Amid the brash, brisk homicide investigations that transpire during the fourth season of ABC’s wonderfully entertaining Castle, there is quite an undercurrent of utter seriousness. Romances begin and end (and begin again), a wedding finally comes off, and the show’s two central protagonists who have played a kind of semi-flirty mating dance with one another for three seasons now face their feelings head-on with consequences that will no doubt impact the show monumentally during its fifth season. Until that begins, we have the season four episodes which mix often-exciting procedural investigations with the occasional odd duck episode that keeps the season fresh and fun.
Castle: The Complete Fourth Season
Directed by Rob Bowman et al
Studio: ABC Studios/Disney
Year: 2011-2012
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 anamorphic
Running Time: 985 minutes
Rating: TV-14
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Subtitles: SDH, French, Spanish
MSRP: $45.99
Release Date: September 11, 2012
Review Date: September 10, 2012
The Season
4/5
Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) is battling for her life at the beginning of season four having been shot by someone directly connected to the murder of her mother many years before. Seemingly unconscious, Beckett is told by her civilian partner author Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) that he loves her, a declaration that will have major repercussions later in the season. Obviously Beckett survives her attack and recuperation, but on returning to the precinct, she finds a new boss Captain Victoria Gates (Penny Johnson Jerald), a hard-nosed cop who demands to be called “sir” and despises that Castle’s close relationship with the mayor of New York allows him to work on cases with regular NYPD detectives. Castle spends the season trying to get into the good graces of the irritable (and very irritating) Gates, her attitude unduly silly in light of the number of cases he’s helped close over three years and the amount of camaraderie and trust he’s built up in the department over that time. Otherwise, though, it’s business as usual at work with Detectives Kevin Ryan (Seamus Dever) and Javier Esposito (Jon Huertas) also part of the team and at home with Castle’s actress mother (Susan Sullivan) and precocious honor student daughter Alexis (Molly Quinn), now a senior and during the latter part of the season, doing intern work in the M.E.’s (Tamala Jones) office.
While most weeks feature closed-ended mysteries that conclude by the end of the hour, the writers this year included a number of very unusual and highly entertaining capers for the detectives to investigate: a masked superhero hacks a man in half, scientists involved in cryogenics get in the way of a murder investigation, Detective Ryan’s stolen gun from an earlier season resurfaces this year in a series of murders which haunt him and give actor Seamus Dever a real spotlight episode (his character also marries this season, the character played by his real-life wife), Beckett and Castle awake in a strange room cuffed together. The series’ usual Halloween episode this season involves a murder in a haunted house. Castle and his mother are involved in a bank heist that seems odd from the get-go, and Castle’s pal the mayor comes under close scrutiny during a murder investigation in which all clues point to his guilt. The season’s two-parter involves Beckett and Castle with the CIA (guest starring Jennifer Beals) in a doomsday scenario that builds to a surprising and suspenseful climax. Castle, in a snit because he realizes that Beckett had heard his declaration of love and hadn’t responded for months, decides to offer his services to a notorious vice detective which reunites Nathan Fillion with his Firefly co-star Adam Baldwin in a wild and wooly hour that’s very funny and quite exciting. And the season’s most unusual episode reconstructs a 1947 murder mystery with the Castle cast taking on new personas in this film noir-like drama. Most anticipated for the show’s fans, of course, is the season finale when the Castle and Beckett duo finally make some definite strides toward confronting the feelings they’ve shared but skirted for four seasons.
The cast plays together with a joyously delicious sense of fun which makes the episodes, even with the most ghastly of crimes, a pleasure to watch. Fillion and Katic have a palpable chemistry that makes the show sexy fun from week to week, and Dever and Huertas banter back and forth delightfully with an ease and precise timing which four years of performing together has brought them. Susan Sullivan’s character has mellowed even more this season offering more motherly advice and usually (but not always) less self-involved than in previous seasons. Molly Quinn continues to play Alexis as wise beyond her years, a big help when dealing with a father who’s oftentimes more juvenile in spirit than she, but she and Fillion also share a close bond that makes them a father-daughter combination that’s really believable.
