Castle (TV series)/Tropes E to L: Difference between revisions

update links
No edit summary
(update links)
Line 1:
{{work}}
* [[Easy Amnesia]]: [[Averted]] in "The Fifth Bullet", esp. with the easy recall that comes with it. It's lampshaded:
{{quote|'''"J":''' Is this the point where I start getting all those flashes of memory until it all clicks into place?
'''Ryan:''' You've watched too many movies.
Line 14:
''Castle's phone rings and he picks it up.''
'''Castle''': ...No Hassle Castle. Hey. ... No, I was just making a point. ... ''Please don't call me that.'' }}
* [[Empty Chair Memorial]]:
** As a tribute to the late Stephen J. Cannell, in "The Dead Pool" it's revealed that his chair in the writers poker game Castle hosts will remain empty for one year.
{{quote|'''Castle''': "That's Cannell's seat."}}
** {{spoiler|Also occurs at Montgomery's funeral where the ceremonial riderless horse precedes the casket.}}
* [[Enforced Method Acting]]: In the pilot, a scene was originally written where Beckett would question Captain Montgomery's wisdom in allowing Castle to be part of the investigation. When filming, the producers decided to subvert this by having Montgomery bluntly shoot down Beckett's request to talk to him ("''Nope''.")... but didn't inform Stana Katic, whose look of annoyed astonishment is real.
* [[Enhance Button]]:
** Subverted twice, in successive episodes. Beckett even [[Discussed Trope|talks about]] it in ''Murder Most Fowl'' and Castle's protest is a [[Shown Their Work]] on why it wouldn't work:
{{quote|'''Castle:''' ''(examining a zoomed-in photograph that they told the photo tech to "enhance")'' The enhancement only increased the pixelation on these. You can't even see there's a side-view mirror!
Line 26:
*** Likewise, it only works in "Kill Shot" because the object they were looking at (a coffee cup) was a fairly large part of the image, facing the camera basically dead on, being held still for a good amount of time, and the thing on the cup they were looking at was very simple and bold. And even then, Ryan has to squint and pause to make out the text.
* [[Epiphany Comeback]]: Played with; Beckett's fight with the sniper who shot her in "Always" certainly triggers an epiphany -- {{spoiler|but it's got nothing to do with winning the fight. Indeed, she gets her ass kicked. The epiphany is instead about how she is in love with Castle and doesn't want to throw her life away chasing her mother's murderer, but wants to make a life with him.}}
* [[Eureka Moment]]:
** Usually with Castle, and usually inspired by his daughter. In several cases, Castle and Beckett have had a Eureka Moment at the exact same time, or almost the exact same time, which [[Shipper on Deck|Lanie]] later comments on, saying how cute it is that they finish each other sentences. [[Lampshade Hanging|Hell, even Esposito and Ryan notice that they do it often.]] [[Heterosexual Life Partners|But then, they'd know.]]
** Lampshaded again in "3xk" when Beckett calls Castle. He notes that usually he gets a call because they (the police) have news but this time, there is no updates and he thinks she's calling because he might have had one of these. The scene just prior to this one is a [[Red Herring]] [[Eureka Moment]] to boot.
Line 33:
** [[Historical Hero Upgrade|Bahahahah!]]
* [[Every Man Has His Price]]: A comically harmless version. The few cops that find Castle annoying for hanging around the bullpen change their tune when Castle buys [[Must Have Caffeine|a quality espresso machine]], no less than a [http://www.laspaziale.com/english/frame_s5_en.html La Spaziale S5 Compact]. Castle has good taste in machines. Even Beckett (eventually) partakes.
* [[Everyone Can See It]]:
** Only Beckett is determinedly oblivious. Or [[Alternative Character Interpretation|she's having just as much fun toying with Castle as we are watching her]]. (See [[UST]] below.)
** Lanie drops this line verbatim during [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CudcJeCDC0 "A Rose For Everafter" about Castle and Beckett]:
{{quote|'''Lanie:''' I can see it. ''(Talking to the corpse)'' You may not, but I do.}}
** Castle's [[New Old Flame]], after deciding that she's going to marry her fiancee, kisses Castle on the cheek, walks up to Detective Beckett, and says, "He's all yours."
