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Castle. This is a show about love, relationships, hard work, determination, the story, the mystery, the pain of human emotions, crime, remorse, friendship, family, fun and laughter. There are infinite reasons to love this show. Too many, so we can’t even grasp how strongly we love the TV-show we are fans of. Thus I feel a need to bring out at least the best of the possible reasons from best of the possible worlds.

Caskett. Castle and Beckett. These words says all about what we love and yearn to see in every episode. We, as fans are attached to the main characters of this show. Castle – the strong male character who leads the show with his wit and personality. Played by Nathan Fillion – who makes this character more and more awesome with every passing episode. At some point in the show we discover that Richard Castle isn’t the “superhero” kind of strong character, but the one who may run when the danger on sight, but his emotional depth … and hotness… is what keeps us coming back to see the show every monday night. As a balance, to add yin to the yang, there is Beckett – the strong female lead. Fearless, determined, closed. Over the years, we have seen her coming out of her shell, her protective layers have been peeled off one by one until the beautiful butterfly has emerged. She is the driving force in this show. The emotional depth Stana Katic portrays in this role only adds to the character. Beckett is our hero, our pillar to lean on. The magic those two characters create is one of the main reasons we watch this show. They are perfect together.

But sometimes, we forget that there is so much more to the show than just the main characters. Castle is one of the few shows that has very strong supporting cast. Detective Javier Esposito is brought to us by the lovely actor Jon Huertas. His character is as serious as a heart attack but at the same time, he has a heart of gold. We have only scratched the surface of what Esposito is really about. Who is he? What made him who he is. We know only bits and pieces of this beloved character, but I am sure that in the future, there will be more and more storylines waiting for him. Same goes for Kevin Ryan (Seamus Dever) who is an irreplaceable part of the team. He brings us the steady force that binds the team together, rushes them on. He is the glue for the 9-year-old-in-sugar-rush of a writer, the serious lead detective and Ryan’s ex-military partner. He is the only one in the team who has family so far. Jenny, his dear wife is as important part of the story as he is.

Their boss Gates (Penny Johnson Jerald) is the solid ground in the precinct. While the emotions go up and down in her team, she provides us with her rules and stability. Her story and her being in the precinct  is one of the main strong storylines in the show. But what do we really know about her? She has a family, but we haven’t really seen them. What is Gates like in her free time? Is she as fun as Penny Johnson Jerald? Will she be singing karaoke with Lanie & Kate when the time is right? It’s these kinds of stories we are all waiting for and anticipating as additions for the main stories.

We can’t forget Lanie Parish too. She is Kate’s best friend. When in trouble, Lanie has all the answers. Lanie is the emotional stronghold for Kate’s past, present and future and integral part of the storytelling. She is smart, she is kind, she is bossy. Why doesn’t she want to get marry? Why does she push Esposito away? Who hurt her in the past? There are questions open for the future there. From time to time, we get those little glimpses of what is going on with the character, but never enough.

While Kate has her own team to lean on, Castle has his family. His band of redheads who support him whatever he does. Okay, maybe not his mother Martha (Susan Sullivan) at all times nor his daughter Alexis (Molly Quinn), but they love him anyways. They mean the world to him, he loves them as a son/father does. But take them away from him, he wouldn’t be the same. The show wouldn’t be the same. I mean, let’s face it, how many times have Martha or Alexis solved the crime for us? Some of the cases would be unsolved, if it wasn’t for them finding answers for unanswered questions. Either intentionally or unintentionally.

With all this main and supporting cast, we tend to forget why Castle, as a TV show is there at the first place. For me, its the exceptional writing of Andrew Marlowe, who had the idea for this show. And he has executed this show with such detail and precision and with such joy. From the start, his ideas and scripts for the show have been beyond good. With a marvellous team surrounding him, he has created magic to make this all happen what we see every Monday on our TV-s. The entire group of writers who are working for the show, they deserve an applause. The continuity of story arches is really well thought through when at the same time when individual episodes are full of details and story, so they can function as standalone too. No matter if you are continuously watching the show or just picking out individual episodes – there is always a story, there is always a detail that makes sense in the long run. If we don’t get the threads they tangle in front of us while the episode airs, I am fairly sure that when a few episodes pass, we will understand how they planted the whole storyline and scattered around the season. In the end, what they tell us, it will make sense. We just have to wait and see how they execute it.

