Boston Scientist said:

Ratings shmatings.  Everyone here has watched the show and probably bought the Castle schwag.  We're certainly not going to get others to watch Castle by dwelling on the ratings.  Let's have a discussion about the episode like we used to do.  That's the only way to get others interested.  If you go to work and you stand around the water cooler talking about ratings, you're probably not making any friends, and you're certainly not getting others interested in Castle.  Go ahead.  Call me a trouble maker.  I've heard it before.  Now, on to some speculation…………..

I believe Castle was very selective in choosing Lanie to share his J. Beckett case info with.  Yes, Lanie is a medical examiner, but more importantly, she's Beckett's good friend.  So, what's your good friend gonna do?  Nothing?  I doubt it.  I think Lanie's going to try to find out more and I don't think she's going to tell Beckett about it until she has rock solid evidence.  Sometimes your family knows what's best for you and sometimes your best friends are your family. Lanie seems to have a history with Beckett and those kinds of relationships are not as easily damaged as newer ones.  Castle can't do anything more because his relationship with Beckett will not withstand it.  But, what if it was Dr. Parish, the medical examiner who searched for evidence, instead of Castle, the author, who in Beckett's eyes, just likes to tell stories.  Does anyone else think Castle planted a seed?

And, I may be murdered for asking this, but………is Lanie someone Beckett should trust?  Talk about a wicked twist.

Alright, alright…..that's enough trouble to get us started.  C'mon you guys.  Please post your ideas!

Preach it! I agree, forget the ratings and let's just focus on the awesomeness that is this show. Get others interested by explaining the premise, they'll follow :)

I was just thinking about that scene today… it may have been deliberate on Castle's part, but not until he saw the opportunity. He clearly didn't know that Lanie didn't know (har har), but when he got the chance to say "ask Beckett" or "here's what I found" he went with the latter. This does suggest to me that he saw an opportunity to get someone else–someone closer to her–to look into the case and convince Beckett to continue the investigation.

I went in the other direction with the Dr. Parish speculation, though. I thought that, what if she does look into the case, and does find out something about the dead M.E. (who looks more and more crooked as I thought) or victims, she could be in danger. Whoever killed the original M.E. probably wouldn't think twice about offing someone who is snooping in the files, especially if it's just a 'lowly' city worker. Her life could be in jeopardy and she could end up needing some saving. I would hate to see Dr. Parish turned into some conniving witch, I love the relationship between her and Beckett and wish we'd see more of it :D

"No, no, no, no……….what's he dew-in?"

Now, that sounds like a NYer!

Stana must have practiced that.  When she's not in character, Stana enunciates very well, including the g at the end of words.

Ok, I know the topic was veering away from ratings for a moment, but just to return one more time:  hopefully we're all going to call or write or e-mail ABC to say now how much we love the show, rather than waiting till we hear it's really in trouble.  Also – I've been so frustrated by the lack of publicity for the show.  Haven't seen billboards or ads.  TV Guide is all but ignoring the show – it's not mentioned in the previews of best bets for the night, etc.  Didn't see the Fall Preview issue, but haven't seen anything since then about the show.  How about an article about Stana or Nathan?  Saw a few promos for the show on ABC – but almost too little too late.  I don't think it's been a fair promotion at all.  Let's act now!

Jamz said:

I can't wait to see what the trigger is that will bring Beckett's moms murder back to the front. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that Beckett is looking into it again on her own. Or that Lainie is doing some investigating on her own after what she learned from Castle. I'm not sure if she would hide that from Beckett though. Especially after what just happened with Castle.

I know one thing that Scientists & Detectives have in common, and that is both are directed by evidence.  I have a feeling Beckett would more likely tolerate Lanie digging around because of this.  Castle is just a storyteller.  And while Beckett has learned to appreciate his point-of-view, she never trusted Castle the way that she trusts Lanie. 

Just to go back one more time to the ratings, I read somewhere that The Forgotten, one of ABC's new shows (which kind of seems a bit like a procedural to me) got DWTS as a lead-in and only pulled in 6.x million viewers. That gives me a lot of hope! Granted, it wasn't the main night like Castle has–I'm guessing it was the results night–but good news, in a kind of bittersweet way. I always feel bad when shows are doing badly because I've had two of my favorite shows canceled right out from under me, and I really like Rochelle Aytes who is in that show, but Castle kind of takes precedence here ;)

Anyway, I very much agree about the lovely subtleties that Castle and Beckett have. The Stana and Nathan really have acting down to an art to be able to convey such body language without it being too overpowering. 

Davidsmom, the character's name was Lanie ;) . I really like her character, so I hope she isn't someone that Beckett can't trust. I get the feeling that the writers are giving her more screen-time and lines–at least that's what I saw in this episode. She seemed to have a little more depth with her loyalty to Beckett–loved it! 

I'm kind of hoping things don't get completely back to normal between the two. I mean, she's forgiven him, yes, but it seems like something too hard to let go of that quickly. I hope it's at least still a sore subject between them and he's still trying really hard to make up for it, just because it's more realistic. He may have been forgiven, but he screwed up royally and I hope he doesn't think that he's completely off the hook, just because that would kind of irk me, you know?

Luna said:

I'm kind of hoping things don't get completely back to normal between the two. I mean, she's forgiven him, yes, but it seems like something too hard to let go of that quickly. I hope it's at least still a sore subject between them and he's still trying really hard to make up for it, just because it's more realistic. He may have been forgiven, but he screwed up royally and I hope he doesn't think that he's completely off the hook, just because that would kind of irk me, you know?

Agreed.

Does it matter if you really watch ir or can we just bring it up and let it play for it to count as being watched?

Aicha said:

lilmac11313 said:Does it matter if you really watch it or can we just bring it up and let it play for it to count as being watched?

---

I think you should bring it up and let it play (even if it's muted!) for those of us who can't see it :(

That's usually what I do. I open it in a seperate window and just let it play. Occasionally thought my windows will all close and then I'll see it and be sucked in. It's a force that can't be stopped.