** Even more [[Squee]] at the end of "The Third Man":
{{quote|'''Ryan''': Do they ''know'' they're finishing each others sentences?}}
Line 63:
* [[Everyone Knows Morse]]: In "Cops and Robbers", Castle is one of the hostages at the bank robbery. With no other communication link to the outside, he sends a message with his mother's bracelet by covering the reflected light into a Morse signal.
* [[Evil Brit]]: In "Last Call", a pompous British auction house owner shows up. {{spoiler|Guess who the killer is.}}
* [[Evil Laugh]]:
** Castle tries one in "Vampire Weekend", but then breaks into a coughing fit.
** He does it again successfully in "Food to Die For," complete with a [[Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog|Dr. Horrible]] [[Shout-Out]].
* [[Evil Plan]]: Each episode is driven by a murder caused by the criminal of the week. On a bigger scale, unraveling the one that killed Beckett's mother ties the seasons together.
* [[Evil Sounds Deep]]: The drug dealer they suspect of having a hand in the death of Beckett's mother in the third season. Like wow.
* [[Failure Is the Only Option]]: Subverted in "Sucker Punch", as we find out just who Beckett's mother's killer is, {{spoiler|and she kills him when he takes Castle hostage}}. The failure, however, is transferred to who hired him to kill her.
* [[Fair Cop]]:
** Beckett. Esposito and Ryan aren't that hard on the eyes either.
** Lampshaded in "To Love and Die in LA" when the directer of the Nikki Heat movie tells Beckett she could be an actress.
Line 76:
* [[False-Flag Operation]]: what {{spoiler|Tony The Butcher}} does in "Heroes & Villains" to pin on vigilante Lone Vengeance the killing of Faris.
* [[Fandom Nod]]: "One Life to Lose" is partially about the rabid shipping community surrounding a fictional soap opera. Many a [[Portmanteau Couple Name]] is used.
* [[Fauxreigner]]:
** Johnny Vong in "Sucker Punch" is a Harvard MBA from California who provides legitimately profitable real estate investment advice, but pretends to be a simple Laotian immigrant on [[Infomercial|Infomercials]] because [[Rags to Riches]] stories sell better. <ref>[[Reality Is Unrealistic]]: who's more likely to come up with good investment advice -- an immigrant or an MBA?</ref>
{{quote|'''Video!Vong:''' I come to this country on a boat-
'''Vong, Castle, and Esposito:''' [[Crowning Moment of Funny|now, I OWN A BOAT!]] }}
** Also, Hans von Manschaft (why yes, he is a stripper, why do you ask?) in "Almost Famous". He immediately drops the accent when he hears his rival has been murdered, and Castle, of course, lampshades [[Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping]].
** Beckett herself. She pretends to be Russian to save Castle in the Season 2 premiere and says she used to enjoy going to heavily Russian areas and pretending to be from Moscow.
* [[Fictional Counterpart]]: Castle's New York has the "Nick's" (Terrific, Authentic, Authentic Terrific, etc.) pizzeria lines just as the real New York has the "Ray's" (Original, Famous, Famous Original, etc.) pizzerias. This despite the fact that earlier episodes had established both that Ray's exists in the Castle world and is just as ubiquitous. The rivalry among the "Nick's" is far more deadly than the one in ours.
* [[Film Noir]]: The flashbacks in "The Blue Butterfly" are deliberately done in this style.
* [[Fingertip Drug Analysis]]:
** In "Sucker Punch", Beckett finds a stash, sticks her finger in, tastes it, and pronounces "heroin". [[Face Palm|Palms met faces nationwide.]]
** Played with when Castle tastes a bird feather and declares it a "Bird of Prey." It actually was a red hawk feather, to boot.
Line 90:
{{quote|'''Esposito:''' So, do you guys practice doing that when we're not around?}}
* [[Firemen Are Hot]]: Beckett's date in "The Third Man", FDNY's Mr. July.