Here are the twenty-three episodes from season four contained on five discs. The names in parentheses are the participants in that episode’s audio commentary:
1 – Rise (director Rob Bowman, actors Seamus Dever, Jon Huertas, Tamala Jones)
2 – Heroes & Villains
3 – Head Case
4 – Kick the Ballistics
5 – Eye of the Beholder
6 – Demons
7 – Cops & Robbers
8 – Heartbreak Hotel
9 – Kill Shot
10 – Cuffed (writers Andrew Marlowe, Terri Miller, actors Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic)
11 – Till Death Do Us Part
12 – Dial M for Mayor
13 – An Embarrassment of Bitches
14 – The Blue Butterfly (writer Terrence Winter, costumer Luke Reichle, actors Susan Sullivan, Molly Quinn, Tamala Jones)
15 – Pandora
16 – Linchpin
17 – Once Upon a Crime
18 – A Dance with Death
19 – 47 Seconds
20 – The Limey
21 – Headhunters
22 – Undead Again
23 – Always
Video Quality
4/5
The program is broadcast on ABC at 720p in 1:78:1, and these downconverted 480p transfers look on the whole very good. The program has a very warm color palette, and the DVD conveys this quite well with close-ups especially registering at near-HD quality when upconverted. Otherwise, sharpness is generally well done with occasional lapses, and color saturation is well above average while flesh tones remain realistic. Black levels are generally excellent. Only the New York City flyovers and an occasional patterned shirt or car grille reveal some slight aliasing and moiré patterns. Each episode has been divided into 7 chapters.
Audio Quality
4/5
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track makes a better than average use of its surround opportunities. Music is always an immersive element in the show, and the sound designers make sure that ambient sounds get placed around the soundfield in almost every episode. Of course, the show’s primary element is dialogue, and it’s well recorded and accurately placed in the center channel.
Special Features
4/5
Three episodes have audio commentaries (see above episode list for shows and participants). None are particularly illuminating though Rob Bowman’s comments on the season premiere commentary are the most informative without the need to constantly overpraise every element of the show. The commentary on “The Blue Butterfly” is a particular love fest with compliments comprising most of the comments.
All of the bonus video material is presented in anamorphic widescreen.
“Fillion and Friends: Castle Goes Radio” has Molly Quinn narrating her and co-star Nathan Fillion’s participation in a “Sparks Nevada” podcast done in the manner of a radio drama with a live audience. The behind-the-scenes documentary runs 11 ¾ minutes while two episodes of the show each run 21 ¾ minutes. There’s also an Easter egg excerpt of another show featuring Kirsten Vangsness as a guest star that runs 4 ¼ minutes.
“Submerged: An In-Depth Look at Stunts” takes a behind-the-scenes look at the preparations for a stunt used in episodes 15 and 16 when Castle and Beckett are trapped in a car that plunges into the harbor. The episode’s director, assistant directors, stunt coordinator, special effects master, composer, and stars Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic comment on the elaborate precautions used for the sequence and show how it was filmed in this interesting 17 ½-minute piece.
“Bowman, Bowman & Castle” details show producer-director Rob Bowman turning the reins of “The Blue Butterfly” over to his director-father Chuck Bowman as he directs this tribute to film noir. The featurette runs 10 ½ minutes.
The season’s blooper reel runs 4 ½ minutes.
There are eight deleted scenes spread over the twenty-three episodes.
The discs contain promo trailers for ABC-TV dramas, Frankenweenie, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
In Conclusion
4/5 (not an average)
A clever and entertaining detective series stressing the camaraderie of its squad as much as the murders being investigated, Castle had a very strong (with a few minor caveats) fourth season. Recommended!
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
