TV is the New Reading

ABC's 'Castle' is a rock star

I can't remember the last big name book-signing I witnessed that featured all the hype and ballyhoo of red carpets, champagne bars, klieg lights and celebrities, and it's hard to imagine one featuring quite so much cleavage. Even major releases seem mostly to involve dampened librarians in parking lots.

But such is the draw of Richard Castle, not so much a murder mystery writer as he is a rock star, and everyone he encounters is a huge fan -- including Det. Kate Beckett, the young, beautiful homicide investigator who's read all his books.

She tracks him down at his premiere party because someone is committing murders and arranging the bodies like the murders in Castle's books. He's gratified -- this is going to mean even greater notoriety for him and his work, and can he get some crime scene photos? Beckett is annoyed by his lack of empathy for the victims and feels he's a dead end, helpwise.

Castle stays involved, however, tagging along as she continues her investigation. Beckett encounters a likely suspect who is developmentally disabled and seems obsessed with Castle. Castle isn't so sure -- the solution seems far too easy -- and he pushes Beckett to keep investigating.

Reluctantly, Beckett admits he may have a point. After all, nothing about the crime scenes seems borne out by the mental instability of the suspect they nabbed, and there are some suspicious circumstances to square away.

Ultimately, Beckett realizes Castle's perspective as a writer is a useful asset. Good thing, too, because Castle is moving into her department to observe her as research for his new novel.

The dialogue and chemistry between Castle and Beckett -- played reasonably well by Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic -- is solid and seems like it will improve as the show goes forward. Monday's pilot episode had a lot of work to do in terms of setting up the story and the characters so there wasn't much room for it to feel natural yet, but there's a good basis for it. And since their interaction is going to drive the show, it seems almost unnecessary to notice Castle's extended family staying at his place, or the fact that his ex-wife is also his publisher, or even Beckett's otherwise anonymous colleagues in homicide. But as the show continues, they may get a little bit of development as well.

For now, it's a reasonably satisfying comic drama, full of bad-boy winkery from Castle and exasperation from Beckett. It's not "Remington Steele" or "Moonlighting" yet, but it might get there soon. And while it's not remotely believeable, it's no cookie-cutter murder mystery either.

"Castle" airs at 9 p.m. Mondays on ABC.

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