Reflexiones de Examiner sobre la relación de Alexis Castle con el resto de personajes

A ver, para empezar ni siquiera sé dónde poner el artículo, que no se trata de una revisión de un capítulo específico, ni un spoiler y aunque sea sobre Alexis, tampoco lo veo bien colocarlo en el apartado de Alexis. Si se os ocurre cual es el apartado más correcto, avisadme y lo cambio. Es un artículo de opinión de la revista Examiner.

He visto y leído el revuelo por la actitud de Alexis Castle en los últimos capítulos. Es un personaje que ha creado más de una polémica a lo largo de la serie e incluso he leído que si este personaje despareciera tampoco pasaría nada. En fin. Para gustos colores. Tanto para los que quieren a Alexis en la serie como los que no.

He leído el artículo que voy a colgar a continuación, y aunque hay partes que no coincida completamente en todo, en general me ha parecido que explican bastante bien la actitud de Alexis con Castle (principalmente), y con Beckett (un poco menos).

Haciendo un resumen muy resumen por ese "cabreo" de Alexis con Castle que vimos en la última escena de... ¿Get a clue? (ahora no recuerdo) viene más o menos a decir que Alexis con la relación entre Castle-Beckett también se siente como el en banquillo de los suplentes, Alexis no tiene en realidad nada en contra de su padre, tampoco tiene nada en contra de Beckett. Alexis sólo ve la actitud y cómo esta su padre en casa, ella ve que su padre está abatido o feliz pero no ve lo que nosotros vemos en la comisaría ni en escenas de los crímenes ni en otros sitios, se podría decir que de la relación Castle-Beckett no sabe ni de la misa la mitad, y ahora, al ver que su padre esta rehaciendo su vida con Beckett, próximo a casarse se siente igual de desplazada en esa relación que Beckett al ver la relación de Rick Castle con su hija, tal como ella expresó en este último capítulo con Lanie. Así que ese desplazamiento es más o menos mutuo y ellos, todos, tienen que encontrar el punto para tirar adelante y encajar en la vida de los demás.

Dicho así me pueden caer muchos palos porque no puedo resumir todo un artículo en apenas 10 líneas, así que a quien interese recomiendo que lo lea completo y para los que no sepáis inglés lo iré traduciendo poco a poco, que es muy largo para hacerlo de 1 sentá y con éste no quiero dejar la cutre-traducción de los traductores on-line. (Ehhhh y si alguien se anima a traducir algún cacho por mí perfecto)

http://www.examiner.com/article/castle-family-drama-merging-family-bubbles-and-propelling-caskett-forward?CID=examiner_alerts_article


'Castle' family drama: Merging family bubbles and propelling Caskett forward
Unpopular opinion alert!: This is not an episode review. This is a rather lengthy analysis pertaining to all of the very controversial Castle, Alexis and Pi drama leading into "Like Father, Like Daughter". If you're sick of that topic of the show already, I'd advise hitting the back button on your browser. If not, please proceed with an open mind. Not preaching any gospel here, just throwing out those thoughts of mine as usual.

Blended families can be a tricky business. Sometimes everyone meshes together wonderfully, all parties get along, and it’s sugar and rainbows with a happily ever after ending. And if that happens, you’re either a fairy tale character or a family that is very, very lucky. Realistically, and oftentimes more commonly than not, there are those times when things goes amiss, a variable isn’t factored in, and/or a situation is mishandled because we are all imperfect people with very real flaws. We’re human. We screw things up, as is in our nature. And sometimes someone, or even multiple people, get hurt in the process.

That’s the perspective I get from watching all of the scenes involving Castle and Alexis since the start of this season of “Castle”. When it comes down to it, they’re both screwing up, they’re both hurting and hurting each other, and they’re both going through something that many divorced parents with children have to come face-to-face with at some point in their lives: remarrying, and everything that they’ve known before now changing and reshaping into a future that perhaps doesn’t quite look the same through separate pairs of eyes. Because how could it? They don’t see everything that the other sees, or experience the same things that the other one does.

