Castle 5x02: Cloudy With a Chance of Murder

There's been a murder, a murder most foul. A weather girl is dead, and I know who the killer is about seven minutes into the episode. It's Josh Randall, the guy who played the best friend on Ed. It's kinda annoying when something like that happens, but Castle's not really about the case; it's more about the interactions between the characters. I think the character dynamics are why it's one of the police procedurals I still watch. Anyway, the weather girl's dead and her murderer wasn't a rival weather girl, a sports star she knew, or a crooked factory owner. It was a news anchor who was helping her expose how crooked the crooked factory owner was and who wanted the story all to himself to boost his flagging career.

Real murders would be easier to solve if they were always committed by the most famous person in the room.

Meanwhile, two other things are going on: Castle and Beckett are trying to keep their relationship a secret, and Esposito is still miffed at Ryan. The former I can understand, since the NYPD has a strict policy when it comes to dating co-workers, but the latter doesn't really make a lot of sense. If Ryan hadn't followed procedure and called in backup, then Beckett would've fallen off the roof and died. Sure, it got Beckett and Esposito suspended, but that's a small price to pay for one of them not being dead. Fortunately, they bond over a shared ass-kicking they got at the hands of the sports star's bodyguards when they tried to interview him. Once again, they are interracial buddy cops. As they should be.

Swing and a miss.

As for Castle and Beckett, with Alexis and Martha in Europe, they've spent the duration of Beckett's suspension in constant getting it on mode; which is a good mode to be in. But, now that they're back at work, they're trying to pretend that they're both still single. Castle's a lot better at it than Beckett, and he agrees to a date with a sexy news lady. A sexy news lady who surprises him at his apartment with oysters and a dress that opens rather easily. A pocket dial leads to Beckett interrupting them while news lady pounces on Castle like a hungry lioness, and although his sexy adventure helped him figure out who the killer was, he still wound up in the doghouse. He and Beckett agree to continue their charade, but they're just going to talk about dating other people, not actually date them.

She didn't tear a single button off her dress. That's talent.

What I Liked
-Lanie figures out that Beckett's having sex just by looking at her. The ME knows all!
-The call letters for the TV station where the weather girl worked are WHNY or 'whiny'. It's a simple joke, but it's a good joke.
-Castle goes on the news to promote his new book 'Frozen Heat', which is available now in real world book stores. I don't care that it's flagrant product placement, I love the fact that there's a fake Richard Castle out there writing real books.
-Sexy news lady is the Terminator of sexpots: She just keeps coming. I'm not even sure that's something you can say on network TV.
-Beckett has a gun, so Castle has no choice but to accept her relationship terms.
-Castle smirks at the thought of sexy news lady's boobs in his face. I would, too.

The smirk of a man who's had boobs in his face.

What I Hated
-Even though they know Esposito and Ryan are cops, sports guy's bodyguards still fight them. There's dumb, and then there's dumb.
-The crooked factory owner cracks in about a minute, even though he's seen Law & Order and knows not to say anything until his lawyer gets there. I've been waiting years for someone to finally do something like that. So close, and yet, so far.

I ain't sayin' another word... except all these words about my motive for murder.

Final Thoughts
This was a pretty good episode. Good banter, sexy ladies, and interracial buddy cop action. I was a little bummed that I knew who the killer was right away, but like I said, that's not terribly important on a show like Castle.

I'm a little concerned that they're going to have trouble fitting in Martha and -particularly- Alexis this season. The Castle family is one of the most functional TV families out there, and it would be a shame to see them fall by the wayside.