I am a huge fan of Castle. It is my favorite show on TV. As we head into season three there are a lot of spoilers circulating and they are making me crazy.

Spoilers can be fun. The big tease that gets viewers excited about what’s to come. Unfortunately, spoilers can also lead to the big let down. If you are a fan of both Bones and Castle you may understand what I mean. Castle fans who watch Bones are very sensitive. We hold our breath at every spoiler and cringe a little whenever a show producer, writer, or actor talks about how they plan to keep Castle and Beckett apart.

Let me preface this by saying I like Bones or is it liked Bones. Bones started out as a procedural with quirky characters that I loved. The two leads had fun chemistry that seemed to be going somewhere. But by the end of season three the will they / won’t they had grown stale. Reality is that I don’t tune in for the dead bodies or the cases. I tune in for the characters. By season four I was bored and needed something more. The spoilers sounded like we were going to finally get it. Several season four finale spoilers said, and I quote “Bones and Brennan will hit the sheets.” It was a good lesson in never letting your self get too excited.

Yes, technically the actors were in bed together but it was all a coma / dream sequence. As a regular episode it was actually an entertaining show. If they had done it without the hype or perhaps at the beginning of the season to give viewers a taste of what was to come, it could have been very cool. Instead it was an episode I found nothing but frustrating. As a fan I felt jerked around but I was still holding out hope.

Could this dream help push Booth and Brennan towards one another in season five? I was optimistic. Booth realizes he has feelings for Brennan but decides she can’t handle it and he backs off. Ugh. Talk about boring. We did get a nice hurt/comfort moment where Brennan is stabbed in the arm and Booth saves her but it was quickly glossed over and pushed aside. I kept waiting for some sort of payoff for my patience.

Then all the talk was about the 100th episode and a kiss. Fans held their breath. Yet again, we were toyed with. The big kiss was a flashback supposedly from when the characters first met. At the end of the 100th episode Booth gets the courage to tell Brennan how he feels. He wants a chance with her. She tells him she can’t do it. “I can’t change. I don’t know how.” I know three people who stopped watching after this episode. They’d had enough.

But not me. I wasn’t happy but I’d still give it a chance. The fact was I was less excited. A show I used to look forward to could now sit on my Tivo for days or even weeks before I got around to watching it. I’m obviously not helping their ratings. I was happy when Angela and Hodgins got married. This show needed a happy moment but Angela and Hodgins aren’t why I tune in. The season finale had the lead characters heading in opposite directions and being apart for a year. Was the final scene emotional? Absolutely. Was it enough to get me to come back for season six? I’m not sure.

Now, I do think the chemistry on Castle is hotter than anything I’ve ever seen on Bones. I also connect with Kate Beckett in a way I never could with Temperance Brennan and I find Rick Castle’s charming, somewhat flawed, mystery writer much more entertaining than Seeley Booth’s somewhat vulnerable FBI Agent superhero persona. But the fact that I connect with the characters and think they have incredibly strong chemistry may make Castle all the more frustrating.

Fans of Bones are feeling a little battered and it makes us wary of Castle. Is it fair? Heck no, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. Every spoiler that mentions keeping the leads apart makes us flinch a bit. And if I hear one more Moonlighting reference I may have to shoot someone. It’s a 25 years old entertaining but highly flawed show that died under the weight of its own hype and poor writing. The lesson here isn’t to keep your leads apart indefinitely but to write a better show.

As we head into Fall premieres, I am excited to see Castle. I’ll be sitting in front of my TV on Monday, September 20th at 10pm. It is the one show I watch live whenever humanly possible. Will I watch the Bones premiere? Yeah, probably but I don’t know the date it airs. It still has a season pass on my Tivo so it will record and I’m sure I’ll watch it. Eventually. My message for Castle writers: I’m in it for the long haul, but please don’t wait too long. Excitement can be quashed by will they / won’t they taken too far.

What's your take? Feel free to share your comments with us here or e-mail directly at proudtvjunkie@gmail.com and we'll post them below.