It’s not pleasant to watch as a viewer, but it’s something that’s real, and something that I can also relate to on a personal level, which is perhaps why I’ve been a bit more open to it and haven't had such a strong reaction to the storyline. It’s frustrating for sure, but this wouldn’t be the first time such a frustrating scenario has been presented on the show (the angst at the end of season 4 comes to mind) and it certainly won’t be the last. But it’s definitely grounded in the basis of reality, given the divorce rate at present in the United States. I mean, third time’s the charm for Castle, right? He and his daughter have already gone through two marriages and their dissolutions for reasons yet to be really revealed, but we’ll come back to that in a bit. For now, let’s focus on where everyone’s screwing up at, and finally why all this family drama can actually be a beneficial story development in the long run for all characters involved.

Everything was sort of fun and comedic to watch between Castle, Alexis and Pi up until last week. For me it was, anyway. Then I took a lot of issue with Castle’s behavior in the opening scene of “Get a Clue”. Now, before you grab the torches and pitchforks and decry me as an Alexis apologist unjustly attacking Castle when Alexis has been acting out as well, let me explain why I had problems with our dear writer boy’s behavior. He’s fully entitled to have his disagreements as far as Pi is concerned, and he’s not necessarily wrong about them. Pi’s a strange one. He's a free-spirit, seemingly lacking in any social norms or common courtesy, and everything that we’ve seen of him thus far is making us want to scream at Alexis to run in the opposite direction because we feel like she deserves someone with a bit more manners, ambition and a lot less of the neo-hippie lifestyle (also, without the whole porn-stache thing he’s got going on. Ew.) Any father with half a brain cell wouldn’t want their 19-year-old daughter moving some weird guy she met during a five-week Costa Rica trip into their home, and would be even more strongly opposed to the two of them moving in together in their own place just a short while afterward. But the way Castle’s handling his feelings and approaching the situation is doing nothing but the opposite of what he’d like to achieve.

We know he doesn’t like Pi, and that he doesn’t feel like the mustached vagabond is right for Alexis. That much has been drilled into our heads since the first episode of this season. But I feel he crossed the line in “Get a Clue” with how he’s choosing to react to Alexis’ new beau and her current life choices. Invited over as a guest to have dinner and see his daughter’s new home, he does nothing but insult her new place, her boyfriend’s lifestyle and his new job, and pretty much everything else going on in her life right now. So, Pi’s a fruitarian and now he “counts bees” for a living. It might not seem very admirable or socially acceptable, especially to a man like Castle, but hey, on the bright side, it’s work that’s founded in research and science for a non-governmental organization.

It may sound like a frivolous occupation, but in my previous studies (I wanted to be a zoologist and wildlife biologist, okay?) we dabbled a little in the entomology branch of zoology and I learned that bees are our world’s army of pollinators, and thus vitally important to agriculture and cultivation. Declines in bee populations mean a decline in crop production size and value, meaning—yes, Castle—less fruit, vegetables, and even nuts like almonds on the table. Rising populations of humans plus declining food production equals a bad situation no matter where you’re at in the world, and so some organizations track bee colonies in an effort to find out what’s causing the decline, be it pesticides killing them off, or some environmental factor in play that causes the phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder. Manually pollinating all the crops in the world without the help of bees would be unfathomable, really. Bees are important! And thus, Pi’s job has some value to it, too, and he certainly seems passionate about it. I guess this is the writers’ way of bringing some of Pi's supposed brilliance to the forefront at last, even if it’s not as glamorous as one would hope for. But can’t you sort of see what Alexis might see in the guy, from a conservationist and environmentalist perspective? Alexis is a self-proclaimed geek for this kind of stuff, as evidenced from the Costa Rica trip and her interest in “Target” with getting tickets to a presentation on climate change. Little Castle's hobbies basically include ways to try and save the world and make it a better place for people. Pi's kind of contributing to that.

Regardless of how Castle (or any of us, for that matter) may feel about Alexis’ admittedly questionable new boyfriend though, or her current life choices, that doesn’t excuse Castle acting like a jackass, and it certainly isn’t going to win him any points or result in Alexis seeing the light, nor any error of her ways. Dare I say it, I actually felt bad for Pi with how judgmental and cruel Castle’s words about him were. You could tell that Castle’s opinion of him does matter, and that he was trying to sort of prove himself a little in that scene. But Castle wasn’t having any of it, and he’s really never given the guy a chance. First impressions are everything, and Pi and Alexis sort of blew that opportunity (more on that shortly) but I still think Alexis was right to be furious. Hell, I was kind of furious for her, especially as far as things like money were involved. The free couch thing hit a nerve, particularly because I don’t feel that anyone should ever feel obligated to accept a free piece of furniture (or free anything, for that matter) from someone just because it’s being offered to them free. If you’re content with what you have or don’t want something because it doesn’t fit with your personal style or tastes, it should be completely okay to decline the offer. It doesn’t mean that you’re ungrateful if you don’t accept a free thing.

