Oh yes, I agree with the poker analogy.  I can't remember where that came up first, but it was in one of the Post episode threads way back before Knockdown even.  There's the small bets to test the waters, looking for tells.  Both character's have developed a poker face where it comes to the other.  Neither is willing to go all in yet because they are still not sure what is in the other's hand.  Beckett has that stupid waiter-with-the-drinks (DMB) distracting her.  Castle has *stopped* looking at the waitresses and seems to be waiting for the next hand while he fondles his chips… (Whoops that didn't come out right  [Image Can Not Be Found]).  Both seem to be winning though which slowly gives them more confidence to bet a little bit more with each hand. 

So what will it take for one of them to bet it all?  And what will be the outcome?  I think it will be an outside force that b****-slaps both of them into seeing the other's tells and then one of them calling the other on their feelings.  But the winning hand will only win by a small margin – King's high vs aces high…  because this relationship seems to me to be a true melding of equals.  [Image Can Not Be Found]

And I like the comparison to the Greek Chorus.  I'm not up on my literature like I need to be, but I like having Castle's thought process out in the open as he bounces ideas (and inadvertantly his feelings) off these guys.  And being who they are, writers like himself, they are going to be able to mine his more private thoughts about Beckett.  They are as intuitive to subtext as you would expect good writers to be, so they read "Ricky" like an open book sometimes.  But as someone said way back after LUCKY, their friendship with Castle is more on a professional level, not a close personal level; thus the comments that were meant to get him writing, instead of get the girl. 

What I think would be interesting is if Beckett ever did take part in one of these games, merging the authors' professional interest in her with the personal interest they would take after seeing her interact with their "Ricky".   I think *that* would change this chorus' tune!  [Image Can Not Be Found]

This got me thinking…  I wonder how and when these games got started.  Patterson and Cannell have been successful writers since the 70s.  Connelly and Lehane started writing novels in the 90s but both were writers before that and are of a similar age to Castle.  Castle had his first bestseller somewhere in the late 80s.  And Castle is not the only host – sometimes the game is somewhere else.  Was it Cannell who invited the newer guys over to check them out?  And what was Castle’s reaction to being invited to a game with heavyweights like Cannell and Patterson?  Is there something like a 3 book minimum before you’re considered worthy of the game? 

I'd love to get a glimpse of a younger Castle meeting these giants of the genre for the first time.

I was just thinking (upon my latest repeat viewing of The Dead Pool) that those writers are really good actors. I'm totally buying that they are having these conversations.