* [[First Kiss]]: Finally happens in "Knockdown".
* [[First-Name Basis]]: Castle has been calling Beckett 'Kate' a lot in season 4. For example, in "Kill Shot", he just called out 'Kate!' to her in the hallways, no [[You Called Me "X" - It Must Be Serious]] moment in sight. [[Ship Tease|The shippers are delighted]].
* [[Five-Man Band]]
Line 103:
* [[Forced to Watch]]: {{spoiler|Esposito has to watch Ryan's torture in "Knockdown."}}
* [[Foreign Money Is Proof of Guilt]]: A victim is suspected to be a spy involved in something highly questionable when his car is discovered with a large quantity of Euros in the trunk. {{spoiler|It's subverted; the victim was actually on a 'spy vacation' and the Euros were part of the game.}}
* [[Foreshadowing]]:
** In "Nanny McDead", campaign posters for the politician who will wind up dead in "Hell Hath No Fury" and his opponent show up.
** At least once in "Vampire Weekend", the sister of the first victim shows up in a sweater with the words "Haley Blue" on it, the name of a fictitious celebrity who happens to be the victim in the very next episode.
Line 109:
** In "Rise", Beckett freezes and has a minor panic attack when a suspect points a gun at her. This foreshadows the full-blown PTSD breakdown she experiences in "Kill Shot".
** Of all things, the blurb on Castle's website for ''[http://www.richardcastle.net/books?page=3 Storm Fall]'' foreshadows "Linchpin": {{spoiler|specifically, the bit where it suggests that Agent Clara Strike, the character based on Sophia Turner, might have gone rogue...}}
* [[Found the Killer, Lost the Murderer]]: This happens {{spoiler|not once, not twice, but ''three times''}} with Becket's mother's murderer. {{spoiler|The first time, Castle and Beckett find the man who murdered Beckett's mother and learn that he's a hired killer, but Beckett has to shoot him in order to get Castle out of a hostage situation. The second time, Beckett manages to capture another hired killer, a sniper, who was hired by the same person(s) who ordered her mother's murder. This sniper is still alive by the end of the episode, but indicates with a stone-faced glare that he'll never inform on his clients. The third time involves a key person involved(really, really complicated) with her mother's murder- '''''Captain Montgomery!''''' She gets to talk to him uninterrupted, and he knows who the mastermind behind the conspiracy is, but [[Subverted Trope|refuses]] to [[His Name Is--|say the name]] anyway, saying that [[Do We Have This One?|the mastermind is so rich and powerful]] that giving her his name would get her killed as certainly as if he'd shot her himself. He dies minutes later. Beckett manages to get out of that scrape alive, but is shot during his funeral, presumably by the people from whom he was trying to protect her.}}
* [[Funny Background Event]]: While on the set for Naked Heat, some nuns with guns can be seen in the background.
* [[Freudian Slip]]: In "The Blue Butterfly" Castle is narrating a scene from an old diary of a tryst between private detective Joe and gun moll Vera. Picturing Vera as Beckett and Joe as himself, he accidentally refers to her as Kate. He insists that he actually said "[[Verbal Backspace|fate]]."
* [[Fridge Logic]]: [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] occasionally by Castle and Alexis. In several episodes ("A Chill Runs Through Her Veins" and "A Deadly Affair", for example), facing logical puzzles or romantic dilemmas, they open the refrigerator and hang mournfully on the door, staring inside. Castle at one point comments, "What is it about the refrigerator? Is it the cold? The light? Or some combination of the two?"
* [[Friends Rent Control]]: Det. Beckett's apartment.
* [[Game of Nerds]]: Both straight and averted in "Suicide Squeeze". Beckett is a noted fangirl of the Mets (and especially Joe Torre), and both Esposito and Ryan were able to identify the baseball player victim on sight. However, Castle only knows the victim by reputation, is matter-of-fact when he and Beckett meet Torre (having met the man previously through his mother) and is notably uncoordinated and largely uninterested in the fine art (as noted in the ending with Alexis).