Also, while we're on the topic of furniture, Castle making the quip about the “dumpster chairs” reminded me of Ryan and Esposito talking about the red couch Ryan picked up curbside in season 1. Some people are disgusted by secondhand items (Espo, and apparently Castle, too) but some not so much. It happens all the time, especially in New York City, and Castle came off like nothing but your average, highfalutin rich guy over that extra couch and all of Alexis and Pi’s current decor that they’ve picked up in various places. They seem happy with what they’ve got, and it really doesn’t look half bad. It’s actually rather clever and resourceful of them, not to mention a little more environmentally friendly. Ever used the site Freecycle? I sure have. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure; isn’t that how the saying goes? It just doesn’t fit in with Castle’s personal ideals for what he wants for his daughter, and so there we have the issue escalating more and more with how he dislikes Pi and where Alexis is at with her life right now.

Additionally on the issue of money, an argument floating around that I particularly dislike (perhaps because I’ve seen it play out far too often amongst my own peers and their parents) regarding Castle and Alexis is that if Castle has been paying for his daughter’s expenses and education, that gives her absolutely no right to defy him in any way. I could not disagree more. Money does not equal control. If you choose not to support your adult child because they aren’t following your ideals, that’s well within your right. But just because you’ve been paying their way doesn’t mean that you get to call all the shots in how they choose to live their life. And it doesn’t mean that Alexis should suffer censorship, unallowed to have her disagreements with her dad and voice them accordingly as most teenagers (and adults!) do in such circumstances. Doesn't make it acceptable, but it doesn't make it outside of the ordinary or something totally unforgivable, either, when voices get raised or words are exchanged that aren’t so pretty. It’s human. She’s human, not some perfect, programmable robot incapable of losing control.

And honestly, when it comes down to it, it’s not like she’s running around dealing drugs and getting herself into trouble. As far as we know, she’s still excelling at Columbia and out there trying to do good in the world with her extracurricular activities. She’s a good, smart kid, but even the smart ones can make dumb decisions sometimes. My mother has always said that smart people can sure lack a lot of common sense (fun fact: she usually says this about me. Thanks, Mom.) But maybe that's Alexis' issue. She's got the book smarts, but when it comes to the rest of it, some areas could use some improvement and much more time to mature and grow. I'm not of the opinion that Castle's parenting turned Alexis into a self-entitled, spoiled brat throwing a tantrum when she doesn’t get her way, nor do I feel like this is Alexis simply just being a bratty teenage girl. The situation is a little more complex than that. Castle's an excellent father and he raised a great kid. They’re just going through a thing (much like last year when she moved into the dorms) and reacting according to how their different personalities dictate them to.

On the topic of personalities, I recall a real-life story from last year about a college student having to have a restraining order put on her own parents because they started stalking her at school due to having disagreements about how she was conducting herself away from home. And this was even though she was an excellent student. If I recall correctly, they monitored her cellphone and computer use, and would make unannounced trips to check up on her. Eventually, even the school got fed up with it, and when the parents cut off her tuition when she stopped speaking to them, the school gave her a scholarship to cover her senior year.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying Castle’s gone extreme stalker-mode or anywhere close to that level whatsoever, but it reminded me of how Castle crossed the line a few seasons back when he tracked Alexis’ phone via GPS to figure out where she was at (something she was quite upset over.) What I’m getting at here is that sometimes parents—Castle included—have a freakout at the first sign of even minimal danger or potential trouble brewing, and then they become that parent insistent upon sheltering their kid from the big, scary world. Castle’s gradually been transitioning from the “cool dad”, who used to encourage his daughter to go out and be a little wild, to being the anxious dad who is steadily becoming more and more protective and overbearing, and taking issue with it every time she experiments with the world around her or does something crazy and unexpected of her. Everything that years ago he was supposedly welcoming her to do with open arms is now being met with strong opposition, and naturally she’s had some choice words and angry reaction to it. He has his reasons and they aren’t without value (the trouble her vlog brought along in “Target”/”Hunt” comes to mind) but one could argue that he dug himself a hole. You can’t say one thing, take it back and not expect some backlash from a highly opinionated teenager, especially if you choose to address the situation in the way that Castle has been.

