Castle Review: “The Lives of Others”

It’s 7 days later and I’m still thinking about “The Lives of Others.” I know I’ve made this declaration a ton of times this season, but this past episode was one the best Castle episodes ever and my favourite so far this season. I have to say Castle is one of the best shows on television right now. In it’s 5th season, Castle is showing no signs of slowing down. 100 episodes down, hopefully 100 more episodes to go.

As it stands now, I’ve watched “The Lives of Others” 6 times. It just gets better and better every time I watch it. You catch many different things every time you watch it. The first time around Kate’s concern for Castle comes off as concern for his sanity, while he’s re-creating this rear window scenario. The second, third, and fourth time you know Kate has planned this whole thing and is probably struggling with keeping this charade from Castle. Terri Miller & Andrew W. Marlowe are geniuses. I absolutely loved their cameo appearance. It fit in so well and didn’t feel forced at all.

“The Lives of Others” had everything I love about Castle. Great Caskett moments, cute Castle and Alexis scenes, funny Ryan and Esposito scenes and heart pumping moments. The 100th episode stayed true to what Castle is all about and that’s why it was so incredibly successful. I will say this, I really didn’t care about the case of the week. It’s not that it wasn’t interesting, I just was so enthralled with Castle spying on his “murderous” neighbour. At one point I even forgot Beckett and co. were solving a murder case. I’m not sure if Marlowe and company intended for this, but for once I didn’t mind not caring about the murder case.

If someone were to ask me what my favourite moments from the episode were I could take the easy way out and say the entire episode, but where’s the fun in that?

“It’s a spa trip darling, not a guilt trip.” – Martha

Ryan and Espo’s Charlie’s Angels pose.

Castle playing with the helicopter. “Looks like we got some beautiful clear skies with us today. A nice tail wind is gonna get us there right away folks. We’ll be there zero dark thirty, zero dark quarter two.”

Castle looking through the binoculars and seeing Andrew W. Marlowe and Terri Miller. “Must be writers.”

Castle calling Beckett while looking though the magnifying glass.

Beckett and her cryptic smile while hugging Castle.

Castle and Beckett’s argument after Castle saw the neighbour washing what he thought was blood off his hands. It was quite heated, but we saw how convinced Castle was that the neighbour committed this crime. We really got the sense that Kate was conflicted. The first time watching “The Lives of Others”, Esposito’s “Should we be worried?” came off as concern for Castle’s well being. The second time around, it came off as concern and probably questioning if they should keep going with the plan.

Castle and Alexis looking through the binoculars. Such a cute father and daughter moment.

Castle breaking in his neighbours apartment. I couldn’t stop laughing when Castle fell. He was like a poor little turtle trying to get up.

Beckett: “You’re talking about an illegal search”, Castle: “When you do it, it’s an illegal search, when I do it, it’s just illegal.”

Captain Gates ripping Castle a new one after security found Castle and Beckett breaking in the storage unit. “Hey Castle, is it hard to balance on those crutches when you just had your ass chewed off?” – Esposito

Kate sticking her tongue out at Castle.

I had the biggest grin on my face when Castle exclaimed “This is without a doubt the greatest birthday gift of my life.” I just love that Kate planned this whole elaborate scheme for Castle’s birthday. Nobody had ever done anything like that for Castle before and it was just perfect. Of course I was really happy that we got another Caskett kiss with great lighting.

I just loved Castle’s determination and passion throughout the whole episode. He was so convinced the neighbour actually murdered his girlfriend and wouldn’t stop investigating. This episode really stayed true to Castle’s character. Castle’s imagination does get the better of him sometimes but that’s what makes him so great. I love that I got to enjoy this amazing episode with my friends who love Castle as much as I do. It’s what made the whole experience that much more enjoyable. Being able to share these moments with your friends. It’s something that we’ll always share.