When Castle premiered in Finland two weeks ago, it was a dead cert that I'd watch it - firstly I am assured that I can safely invest my time in this series since there are at least two seasons to see; it doesn't get canceled after one season like so many shows these days. And, best of all, it does feature Nathan Fillion, who, according to serious scientific studies, improves the quality of any series or movie by 17% (ask EMPIRE). After three episodes it's too early to pass a judgment on the series, and one should *never* rate the entire show based on just one season (if there are more than one), let alone a few episodes. I guess that's why Prison Break still has such a good overall rating: the first season was *mostly* ace, but each successive one got worse and worse. As time went by, people stopped watching the show, but their votes from season one remained, and that premature voting has left the show with a completely distorted overall rating. So, I'll rate just this episode. A private school student is found shot in Central Park. Over the course of trying to figure out the guilty one, Castle and Beckett realize they are playing against a Chessmaster, which results in an intense battle of brainpower. Not a long time ago I saw a brilliant Chessmaster episode in The Closer. This is *so* out of league when compared to that. I have to include spoilers to point out the mistakes in the script the writers obviously thought was clever but isn't.
The truth goes this: Every now and then, the youngsters shoot and share videos of their activities with their Bluetooth mobiles. Donny's family loses their wealth but his rich friends don't abandon him. Brandon puts moves on Amanda and gets some. Donny breaks up with Amanda when he finds that she's been fooling around with Brandon. Brandon's enormous ego can't stand being "sloppy seconds" to Donny (Castle's words). So he tells Amanda to shoot a video on the night when he knows Donny will get shot. The gun and bullets are Spencer's. Max is handed a gun that he thinks is empty but it isn't. Max shoots Donny. Donny's body is found and the coroner concludes that the body was put on boat after Donny's death. Donny's friends admit that Donny had resorted to selling drugs in order to get money. Donny's site of death is found. Castle points out that the body laid on the ground for some time and then someone moved it. Why? Because the site makes drug dealers/buyers prime suspects. So the shooter was apparently covering his tracks. The police arrest a suspect, who foolishly admits having been around the scene of the crime. Facing his third strike, the dealer admits having sold drugs to Donny and his friends. Who admit having been at the scene of the crime and claim that the dealer demanded money from Donny and shot him when he had nothing to give, after which they run away scared. Romy ("the hot Asian chick" as the dealer puts it) identifies the dealer from a suspect line. Castle starts wondering why Donny's friends didn't offer their money to the dealer. The dealer admits having sold drugs to not only Donny but *all* of his friends too. Beckett breaks Romy, who confesses that they were playing a bullet-less Russian Roulette, unaware that there was a bullet. She says Max pulled the trigger. Right after that, Max apparently commits suicide because of apparent remorse. Except that his blood alcohol level was a whopping 2.8 per mil and someone left a mark indicating they helped him pull the trigger. Spencer and Brandon are each others alibi for Max's time of death. Brandon confesses that they wanted to "not screw" Max over and therefore he convinced Romy to identify the dealer. Also, he has, in his phone, Amanda's video that was shared to all via Bluetooth. In the video Max is seen shooting Donny. Brandon says he decided to save the video in case it would be needed later. Turns out it is, since Spencer admits not having been with Brandon, who then confesses having been on a walk - Spencer was just covering for him. And the police have no evidence against Brandon. He has pulled of a perfect crime, right?
One would suspect so. However, the writers decide that while Brandon is brilliant enough to put together such a plan in the first place *and* able to adapt to the situation in order to stay one step ahead of the police, he is *also* stupid enough to make the following mistakes: 1) He gets Max too drunk to be able to kill himself. An average Joe knows 2.8 is waaay too drunk. But Brandon doesn't, because the writers need mistakes in his plan. 2) Donny and his friends "autoshare media files via a Bluetooth link" (Beckett's words). Thus Brandon has left a digital fingerprint placing him with Max at the time of his death. So, Brandon is *clever* enough to know that he automatically gets a copy of Amanda's video, but is *stupid* enough to take his phone along when staging Max's suicide? Taking a phone along is stupid anytime when you are planning to kill someone, Bluetooth or not. 3) Castle gets an "admission against interest" out of Brandon. That would *never* work with a Chessmaster. 4) Beckett says they would never have figured out the truth had Brandon not moved Donny's body in order to make it look like the dealer was covering his tracks. WHY??? Why would Brandon have done that? There is no *logical* reason for Brandon to make the dealer look smarter than he is - it's completely non-beneficial to Brandon and therefore a move a Chessmaster would never make. Stupid writers! 4/10.
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