He has sound, valid reasons to feel upset in regards to Pi and Alexis. I’m not saying he doesn’t. Pi was a horrible house guest, and Alexis never should have moved him in without consent, nor continued to allow her boyfriend to be a household nuisance. Castle had every right to put his foot down and want to kick the guy out, but as far as dealing with Alexis and trying to get through to her, he’s been going about it in all the wrong ways with the passive-aggressiveness, the insults, and trying to herd her in the direction that he feels is right for her. That’s not how you teach your kid anything. It’s how you piss them off and alienate them—a lesson he learned very quickly in episode six.

And now let’s look at Alexis because no, she’s not an innocent party in any of this and she’s been doing her share of screwing up as well for reasons that are just as understandable to me as Castle’s.

“Get a Clue” was the first time that it’s ever been addressed and hinted at that she’s acting out and trying to punish her dad due to hurt feelings over his proposal to Beckett. For whatever reason, she found out about Castle and Beckett’s engagement through a phone call with Martha while she was still in Costa Rica. This could mean that Martha jumped the gun in her own excitement and that Castle intended to but never got the chance to tell her on his own, but I don’t see this as the root of the issue at all. I think the most important issue here, and perhaps what we should really be looking at as the source of Alexis’ hurt feelings, is the lack of communication between father and daughter before it even got to the point of Castle proposing to Beckett.

Castle says, “It just happened,” in regards to the proposal, and that speaks to me that he didn’t have the forethought to approach his daughter and discuss wanting to propose in the first place. You know, something along the lines of, “Hey, Pumpkin. I really love Beckett, I think she’s the one and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I want to ask her to marry me. What do you think? How do you feel about that?” It seems like he just went with the flow of the moment of what was going on at the time, and he grabbed that ring and popped the question. And that’s very in-character for Castle. He’s an impulsive guy prone to tunnel vision when it comes to his partner in crime. It’s a very human thing to do, especially under those circumstances. We can’t always see the big picture or all the potential consequences of our actions beforehand when emotions are running high.

And this is the part where I can relate to Alexis. I’ve been there. I know what it’s like to feel like you’re on the outside of a new family being created, and not having your thoughts or feelings considered when it comes to your parent taking that next step for everyone’s future. Because it’s not just Castle and Beckett riding off into the sunset here. We’ve got two families merging, and unlike Beckett, Castle’s got a kid to consider. She might be an adolescent child, but that doesn’t mean her opinion doesn’t matter or that she doesn’t deserve to be involved. She’s still his kid and this is still going to be her family. If you don’t involve your kids in important aspects of your life, especially in regards to the person you’re planning on spending the rest of your life with, then there are going to be resentments and hurt feelings, and those can last for years, if not a lifetime, particularly if you consider yourself very close to that parent like Castle and Alexis are.

It’s been some time since I last brought it up, but many moons ago I wrote a piece on Alexis in regards to Castle and Beckett’s blossoming relationship, and how Alexis doesn’t see what we, the audience, see. She’s not there at every crime scene. She isn’t with them at the 12th Precinct. Alexis doesn’t see everything that they go through together as partners, and she certainly has not witnessed some of the most challenging and important developmental stages of Castle and Beckett’s relationship over the last five seasons. And Castle probably doesn’t come right out and discuss them with his daughter like he has been with his mother on most occasions. And that’s normal. Who are you going to discuss your love life with, your parent or your kid?

Alexis has pretty much been very outside the Castle-Beckett bubble over the years. In the beginning, she would see Castle running off to the precinct like an excited little boy every time the phone rang with a body drop. Then, presumably, she saw her father kicked to the curb after he poked and prodded where his nose shouldn’t have been in Johanna Beckett’s case. It was apparent that she got clued in early on to his budding feelings even without him disclosing them, but then she might’ve seen him get his heart broken a couple times, and watched his rekindled relationship with an ex-wife blow up again for essentially the same Beckett-related reasons. She’s seen him spend a miserable three months alone after witnessing him very nearly take a bullet for his partner (something we all got to see her strong reaction to) and maybe she saw the fallout when Castle regressed again to being a miserable jerk, wallowing in his anger and hurt feelings after realizing he’d been lied to.

