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Knocked Out By Stana Katic
February 02, 2011 - 08:43 PM
“Knocked Out By Castle’s Stana Katic”
I didn’t start watching ABC’s Castle because of the promos. To be honest, they didn’t thrill me. I sort of watched it because of Nathan Fillion, although to be perfectly honest I didn’t even remember his name. He was that guy I knew I’d seen in…something but I couldn’t remember what that something was. Now I know it was several somethings: One Life to Live, Two Guys A Girl and a Pizza Place, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Serenity, but at the time I didn’t make the connection.
To be honest I watched the pilot because my husband said, “This is why we have a Tivo. Set up a season pass and we’ll watch it when we have the time.” Now the sentence, “You watched Castle because of me” has bought him a pass on several occasions.
So five weeks after it aired I watched the pilot and was completely knocked out…by Stana Katic. Yeah, the pilot had me hooked like no other show had in years.
Now, all of you Nathan Fillion fans take it easy. I’m not dissing him in any way. He’s talented, funny, charming and easy on the eyes. There would be no Castle without Nathan Fillion, but there is this scene in the pilot where Castle and Beckett are going through his fan letters and Castle starts to analyze her. Throughout his analysis Beckett doesn’t say a word. Thanks to Stana Katic she doesn’t have to. Every emotion, every point he hits correctly is clearly conveyed on her face. That’s the moment I fell in love with this show.
I’ve never before been so moved by someone’s facial expressions. Kate Beckett shows more emotion without words than most characters on TV exhibit with several scenes. I’d list the number of times her looks at Castle have made me laugh but that might take more time than I have to write this article. Then there are the scenes that stir my heart or make me want to cry. How about the final scene of season one when Castle says, “It’s about your mother” and in that moment Beckett goes from laughing to looking like he just hit her. Or the anger and heartbreak that resonates as she sends him away towards the end of the season two premiere. You could always just watch Sucker Punch in its entirety. If Stana Katic doesn’t impress you after that episode I just don’t know what to say.
Every time I’ve seen the season two finale A Deadly Game, the look on her face at the end makes me want to cry. And then there is Knockdown. Yes, my shipper heart is still beating wildly over Knockdown. We got Castle playing the role of protective lover (if only!) throughout, never leaving Kate’s side. He even admits to himself if not openly to her that he has real feelings for her. I could write a whole other article on Nathan Fillion’s performance in this episode but that will have to wait for another time.
One of the great joys of Knockdown was watching how Stana Katic played the gamut of emotions Kate Beckett was feeling during this episode. Shock, when Det. Raglan called and was then murdered. A fury so intense that it almost allows her to put Vulcan Simmons through a window. Adorable awkwardness when Castle comes to her door with flowers. The most passionate decoy kiss I’ve ever witnessed on TV. The quiet affection of the ambulance scene and then there is the final scene at the prison. I am fascinated by that scene. There are so many things that show on Kate Beckett’s face during that short monologue: determination, fortitude, an aching desire for the truth, and the unwavering hope that she’ll find it.
Stana Katic’s performance on Castle is Emmy worthy but I’ll be surprised (gleefully so) if she gets nominated. Castle isn’t a simple drama or comedy. It does both extremely well but that means it can be easily overlooked. Until the Emmy’s adopt a Dramedy category I’m afraid my favorite show and its talented cast will not be recognized. As much as that saddens me I must admit I’m more thrilled to be enjoying this incredible season three, doing a happy dance over the early renewal for season four, and looking forward to many more seasons to come.
Want to leave a comment and share your thoughts? Click here or send an e-mail to proudtvjunkie@gmail.com
Comments:
Tvmusiclover (2/02/2011 - 10:03pm)
-You can't forget the scene in Under The Gun when she's talking to her training officer on the phone and after talking to him Castle asks her "All that was just an act to get a trace?" and she says of course and then walks away and starts to cry, that scene just made me feel so bad for Beckett after all she had been through and a guy she trusted betrays her that scene is totally Emmy worthy.
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@nightowlang (2/02/2011 - 10:44pm)
-I agree completely with everything here. She just nailed every scene in Knockdown. I thought the interrogation scene (where she throws the guy against the glass)and the end scene were two of the strongest. And the look on her face after the "amazing" comment was hilarious. Nathan really did well too--it seemed like Castle grew up a bit in this episode. I actually got hooked on the show during "Tick,Tick" "Boom" episodes last season and went back and got caught up in about a week. It's just that good! :)
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Bren (2/03/2011 - 12:56am)
-I enjoyed your article. Stana is amazing.
