Joy D’Angelo: I never watched FIREFLY. In fact, I’d never heard of it until I’d been watching CASTLE for a while. It was the summer of 2010 and the first CASTLE episode I saw was “The Mistress Always Spanks Twice.” I laughed, a lot. Richard Castle was a fun, charming, smart, but slightly inept, metrosexual guy, and Kate Beckett… was pretty much everything I wished I could be. She was smart, athletic, fun, sassy, sexy – yet restrained, compassionate – and she clearly had the hots for Castle, even though she wouldn’t admit it. The second episode I saw was “Suckerpunch.” Even though I’m straight, that’s when I fell for Kate Beckett. This show was different because no one was rescuing Kate Beckett. I hadn’t been so into a character since Sarah Michelle Gellar played Buffy on BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER.
I proceeded to get the first season on DVD and watched seasons one and two so that I’d be ready for season three. I still had no idea who these actors were. But then CASTLE went to Comic Con! I was all over those Comic Con interviews, because, well, like most people I was hoping someone would let something slip about Castle and Beckett.
Instead, I got quite impressed with Stana Katic. She was light, and fun, but… really smart. It came out when she’d start to talk about the construction of her character’s thoughts and how that fit into what was going on with the show.
The more I read up on Katic, the more interesting she became. Like, how many languages did she speak? Four, five…? And what was up with this “Alternative Travel Project” thing I was hearing about? I admired her for framing things in a way that would encourage people to take small steps towards cutting back on car use and seeing how those little things would make a difference. She was also doing charity work with the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. This was a woman who was talented, beautiful, and whom in every interview seemed to be intent on listening to each question and thoughtful in her answers. When she talked about working as an actress or old movies, you could tell she had a real passion for the work she did, but she also talked about things like going to India to be reminded of what really mattered in life.
I suppose I’m making these comments about Katic, because I love the work she does as Beckett on Castle, but I also admire the actress herself. Beckett’s journey was, of course, crafted by Andrew Marlowe (I won’t discuss season eight, because Marlowe had nothing to do with the total disregard for Beckett’s character arc that’s occurred) but Katic brought the character to life in a way that made Kate feel like a real person. When she breaks down in the therapist’s office, and says, “I want to be more than who I am” – you know that place she’s talking about. It’s a moment of raw vulnerability that I think everyone has felt at one time or another – but perhaps has never been able to express so clearly. Katic, as Kate Beckett, did that and drew the viewer both into Beckett’s pain – while shining a light on our own hidden thoughts.
ABC may think the show can carry on without Kate Beckett but, from where I stand, without Kate Beckett there’s no point to the show. A writer and his muse…the muse is the inspiration. Without Beckett there’s nothing inspiring about ABC’s CASTLE.