Oh, hey. Castle and Alexis both become petty, disrespectful people, lashing out immaturely with passive-aggressiveness and insults when they’re hurt and angry. Imagine that. Like father, like daughter, indeed!

But does that make it acceptable? Of course not.

She may have been on the outside of the bubble the last few years, but now things are progressing to a much deeper level, and she needs to be included. And instead of letting her hurt and anger get the best of her, she should be voicing what the problem is, not punishing her father when he has absolutely no reason why (Hmm, doesn’t that sound familiar, too?)

I’m not condoning her behavior any more than I’m condoning Castle’s. It’s definitely not acceptable of Alexis to disrespect her father or take over his house, flaunting around a new boyfriend that she knows will drive him crazy, and making it a point to continue to create opportunities to drive him crazy. That was very immature of her, especially since she knows her father. He has zero patience for the kind of person Pi is, and Castle’s the kind of guy that is just a big softy and will sit back and take whatever is dished at him, floundering all the while to find a way to make everything better again when someone is mad at him (like offering to buy Beckett a pony, the ridiculous man.)

But then, I don’t see this behavior to be as out of character for Alexis as some do. She’s been known to lose her cool before. She’s got a fiery side to her that gets a little wild. Some examples: She went after Josh in the hospital during “Rise” and had to be held back by Ryan; she snapped at her dad about going back to the precinct after everything that had happened with Beckett being shot, and snapped again at Beckett during “Cops and Robbers” when Castle and Martha were trapped in the bank. And remember that time she got in a physical fight with her friend Lauren in “Slice of Death”? Alexis is no saint, and even all those years ago, she recognized that her anger makes her act illogically.

Castle: What were you thinking?

Alexis: I don't know. This isn't me. I don't crash parties. I don't get in fights with people. But, dad, she made me so angry.
That’s Alexis. It’s a layer we don’t see often, but it’s a layer that has always been there. Castle and Meredith’s daughter isn’t this perfect kid without flaws. And that’s just it: she’s still a kid. She’s still growing, she’s learning, and she’s exhibiting teenage behaviors that are true to life. Maybe not for every kid, but then not every kid is the same. It doesn’t mean she should be allowed to get away with it, but it’s still far from unforgivable.

Now, as far as Beckett is concerned in all of this, I don’t think for a minute that Alexis hates Beckett. On the contrary, I think there’s a mutual respect and fondness there between them, but it’s still a rather distant thing. We know that Alexis believes Beckett’s “over the moon” for Castle, and she stuck up for Beckett during the Vaughn fiasco in “The Squab and the Quail”, which also featured another bout of Castle lashing out like the immature jackass he sometimes is, and toward Beckett no less. Need I remind you all how irritated that made me last season?

But that’s what some people do when they’re hurting or anxious. Castle gets sarcastic when he’s nervous. He said so much in “Number One Fan”, right? People do stupid things and they don’t think straight. Go figure that once he gets the communication thing right with Beckett, he gets completely screwed over with it with Alexis. Alexis gets hurt, she lashes out, Castle bites back, and then he’s fumbling to fix everything. And I think Alexis knows how much Beckett means to Castle, and vice versa. Saying that whole, “I don’t know if it’s a good idea or if she’s really the one,” that’s just a cheap shot on her part. That’s more lashing out in anger and saying things she doesn’t really mean because her whole game of punishing Dad blew right up in her face and now she’s really hurt and angry because of how he treated Pi and insulted the both of them.

And as for the “comparison of Pi to Beckett” with Alexis at the end of the episode, I didn’t interpret it that way. I think it’s obvious that she has some feelings for Pi and that she’s invested in pursuing this romance, despite what everyone else might think of it. And Castle’s attitude towards Pi is hurtful to her, as evidenced by her anger. Should it have been expected? Absolutely. But this circles back to how we don’t always see the big picture and consequences. If she wanted Castle to take her relationship with Pi seriously, she should have handled the situation seriously, and not immaturely used Pi as a weapon against her dad. First impressions are everything. Castle’s definitely been judging a book by its cover when it comes to Pi, but perhaps things would have been different had they met under different circumstances and not immediately got off on the wrong foot. If Alexis wasn’t going out of her way to bring Pi home and let him run amok so that he’d drive her father up the wall, and she instead actually took the time to tell her dad how she feels about him, what she sees in him, etc., allowing Castle and those of us viewers to see what she sees in him, maybe our opinions of the guy might have been different. A little. Or maybe not. Who knows? Everyone is an individual. There’s no pleasing us all.

