So now we are four episodes in, and I am already excited for all of the things to come from season 7! New showrunner David Amann is making waves of the best kind. The show seems tighter than it has been for the past few seasons and the chemistry both between Stana and Nathan and the supporting cast has never been better! So for any of you that were concerned with Andrew Marlowe not being at the helm, going back to the “In Marlowe We Trust” slogan, he made an awesome choice as successor! I have seen several people applauding the fact that we know more about the supporting cast in four episodes than we got to know almost all of last season! (Which I have expanded about in my past two articles!)
And now onto discussing “Child’s Play” as the first “filler” episode of the season, it was still interesting and provided us much needed commentary on how the characters are coping with the remaining feelings of Castle’s disappearance and the relief of having him back! Getting to see the “Castles” at dinner was a fun way to start the episode! And I especially loved Martha’s reaction to having to do dish duty! Subtle but oh so annoyed!
So the mysterious death of an ice cream man leads us down a road of so many twists and turns, and as the body count keeps rising it is up to our beloved “nine year old on a sugar rush” to do what he does best. Act like a second grader. With the connecting proof in hand, Castle gets placed with Mrs. Ruiz’s second grade class in hopes that he will be an unintimidating force and that one of the kids will open up to him about what they saw.
And oh how many thinly veiled parallels can be drawn from Castle’s conversation with Mrs. Ruiz??
“An experience that powerful is going to find a way to express itself and end up on the page. Even the wildest fantasies are based on a kernel of truth.”
But I am sure we will delve more into this later in the season! This episode was truly fun to watch! (Seeing Nathan Fillion interacting with kiddos is never something that I would turn down! ) So as Castle worms his way into the heart of both Mrs. Ruiz and her class, we see the students warming up to him, well at least most of them. (Jason, I’m looking at you!!) Jack and Rick storm the beaches on the playground and have a heart to heart about that really scary guy with a gun… causing Castle to think that they have indeed found their witness! Only to discover that Jack’s monsters exist on television! And hands down one of the cutest moment’s of the episode was the Castle/Emily tea party! It should be illegal for a man to look that attractive whilst wearing fairy wings and a tiara, but somehow he pulls it off! As the tea party continues, we find out that Emily has been a victim of classroom bullying, and Rick advises her to use her “inner princess power” to bring the bully down, and she does, with one solid hit to the nose! 
I cannot help but imagine Rick and little Alexis having their own daddy/daughter tea parties and fairy days! And with that as my “let’s talk about Alexis” segue…. In “Child’s Play” we see just how Alexis is coping with what happened to her father. Although it does appear weird and clingy, hey even Kate has her concerns, you do have to consider that Rick was her only constant for the first 15 years of her life, Martha was a late in the game addition, and Kate has only been around steadily for a few years. So although these women were there for her to lean on, her solid ground was shaken to the core. PTSD can and will present itself in a myriad of ways, hers just happens to be in over-attentiveness and a motherly like care of Castle. Which admittedly everyone thought was adorable in the earlier seasons. I really appreciate how this storyline was handled. Kate and Rick talked it out, Kate was able to voice her concerns over “his” daughter, which is a noted change over how he regarded Gina and Alexis’ relationship. I especially like that they were able to draw back on the “Target”/”Hunt” parallel, of Rick telling her that her feelings are normal. That he didn’t want her out of his sight when she returned. But then, he let her off the hook, explained that he was the parent and that worrying was his cross to bear, not hers. In that moment teaching her one of the hardest lessons that there is to learn, “You can’t always protect the people you love.” (Trying not to cry as I type!) To which Alexis responds with the ever perfect sentiment (of which I wholeheartedly agree!), “Being an adult really sucks!”
All gif content courtesy of ABC Studios – gif credit to drinkingcastleskoolaid
I cannot help but get excited about the prospect of “little Castle babies” with an episode like this! The ‘interrogation’ of their witness had the classic good cop/bad cop style of parenting going on, I mean who wouldn’t want to make “Jerkface” be wrong! And while I am excited for the eventual additions to the Castle family, I am going to get up on my soapbox and say that I want to see it be handled right! The writing team has handled the culmination of the Caskett relationship amazingly, we’ve not lost the things that make these characters who they are, those things have only gotten better! This is a couple that for the most part, communicate, rely on each other, respect each other’s strengths, and try to support the other’s weaknesses. I don’t want the addition of a baby or child to take away from what make them, them. I don’t want to see an “accidental pregnancy” storyline, only because I don’t think that is in line with who the characters are. And too many times those oops moments are used in a comedic way, which undermines what it means to be becoming a parent. I want them to be ready, and if the way things are going this season, I have faith in our extraordinary writing staff!
So all in all, I liked the episode! It was a fantastic use of a filler episode to flesh out some residual issues and it was great to have another Castle/Alexis focused ep and what a joy this time that Beckett was actively involved!
Sorry that this is being posted so late, life got hectic! I will strive to be a little more judicious with my time next week! However, I would still love to hear your theories, questions, and comments about the episode! Drop a line in the comments or reach me on Twitter @camifaith_fn and on tumblr at drinkingcastleskoolaid.tumblr.com!
Be sure to tune in tomorrow, Monday, October, 27 starting at 10/9 central for 07.05 – “Meme Is Murder” – I will once again be livetweeting the episode and would love to have people join in! This episode looks especially creepy! Cannot wait to see where Richard Castle’s new foray into more social media will lead!