Comments:

Tvmusiclover (8/12/2010 - 6:39pm)

-I totally want Castle and Beckett together. I'm not saying it has to be right now but I agree I am so sick of the moonlighting curse... Funny how one cast member is all for C/B getting together and another is all "no it will kill the show."

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Leftfield (8/12/2010 - 7:00pm)

-You hit the nail on the head. I no longer watch Bones, just don't care anymore. I feel manipulated and lied to be the Bones team. I love Castle and would hate to see it take the same road. From interview's and such I do think that they "get it", and we will see Castle and Beckett get together. Here's hoping I'm right.


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jelkie (8/12/2010 - 7:36pm)

-I have to agree - I would really like to see Season 3 revolve around Castle and Beckett becoming emotionally closer and just having some fun together. I like Castle when it is witty, funny and I feel good about watching the show - especially the chemistry between the leads. I hate Castle when they are with other people. I'd like to see them actually get together in Season 4, but this season I'd like to see them having a good time together and becoming closer friends. When I read he was going to be with Gina this season, it didn't exactly make me excited about the show. I'm hoping they consider going in another direction.


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Lady Brenlis (8/12/2010 - 7:48pm)

-You nailed it on your moonlighting comment. I'm already getting so sick of those comments... from EVERYONE! Ppppppbbbttt! In fact, I agree with you in spirit in your whole blog, although I'm new to the Bones fandom.


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Kyra (8/12/2010 - 11:43pm)

-"Battered" is a good word to describe how I feel when it comes to Bones. What is worse is when the producers/writers/actors give interviews and say that REAL fans would understand or we should be patient. I don't watch your show to be talked down to or told how to feel. I stopped watching Bones because it stopped being entertaining. I love Castle but the new interviews have me worried, like they may be thinking they can string us along for seasons. I hope I'm wrong. It's a great show. When it started Andrew Marlowe gave an interview saying that these two people would eventually get together, they'd just take it slow. I hope that plan hasn't changed. It's the reason I started watching the show in the first place.


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dovepage (8/13/2010 - 1:28pm)

-Settle in Castle fans, from what I have been reading, you are in for a bumpy ride too. My condolences and enjoy the ride.


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Kyo (8/13/2010 - 1:37pm)

-I think fans of Bones look at Castle and feel once bitten, twice shy. They are afraid of getting burned again. I still have faith that Andrew Marlowe and team will give Castle fans what they really want -- the slow steady progression of Castle and Beckett becoming a couple. I can't wait for the start of season 3.


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Katia (9/06/2010 - 8:27pm)

-Kyra 12/08/2010 11:43 pm, before giving up Bones really see the news regarding the sixth season and you get a surprise. I quit because I knew that X-Files Scully and Mulder were made for each other and did not wait long enough and you discover: the two together. Now I will be persistent.



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TeaTotaller (9/07/2010 - 3:34pm)

-I agree with almost all you say. Only I have not been able to express my thoughts as nicely lately. But in short: I am tired, and bored, too. Since I haven't watched Castle, my comment was about Bones. I would love to see the storyline the way they most likely want me to see it (I've commented in other places what I think is the goal, and how I think all this will be dealt with), but I cannot change my way of thinking, and see it as a positive thing.
Just wanted to say that it is a great article. Part of me wishes that the regular viewers won't like the route they've taken, part of me wishes the opposite. Guess time will tell if teh gamble was worth it -- to the writer, showrunner and the network.



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ELfict (10/10/2010)

-Okay, admit it. You went into my head and put all my thoughts into this article, didn't you? Because really, this was spot on.Though I'm pretty sure there are a lot more Castle/Bones fans out there who feel the same. I did read one article that did give me hope, though, I believe it was an interview with both Nathan and Stana. Nathan is really against Castle and Beckett getting together, but Stana said that she was interested in exploring their relationship a bit more as a couple. I believe she said something about Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and how that was interesting too, even though they were married. Sooo, I hope Stana gets that idea a little bit more in the heads of the writers and then maybe... They'll get together before season 5.


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