Many of the fans don’t really know what goes on behind the scenes of making of a TV-show.  For me – I don’t have much knowledge of that field as well, but I know that the whole crew works really hard to do everything for the show. That their work would be good and the fans would like it. The exceptional band of directors who have been on the show (Rob Bowman, John Terlesky, Brian Spencer, Bill Roe, not to mention Chuck Bowman, Jonathan Frakes). Every one of them brings their vision to the show and this only improves the journey for us. They have stories to tell and they see things the differently, but they bring us only the best and brightest of them.

How many of the fans know that there is two camera crews working for the show at all times? Every camera needs a special crew who can move them around and take the picture that directors are asking from them. They do the hard work for us, they capture the beauty of the actors and the stories to the film and they enable us to be part of the magic. At the same time, we can’t forget the editors (Marta Evry, Warren Bowman and many others) who are cutting the rough material down and they edit the show together. They handle all the footage the crew produces (sometimes 1-5 hours for one day, 8 days of shooting time). They have to see through all of the material and make their choices on the way. They literally bring the best bits and pieces to us.

How many of you know that Castle is not shot in New York, as it seems from the screen? I am sure that die-hard fans know that for a fact, but many of you may not know. Castle’s location scouts are amazing at finding out every nook and cranny in LA that looks like New York and together with the visual effects department, they make it seem effortlessly  like the whole show is shot and in NYC. Amazing work from the visual effect department to bringing us the essence of New York – specially the aerial shots of the skyline of New York.

Out of 8 days of shooting one episode, Castle crew spends 2-3 days on the locations, depending on the budget and the episode scripts. All the other time, the crew spends on permanent or temporary sets in the studios. The precinct and the morgue, Beckett’s apartment and Castle’s loft – they are all permanent sets and made with such care. They have thought of every detail of these sets. Every thing  in there has a meaning, every piece is in its places. While Beckett’s loft kind of projects different sides of her being (solidarity, comfort, inner struggles, passion), Castle’s loft is all about warmth and professionalism, and well, sometimes for fun things as Laser tag and poker. The morgue is just awesome, with all the colourful chemical bottles and the examination table – as a forensic science enthusiast, I love how they have brought out every detail of the morgue. It’s simple but effective. The bullpen in the precinct radiates the warmth of the old building. The set is made to look like an old and used police department building, which it does very well – It seems real, legit. Not to mention the countless temporary sets (CIA, SuperNovaCon, different apartments and murder scenes) – they are all beyond awesome. What people may not know, is that every set  made by Alfred Sole and his art department team has its “airy quality” in it. Every part of the sets can be moved around. They move walls, doors, windows to get an chance to have a better shots on camera. Everything is made in high energy and huge care, to ensure that the final product – an episode – will be as best it can be.

The prop department (which is responsible of all moving objects on set) works very well together with the art department. They bring out the detail-orientation of the show. Everything has placed on purpose, everything on the set has a meaning. Every little detail. It may be little things that you notice, rather than the bigger picture. Nothing is left for chance. They are on the top of their game, every day of the week – like the other departments. Costume department (with Luke Reichle) and Make-up & Hair department as well as the prop department – people working in there are the masters of their field and they have a firm grasp on what to do and how to do their jobs the best. From the clothing styles and the make-up, not to mention hairstyles (one word, Beckett) – you can see the continuity and growth of the character and their inner workings.

These are all the people who work on the show we love. They do everything to make sure that we, fans and viewers, get to see only the best and brightest of their job.

We all love Castle. We love the show as a whole. I only counted some of the reasons why to love this show in here, but I am sure there are people who find more and more reasons why to love Castle even more.

What I do love the most about this show – are the fans. Castle has the best kind of fans ever. I know, a lot of shows tend to bring together their own kind of fans, but at least in my experience, I have only encountered the best ones. They are creative, chatty, worldly, interesting and opinionated. And the best part of it is, they are from ALL over the world. Since the time I started to watch the snow, I have met people from the United States, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Poland, India, Indonesia, Australia, South Africa. The Castle fandom is a worldwide phenomenon, the strong voices of the fans can be encountered everywhere. Being a Castle fan has changed my life, brought purpose and brightness to my dull everyday job. I owe the show and fandom so much. Thank you Andrew Marlowe and everybody else who are working for this show – for making this, for bringing us the best show ever.

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