* [[Geeky Turn On]]:
** From "Vampire Weekend":
{{quote|'''Castle'''(on some art drawn by the [[Victim of the Week]]): Reminds me of early [[Frank Miller]].
Line 127:
* [[Gender Blender Name]]: Alexis' new boyfriend Ashley. She takes advantage of this fact to get her dad to agree to have him over. Unfortunately, this backfires on her when Castle accidentally surprises them in the act of making out... [[Twerp Sweating|while holding a pistol]]. An awkward situation ensues for all concerned.
* [[Gene Hunt Interrogation Technique]]: Slaughter's ''modus operandi.'' It is hilarious.
* [[Genre Savvy]]:
** Castle, being a mystery novelist who does his research, is a force to be reckoned with in this department.
{{quote|'''Beckett''': What are you basing that on?
Line 137:
** In "Cops and Robbers" Castle uses his skills and love of ''[[Die Hard]]'' to get information about the bank hostage situation.
** Beckett called Castle about the case in the hopes it would lead to a [[Eureka Moment]] because she was stumped and three-quarters into the episode. Castle in the same scene because he calls her out on it. Borders on [[Lampshade Hanging]].
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]:
** In "Close Encounters of the Murderous Kind": Beckett says "Let's just stick it in and get it over with", referring to an unlabeled DVD.
** In "The Late Shaft": Esposito says "Holy Shift!" in reference to the Bugatti Veyron.
Line 145:
* [[Girl of the Week]]: Three for Castle;,
** Alyssa Milano's character in "A Rose For Everafter." Too bad for Castle she's getting married to someone else.
** Also happened on "The Late Shaft." Ellie Monroe, a guest on Bobby Mann's talk show, got to hook up with Castle [[Rule of Three|3 times in one episode]].
** Jacinda, the blonde flight attendant Castle meets on his way back from Las Vegas, {{spoiler|after discovering that Kate knows what he feels for her but kept silent about it.}}
** Averted in "Love Me Dead", where a call girl tries to be the [[Girl of the Week]] but is rebuffed by Castle.
* [[Girl Show Ghetto]]: [[In-Universe]]. Castle is ''not'' happy about having to read and review a [[Chick Lit]] novel written by one of his mother's friends.
** It seemed, in the episode, to be less about the genre than it was about being a writer asked (most likely ''again'') to review someone's book, as well as the size of the thing (which looked to be well over 800 pages); [[Fridge Brilliance|a common point of contention from established and well-known writers]] is that being bombarded with requests from first-time novelists to read their novel and 'tell me what you think' gets old ''quick''.
* [[The Ghost]]:
** In the second season, Martha gets a [[New Old Flame]], "Chet," who has yet to appear onscreen. {{spoiler|And, tragically, never will. Which makes him [[Incredibly Lame Pun|an actual ghost.]]}}
** Beckett's father held that role for nearly thirty episodes (leading some to suspect that he was going to be someone famous).
Line 158:
* [[Good Scars, Evil Scars]]: regarding Anton Francis in "The Third Man": "Mr. Francis here, not one to waste such a sinister looking scar, decided to round out the stereotype with a laundry list of criminal activity..."
* [[Got Me Doing It]]: "The Final Nail" Beckett accidentally mimics a witness' accent before catching herself. This was actually a mistake by Stana. The producers decided to [[Throw It In]].
* [[Grammar Nazi]]:
** Castle in "The Double Down" gets irked when a killer mixes up "your" and "you're," and spends the rest of the episode policing everyone's grammar.
{{quote|"I'm just saying -- whoever murdered her also murdered the English language"}}
Line 174:
{{quote|Ryan: A deep-fried Twinkie?
Castle: Yeah, the guilty pleasure that you know is bad for you, so you only do it once, maybe twice a year for the novelty. }}
* [[Gut Feeling]]:
** Subverted in one episode when Castle asks the coroner what his gut is saying.
{{quote|'''Coroner:''' [[Subverted Trope|It's saying I'm hungry.]] My ''years of forensic experience'', however...}}
Line 182:
* [[Half Arc Season]]
* [[Half the Man He Used To Be]]: the victim's death in "Heroes & Villains". Castle says this word by word to a suspect, following it with a [[Hurricane of Puns]].