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dmcwin (2/03/2011 - 07:06am)
-You have really captured what makes Stana Katic such a talent. Her performance in the dramatic episodes is always amazing (even after seeing it dozens of times, the end of A Deadly Game gets me every time), but it's astounding that her expressions lend to perfect comedic timing as well, as evidenced by her performance in Nikki Heat. To be able to perform both drama and comedy with such finesse is extraordinary.
******************************
TracyT (2/03/2011 - 12:44pm)
-Absolutely agreed, Stana Katic is absolutely awesome! Wonderful article! BTW, looking forward to your analysis of Nathan Fillion in Knockdown as well!
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Dawn (2/03/2011 - 01:04pm)
-Thanks for drawing attention to Stana Katic and the amazing talent she shares with audiences on Castle. As stated, Nathan Fillion is awesome as well, but so often it's the play of emotions so beautifully evident on Stana's face that draws us in , makes us laugh, makes our breath hitch, brings tears to our eyes, or simply renders us speechless. Thank goodness you are not! Let's hope that one day in some forum Stana receives the recognition she deserves.
******************************
terri2403 (2/03/2011 - 02:40pm)
-this scary, as I read this its like reading an article I could have easily written, as so many times I have said that Stana's face can tell a million stories without a single word of dialogue. I think she is by far the most underated actor around. She is just simply compelling to watch, I too only knew Nathan when I started watching and he is a talent, but as quite a few Castle fans have stated "I came to Castle for Nathan Fillion, I stayed for Stana Katic".
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Francesca (2/03/2011 - 03:06pm)
-I kinda started watching Castle for the same reason. Well not my husband, but my sister came once (I think it was morning) and said "Fra there was a fantastic TV show last night... If I'm not wrong its name is Castle. I really liked it, and if I did, you surely would." I was disappointed, but I gave it a try. And you know, Stana captured me to. Well, in Italian it "hits" less, but in English... She's so amazing. Yes, there are lots of her faces that spoke more than words. That's the first thing I noticed about her as actress. I'm always enchanted right in front of the screen (because I follow 3rd season on the Net)when she's in a scene. *-*- Castle Italian Fans are really in love with it Please, forgive my bad English (I'm Italian). Hope you'll understand all.
******************************
Tammy (2/03/2011 - 04:42pm)
-O.M.G. this says it allll. Stana is totally the reason I am hooked on Castle as well. Not to knock the rest of the cast, I love them also and every single one of them is very, very talented, but there is just something about Stana. She is so phenomenally talented and says so much through her eyes and facial expressions it is unreal. There is something about her that makes you WANT to watch her. Lets not forget her performance in Sucker Punch either. That episode never fails to make me cry. From the time she shoots through the end of the episode I am a blubbering mess, and I don't cry much, lol. Thank you for the article, I re-tweeted this too in the hopes she reads it :)
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Jas (2/03/2011 - 06:04pm)
-I couldn't agree more with your article. I did know who Nathan Fillion was (everyone who's been on a Whedon show is pretty much sacred to me) and watched Castle from the very beginning only because of him - I don't watch any other crime show and I'd never even heard of Stana Katic. Now I love the show and think the entire cast is amazing. But there is something special about SK (I was gonna say "magical" but that would sound ridiculously corny...). With some actors you can tell they're trying really hard to get into the character and make you believe that the character is "real" - with SK it seems so effortless, she just always gets it right. I'm sure it's like ballet, though, looks incredibly easy but actually takes a lot of work. SK doesn't let you see that work. Her facial expressions are amazing - many actors seem to have merely a handful of looks which they use interchangeably whereas SK is able to mold her facial expression differently according to each scene. Which doesn't mean she changes the look on her face after every "cut", that would make Beckett seem slightly deranged... You get what I'm trying to say, right? Unfortunately I believe you're also right about the Emmy nomination. For some reason the shows and artists I think are Emmy-worthy usually don't get nominated (Pushing Daisies being one of the exceptions). But praise from the fans is valuable, too... right? So yeah, come to think of it, Stana Katic is definitely one of the main reasons for me to tune in every week. The others being the phenomenal writing and all the hot guys on the show;-).
