Castle #2.6 “Vampire Weekend”
Originally aired October 26, 2009
Stephanie Hall: When thinking about a Halloween episode to choose, this one from Castle immediately popped into my mind. It celebrates so much of the holiday’s fun and imaginative subject matter while also presenting an intriguing murder case for the detectives to solve. “Vampire Weekend” is an episode of Castle that for the most part doesn’t take itself too seriously, which works perfectly for its Halloween timing. From the costumes (Nathan Fillion in his Firefly attire) to the father-daughter pumpkin carving to the background music of “The Monster Stroll” by Jocko, this episode entices the audience to seize the opportunity for enjoyment and escapism.
On the other hand, it does not make light of the matter of murder or the perils associated with teenage Halloween parties. A multidimensional episode, “Vampire Weekend” stresses the importance of responsibility, especially as a parent, without it turning into an obvious public service announcement. As most well-written and engaging television episodes do, not only does the secondary storyline help solve the primary one, but also the theme is utilized with several characters, including Alexis’ typical high school project to care for an egg as if it were a baby, Castle’s decision to call the parents of his daughter’s drunken friend, and a woman’s choices that lead her to murder her own step-son.
What additionally makes this episode excellent is that if you were to remove the Halloween embellishments, it still tells the convoluted story of a young man uncovering his traumatic past by writing a graphic novel about it and being killed for what he finds. Despite the chance to stretch the boundaries of reality, “Vampire Weekend” stays within the scope of plausibility, even if it’s convenient television plausibility. Finally, as is the case with most of my favorite episodes of television, it’s chock full of puns and references, my favorite of which, is “Looks like Buffy’s visited the Big Apple.”
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