* [[A Handful for Anan Eye]]: In "Under the Gun", Castle is being forced to dig up buried loot from a grave as part of a [[Mexican Standoff]] between the cops and the various criminals after the loot. He calls out that he's found it and, when the criminals peer greedily into the grave, he flings a shoveful of dirt into their faces.
* [[Handshake Substitute]]: More of a high five substitute. Castle and Esposito's trademark high five which is referred to, in a blooper reel, as "feeding the birds."
* [[Happily Married]]: {{spoiler|Joe Flynn and Vera Mulqueen, from "The Blue Butterfly". They threw away the titular prize because of it's supposed curse and not once did they consider going back for it because they're more than happy with each other.}}
* [[Haunted House]]: "Demons" has the [[Body of the Week]] be found in one. Although there's ultimately [[Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane|a mundane explanation for that case, it's still left up in the air whether the house actually is haunted]].
* [[Head-Tiltingly Kinky]]:
** In "The Mistress Always Spanks Twice", Ryan, Esposito, and Castle are investigating BDSM on the Internet. This trope ensues, with all three of them essentially saying, "Is it even possible to get in that position?" In a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]], Beckett strolls in and casually says,
{{quote|'''Beckett:''' [[Fetish Fuel|Oh, it's possible.]]}}
Line 193:
* [[Hero Insurance]]: Beckett and Castle only get a dressing down from Montgomery for breaking and entering an apartment in Los Angeles.
* [[Hero Worshipper]]: Ryan definitely has a bit of a hero worshiping thing going on with regards to Castle; he tends to take fashion cues from him, has been known to imitate him at times and consulted him on the best way to propose to his girlfriend Jenny.
* [[Heroes Want Redheads]]:
** Played with in that quite a few of the women in Castle's lives are redheads (including his first ex-wife), but a succession of love interests shown since are not (Kyra Blaine, Ellie Monroe and of course Beckett are all brunettes (although Beckett was sort of auburn in the first season), while his second ex-wife Gina is a blonde).
* [[Heroic BSOD]]:
** Beckett in "Sucker Punch" {{spoiler|upon learning that the killer of the [[Body of the Week]] was also the man who killed her mother.}}
** A minor version occurs in "A Deadly Game" {{spoiler|when Castle informs Beckett that he's leaving the precinct and that this is their last case together. She's visibly shaken to her core by the news, unusually distracted and uninterested when Ryan and Esposito try to tell her what they've discovered about the case, and it takes her a few moments to get her usual poise back.}}
** Not quite full BSOD but when Ryan and Esposito {{spoiler|discover that Montgomery is the 3rd cop, neither one of them takes it very well.}}
** In "Rise" (4x01), Beckett spends most of the episode suffering a slow-burning one, until it breaks the surface {{spoiler|when a suspect points a gun at her and she is unable to raise hers to point back at the suspect}}. From this point on, she begins to act increasingly out-of-control, ranting irrationally at a potential suspect connected to her mother's case, nearly suffering a complete emotional breakdown at the prospect of having no leads in her mother's case, and it takes Castle persuading her to step back from the case to get her back on something resembling an even keel.
** Beckett again during "Kill Shot", when hunting a muderous sniper brings to the fore all of her unconfronted issues regarding her own shooting. Esposito helps her past it.
* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]: Ryan and Esposito. Castle and Beckett are also pretty close to the two, but [[UST|closer to each other]]. Discussing lotto numbers:
{{quote|'''Esposito''': I play my firsts: sex and combat.
Line 208:
** Castle on the surface is just a superficial [[Adult Child]] playboy, but is frequently shown to be a lot more mature, responsible, intelligent and caring than first appearances would suggest.
** In "An Embarrassment of Bitches" the seemingly vapid "celebrity bimbo" Kay Capuccio turns out to be more intelligent (if still somewhat ditzy), sensitive and lonely than expected.
* [[Hilarious Outtakes]]:[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEpxa6EXrOw For][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naRN5GEbngk each] [http://youtu.be/uej8JbkV1kE season.]
