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

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* [[Easy Amnesia]]: [[Averted]] in "The Fifth Bullet", esp. with the easy recall that comes with it. It's lampshaded:

'''"J":''' Welcome to my world. }}

* [[Egg Sitting]]: in "Vampire Weekend". His name was [[Incredibly Lame Pun|F]]''[[Incredibly Lame Pun|egg]]''[[Incredibly Lame Pun|an]] and was murdered by Alexis' friend after she called her dad after her friend drank too much from a spiked punchbowl.

* [[Elvis Impersonator]]: Castle, Ryan, and Esposito dress up in full regalia in order to sneak into a casino after being kicked out in "Heartbreak Hotel".

* [[Embarrassing Nickname]]: One of Alexis' new friends, Buttons. Even worse when you pair it with her last name, Dutton. Pointing this out backfires on Castle, though:

'''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.

** {{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:

'''Beckett:''' It's not like on ''24'', Castle. [[This Is Reality|In the real world]], even zoom-and-enhance can only get us so far. }}

** The one or two times that it does work, the information they get from the photos are realistic details such as {{spoiler|how sweaty someone is due to the brightness of the pixels}} versus something like a full facial reconstruction.

** 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]:

** 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":

** Another moment from Ryan:

'''Castle:''' Don't say that.<br />

'''Ryan:''' What? ''Ohhhhh''. *grinning* You wanna be the one to crack it, not Demming, right?<br />

** [[Word of God|Andrew Marlowe]] has mentioned in an interview that in the conversation where {{spoiler|[[Off-Screen Breakup|Beckett broke up with Josh]]}}, she tried not to mention Castle- but [[Romantic False Lead|Josh]] himself [[Genre Savvy|kept on insistently bringing him up]].

** And after a week of trying to woo him, art "recovery" expert Serena Kaye sees it, too:

** In "Cops and Robbers," the leader of the bank robbery team quickly pegs Castle and Beckett as boyfriend and girlfriend after talking to her over the phone. After about the third time he asserts this, Castle finally speaks up.

'''Castle''': Ha. }}

** As of the season 3 finale, it's pretty clear that {{spoiler|both Beckett and Castle}} can see it too.

* [[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>

'''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]].

** Played with when Castle tastes a bird feather and declares it a "Bird of Prey." It actually was a red hawk feather, to boot.

* [[Finishing Each Other's Sentences]]: Castle and Beckett do this a ''lot'', especially when struck by an [[Eureka Moment]]. Lampshaded repeatedly.

* [[Firemen Are Hot]]: Beckett's date in "The Third Man", FDNY's Mr. July.

* [[First Kiss]]: Finally happens in "Knockdown".

* [[Geeky Turn On]]:

** From "Vampire Weekend":

'''Castle''': Oh my god, that is the sexiest thing I've ever heard you say. }}

** From "Suicide Squeeze":

'''Beckett:''' You should hear me say "[[Getting Crap Past the Radar|fallacious]]". }}

* [[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.

* [[Genre Savvy]]:

** Castle, being a mystery novelist who does his research, is a force to be reckoned with in this department.

'''Castle''': I'm basing that on...it would make a better story. }}

** One of the suspects in "Famous Last Words" defends an earlier lie about not meeting the victim of the week the night of her murder with the excuse that "I watch cop shows -- those are the little details that help get you convicted." A flaw in his logic/savviness is then highlighted when Castle immediately points out that in those shows, lying to the police ''also'' helps get you convicted.

* [[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.

** In "The Third Man," even after complimenting Ryan on the correct use of irony, he uses "you and I" in the predicate of the next sentence.

* [[Green-Eyed Epiphany]]: Implied in "Eye Of The Beholder" when Beckett gets jealous over Castle getting close to Serena the insurance investigator{{spoiler|-slash-former art thief}}, who doesn't [[Everyone Can See It|steal things that belong to others.]]

* [[Green-Eyed Monster]]: In "Eye of the Beholder", Beckett spends most of the episode seething with badly-concealed jealousy over Serena Kaye's obvious interest in Castle.

