Castle: Dead Again – Unbreakable (Review)

“Castle: Dead Again” is in essence a superhero episode, along the lines of M Night Shyamalan’s “Unbreakable” rather than “Spiderman” or “Ironman.” The love interest is also named Gwen (played by Kate Cobb) in what may be  a nod to Spiderman’s Gwen Stacy.  (Or not.) While the episode was fun and moves toward a LokSat solution,  it is the first time in eight seasons where this reviewer guessed the baddie.

Whether this is a case of the series going on so long that originality has gone out the window, or just a sloppy plot, it was shocking to find that the first guess, which is always wrong when watching this show,  turned out to be the right one.

This episode was “Castle” in bare bones mode. No Alexis or Martha and very little Ryan and Javi. Haley Shipton ‘nee Vargus was also no where to be seen. Although Vikram Singh, played by Sunkrish Bala was there for the LokSat storyline. 

Lanie was present for a number of little scenes where she related the many deaths of Alan Masters and apparently became quite attached to guest star Jonathan Silverman who played  the repeatedly murdered Masters.

Kristoffer Polaha was back as Caleb Brown, the LokSat public defender,  and he tells Kate to back off or face the consequences.  Brown also appears to doom himself to be executed for passing on crucial information to Beckett. 

The main plot, Masters’ getting killed three times,  starts with the safety inspector being poisoned. In short order he is then  electrocuted and finally shot in the head at pointblank range. The comedy in the show is comprised of Rick initially being excited about Alan’s death as Alan could see the other side and then attempting to prove Masters is a superhero.

Other comic moments include Lanie (Tamala Jones) and Masters “doing a Caskett” and working out plot points in unison. There was also the blind owner of a triad herbal store gag.

An underlying “in-joke” had Silverman, who co-starred in the hysterically funny 1989 black comedy “Weekend at Bernie’s”  (along with Andrew McCarthy and Terry Kiser) as the “man who would not die;” safety inspector Alan Masters.

(“Weekend at Bernie’s” is about a man who actually dies but McCarthy and Silverman  play characters who keep  the dead man, Bernie,  “alive” throughout the long weekend.)

Caleb Brown turns up at Rick’s apartment with a cell phone he uses to speak with LokSat and the end of the episode finishes  on a grim note, with the couple getting closer to taking the anonymous villain down.

It was all too easy to read things into this “Rick heavy” episode after the announcement that Stana Katic and Tamala Jones will not be returning for a ninth season, if there is one. This reading in was unavoidable one feels the tension from the underused Katic.

That said, Beckett did get a few focused episodes earlier in the season although as  the end of season eight rapidly approaches, last night’s episode actually gave Lanie more screen time than Kate.

“Dead Again” was amusing but not overly clever.  (If the reader has not seen the episode yet stop reading now.) Literally moments into the episode I was able to surmise that the young lady that Alan had a “thing” for was the person trying to kill him.

Being a mystery fan, it is an understood that I will attempt to solve the crime before the detective, professional or armchair (as the series warrants) and with “Castle” each and every time time, I have been wrong. Until last night’s episode.

So while the gag of Silverman’s character being a sort of Unbreakable substitute (and to the writers of “Castle:” It was a great gag chaps.  Masters being boring, just like Bruce Willis’ character David was a touch of  genius) was brilliant. However  the main crime itself being solvable for the first time ever by this armchair detective before the end of the show was a major disappointment.

Perhaps it is time for Castle to shuffle off to that place reserved for series that have gone on too long.  When the show runner bails, which happened before this season began, that must surely mean the show’s “sell-by” date has been passed.

There are three more episodes left in this bittersweet season of “Castle.”  May the remaining installments not disappoint. The series airs Mondays on ABC.