******************************
unniw (2/03/2011 - 06:46pm)
-Stana is so great that we don't have just one topic about it on castletv.net, we have several. What I wrote in one of them: I originally checked out Castle because of Nathan (after watching Firefly) and compelling promos – the kind of show I would like to see. Didn't immediately fall for Beckett, but somewhere during season 1 I was completely hooked. Episode 4 and 5 was a turning point, 7 and 8 closed it. And liking Beckett more and more, turned into wanting to know more about Stana. My web-searches gradually went from everything Fillion to everything Katic. And then finding that every role she had played so far were strong females with a mind of their own, I not only liked Beckett, I started to like Katic too. Interviews like this http://thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com/2009/04/stana-katic-hollywood-interview.html confirm the picture. Which is why I find the movieguy's question off the mark – refreshing to play strong female lead? Refreshing implies that she's mostly played weak characters. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=249ttFz5pkQ Her answer is of course on the mark.
******************************
skiff (2/06/2011 - 05:48pm)
-I'm kinda ashamed to admit (after all the praise above), but Stana Katic does nothing for me. I watch Castle from time to time, when I need a Fillion fix, and like just about everybody there, favorites being 1.two detectives and 2.Castle's family. But Beckett I just don't get. She like.. doesn't register on my radar, I always somehow miss what she said, where she went to, why's she mad at Castle so much:) etc. Not to say there's no spark between the leads, but IMHO NF has chemistry with a toothbrush (and I'm a guy) so any other actress would do. Or may be it's just her role - playing the straight guy, when Fillion gets to play basically himself (and this self is pretty awesome, as any geek will tell you:)), but her character seems to me rather flat and schematic and every episode I stumble upon which centers on her seems uninteresting and cliche-ridden to godawful extent (Knockdown, imo). As I see it Castle is at it's best when it's quirky, geeky and humorous (btw Katic also seemed off to me in the comedic episode with Laura Prepon, though overall it was good and funny). I've also checked the vids suggested in the comments and some of her other interviews on YouTube, hoping to be won over by the person if not the actress - nah, zero. Pretty, nice, average, soft spoken (vapid). And fans raging in comments sections about her being funnier than Nathan and deserving an Oscar:) Get real guys. Though OK, we all have favorites (Hugh Laurie for Haymitch and Fanny Ardant for every role evah!-me)So yeah, good cast, seems like they're all having fun on the job and doing OK with each other, but for me it's a Fillion show all the way with bonus sidekicks (the best being the Irish detective and Mom). You see, I made the effort, I really did and I'm not even that much of a Fillion fanboy (only like his Whedon stuff and Slither), so don't flame super nasty:) I think I deserve your pity for being unable to enjoy miss Katic's greatness (and I placed IMOs everywhere)
******************************
I didn’t start watching ABC’s Castle because of the promos. To be honest, they didn’t thrill me. I sort of watched it because of Nathan Fillion, although to be perfectly honest I didn’t even remember his name. He was that guy I knew I’d seen in…something but I couldn’t remember what that something was. Now I know it was several somethings: One Life to Live, Two Guys A Girl and a Pizza Place, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Serenity, but at the time I didn’t make the connection.
To be honest I watched the pilot because my husband said, “This is why we have a Tivo. Set up a season pass and we’ll watch it when we have the time.” Now the sentence, “You watched Castle because of me” has bought him a pass on several occasions.
So five weeks after it aired I watched the pilot and was completely knocked out…by Stana Katic. Yeah, the pilot had me hooked like no other show had in years.
Now, all of you Nathan Fillion fans take it easy. I’m not dissing him in any way. He’s talented, funny, charming and easy on the eyes. There would be no Castle without Nathan Fillion, but there is this scene in the pilot where Castle and Beckett are going through his fan letters and Castle starts to analyze her. Throughout his analysis Beckett doesn’t say a word. Thanks to Stana Katic she doesn’t have to. Every emotion, every point he hits correctly is clearly conveyed on her face. That’s the moment I fell in love with this show.
I’ve never before been so moved by someone’s facial expressions. Kate Beckett shows more emotion without words than most characters on TV exhibit with several scenes. I’d list the number of times her looks at Castle have made me laugh but that might take more time than I have to write this article. Then there are the scenes that stir my heart or make me want to cry. How about the final scene of season one when Castle says, “It’s about your mother” and in that moment Beckett goes from laughing to looking like he just hit her. Or the anger and heartbreak that resonates as she sends him away towards the end of the season two premiere. You could always just watch Sucker Punch in its entirety. If Stana Katic doesn’t impress you after that episode I just don’t know what to say.
Every time I’ve seen the season two finale A Deadly Game, the look on her face at the end makes me want to cry. And then there is Knockdown. Yes, my shipper heart is still beating wildly over Knockdown. We got Castle playing the role of protective lover (if only!) throughout, never leaving Kate’s side. He even admits to himself if not openly to her that he has real feelings for her. I could write a whole other article on Nathan Fillion’s performance in this episode but that will have to wait for another time.
