Despite so many crime dramas on television right now, ABC’s “Castle” appears to have differentiated itself enough to avoid getting lost in the mix.

The show has achieved incredible success throughout its five seasons, with accolades including Shorty, TV Guide Magazine, People’s Choice and Emmy nominations and awards. It continues to receive high ratings, consistently defeating competing crime dramas such as beating “Hawaii Five-0” by about 2.8 million viewers last week.

The show’s delayed episode, “Still,” features one of the protagonists, detective Kate Beckett, played by Stana Katic, standing on a pressure-sensitive bomb as her team searches for a way to disarm it. After the events at the Boston Marathon a week ago, ABC decided to postpone this episode, forcing the “Castle” team to swap it with another.

While this will mix up the season’s chronology, the cast was completely supportive of the decision. Katic addressed the swap via Twitter, saying the choice was made out of respect for those affected by the tragedy.

Katic’s tweet resembles the classiness that “Castle” aspires for. The show has a reputation for being tastefully clever. Each crime scenario is entertainingly original, and the character dynamics are satisfyingly sassy.

“Castle” revolves around the experiences of Beckett and her trusty sidekick Richard Castle, a famous mystery novelist who helps solve crimes while delivering quick-witted puns. In one episode, Castle nicknames his relationship with Beckett “Caskett,” the way celebrity couples are often categorized with a combination of names.

While the plot of each episode is typically independent from the previous one, the series follows a character-based chronology that centers on Beckett and Castle’s roller coaster relationship. At first, Beckett hates the idea of Castle following her around, fearing he will slow her down. But, she soon realizes that he is far more useful than he lets on. Castle’s ability to think like a criminal and generate specific details helps her solve many cases.

The climactic moment of Castle and Beckett’s relationship comes at the end of season four when the two overcome their stubbornness and proclaim their love for each other.

Although this highly anticipated moment triggered a nationwide “Castle”-loving celebration, it could have been the moment where the show jumped the shark. People tend to lose interest after a show’s two main protagonists get together—take “The Nanny,” “Smallville” and “Kyle XY,” for example — and I was afraid this is what would happen to the detective-cop duo.

On the contrary, the pair is still going strong. “Castle” has almost completed its fifth season and was renewed for a sixth. It’s great news for Castle and Beckett, and a great reason to binge-watch the series this summer.

Published on April 22, 2013 at 12:23 am

Contact Jackie: jigrossm@syr.edu