** After [[Romantic False Lead|Demming]] shows up, Castle is stuck in a very bad mood.

'''Ryan:''' Yeah, you mean like [[Romantic False Lead|Demming]] showing up every morning for coffee just to run into Beckett? *turns to Castle, chuckling*<br />

'''Castle:''' *[[Green-Eyed Monster|strange look]] on his face* <br />

* [[Groin Attack]]: in "Suicide Squeeze", when a baseball player is beaten to death with a baseball bat, his assailant starts at his groin.

* [[Guilty Pleasures]]: episode "Always Buy Retail". Castle compares having sex with his ex-wife to 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.

** Lampshaded in "He'd Dead, She's Dead"

Castle: Oh, so you don’t believe in fate, yet your gut has magical properties. That’s cool. Scully. \\ }}

* [[Half Arc Season]]

* [[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,

** In "Set Up", Beckett holds up a large pair of bolt cutters (in a rather flirty pose) prior to trying a storage unit door. Castle comments, for reasons he won't explain, that looks quite hot.

* [[The Heart]]: Ryan is perhaps the emotional center of the team. He's the one that tends to have the most visible emotional reactions and take things the hardest.

** 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:

'''Ryan''': I play his firsts, too. *everyone stares* What? That way we both win, and it's not awkward. }}

* [[Hidden Depths]]: Both Castle and Beckett:

* [[Hypocritical Humor]]: Castle says to his daughter that she shouldn't be at her boyfriend's beck and call, then right in the middle of this speech, he gets a call from Beckett, and heads out immediately.

** [[UST|Castle and Beckett]] talking about [[Make Up or Break Up|Esposito and Lanie]]. Break out the [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]].

'''Castle:''' How could they not? [[Everyone Can See It|It's so obvious.]] }}

** Esposito averts this in "Under The Gun". Then again, Jon Huertas use to be in the military so one would hope he practices good gun habits.

** How a young woman died in {{spoiler|Law and Murder}}.

** Castle does this in "Nikki Heat" when Natalie Rhodes wants to shadow Beckett in order to [[I Just Want to Be You|really "become" Nikki Heat]].

'''Beckett''': [[Lampshade Hanging|You're kidding, right?]] }}

* [[Identical Grandson]]: Lampshaded in "The Blue Butterfly," where a 40's mobster (Tom Dempsey) and his grandson (Tom Dempsey III) are both played by Mark Pellegrino. Who, hilariously enough, use to play a vampire on Being Human - a vampire that probably was a 40's mobster at some point.

* [[I Just Want to Be You]]/[[Irritation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery]]: In the episode ''Nikki Heat'', the actress who is going to play Nikki Heat in the ''Heat Wave'' movie shadows Beckett for "character research", and becomes more and more like her as the episode progresses, causing Beckett great annoyance (and a certain amount of identity-crisis consternation).

* [[I Know a Guy]]: Castle has lots of connections from the research he does for his books. Lampshaded in "Fool Me Once":

'''Castle''': When are you gonna learn? I've got a guy everywhere. }}

* [[I Love You Because I Can't Control You]]:

* [[I Need to Go Iron My Dog]]:

** In "Deep in Death", Ryan and Esposito are in the coffee room with Beckett when Castle (having royally upset Beckett) peeks his head in:

'''Ryan''': Yeah, excuse us. (''they leave'') }}

** In "Nikki Heat" Beckett finds herself embroiled in a teeth-grindingly awkward conversation (from her point of view) with Natalie Rhodes, the actress portraying the character based on her, about how Rhodes needs to sleep with Castle because of the relationship Castle wrote between Beckett's character and his own [[Author Avatar]]. It gets to the point where Rhodes has completely deconstructed the [[Everyone Can See It|relationship between Beckett and Castle]] and is begging Beckett to give Castle 'permission' to sleep with her that Beckett feels the need to flee:

* [[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:

** 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".

* [[Incredibly Lame Pun]]: This show makes these an art. Castle himself seems to love these and tends to encourage the others to do so as well.

** When Ryan mentions a previous relationship with a member of a vampire coven

** In the premiere of Season Two, after seeing a victim who's organs had been tampered with and removed.

** From "When the Bough Breaks":

** In "Vampire Weekend", Castle is dressed up like [[Edgar Allan Poe]] carrying a raven. Beckett manages to successfully scare Castle.