But back to Beckett and Alexis, I really don’t think Beckett herself is the issue here at all. I’ve yet to see or notice any inclination of animosity towards Beckett since “Cops and Robbers” and that was two years ago as of Halloween. If anything, Alexis is upset because she doesn’t know where she stands in her dad’s life anymore. She might be feeling like she’s on the sidelines, and everyone is moving on toward this happy future together without her. And it seems like Beckett feels the same way when it comes to Castle-Alexis bubble, if “Like Father, Like Daughter” is any indication. This makes them shy away from each other. If Alexis truly hated Beckett, she would probably have no problem directing that hatred at her. But instead, she’s just keeping her distance, much like Beckett is with her. They don’t really have a bond, and they’re still unsure about one another. I do believe Alexis when she says she accepts Beckett though, and I can also believe that she really likes Pi and wants her father to accept him, or in the very least would eventually like him to see what she sees. She’s been going about it all wrong up to this point, of course, but not allowing Castle in the apartment, not accepting his apology right away and asking for some time? That sounded like a reasonable and (finally!) mature request to me. They definitely needed some time to cool off, gather their wits and deal with the situation without all the passive-aggressiveness and hurt feelings driving their actions or words.

Alexis’ plans to punish Castle backfired when all it did was turn her father against everything she’s doing in her life, just as his plans to try and persuade her to reconsider this relationship have all resulted in her clinging even more strongly to it—something Beckett once warned him about several seasons ago, as she herself did the same thing in her wild child days with her own boyfriends and father.

When it comes down to it, it’s not an issue of whether Castle or Alexis were right or wrong. Both sides were hurting, and both sides were acting out. Alexis may be a legal adult, but she’s still a 19-year-old kid with a lot of growing up to do. She’s branching out, exploring the world and, to borrow a phrase from Beckett, “kids try on personalities the way they try on clothes.” Earlier this year, she was kidnapped and held captive by a guy who intended to kill her if her mysterious CIA grandfather didn’t meet his demands. This summer, she decided to push past her traumas and fears and go to Costa Rica, where she found a guy she likes. A guy who apparently makes her pretty happy, and who she’s clearly comfortable enough with to choose to move in together. We really don’t know yet all that she sees in Pi, or how they connected while abroad. They seem like quite the odd couple, but you know what? So did Castle and Beckett. Even Beckett made the comparison of Castle to Pi early in the episode when Castle says, “It’s as though he’s turned being a charming man-child into a career.” Beckett couldn’t stand Castle, couldn’t even fathom the possibility of being with a nine-year-old on a sugar rush who semi-stalked her for a living, and yet here we are with them getting married. They don’t exactly work on paper, and they’re well aware of that fact, but they still work. Maybe Alexis and Pi’s relationship is to be taken as somewhat in the same vein. Or maybe it is simply just going to be a phase. It’s a little early to tell, but either way, Alexis has to experience it for herself before she knows for sure if it’s what’s right for her.

Maybe the comparison we should be looking at here though isn’t Pi to Beckett, but Castle to Pi. Beckett said years ago that girls go after guys who remind them of their fathers. Does Alexis see some Castle-esque qualities in Pi that we just haven’t seen on-screen yet? There’s some food for thought.

“Get a Clue” ended on a rather somber note, but I really loved how things were patched up again in “Like Father, Like Daughter”. It brought about an opportunity for not only Castle and Alexis to reconcile, but for the entire group to get together and support Castle’s daughter, cementing that ever-growing bond of friendship and family between them all. Beckett, Lanie, Ryan and Esposito were all hands on deck, and Alexis isn’t stupid. She saw how they all had her back in spite of everything going on recently with her dad, even when she never approached some of them for assistance in the first place. Because that’s what families do. Like Lanie said, perfect families don’t exist. People argue and fight, and they hurt each other—but that doesn’t mean you don’t still care, or that you’re without remorse. Alexis apologizes for her behavior, and she gives thanks where thanks is due. Beckett gave father and daughter some space and encouraged Castle to work things out, and she supported both of them along the way in whatever capacity she could—something that Alexis recognizes in the end. I still wish we had gotten some dialogue in that last scene, but it’s presented to us from Castle’s perspective, showing how there’s hope yet of a Beckett-Alexis bubble forming that even he’s not a part of. That’s saying something considering Castle always tried to put a wall around Alexis, according to ex-wife Gina. Beckett’s made it inside a lot further than she realizes.

