My View of Castle

© by Gerald So | geraldso.blogspot.com | 5:00 A.M.

Last week, ABC canceled the Nathan Fillion-Stana Katic police procedural Castle after eight seasons. Though the show had been on the bubble the last few seasons, canceling it now surprised me because, despite Stana Katic and Tamala Jones being let go, Nathan Fillion, Jon Huertas, and Seamus Dever had signed deals to return for another season.

I'm a Fillion fan from Firefly and have been a crime fiction fan since 1993, so you'd think Castle would be in my wheelhouse. I enjoyed similar shows—Monk, Bones, and Psych—but for me Castle started on too light a note to become very serious. And some episodes wanted to get dead serious. The longer series go, the less I expect them to maintain a single tone. Part of longevity is changing with the times. If a show's tone changes, though, I'm more willing to watch a serious show become lighter than a light show become more serious.

In case Castle was canceled, an extra scene was filmed to provide closure. The finale goes from Castle and Beckett holding hands after being shot to seven years later having happy family time. The abrupt shift couldn't be helped with the timing of ABC's decision, but it leaves me with the mixed feelings I've always had about the series.

As highly as I think of Firefly, Castle proved Nathan Fillion could lead a show for years. Meanwhile, Stana Katic's Beckett was the core of the show, the character who most influenced the audience's feelings about events and other characters. She would have been difficult to replace.

Darwyn Cooke Dies

© by Gerald So | geraldso.blogspot.com | 1:00 P.M.

Just this past Thursday, I heard Darwyn Cooke was battling an aggressive form of cancer. Word broke early this morning he had died.

I discovered and enjoyed Cooke's work with the Warner Bros. cartoons Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series, but The New Frontier comics run means the most to me. Bridging the Golden and Silver Ages, Cooke presented the most compelling portrait of Hal Jordan to date, heavily likening Hal to American hero Chuck Yeager.

Evoking the era of unabashedly good-natured heroes, The New Frontier helped me remember why I first admired them. I can say the same about Javier Grillo-Marxuach's Middleman comics and TV series, so I wasn't surprised at Javi's tweet:

when matt keeslar was cast as "the middleman" i gave him a copy of darwyn cooke's "the new frontier", told him it was all he needed to know.

— javi (@OKBJGM) May 14, 2016

Rest in peace.

Robert B. Parker's Slow Burn signing by Ace Atkins at The Mysterious Bookshop

© by Gerald So | geraldso.blogspot.com | 7:30 P.M.

Through yesterday's persistent drizzle, fellow Spenser fan John Ricotta and I attended the Mysterious Bookshop launch of Ace Atkins's fifth Spenser continuation novel.

The title particularly resonates because, through five books, Atkins has moved carefully but clearly from capturing Parker's characters to updating them. Many of Parker's biggest fans approve because, for my money, Atkins is the most knowledgeable, most respectful fan of all.

Photo by John Ricotta

I knew Ace originally signed a three-book contract that was extended for two books, bringing us to Slow Burn. So, to cap off the Q&A, I asked (slightly anxious) if his contract had been extended again. And indeed it has, for two more books. Breathe.

Along with Slow Burn, I bought Unloaded, a collection of gun-less crime stories, with proceeds benefiting States United to Prevent Gun Violence. I also bought Everyone Pays, a new psychological thriller by my friend and podcasting pioneer Seth Harwood. There's a signing for Unloaded today, and for Everyone Pays Friday. I regret I can't make either one, but you should go.