An engagement or a pregnancy.
Thank God she’s not pregnant, because I don’t think there’s any way they could have pulled that off successfully. Not to mention the fact that I would have been really upset.
But the proposal - I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised at the way the writers pulled it off. And while I was initially a confused jumble of thoughts, now that I’ve had time to think, I realize that it was the perfect way to end the season. And I’m actually really glad that’s the story AWM chose to tell.
Think about it: Castle and Beckett have never communicated well. Secrets and lies and misunderstandings are something they’ve struggled with way back since the beginning, all the way back to when Castle dug into her mother’s case. And just because they’re in a relationship doesn’t mean these issues are going to magically disappear. They’re human (okay, they’re characters, but still…), and they’re flawed, and old habits die hard. Love doesn’t make those issues go away. If anything, it amplifies them, because now there’s so much more at stake. But at the same time, love can make the underlying issues seem less important. Because if you’re happy together, then what else matters, right? So things like this have a way of being glossed over until it all blows up in your face.
And this is exactly the situation they’ve put themselves in throughout the course of this season, even way back in the beginning. Castle let Christina Koterra kiss him, because he and Kate hadn’t bothered to define their relationship. Castle assumed that Kate didn’t believe in him in Probable Cause, because they didn’t actually talk about it. He flew to Paris without telling her (I’m not saying he shouldn’t have gone, just that he should have included her), because he thought she’d try to stop him. Their trust in each other has been shaky lately, both due to Castle’s reluctance to open up to her about the ‘Jordan’ issue and Kate kissing Vaughn (which probably arose at least in part because he nudged her in the direction of thinking about her future, which was something she and Castle hadn’t talked about). Kate considered the job because, again, she didn’t know where her relationship with Castle was headed. And, as we saw last night, she was afraid to ask, afraid of his answer. He doesn’t want to push her too fast. She’s afraid he doesn’t want more in the same way she does. So neither one ever broaches the topic.
“Watershed” is a study in opposing forces. There are those who talk about how incredible this job opportunity is for Beckett and there is Castle inadvertently reminding her how incredible they are together. If there’s a single image from the show that can best represent this episode, it would be the moment when Beckett tosses out the coffee that Castle gave her the day before and it splashes violently across the divide of the sink, dashing both sides of the sink with the symbolic imagery.
This is the divide, a branching of choices that will change everyone’s lives for better or worse. (See what I did there?)
“Watershed” is perhaps the most introspective episode we’ve ever gotten. Interestingly, for an episode so heavily centered on where Castle and Beckett’s relationship is going, a large bulk of the significant progress occurs during conversations with their respective confidantes. I’m going to walk through this nearly scene for scene because this is one of those rare episodes where almost every moment is significant.
CHERYL, PLEASE, I’M SORRY. YOU KNOW I DIDN’T MEAN IT. JUST LET ME IN AND WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS.
…
CHERYL, HONEY. COME ON. I LOVE YOU. YOU’RE BEING UNREASONABLE.
…
THIS IS A SILLY ARGUMENT, FOR WHICH I’VE APOLOGIZED, AND THE LONGER I’M OUT HERE THE HIGHER THE RISK I’M DEVOURED BY AN INSECTIVOROUS PREDATOR.
…
SERIOUSLY, CHERYL, IT’S GETTING DARK. YOU’VE MADE YOUR POINT.
…
… CHERYL?
… PLEASE?
| — | Fred Rogers (via aplacetomakeyourstand) |
