This Monday night sees ABC's Castle farewell 2015 with an episode which breaks away slightly from the usual format the long running episode's series normally runs with. Titled, "Mr. & Mrs. Castle", the title isn't the most accurate description of the episode, which was nicely written by long timer Christine Roum and well directed by Jeff Bleckner, who directs an episode for the first time since Season 5.
The episode promos go to great pains to portray this hour as being set on board a cruise ship but it's probably worth stating that the majority of the hour takes place on solid ground instead of the high seas. Rick and Kate indeed find themselves unfortunately trapped on the cruise liner - a Titanic themed ship owned by a company about to go under and commanded by an uncooperative captain - as they search for evidence relating to the murder of a young woman whose body floats to the surface in a harbor several hours prior.
The captain wastes no time in arranging the removal of Rick and Kate from his vessel, but the pair opt to divide and conquer in order to gather as much evidence as possible. This leads Rick to the ship's theater where he ends up in a hilarious situation that has to be seen to be believed. Nathan Fillion makes being absolutely rubbish at something look effortless here.
Arye Gross reprises his role as Sidney Perlmutter in this episode and is as funny as ever. Perlmutter is instrumental in breaking the case wide open.
"Mr. & Mrs. Castle" deviates from the usual Castle episode format because there is much heavier focus on the case that Kate has spent the season investigating solo, with some good overall progress made. Vikram Singh features heavily, as does Hayley Shipton, and this pair go head to head at one point.
Despite the new series regulars seeing more screen time, fans will be pleased to see Rick and Kate manage to sort a few things out. The surprise anniversary night we saw last week is definitely not forgotten, and the episode's conclusion should pave the way for a new approach to the LokSat conspiracy which Kate has spent the season obsessing over.
In all, I think those who are somewhat disgruntled with the format new showrunners Alexi Hawley and Terence Paul Winter have taken this season will come away feeling a bit better about things in this winter finale. The creative team did well to incorporate some good humor into an otherwise serious hour. A couple of moments felt a little rushed, but the pieces still clicked into place nicely, and the set designers did a great job too.
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, thoughts or theories, drop them in the comments below, and don't forget to check out Castle on my TV ratings website, www.seriesmonitor.com/castle.
Castle's Winter Finale, "Mr. & Mrs. Castle", airs Monday, November 23, 10|9c, on ABC.
