Parents' Guide to

Castle

By Will Wade, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Light crime procedural offers less violence than CSI.

TV ABC Drama 2009
Castle Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

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age 13+

Based on 17 parent reviews

Patricia 1
Patricia 1 Adult
July 9, 2021
age 18+

Season 4

The woman captain in season 4 is not likable at all! Why that character NEEDS to be so mean and always so tough? The captain who died he had relationship with the staff...this character has no personality
PopcornSnowday
PopcornSnowday Adult
December 19, 2020
age 15+

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 17 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Suffering from writer's block, successful crime novelist Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) tags along with an NYPD detective hoping for inspiration. Though his partner, Kate Becket (Stana Katic), repeatedly tells him that he's only there to observe, the irrepressible Castle can't refrain from offering his opinions. Given his lack of police training and his background as a fiction writer, his ideas tend to go against the grain -- but they still display a keen understanding of human nature. These insights often take the pair's investigations in unusual directions and sometimes lead to important breakthroughs.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (17 ):
Kids say (58 ):

Fillion is the main reason to watch CASTLE. Charming and witty, his character brings some fun to what's otherwise a fairly standard cop procedural. As a fiction writer, his point of departure when examining a crime is to assume that the most unlikely, impossible-sounding explanation is what happened -- in other words, the exact opposite of his detective counterpart, who starts with the facts and moves on from there. Their interactions, as Becket dismisses Castle's outlandish suggestions and then slowly concedes he might have a point, are the best part of the show.

The weak points are the crimes themselves, which are often so formulaic that any veteran viewer of TV cop shows can immediately tell which suspects are red herrings and which minor characters will be back in the final act. Still, TV police squad rooms tend to be environments filled with stress and uncertainty, as the cops try to fit together meager clues; introducing a writer to mix up this well-known environment is a fun twist that elevates Castle from mediocrity.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about whether this kind of crime show is more appealing than one like CSI. If so, why? Do crimes like murder seem less upsetting in this context? What's the impact of seeing violence on television?

  • Do you think Castle's crime theories are believable or crazy? Even if you don't find his ideas plausible, does the show telegraph the fact that his wild hypotheses will likely turn out to be true?

  • Families can discuss why so many TV shows revolve around "odd couple" pairings. Is it just a way to generate conflict? Do you think odd-couple partnerships are better for drama shows or comedies? Can you think of any real-life odd couples?

TV Details

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