**Spoilers ahead**

Monday night’s episode of the ABC crime series “Castle,” the second of its fourth season, signified a return to the show’s winning, quirky formula after the near-stumble of its season premiere. I’ve praised “Castle” in the past, and though its third season’s finale gave cause for worry, the series’ most recent episodes provide an object lesson in entertainment programming, especially for genre writers.

For those who haven’t seen the series, “Castle” is a semi-comic police procedural about a bestselling mystery author, Richard Castle, who finds himself partnered up with a beautiful female police detective in Manhattan, Kate Beckett, to help solve crimes. The implausible premise is no impediment to enjoying the show, as its stars Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic are both a delight to watch as the central characters; their skill as performers is evident and easy to appreciate.

In addition, and even more importantly, the gaudy premise matches the show’s narrative style; it is a throwback to the great tradition of American surrealistic mysteries of the 1930s and ’40s. That’s a very important—and, alas, currently underappreciated—trend in mystery fiction exemplified by the writings of Ellery Queen (the truest master off the form), Fredric Brown, Anthony Boucher, Craig Rice, Hake Talbot, Joel Townsley Rogers, Herbert Brean, and the other great master of the form, John Dickson Carr (and these writers all owe a debt of gratitude to the earlier British crime fiction of G. K. Chesterton, the American Jacques Futrelle, and a few others). (more…)

A friend and colleague has informed me that there appears to be a groundswell of outrage among conservatives regarding last night’s episode of the ABC TV mystery series Castle. The complaint is that the episode is anti-Christian, pro-Muslim, politically correct political propaganda.

In fact, ABC’s Castle web page today opens with the following pop-up window inviting visitors to take an extensive survey regarding the episode and the show in general (which I dutifully filled out):

We would like to invite you to participate in a short survey about the episode of CASTLE that aired on 2/28/11. This episode featured Castle and Beckett rejoining Fallon’s task force, the detectives suspecting a former U.S. soldier of planning a terrorist attack, and Castle and Beckett partnering with a Syrian official to track down the bomb.

Having seen the episode, I can assure you that the story cannot be fairly characterized as bigoted or anti-Christian.

The episode, “Countdown,” is the conclusion of a two-parter in which the show’s protagonists (NYC police detective Kate Beckett and her unpaid-consultant partner, mystery writer Richard Castle) attempt to prevent a mass murder through detonation of a nuclear “dirty bomb” in Manhattan. (Note: spoilers hereafter.)

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One day … ONE day after gushing over how exciting the recession is now that those forced to work jobs they hate or who have lost them entirely can focus on their passions, Natalie Portman bought herself a $3 million castle-like estate.

Natalie, whoever’s advising you … fire them. If no one’s advising you, find someone who doesn’t carry a small dog in their purse or dates someone who does. Look to the real world for help. Look to someone who’s spent a few years in a land where the zip codes don’t start with “9-0.” Someone who cares enough about you and your career to say (without any “Honey, babys”):

“Nat, past the gates of your community and away from the hills of Hollywood losing your job doesn’t fuel passion, it fuels despair, and working a job you hate is almost as bad because of the big black  permanent ball of dread it plants in your gut. I know you dig Barack, I did too before he targeted my children and health care, but you can’t flak for his recession. That’s what the mainstream media is for. You have to empathize with your audience, build goodwill. Besides, you’re closing on that castle tomorrow, so today wouldn’t be a good time to get all gushy over how exciting Barack’s recession is. And if you do, I quit.” (more…)

The return of the popular mystery-comedy series Monk and Psych for new seasons on the USA Network (at 9 and 10 p.m. EDT, respectively) is a bittersweet thing for most followers of the popular show featuring Tony Shaloub as the obsessive-compulsive detective. After a seven-year run in which Monk led the way in building USA and other cable/satellite outlets into a plausible long-term challenge to the broadcast networks’ dominance of television audiences, the coming sixteen episodes will constitute the last season for the show.

The good news is that the producers are planning to resolve the show’s central story lines–Monk’s quest to identify his wife’s killer, and his attempts to become mentally healthy enough to resume his position on the San Francisco police force. (Throughout the series he has served as a consultant on homicide investigations for the force.)

Equally heartening is the fact that Psych, now entering its fourth season, has continued to improve over the years (after a very promising start) and is as enjoyable as Monk. (more…)

Like the best works of popular culture, the ABC mystery-crime series Castle is both entertaining and edifying. It exemplifies an increasingly strong trend in the American culture: the use of grim, sensual, bizarre, disturbed, or perverse imagery and subject matter in works of popular art that promulgate positive values and attitudes.

Certainly Castle has plenty of immorality and other damaging personal behavior in evidence. Set in modern-day Manhattan, the series stars Nathan Fillion (Firefly) as wealthy mystery writer Richard Castle, who accompanies police detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic, The Spirit, Quantum of Solace) on homicide investigations in order to glean valuable real-life knowledge to use in his murder mysteries. The conceit is that Castle is able to get this kind of access because he is a friend of the mayor and many other highly influential people in the city. (more…)