Even if the previous episode, Hedge Fund Homeboys, disappointed me it wasn't bad enough to make me give up on Castle. But what really convinced me to watch its fourth episode was a summary I read on Wikipedia. The investigation in the world of dirty politics sounded boring but I was definitely intrigued by Castle's novel release and his book reading where Beckett was supposed to throw him off his game. It could have be fun and interesting if it had lasted more than a few split minutes. But instead the writers decided to focus on a new murder case, new witnesses and new topic. The problem is that it wasn't new at all and dead boring, like the unknown man they found at the beginning. I couldn't care less about these characters who are not connected to the protagonists. It's character development at its worse.
I better understand now why Castle is defined as a police procedural production. They designed one role episode and only change its parameters from time to time. The problem is that it doesn't work because the recipe is not creative enough and ice cold. Stana Katic is fantastic but Kate Beckett is just too predictable. She's always upset by Richard Castle the matter what he does. Everybody likes him but her. However like one of her co-worker said it he's a charming and smart man. In fact it's one improvement compared to the previous installments, the better use of the secondary characters. Their role was still anecdotic but they helped to better understand the relationship between the beautiful female detective and the writing beast. The other thing I enjoyed was Susan Sullivan performance as Martha Rodgers, Castle's mother. In the third episode I noticed she had potential and in this episode she was the only one interested by her son's career. So without her the subject would only have been covered at the very last minute. Moreover her character is refreshing, joyful and colors the scenes with her extravagant clothes. In fact she reminds me of crazy Magda from the hilarious film There's Something About Mary. Last but not least fashion design is good in most scenes and it makes them less boring even if a beautiful shell can't save a poor contents.
However the few pros I mentioned and the tiny scenes I enjoyed couldn't hide the fact that Castle doesn't have much to offer. The patterns used by the writers are so obvious that I don't see the point of watching most season one episodes. I already know nothing will ever happen between the protagonists. I still enjoy their jokes and awkward face-offs but they're definitely not Dana Scully and Fox Mulder.