I loved that, like Alexis, Beckett’s shown to also be feeling like she’s on the outside of the Castle-Alexis bubble. Yup, blended families are a tricky thing. But this storyline can be so beneficial and has so much potential for the future now. There’s opportunity for some Beckett-Alexis bonding, which is so very necessary with moving forward. Beckett’s so used to being alone. She has her dad and her “immediate family” at work, but that’s been it. They never spent holidays together after her mother’s death, and for the longest time, Beckett was all about the job. Her life was dedicated to the mission, to seeking justice and honoring the victims. For a while there, I don’t think she thought that marriage and having a family was still in the cards for her. But now she’s planning a wedding and a life together with this guy she’s absolutely in love with. And that’s huge, and it’s complicated, because he already has his own family. He’s got a grown kid, and neither she nor Alexis really know where they fit in with the other just yet. Beckett can never be a mother figure to Alexis, nor should she, but she can be a great friend to turn to and a positive female role model to look up to as well. They just have to figure out this new dynamic and forge that bond. This is why it’s so important that Beckett needs to be included in the Castle-Alexis bubble just as much as Alexis needs to be included in Castle and Beckett’s plans for the future. This new family—the whole “yours, mine and ours” thing—will never work out otherwise.

And seriously, Alexis is giving off the Johanna Beckett vibes. Johanna Beckett was murdered because of her work with the Justice Initiative and trying to exonerate an innocent man—something that is exactly what Alexis set out to do in this very episode. If Alexis were to pursue a career in law, criminology, civil rights, etc., and make it her own mission to seek justice and the truth (just like Beckett’s mother did) that would be the perfect avenue for the girls to bond and create a little bubble of their own. Who better a career role model for a young woman seeking truth and justice than Kate Beckett? Wishful thinking maybe, but not so much of a stretch.

I know the inclusion of more Alexis this season, especially pertaining to her taking a lead role for part of it, has become quite a controversial thing amongst the fan base, but I do think we could all benefit from trying to keep an open mind about it. Our showrunner and writers have a plan, and they always set these story arcs up well in advance for a reason. The Castle and Alexis drama may be at a close for now, but there’s still bound to be complications ahead, though perhaps not as heated. And the drama itself, though aggravating, clearly has the intention of bringing characters closer together and forming a stronger family bond. Unfortunately, every episode can only contain so much content and we don’t always get all the pieces of the puzzle at once. My main gripe on this arc is how drawn out it was, how long it took for them to confirm that Alexis was lashing out because of the proposal, and all of the other missing information and elements regarding the proposal itself like how long Castle had that ring before popping the question. Ah, well...it might not be how I like it, but I understand some things have to be cut and there isn’t time for everything.

There’s been a recurring theme of children, marriage and the future ahead in just about every single episode this season. Castle’s been through two marriages so far, and he has a grown daughter. We have to see the potential complications of that brought to the surface and addressed before we can see Castle and Beckett getting their happily ever after, because otherwise it’s inorganic. It’s just not real nor believable for them to proceed full-speed ahead without hashing everything else out first. So, if it’s meant to give us a happy, satisfying conclusion to their story, I say bring on the drama. I’m looking forward to seeing what lies ahead.

And there you have it. It took me over a week to write it all down and get it out there, but those are my thoughts and opinions on the situation. Not quite a review, more like an excruciatingly long rambling analysis (kudos if you made it this far) and hopefully it’s not as all over the place as it feels like it is to me. I know my view of the Castle/Alexis situation tends to sits amongst the unpopular opinion [cue nervous grin] so please be kind with your feedback.

Side note: I really regret that I haven’t been able to keep up with review writing this season and devoting as much time to “Castle” things in general, but other work and obligations keep getting in the way, unfortunately. Hopefully this will change before we head into springtime! I get the feeling I’m going to have lots of stuff I’ll be wanting to write about come then.

Tal como avisé, lo iré haciendo a pedazos

Serie 'Castle ': Uniendo las burbujas burbujas de familia e impulsar el Caskett

Atención ¡opinión impopular!: Esto no es una revisión de capítulo. Esto es un análisis extenso relativo a toda la controversia de Castñe, Alexis y Pi que dio paso a “Like Father, Like DAughter” (De tal palo, tal astilla). Si estás harto de ese tema de la programa, te aconsejo desde ya clicar el botón de retroceso de tu navegador. Si no, por favor continúa leyendo con la mente abierta. No voy a predicar otro evangelio aquí, sólo lanzar estos pensamientos míos, como siempre.