One of the great joys of Knockdown was watching how Stana Katic played the gamut of emotions Kate Beckett was feeling during this episode. Shock, when Det. Raglan called and was then murdered. A fury so intense that it almost allows her to put Vulcan Simmons through a window. Adorable awkwardness when Castle comes to her door with flowers. The most passionate decoy kiss I’ve ever witnessed on TV. The quiet affection of the ambulance scene and then there is the final scene at the prison. I am fascinated by that scene. There are so many things that show on Kate Beckett’s face during that short monologue: determination, fortitude, an aching desire for the truth, and the unwavering hope that she’ll find it.
Stana Katic’s performance on Castle is Emmy worthy but I’ll be surprised (gleefully so) if she gets nominated. Castle isn’t a simple drama or comedy. It does both extremely well but that means it can be easily overlooked. Until the Emmy’s adopt a Dramedy category I’m afraid my favorite show and its talented cast will not be recognized. As much as that saddens me I must admit I’m more thrilled to be enjoying this incredible season three, doing a happy dance over the early renewal for season four, and looking forward to many more seasons to come.
Want to leave a comment and share your thoughts? Click here or send an e-mail to proudtvjunkie@gmail.com
Comments:
Tvmusiclover (2/02/2011 - 10:03pm)
-You can't forget the scene in Under The Gun when she's talking to her training officer on the phone and after talking to him Castle asks her "All that was just an act to get a trace?" and she says of course and then walks away and starts to cry, that scene just made me feel so bad for Beckett after all she had been through and a guy she trusted betrays her that scene is totally Emmy worthy.
******************************
@nightowlang (2/02/2011 - 10:44pm)
-I agree completely with everything here. She just nailed every scene in Knockdown. I thought the interrogation scene (where she throws the guy against the glass)and the end scene were two of the strongest. And the look on her face after the "amazing" comment was hilarious. Nathan really did well too--it seemed like Castle grew up a bit in this episode. I actually got hooked on the show during "Tick,Tick" "Boom" episodes last season and went back and got caught up in about a week. It's just that good! :)
******************************
Bren (2/03/2011 - 12:56am)
-I enjoyed your article. Stana is amazing.
******************************
dmcwin (2/03/2011 - 07:06am)
-You have really captured what makes Stana Katic such a talent. Her performance in the dramatic episodes is always amazing (even after seeing it dozens of times, the end of A Deadly Game gets me every time), but it's astounding that her expressions lend to perfect comedic timing as well, as evidenced by her performance in Nikki Heat. To be able to perform both drama and comedy with such finesse is extraordinary.
******************************
TracyT (2/03/2011 - 12:44pm)
-Absolutely agreed, Stana Katic is absolutely awesome! Wonderful article! BTW, looking forward to your analysis of Nathan Fillion in Knockdown as well!
******************************
Dawn (2/03/2011 - 01:04pm)
-Thanks for drawing attention to Stana Katic and the amazing talent she shares with audiences on Castle. As stated, Nathan Fillion is awesome as well, but so often it's the play of emotions so beautifully evident on Stana's face that draws us in , makes us laugh, makes our breath hitch, brings tears to our eyes, or simply renders us speechless. Thank goodness you are not! Let's hope that one day in some forum Stana receives the recognition she deserves.
******************************
terri2403 (2/03/2011 - 02:40pm)
-this scary, as I read this its like reading an article I could have easily written, as so many times I have said that Stana's face can tell a million stories without a single word of dialogue. I think she is by far the most underated actor around. She is just simply compelling to watch, I too only knew Nathan when I started watching and he is a talent, but as quite a few Castle fans have stated "I came to Castle for Nathan Fillion, I stayed for Stana Katic".
******************************
Francesca (2/03/2011 - 03:06pm)
-I kinda started watching Castle for the same reason. Well not my husband, but my sister came once (I think it was morning) and said "Fra there was a fantastic TV show last night... If I'm not wrong its name is Castle. I really liked it, and if I did, you surely would." I was disappointed, but I gave it a try. And you know, Stana captured me to. Well, in Italian it "hits" less, but in English... She's so amazing. Yes, there are lots of her faces that spoke more than words. That's the first thing I noticed about her as actress. I'm always enchanted right in front of the screen (because I follow 3rd season on the Net)when she's in a scene. *-*- Castle Italian Fans are really in love with it Please, forgive my bad English (I'm Italian). Hope you'll understand all.