** Oh, hell, it's quicker just to say that Castle loves the ''hell'' out of these: however, another one from "Hell Hath No Fury", after a councilman has been found wrapped up in a piece of carpet (AND wearing a toupee):

** One memorable lame pun in "Food to Die For" includes Castle (after [[Evil Laugh|laughing like a maniac]]) realizes that he's late for his date with [[Girl of the Week|Madison]] and accidentally drops his watch into a bowl of liquid nitrogen.

** In "Slice of Death," after finding a body in a pizza oven.

* [[Infomercial]]: How Johnny Vong made his money in "Sucker Punch". Well, that and {{spoiler|the heroin trade.}}

* [[Informed Ability]]: Played with; while Castle is a bestselling novelist who can obviously spin a great yarn, it's frequently made clear (usually via snarky comments from other characters) that he's 'not exactly Shakespeare', meaning that the viewer isn't surprised if, on the few occasions his prose appears, it's exactly not the greatest they've ever experienced. Alternatively, his work may actually be very good, but is considered inferior because he is a pulp/genre writer, which is usually what comments like "not exactly Shakespeare" are about. For what it's worth, however, [[Defictionalization|the 'Nikki Heat' novels have made the bestseller lists in the real world]], so someone is obviously doing ''something'' right.

** While the writing may not be high art, he does have the skill to back his success up; in only the second episode, when throwing around ideas as to how or why a nanny was murdered, Castle proceeds to monologue a chilling narrative that visibly catches Beckett and the others. He immediately starts to speak normally again, saying "that's how I'd write it" and it takes everyone a beat to shake themselves back to focus.

* [[Innocent Cohabitation]]: Beckett's apartment is {{spoiler|blown up by a serial killer}}. This exchange occurs.

'''Castle''': (calmly) [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|Yes you do]]. It's a secure building with an extra bedroom with [[You Are Not Alone|people who care about you.]] With a federal detail on the door, it's the safest place in the city.<br />

'''Beckett''': Thank you, Castle, but I couldn't.<br />

* [[The Irish Mob]]: The Westies.

* [[Ironic Echo Cut]]: "Eye of the Beholder" features a scene intercut between a conversation with Castle and Martha where Castle is singing the praises of the insurance investigator who's temporarily joined their investigation, and Beckett ranting [[Green-Eyed Monster|jealously]] about the same woman to her therapist.

'''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 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.

** In "Cops and Robbers", when Castle and his mother are caught in a hostage situation.

[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.

** 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.

* [[Jerkass Has a Point]]: In "Kick the Ballistics", Seth Carver makes the rather belligerent assessment that Ryan was stupid to let his piece get out on the street the way he did. After a bit of cooling off, Ryan agrees.

** 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".

* [[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,

** The end of Season 2:

'''Castle''': "See you in the fall." }}

** "The Blue Butterfly"

** 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.

* [[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.

'''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

'''Beckett''': You ''are'' telling me how to drive! }}

** They also have the 'so in tune with each other's thoughts they finish each other's sentences' part of the equation, much to the amusement of everyone around them.

** In the episode after Beckett finds out about {{spoiler|Castle poking through her mother's murder}} she is really ticked off. After they're called to investigating a corpse in a tree, the following conversation takes place.

'''Esposito:''' Mmm-hmm. }}

** Again, in 'the last nail', when Castle's old friend is the prime suspect in a murder investigation, he and Beckett have a little spat.

'''Ryan:''' ...Who's winning? }}

* [[Literal Cliff Hanger]]: Beckett in "Always." Results in a [[Take My Hand]].

* [[Lunacy]]: "The Double Down" opens with the station being flooded by crazies on the night of a full moon. And Castle sitting at Beckett's desk with [[Pass the Popcorn|a bowl of popcorn.]]

* [[Love Confession]]: {{spoiler|Beckett}} gives us one of the greatest in television history.

** What? No mention of Castle's previous?: {{spoiler|Because of everything we've been through together! Four years I've been right here! Four years just waiting for you to open your eyes to see that I'm right here! And that I'm more than a partner... Every morning I bring a cup of coffee just so that I can see a smile on your face because I think you are the most... Remarkable... Maddening... Challenging... Frustrating person I've ever met... And I love you Kate and... if that means anything to you, if you care about me at all, just don't do this}}

* [[Lying to the Perp]]: ...and ends by the tried and true "Divide and lie about the other one cracking" method.