Castle

Nathan Fillion has a new gig on ABC. It's called Castle. You're probably not watching it because you have standards. But, if you were like me and didn't have standards, then you'd be watching Castle and laughing your ass off. But, you do, so it's your loss. I'm moving on.

Here's a quick summary to catch everybody up. It's starring Nathan Fillion. Um, what else do you need to know? Okay, fine. He's a big shot, best-selling mystery novelist suffering from writer's block (he just killed off his cash cow main character). He's being played by Nathan Fillion, by the way. He has a stereotypical sassy daughter. And his publisher is his ex-wife. And his mom is living with him and is really horny (that one's a little awkward).

Anyways, the conceit of the show is that the police call him in because there's a serial killer copy-catting kills from his books. The detective on the case is a fan of his, and cute. So, he helps out (under a loose definition of helping out that consists entirely of clowning around and hitting on her). Of course, together (sort of) they solve the crime and he decides that was fun. So, he pulls some strings and convinces the police to let him to follow her around on cases, because she's going to be the inspiration for his next main character (and so he can keep trying to get in her pants).

So, yeah, that's the story. There's really only one relevant piece of information, though. And I've said it a couple times. It's starring Nathan Fillion. And, best of all, it's Nathan Fillion doing a variation on Captain Reynolds. This version of Captain Reynolds is a little bit more of an ass, but just as funny. And trust me, he's funny.

I mean the show isn't very good, but at the same time, it is totally amazing. Getting to watch Nathan Fillion just be hilarious and awesome again is so nice. Wonderful, really. Let's see, the other things I've seen him in since Firefly have been, um, Slither, White Noise 2, Waitress, Jade Empire (video game), Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and PG Porn. I only played Jade Empire for an hour or so, and I'm about 80% certain that his character is supposed to be a bad guy, but I pretty much spent that whole time just talking to/annoying his character, because I could. It was awesome, but not in a Captain Mal sort of way. In White Noise 2 and Waitress, he's playing more normal guys. He's funny and charming, just by the nature of his Nathan Fillion-ness, but not really as awesome as he is in Firefly (meaning, he's still completely awesome, just to be clear). In Dr. Horrible, his character is supposed to be rather stupid and annoying, so, while he is hilarious, it's not quite the right kind of hilarious (no funny snide remarks). PG Porn is less than 5 minutes long, so I'm not sure if that counts as a character.

In summary, the only other thing he's done since Firefly, in which he was as awesome as he was in Firefly, was Slither (and, if you haven't seen it, I strongly recommend it). So, yeah, I've been feeling a little left out. I mean, when I heard he was in Desperate Housewives, I seriously considered watching it just for him. But, I didn't.

So for me, just getting to watch Nathan Fillion deliver silly lines, perfectly, is just a joy.

Oh, only vaguely related, but in the most recent episode of Dollhouse, Tim Minear totally gave Helo (from BSG) a classic Malcolm Reynolds line. I was almost shocked. The best part was, it was clear that the direction he was given was: channel your inner Nathan Fillion. And, I have to admit, Tahmoh Penikett (I'm probably screwing that spelling up) channelled a pretty good Nathan Fillion. I was impressed. So, yes, consider that my glowing recommendation to keep/start watching Dollhouse.

But, as for Castle, I really like it. I get the feeling that the mysteries aren't going to be especially tough (but, I like Psych, so clearly I don't care about the mystery part all that much). The leading lady is decently hot and, more importantly, she's a fun sounding board for Nathan Fillion's character's antics. Her reactions to his ridiculousness are a key part of the show, and she certainly fulfills that purpose. So, yeah, I give her a thumbs up as well.

Also, it was kind of cool to see what James Patterson actually looks like. Anyways, I guess I pretty much expect this show to follow the same path as that show I was somewhat into around this time last year, called New Amsterdam.

Well, that's all I got. It's really funny and I still think Nathan Fillion is amazing. So, yeah, my Mondays are pretty good what with Chuck and now Castle, too. It's hard to complain about that (although Chuck is kind of stuck in a rut where it's awesome, but nothing is really being done or happening, which is too bad).

That is all.

Francis