writers have been great, that is giving viewers one hell of a season finale.   And to find out one of the characters of the series has a major secret, suffice to say, I never saw that one coming.  And definitely will have ramifications going into season four.

As for the DVD, “Castle – The Complete Third Season” is once again, another solid release.   Like the previous two DVD box sets, this third season also has a good number of special features including an intriguing roundtable discussion, two audio commentary, a featurette about shooting in Hollywood, outtakes, deleted scenes and a music video.

Overall, “Castle – The Complete Third Season” features another fun humorous, exciting and explosive season and the writers really stepped up their game with a good balance of plot twists, sexual tension and drama.

Definitely recommended!