******************************
Tammy (2/03/2011 - 04:42pm)
-O.M.G. this says it allll. Stana is totally the reason I am hooked on Castle as well. Not to knock the rest of the cast, I love them also and every single one of them is very, very talented, but there is just something about Stana. She is so phenomenally talented and says so much through her eyes and facial expressions it is unreal. There is something about her that makes you WANT to watch her. Lets not forget her performance in Sucker Punch either. That episode never fails to make me cry. From the time she shoots through the end of the episode I am a blubbering mess, and I don't cry much, lol. Thank you for the article, I re-tweeted this too in the hopes she reads it :)
******************************
Jas (2/03/2011 - 06:04pm)
-I couldn't agree more with your article. I did know who Nathan Fillion was (everyone who's been on a Whedon show is pretty much sacred to me) and watched Castle from the very beginning only because of him - I don't watch any other crime show and I'd never even heard of Stana Katic. Now I love the show and think the entire cast is amazing. But there is something special about SK (I was gonna say "magical" but that would sound ridiculously corny...). With some actors you can tell they're trying really hard to get into the character and make you believe that the character is "real" - with SK it seems so effortless, she just always gets it right. I'm sure it's like ballet, though, looks incredibly easy but actually takes a lot of work. SK doesn't let you see that work. Her facial expressions are amazing - many actors seem to have merely a handful of looks which they use interchangeably whereas SK is able to mold her facial expression differently according to each scene. Which doesn't mean she changes the look on her face after every "cut", that would make Beckett seem slightly deranged... You get what I'm trying to say, right? Unfortunately I believe you're also right about the Emmy nomination. For some reason the shows and artists I think are Emmy-worthy usually don't get nominated (Pushing Daisies being one of the exceptions). But praise from the fans is valuable, too... right? So yeah, come to think of it, Stana Katic is definitely one of the main reasons for me to tune in every week. The others being the phenomenal writing and all the hot guys on the show;-).
******************************
unniw (2/03/2011 - 06:46pm)
-Stana is so great that we don't have just one topic about it on castletv.net, we have several. What I wrote in one of them: I originally checked out Castle because of Nathan (after watching Firefly) and compelling promos – the kind of show I would like to see. Didn't immediately fall for Beckett, but somewhere during season 1 I was completely hooked. Episode 4 and 5 was a turning point, 7 and 8 closed it. And liking Beckett more and more, turned into wanting to know more about Stana. My web-searches gradually went from everything Fillion to everything Katic. And then finding that every role she had played so far were strong females with a mind of their own, I not only liked Beckett, I started to like Katic too. Interviews like this http://thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com/2009/04/stana-katic-hollywood-interview.html confirm the picture. Which is why I find the movieguy's question off the mark – refreshing to play strong female lead? Refreshing implies that she's mostly played weak characters. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=249ttFz5pkQ Her answer is of course on the mark.
******************************
skiff (2/06/2011 - 05:48pm)
-I'm kinda ashamed to admit (after all the praise above), but Stana Katic does nothing for me. I watch Castle from time to time, when I need a Fillion fix, and like just about everybody there, favorites being 1.two detectives and 2.Castle's family. But Beckett I just don't get. She like.. doesn't register on my radar, I always somehow miss what she said, where she went to, why's she mad at Castle so much:) etc. Not to say there's no spark between the leads, but IMHO NF has chemistry with a toothbrush (and I'm a guy) so any other actress would do. Or may be it's just her role - playing the straight guy, when Fillion gets to play basically himself (and this self is pretty awesome, as any geek will tell you:)), but her character seems to me rather flat and schematic and every episode I stumble upon which centers on her seems uninteresting and cliche-ridden to godawful extent (Knockdown, imo). As I see it Castle is at it's best when it's quirky, geeky and humorous (btw Katic also seemed off to me in the comedic episode with Laura Prepon, though overall it was good and funny). I've also checked the vids suggested in the comments and some of her other interviews on YouTube, hoping to be won over by the person if not the actress - nah, zero. Pretty, nice, average, soft spoken (vapid). And fans raging in comments sections about her being funnier than Nathan and deserving an Oscar:) Get real guys. Though OK, we all have favorites (Hugh Laurie for Haymitch and Fanny Ardant for every role evah!-me)So yeah, good cast, seems like they're all having fun on the job and doing OK with each other, but for me it's a Fillion show all the way with bonus sidekicks (the best being the Irish detective and Mom). You see, I made the effort, I really did and I'm not even that much of a Fillion fanboy (only like his Whedon stuff and Slither), so don't flame super nasty:) I think I deserve your pity for being unable to enjoy miss Katic's greatness (and I placed IMOs everywhere)
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