Las familias reconstruidas (padres con hijos de otras parejas anteriores) puede ser un asunto complicado. A veces todos encajan maravillosamente, todas las partes se llevan bien, y todo es azúcar y arco iris de colores con un final feliz para siempre. Y si eso ocurre, o eres un personaje de cuento de hadas o esa familia es muy, muy, muy afortunada. Siendo realistas, y muchas veces con más frecuencia que no, están estos periodos cuando las cosas va mal, una variable no se tiene en cuenta , y/o una situación se manejó mal porque todos somos personas imperfectas con fallos muy reales. Somos humanos. Enredamos las cosas, como en nuestra naturaleza. Y a veces alguien, o incluso varias personas, se lastiman en el proceso.

Esa es la perspectiva que recibo de ver todas las escenas en las que Castle y Alexis están involucrados desde el inicio de esta temporada de "Castle". Cuando se llega a ésto, ambos están metiendo la pata, ambos están dañados y se dañan el uno al otro, y ambos están pasando por algo que muchos padres divorciados con hijos tienen que enfrentarse cara a cara en algún momento en su vida: casarse de nuevo, y todo lo que han conocido hasta ahora cambiar y reorganizarse para un futuro que quizá no se mire de la misma forma a través de distintos ojos. Porque, ¿cómo se podría? Uno no ve todo lo que el otro ve, ni experimentan las mismas cosas que el otro hace.

No es agradable de ver como espectador, pero es algo que es real, y es algo que también puedo verme reflejado a nivel personal, lo cual hace probablemente por qué he sido un poco más abierto a esto y no he tenido una reacción tan fuerte a la historia que muestran. Es frustrante a ciencia cierta, pero éste no sería la primera vez que se ha presentado un escenario tan frustrante en la serie (enseguida viene a la mente la angustia del final de la temporada 4) y sin duda no será la última. Pero, definitivamente, fundamentada en la base de la realidad, dada la tasa de divorcios actuales en los Estados Unidos. Quiero decir, la tercera es la vencida para Castle, ¿cierto? Él y su hija ya han pasado por dos matrimonios y sus disoluciones, por razones aún no se han descubierto, pero volveremos a eso en un momento. Por ahora, vamos a centrarnos en donde todo el mundo está metiendo la pata, y finalmente, ¿por qué todo este drama familiar en realidad puede ser un desarrollo beneficioso para la historia a el largo plazo para todos los personajes involucrados .

Todo era bastante divertido y cómico de ver entre el Castle, Alexis y Pi hasta la semana pasada. Al menos lo fue para mí. Luego sentí un montón de problemas con el comportamiento de Castle en la escena inicial de "Get a Clue". Ahora, antes de que agarréis las antorchas y horcas y me condenéis como un defensor de Alexis atacando injustamente a Castle cuando Alexis también ha estado comportándose mal, permítanme explicar por qué he tenido problemas con el comportamiento de nuestro querido escritor. Está totalmente en su derecho a tener sus discrepancias en lo que se refiere a Pi, y no está necesariamente equivocado con ellos. Pi es un extraño. Es un espíritu libre, aparentemente carente de normas sociales o de cortesía, y todo lo que hemos visto de él hasta ahora está haciéndonos querer gritar a Alexis que corra en dirección opuesta, porque nos sentimos como que ella se merece a alguien con un poco más de modales, ambición y mucho menos del estilo de vida neo-hippie (también, sin el bigote de estrella de porno que lleva encima. Ew.) Cualquier padre con media neurona no querría que su hija de 19 años se mudara con un tipo extraño que conoció durante un viaje de cinco semanas en Costa Rica a su casa, y se opondría mucho más en mudarse a vivir juntos a su propia casa, tan sólo un pequeño tiempo después. Pero la forma en que Castile está manejando sus sentimientos y abordando la situación está haciendo nada más que lo contrario de lo que a él le gustaría lograr.

Traducido hasta…
But the way Castle’s handling his feelings and approaching the situation is doing nothing but the opposite of what he’d like to achieve.

la vrdd que si, me gusto este articulo