Anyway, as the title sujests this is an opinion of mine that is not shared in any way by my friends and family, but bare with me.
Ok so you've seen Castle right?
Season four picks up from a major cliff hanger, the homicide detective, Beckett, has just been shot in the chest by a sniper somehow involved with her mom's murder. The rest of the season revolves around her recovering from this, I mean they actually show her going to therapy, and around her relationship with Castle. Oh did I forget to mention? In a fit of panic upon seeing her start dying in his arms Castle tells her that he loves her. Yes, he uses the "L" word. Gasp! And this is where my problem starts.
You see for the first few episodes Kate claims to have no memory of what happened immediately after she was shot, however you quickly find out this was a lie, she remembers everything, including Castle's profession of love. But she does nothing about it. She lets it hang there, allowing him to wallow in the purgatory of should he admit it again and risk her refusal of his advances, or keep it hidden from her but never be able to move on because of his true feelings.
When I considered this, and Beckett's obvious lack of care for Castle's feelings in the matter, I promptly told my mother (who introduced me to the show) that I viewed Castle and Beckett's relationship as an abusive one. She did not take it well, she promptly told me I was wrong and gave me that kind of half glare-half frown-half squint that clearly said "you are completely flipped."
BUT I STAND BY MY STATEMENT!!!!!!!!!
At this point in the story this is an abusive relationship, not the physical kind but an emotional one, and Beckett is the abuser. She openly avoids Castle in the beginning because she doesn't want to deal with her feelings on the matter, but gives him no explanation, making him think HE must have done something wrong. She does nothing to dissuade that opinion, instead she lets him rot in friend-zone purgatory, the worst punishment for men EVER designed by women, and all because she doesn't want to acknowledge her feelings, or even that she has any, when, for the past two seasons, it was quite obvious that she did. This isn't one of those 'I don't want to ruin my friendship' things, no, this is one of those 'I am what's most important right now, everyone else just stop feeling until I can GET OVER MYSELF!!!!!!!!!!' I hate. hate! HATE! When people do that! YOU ARE NOT THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE YOU KNOW!!!!!!!!!! Just sayin...
And to make matters even worse, she eventually lets slip to castle that she does know how he feels, but she just cant be bothered enough to care about his feelings at this point. She basically says she doesn't want to care about him right now, and she doesn't feel any regret for leading him on and torturing him like this. She was ok with it as long as her own little world didn't get thrown off balance. Castle is of course crushed, so he does what any sensible person would do, he tries to move on, but suddenly Beckett drops another bomb shell, He's not allowed to. Beckett basically throws a raging hissy fit when he tries to get over her, Apparently he has to keep taking her torture until she decides she's ready to give a _____! <---- (insert expletive here). So still in love with her, but not allowed to either admit or acknowledge his feelings Castle still tries to protect her and keep her away from the people that have it out for her. Well Beckett finds out he cut a deal to protect her, because he loves her, in a 'brilliant' moment of utter selfishness she yells at him about it. No he's not allowed to want to keep her safe, or help her on the case, or have feelings in any way, only she can have them to fuel her self-destructive anger filled quest for revenge. Yeah, real smart there Kate, can you hear me rolling my eyes?
Now here is what I like about Castle, after she does this, after an entire season of emotional abuse, after her giving him nothing but ______<-----(Insert expletive) for the past 22 episodes, Castle does exactly what Beckett thinks she wants, he leaves her to her case, takes away any input, even deletes her file off his home server, and just plain leaves her, leaves her abuse, and walks away. This is great because he doesn't cause a big scene, he doesn't go out on a low note, he just leaves, leaves her to feel exactly what he has felt coming from her for the past season, cold, emptiness, and lack of feeling there. Beckett of course comes to realize what a _____<-----(insert expletive) she was being when she almost falls of a building and calls out for Castle, only to realize she chased him away and he's not coming back for her. This, of course leads to a great scene where she shows up at his apartment and the first thing he says is "What do you want?" perfectly mirroring her emotionlessness that has up until now permeated his life. She promptly confesses her feelings , practically crying in regret, and then proceeds to make out with him, ending the season.
I do love this show, the drama, the stories, Castle's character, almost everything, Except for this relationship in season four. Yes the individual stories are good, but this just leaves a dark undertone in the episodes that makes them harder and harder to enjoy. I know for a fact there are hundreds upon hundreds of people out there who would probably disagree with me, but hey, that's cause they're not me.
