Nathan Fillion plays the outwardly roguish, cocky, couldn’t-care-less Richard Castle with an ease unlike anyone else.  His attitude and mannerisms almost make you want to hate him at first, but you can’t help but smile at the same time.  In the opening scene, Castle is introduced to the stage while autographing a female fan’s breast.  As he’s walking away from her he slyly says, “Call me when you’re ready to wash that.”  Though we quickly learn, through several scenes with his teenage daughter, that Richard Castle does care, and you start to peel back the layers that separate the public persona that Castle exhibits to his fans, with the real Castle that he keeps safely hidden below the tough exterior…

…What makes Castle really different from previous mystery shows, however, is the metafictional device they employ.  You see, Richard Castle himself is a mystery writer, creating fake murder mysteries for his novels.  He knows ever murder plot cliché out there, and makes these weak points and clichés known during the case they’re working on, which is also inadvertently pointing out the same weak points and clichés out to the audience about the show itself.  It’s an interesting balancing act that makes the show amusingly self aware and entertaining to watch at the same time.

Overall I found the pilot episode of Castle to be fantastic and far above my expectations.   If you’re a fan of the procedural mystery series with a little fun, you’ll definitely want to tune in for this show.  I certainly didn’t think the show was flawless, and there is room for more improvement, but for a mid midseason replacement, it more than exceeds the expectations that I had for the show.  I’ll be setting my DVR so that I don’t miss this one at all.

• Full Review: www.tvovermind.com