* [[His Name Is--]]: {{spoiler|In "Knockdown", John Raglan -- the lead detective on Beckett's mother's murder -- arranges to meet Beckett to pass on important information about her mother's case. Naturally, [[Cannot Spit It Out|he rambles a bit before revealing all]], giving the sniper in a nearby building enough time to shoot and kill Raglan before he can pass the information on.}}
* [[Hoist by His Own Petard]]
** Called by name in the episode "Pretty Dead".
** A tragic one in "47 Seconds". The bomb had been planted by one of the leaders of the TakeOver Wall Street movement, in collaboration with a TV reporter. The idea was that the explosion would gather further support for the move, but it was going to happen somewhere where it would not cause victims, while the TV reporter would activate it in the perfect moment to have a chance to improve her position. However, a pickpocketer took the bag where the bomb was in and moved it somewhere else, and the leader tried to call the reporter, but she was distracted and activated the bomb. The leader took the explosion head on.
* [[Holding Hands]]: Castle and Beckett as they watch Martha perform her one-woman play. Very sweet.
** And again in "Always", briefly, as he reassures her about the progress of the investigation. {{spoiler|Then later as [[They Do]].}}
** First time at the end of 3XK.
* [[Hollywood Silencer]]:
** Averted in "Tick, tick, tick..." when Beckett theorizes that the killer not only used a silencer, he waited for a train to pull in so it would cover the noise the gun made.
** Played straight in "One Man's Treasure", where the murderer used a plastic bottle as an impromptu "poor man's silencer" and the neighbors on the same floor didn't hear the gunshot (also the gun is later shown to have been a revolver, which makes it doubly wrong).
** Possibly also in "Home Is Where the Heart Stops," where a feather pillow is used for the same function, although without the implication of it actually working.
** Justified in "Kill Shot". While the sniper's shot is seen to be effectively silent from the point of view of the victim and he is revealed to be using a suppressor, he also takes all of his shots from inside the buildings where his perches are, which would further muffle the sound. [[Shown Their Work|This is a real-life sniping tactic.]]
* [[Hollywood Voodoo]]: totally subverted, since Castle talked to an actual expert on the subject, who comes off as a normal person who isn't off raising zombies. And lampshaded, in that the woman was less than amused that Castle had ditched his research and gone with a [[Hollywood Voodoo]] portrayal of her religion.
* [[Hospital Hottie]]: Beckett's boyfriend, Dr. Motorcycle Boy. Also known as Josh.
** And Nurse McClintock in "Anatomy of a Murder". \\
* [[Hot Scientist]]: Lanie Parish
* [[How We Got Here]]: What Beckett and Castle have to figure out when they wake up handcuffed together and [[Locked in a Room]] in "Cuffed". The flashbacks are [[Justified Trope|justified]] via the fact they've been drugged and have hazy memories.
Line 245:
'''Beckett''': You have a guy in the CIA?
'''Castle''': When are you gonna learn? I've got a guy everywhere. }}
* [[I Love You Because I Can't Control You]]:
** Castle and Beckett's developing relationship seems to work on this principle. Rather than just him trying to find a way to 'win' her, however, it's suggested that part of the appeal is that ''she'' can control ''him''.
** Called attention to in "Mistress Always Spanks Twice." Castle comments "Well I ''would'' drive if you would let me." to point out that Beckett isn't dominating him. He immediately notes aloud that that does not actually prove his point. Beckett just has a smirk on her face.
Line 263:
* [[I Never Said It Was Poison]]: Used to implicate {{spoiler|the killer of both the [[Body of the Week]] and Beckett's mother}} in "Sucker Punch." {{spoiler|It's only realized belatedly, and it goes by so quickly that it's understandable why they didn't catch it when it actually happened.}}
* [[I Was Young and Needed the Money]]: Beckett on her brief career as a teenage model.
* [[Impersonating an Officer]]: The only thing Castle doesn't get to do is actually make arrests.
** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in "The Third Man" when Castle, in [[Eureka Moment]] over-eagerness, calls up a newspaper requesting subscriber information, only to falter when they ask him who he actually is and why, y'know, he wants this information, at which point he promptly hands the phone to Beckett:
{{quote|'''Castle''': I... sometimes forget I'm not ''actually'' a cop.}}
** Averted (slightly) in "Headhunters". Det. Slaughter gives Castle a gun and tells him to raid a bar. Castle, clearly uncomfortable, has no idea what he's doing, says "NPYD" instead of "NYPD", and awkwardly adds, "associate civilian investigator!" Needless to say, the patrons are ''not'' impressed.
** Played especially straight in the pilot, "Home is Where the Heart Stops", "Boom!", and "Knockdown", where Castle resorts to fisticuffs to take down dangerous perps. Often accompanied by his 70's-vintage "action theme song".
** ''Beckett'' does this in "To Love and Die in L.A.", where she's out of her jurisdiction and therefore not a cop, despite acting as if she were one. She's caught and chewed out, though plot immunity and the thin blue line saves her from criminal charges. Castle points out that he isn't a cop ''anywhere'' and happily goes along. Just to make the example as extreme as possible, the cast of the Nikki Heat movie gets into the action as well; Castle and Beckett use the studio set to interrogate a real subject; all the other cops are actors.
** Averted in "Deep in Death", "Love Me Dead" and others, where Castle's status as a civilian actually ''helps'' him.
* [[Insult Backfire]]: Beckett quips in "3xk" that Castle's job is menial and unimportant. He quips back that "Just for that, my next book will be about Esposito." Beckett gets a rather shocked look on her face.
* [[Improbable Aiming Skills]]: Castle in "Boom!" {{spoiler|When complimented on shooting the gun out of the perp's hand, he says, "[[Shout-Out|I was aiming for his]] [[Firefly|head!]]"}}
Line 304:
''[Cut to Beckett]''
'''Beckett:''' She's an uncooperative, cocky, ''stubborn'' know-it-all. }}
* [[Irrevocable Order]]: At the end of the third season of, a major blow is dealt to {{spoiler|whoever ordered Beckett's mother}} killed when his favorite hired gun is killed. The one who did that killing sent off a bunch of info to a fourth party so that there would be no retaliation against {{spoiler|Beckett}}. Unfortunately, that mail arrived too late to prevent a sniper taking a shot at her.
* [[It's for a Book]]: Pretty much the excuse for Castle to get to hang around and investigate murders.
** It's invoked by Castle to get info from the bad guys in episodes "Home is Where the Heart Stops" and "Deep in Death".
* [[It's Personal]]: In "Kick The Ballistics", it's discovered that the gun used in the murder of a college student was the same gun that the 3XK Killer stole from Ryan in the previous season. When he learns this, Ryan takes it hard.
Line 313:
[Ryan and Esposito get moving] }}
* [[Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique]]: Late in season three, the gang are chasing the guy who killed Beckett's mentor. After shooting one of the guy's involved (not fatally) Ryan and Esposito question him about the situation, threatening not to call 911 until he spills. Then Esposito shoves the still hot barrel of his gun into one of the bullet wounds.
* [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]:
** Castle often comes off as a typically self-centered, thoughtless and narcissistic playboy, but he deeply loves his daughter and his mother, and is revealed to have [[Hidden Depths]] of caring and niceness. While he's not shy about flirting with Beckett it's also made abundantly clear that he genuinely cares for and respects her rather than simply viewing her as a potential conquest.
** Mark Fallon comes off as a total douche who is quick to use harsh interrogation methods and resort to racial profiling, but the other characters see that he only does those to get his job done as quick and as right as possible, a job which Castle thinks is extremely harsh given that Fallon has to do it every day. His [[Freudian Excuse]] for the racial profiling is because his wife died in 9/11.
Line 321:
** Also in "Little Girl Lost," when it's revealed that it was the {{spoiler|mother who "kidnapped" the daughter, she says it is because her husband was a bad father. While her actions may have been overly drastic, she is correct in how he's a jobless painter who let his daughter get kidnapped WHILE he was in the house and didn't even realize it.}}
* [[Juggling Loaded Guns]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVKgw6qzm-o This] hilarious scene from "Punked".
