Rule 32: Enjoy the little things in life.

theindiegeek on: Heat Wave by Richard Castle

I recently had the pleasure of reading Mr. Castle’s new book, entitled Heat Wave.  And I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Good to know that old Rick Castle hasn’t lost it.  Heat Wave is a very nice read.  Fast paced, flows very well,  just enough plot twists to have your head spinning and very likable characters;  it’s well worth reading, and perhaps then reading again.

I have to be honest, after offing Derrik Storm, I wondered if Castle’s future books could reclaim that sense of awe and trill that made him the Master of the Macabre.  But have no fear, my friends.  Nikki Heat’s just as thrilling as Derrik.  Different, perhaps, but still excellent.  She’s the kind of cop you want on your side, and really not the other way around.  Dangerous, smart, gorgeous, and relentless, she is a hound that sticks with the case until it’s solved.

Now I know that we all know that Castle’s been following (or is pestering perhaps the right word…) one of NYPD’s finest detectives.  Personally, I’m not sure what to think about having a writer on hand at crime scenes, mucking things up, but if this it what comes out of it, and as long as the bad guys still get behind bars, I’m all for it.  Still you have to admit it’s a bit odd.

One thing that’s always made me wonder about Mr. Castle, and that’s his uncanny resemblancethat one actor guy.  Y’know, the one in Firefly.  No, not Alan Tudyk.  Not Adam Baldwin.  Yes, Nathan Fillion. That’s him.  Always thought the similarities in appearance was a bit eerie.  Someday I’ll have to ask either of them about it.

But back to the book.  Please buy it, borrow it, steal it, whatever you have to do, just read it.  It’s well worth the time.

theindiegeek on:  Nathan Fillion/Castle

For those of you unfamiliar with Nathan Fillion, he’s kind of a big deal, at least in Geek and underdog circles.  He’s one of those guys who just can’t seem to get a break, despite how awesome he may be.  Fillion’s big break (in most people’s eyes) was on Joss Whedon’s Firefly, which shall be known hence forth as The Best Show That Never Was (TBSTNW).  Cancelled after only fourteen episodes, it was one of the greatest things on tv ever.  And Fox Network screwed it over.  Allow me to interrupt this blog post and say if you haven’t seen Firefly yet, stop reading to go hulu.com/firefly and watch it.  Don’t worry, the blog’ll be here.

Cast of Firefly

Watching it? Good.  Now you know who Fillion is.  The enigmatic Captain Malcolm ‘tightpants’ Reynolds.  One other thing Firefly did, besides introduce Fillion to us geeks, is it inducted him into the ‘Cult of Whedon’.  Y’know, the group of actors and actresses that Joss Whedon puts in everything? i.e. David Boreanaz, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day, Eliza Dushku. (That’s a list of pretty awesome people, come to think of it…)  Despite only having a minuscule number of episodes, Firefly managed to spawn a movie Serenity which was made of win.  After Serenity and a few cameos and small movies, Fillion was to get another shot at playing lead, this time in a show called Drive.

Drive managed to have even worse luck than Firefly, being cancelled after six episodes.  Then, in 2008, genius happened.  Most people called it the writers strike.  During this time, Joss Whedon decided to try something different.  Different and legendary.  Using a crew of mainly his family and friends, Joss created a three part musical called Doctor Horrible’s Sing Along Blog about an evil genius trying to a) get into the evil league of evil, b) defeat his nemesis, and c) win the heart of the girl of his dreams.  Filling these roles were Neil Patrick Harris (of Doogie Howser, and How I Met Your Mother fame) as the titular  Doctor Horrible, the aforementioned Felicia Day (of The Guild) as Penny, the love interest, and Fillion as Captain Hammer, the nemesis.  And it rocked.  Hardcore.  Despite being only 42 mins in length, it was very successful.

Then in 2009, something odd happened.  Fillion would once again get his own show.  Fearing a repeat, me and my friends decided to watch it, no matter what, in support of the late, great Mal Reynolds.  Having been a spaceship captain, a road racer, and a nemesis, naturally murder mystery writer came next.  A show about a writer who got bored with his bestselling character, Derrick Storm, and offs him prior to the first episode.  He then chooses a less than ideal time to get writer’s block.  To regain his inspiration, he follows around one of the men in blue, or in this case, women in blue, Detective Kate Beckett.  He follows her all throughout the day and her cases, much to her dismay.

So, will Castle follow the same fate as so many other of Fillion’s shows?  If history is any indication of the future, probably not.  While, it’s not the highest-grossing show on TV now, it has carved a nice niche.  The banter and relationship between Castle and Beckett is the highlight of the show, watching then banter, bicker and flirt, then come together to solve the case.  Fillion oozes charm, and Stana Katic plays Beckett excellently.  The rest of the cast also deserves props, from Castle’s family to the other cops at the station.  A truly remarkable cast.

Is it because he’s the underdog that people like myself keep a close eye on what Fillion’s doing?  Is it because he’s a witty, charming and intelligent guy?  Or is he just a damn fine actor who deserves better breaks?  The answer, my friend, is D) all the above.

–theindiegeek