Season 8 Episode 6 - "Cool Boys" Review

‘Castle’ : Distractions and Decisions

By Lisa Caputo

2015-11-09

Castle and Detective Slaughter reunite for a twisted new case while Castle comes to a decision regarding how to handle his separation with Beckett

Castle returned on Monday night after a short hiatus but the episode marked the first time throughout the long run of the series that one of the main characters was absent for the entire episode. There have been times in the past where an episode focused more on either one of the leads or on any number of the ensemble characters but this was the first time the audience would be without one of the four main characters of Castle, Beckett, Ryan, and Esposito for the entire hour with lead Stana Katic being absent for the filming of the episode. The result was an odd experience for this longtime Castle viewer. While the episode had plenty of its own merits and delivered a truly intriguing and extremely layered story, it felt somewhat unsettling to see, for the first time, an episode completely void of the typical dynamic that has existed in every other episode over the run of the series. I speak not only of the dynamic between Castle and Beckett but also between them and with Ryan and Esposito as well. This foursome has worked together in at least some capacity to solve the case of the week in every episode thus far and the absence of that complete team dynamic left an odd feeling hanging over the air throughout the hour. Even still, a strong combination of so many on-point elements proved to be enough to overcome that eerie feeling, at least for the most part.

Written by Alexi Hawley and directed by Paul Holahan, Monday’s “Cool Boys” was, in and of itself, an impressive episode despite having the monumental task of having to make up for the absence of Kate Beckett. It was a clever story with plenty of witty one-liners, fantastic dynamics amongst many pairings of characters throughout the hour, an intriguing case that reunited Castle with Detective Slaughter again, and some incredibly deep commentary as well at times, including further exploration of Castle’s separation from Beckett as seen from his point of view, something we had yet to see in full display so far this season. Truly, if one could get past the odd feeling of not seeing Beckett throughout the hour, the episode was quite impressive on its own, and the details of the episode as well as the many layers to it would certainly be worth rewatching it to catch them all.

With Beckett out of town on police business, Castle seemed resigned to a combination of boredom and misery, but after asking for a distraction to take his mind off of his separation with his wife, he was reunited with Detective Slaughter, the rogue gang cop who nearly got him killed the last time they worked a case together. Funnily enough, Slaughter’s first case with Castle also came at a time when he and Beckett were at odds back in the fourth season and it was not long after that before the couple overcame those obstacles. The episode, of course, also reunited Nathan Fillion with his Firefly co-star, Adam Baldwin, and the chemistry between the two actors certainly added a great deal to this episode. While trouble still managed to find them just as it did the first time around, their reunion provided much more depth to Slaughter’s character and primarily his interactions with Castle that displayed a new side to himself and proved to help Castle make a decision as to how to proceed in his relationship with Beckett. Baldwin was superb in his performance, showing that there was much more beneath Slaughter’s gruff surface without making him appear too soft either. It was a tough line to walk between the two sides of this character but Baldwin brought both out wonderfully and seamlessly weaved between them throughout the episode, making it seem believable that Slaughter’s outwardly rough persona was merely a guise to keep his real self hidden away from most of the world.

But the episode also focused on a number of other pairings as well, with all of the cast aside from Katic being involved throughout the hour. There continues to be a noticeable focus this season to include most of, if not all of, the cast members in nearly every episode. From Lanie’s usual, albeit far too short, participation at the crime scene, to Martha’s words of wisdom to her son to help him see why Beckett may have pushed him away temporarily, to Alexis and Hayley interacting again and assisting throughout with the latest case, there were many moments from each of them that added that sense of family and kinship to the episode, just as they have all season long.

One of the highlights of the episode came out of the fantastic competition that seemed to arise between partners Ryan and Esposito and their unlikely counterparts of Castle and Slaughter, each pair trying to stay one step ahead of the other while they tried to solve the case in their own ways. It was quite nice to see Ryan and Esposito being protective of Castle, trying to keep him away from Slaughter, who they suspected could have been involved in the murder himself, while Castle was quick to come to Slaughter’s defense, reading him well enough and trusting his gut enough to know that he needed to help clear Slaughter’s name despite the warnings from his friends and family. There was certainly a sense of male bonding and kinship throughout the episode, from the partnership between Ryan and Esposito in and of itself, to the two of them looking out for Castle, to Castle forging an actual friendship with a rather misunderstood Slaughter, to Slaughter later opting to be a mentor of sorts to Louis.

As always, the episode was also laced with clever comments and throwbacks to past episodes or, at times perhaps, even to the audience themselves. Castle’s opening line, “This separation thing is really getting old” may have been a witty way for the writers to remind the audience that they know some are getting impatient with the storyline, something even more brilliant when one considers how long ago this episode was actually shot. Later on, Slaughter throws Castle’s cell phone out of the car window, only to have Castle utter the exact same words this reviewer was thinking, that he goes through far too many phones, pointing to the ongoing gag that appears frequently throughout the past few seasons. There were also many references to the previous episode with Slaughter and Castle, reminding the audience of some of the best moments of that story as well. So often, those details, especially the small ones we may only notice on additional viewings of an episode, are there to give a nod to the audience and show appreciation for taking this journey with them.

Despite Beckett being absent for the hour, there was still a focus at times on her relationship with Castle and their current separation. It was actually quite compelling to get a glance at the current storyline from Castle’s perspective, both through his interactions with his family early on in the episode and through his conversations with Slaughter the rest of the way. And we learned more about Slaughter himself, seeing a much deeper side to him as he revealed some interesting details about his past and the wife he could not do enough to hold on to. Despite seemingly being the last person in the world who was capable of giving Castle relationship advice, these new details about his life opened the door to allow Castle to better understand what he stood to lose if he went down that same path as Slaughter did in his marriage.

In the end, Castle, Slaughter, Ryan, and Esposito solved their case together and Slaughter gave his newfound friend one last wise piece of advice; “Whatever’s going on with Beckett, she shouldn’t have to go through it alone…  I lost my wife because I wasn’t man enough to put her needs ahead of mine. Don’t make the same mistake.” And as Slaughter made his exit from the precinct, leaving Castle to ponder his words, a certain look came over Castle, one we have seen many times before. Looking back through the window at Beckett’s vacant desk, Castle smiled with a twinkle returning to his eyes as he now understood what he had to do; figure out what Beckett was dealing with and help her with it. After all, it’s what partners are supposed to do.