The Coney Island Stick Man Convention: Why I Love Detective Beckett

"He's a reminder. That even on the worst days, there's a possibility for joy." - Detective Kate Beckett, on why she keeps a stick man in her desk drawer (Season 5 Episode 3: Secret's Safe With Me)

Credit: Castle-Fans.org

I loved Castle from the moment I watched the pilot. I did this in July of this year and normally I would have finished watching in say two or three weeks, a month tops. I finished in a week, 105 episodes, five seasons. I love both characters - Richard Castle and Detective Kate Beckett - but I was drawn to Beckett more.

Beckett is a strong character, yet she's also vulnerable making her flawed. Her story maybe like any of us: her mum, Johanna, was stabbed in an alley and was written off as random gang violence only to find out a decade later that she was murdered because of dirty cops. She entered the NYPD to see the discrepancies on the case but seeing nothing, she stopped until Castle, nosy as he is, came along and secretly investigated the case himself. He has resources so he saw that it was not what it was and told a reluctant Kate. Together they investigated the cold case until leads came and lives were ended or put in jeopardy, including hers.

The path to find who had her mother killed was a treacherous one. She had told Castle in the first place not to touch the case because once she started she wouldn't stop, and she didn't until her own life was put at risk, twice. She built walls around her, that she sacrificed her own happiness, as Castle said "hiding behind relationships with men she doesn't love" (Season 3 Episode 24: Knockout). She accused Castle of treating her like a child when he told her about the man he's talking to, the man who made a deal that she be kept safe, but what she didn't know was that she acted like one when she didn't stop the investigation. Her quest for justice is still not finished although she now knows the person who gave the order - a political figure being groomed to take over the highest position in the government.

Stana Katic does a wonderful job playing the character. The emotion, the depth of Kate. Her eyes speak volumes. The scene that got me was in Rise, Season 4 Episode 1, when she was telling Castle that everyone is gone, that she felt she was alone. She didn't realise that the one person who would help her, voluntarily and who she wanted to be with when she comes to a closure, was the one she was talking to. The child-like quality of the character showed in that scene and Stana captured that moment.

This scene, from the same episode, showed how strong she is.

Credit: Castle-Fans.org

I like the character not just because of Stana but because you can relate to her. She is part-eccentric, part-by-the-book, part-kooky. I also love that the walls she built around herself were torn down by Richard Castle, a crime novelist who based a character on her - Nikki Heat, knowing that he can put her story on paper but he makes her happy. He's the only one who sort of deciphered her from the start and for four years, waited patiently for her to be ready. I also love that even if she is a fan of Castle's, she never swooned over him, only hints when he started consulting with her in their first case. She hasn't told him yet that his novels helped her cope with her mother's death and that she once fell in line for an hour to have one of his books signed. I also love the fact that she loves magic and sci-fi but she doesn't believe in aliens or ghosts or the supernatural.

Kate Beckett is a great female character. She's extraordinary, unique, intelligent. She knows she's sexy but doesn't have to tell the world that she is. She doesn't flaunt it. She's one to look up to, a role model. She's in each and every one of us because we are all strong yet we have our flaws.

NB: I'm a bit annoyed on people saying that Castle and her should now be living together because they are engaged. Just because they are engaged doesn't necessarily mean they should live together. Both value their independence and that's another thing I love about her and Castle. Sure, she agreed on living together in DC before she got fired from the FBI but if you've noticed, she hadn't unpacked most of her stuff in her own apartment. And yes, I assume she did keep her NY flat because she had doubts if she will like the Federal job hence the boxes of unpacked stuff.