Castle and Hawaii Five-O Review: The Light & the Dark

I watched Castle first last night.  I was in the mood for something light-hearted and I knew that episode would fit the bill.  Plus, I have family members who love the idea of Sasquatch hunters and the promos drew us all right in.

Castle is almost always at the kid at Christmas end of the spectrum when it comes to believing in fanciful things.  Like a time machine, when they had that 200 year old bullet, the zombie case, ghosts, and now Bigfoot.  But Nathan Fillion does such an amazing job, it is completely believable.  I loved the talk between him and Beckett about believing in magic.  Beckett was her level-headed self that believes in the magic you can see and touch like green shoots through the snow in February and listening to Coltrane, but Castle believes in the possibilities of things like Bigfoot.  Their banter back and forth throughout the case as to whether Bigfoot could really have killed the victim was hilarious.

I think the funniest part of all when when Castle is confronted by the bigfoot while he's in that hole.  The look on his face when it falls in with him and he's screaming for Beckett to shoot it was so funny.  I think the funniest thing, though, was when Castle was "talking" to Moonshine and the ape made that slitting motion across his throat.  Oh man, I laughed so hard.

I did call the murderer pretty early on, but they had some good twists.  Ryan and Esposito had some good moments, (their meeting with Perlmutter), but Alexis annoyed me to no end.  She lied to her dad and didn't even have a good reason.  Spoiled was the word that came to mind.  Although the booby trap Castle set was funny and the rest of the episode was stellar, so I'll overlook that part.

Hawaii Five-O was serious as Steve and Catherine were exchanging prisoners for a Navy SEAL's remains.  It was one of Steve's closest friends from BUD/s training, and was like a brother to him.  He saved Steve's life during an undercover op, but died in the course of it.  Steve realizes the remains they were given weren't his friend's, so he decides to go into North Korea and get the remains himself.  Catherine goes along with him, (loved that) and they meet up with Jimmy Buffett for guns and a way into the country.  The flashbacks to Steve's mission were amazing and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.  It was a prequel to the first episode of Hawaii Five-O, when he was escorting the brother of the man who killed his father.  Heartbreaking.

Catherine and Steve manage to kidnap the North Korean man who was there when Steve's friend was killed and he eventually shows them the SEAL's grave.  After a car crash where Catherine cracks a rib and they end up getting captured after some really awesome gunfights.  It was really amazing, like a mini-movie.  Right up my alley with action and people who love each other.

It wrapped up with the funeral for the returned remains and Steve presents the man's dogtags to the daughter his friend never got to know.  Emotional and heart-wrenching.  I wish they could have had another hour to really tell the story and how they got out of North Korea, but I loved the balance with action and emotion and I especially loved that Steve and Catherine were on a mission together.  So, so great.  Definitely one of my favorite episodes of the season.

What did you watch last night?  Anyone watching Dancing with the Stars?