* [[Jurisdiction Friction]]:
** Subverted in "Tick, Tick, Tick" / "Boom!"; the FBI and the NYPD cooperate remarkably well, and most of the tension stems from Beckett's ill-hidden jealousy of Castle's attention being distracted by the FBI gadgets and his chemistry with the lead profiler.
** Agent Fallon creates a bit more tension in "Setup" when he shows up, but again the NYPD cooperate well with him. {{spoiler|The fact that it's looking increasingly like terrorists have a dirty bomb and are planning to detonate it in New York helps.}}
Line 329:
* [[Lantern Jaw of Justice]]: No few cops are square-faced manly men. Played with by Castle, who probably has the squarest jaw in the cast and works for justice as well, but is neither a cop nor, truth be told, much of a manly man.
* [[Last-Name Basis]]: Castle and Beckett. To the point that they only say each other's first name when it's a ''[[You Called Me "X" - It Must Be Serious|really big deal]]''. Same goes for everyone else in the police station.
** Castle, at least, has gradually become a lot more comfortable referring to Beckett by her first name more frequently and casually over the course of the third and fourth seasons. This, not coincidentally, has coincided with a gradual awakening and deepening of his feelings towards her. He uses her first name mostly when he's being serious and affectionate.
** Beckett actually calls Castle by his first name ''less often'' in later seasons as she did in seasons one and two. She invariably uses it as a term of mockery or ridicule.
** Ditto Ryan and Esposito, who only rarely get called "Kevin" or "Javier." That one's probably more about workplace professionalism, though.
** Beckett calls Esposito "Javi" when {{spoiler|he's confronting her about her sniper issues}}. She calls him "Javi" again after {{spoiler|she nearly dies at the bottom of the Hudson River and gets saved by Castle shooting down her seatbelt and the windows in the last second.}}
* [[The Law of Conservation of Detail]]: In "47 Seconds", the characters are inundated with an overabundance of detail. Trope averted, because while most of it does not reach the viewer, enough irrelevant material appears to give the viewer the sense of information overload.
* [[Leaning on the Fourth Wall]]: In "The Late Shaft," Castle lampshades the show's tagline, often seen in the promos,
{{quote|'''Castle''': "We should have a signature line. She's armed, he's dangerous! Or how about 'A new chapter in crime solving.'" }}
Line 341:
** "The Blue Butterfly"
{{quote|'''Castle:''' "Why am I ''narrating''?"}}
** In "A Deadly Affair", Castle doesn't appear until well into the first segment of the show. Characters, commenting on his absence, suddenly see... a cardboard standee of him, with the label "coming soon" on the front.
* [[Let Me Get This Straight...]]: Quoted almost word for word by Beckett when a psychic comes into the office, claiming to know who is responsible for a murder.
* [[Lighter and Softer]]: The show is something of a throwback to the romantic comedy detective genre ala ''[[Moonlighting]]''. For that matter, the first season is considerably darker than the second and third season; several of the perpetrators in the first season had understandable motives, mental and emotional breakdowns, or sympathetic backgrounds.
* [[Like an Old Married Couple]]: This observation has been made about Castle and Beckett.
** Parodied in "A Chill Goes Through Her Veins", in which Castle suggests that they role-play as a married couple (the husband of whom killed the wife) to go through a crime scene. Beckett objects, and in the process they begin arguing like an old married couple about ''being'' a married couple. The guy who owns the apartment they're in even takes note.
{{quote|'''Castle''': Okay. So you and I are married.
Line 354:
'''Apartment owner''': Are you two like this all the time?
'''Castle''' and '''Becket''': ''[In unison]'' Yes. }}
** In "Countdown", Beckett and Castle are racing through the streets to reach their destination {{spoiler|where a bomb will explode}} with great urgency... and in the process have an argument about the best route to take as if he were a husband irritating his wife by offering passenger-seat-driver advice
{{quote|'''Beckett''': Don't tell me how to drive!
'''Castle''': I'm not ''telling'' you how to drive!