Pining for a Castle Just in Time for Valentine's Day


I have a confession to make. I have a crush on a television character: Rick Castle. "Castle" is a cop show with a twist. The Castle character is a multi-millionaire 'writer' in the same genre as James Patterson. Each work day, Castle follows around a gorgeous, witty Stanford-grad who somehow decided to become a police detective. (Imagine that class reunion. "Billionaire high tech mogul, meet gorgeous police detective.")

Every single woman over 50 should have a "Castle" in her life. He is 'ruggedly handsome' but he has a double chin that I find adorable. He is not 'ripped', has no washboard abs and in truth is kind of chunky. "Sturdy" is the word they used way back when, but "husky" is closer to the truth. Castle doesn't seem to spend a second exercising and he dresses beautifully so what if he does have a mushy middle, it doesn't show. He doesn't own a pair of Kirkland jeans. He has never even been to Costco.  He lives with his mother and perfect daughter in a fabulous condo that seems to have more space than Macy's in Times Square.

Outside of the world of crime fiction, Castle is a pretend 'Everyman'. Within the 12th Precinct of the NYPD, he's the one who posits bizarre theories and speaks in flowery prose about the setttings and situations of the weekly murder case. When a case turns bizarre he's almost giddy with excitement. He gets gleeful when a supposed zombie or vampire seems to be the villain. When the team kicks down the door in pursuit of a villain they frequently wear bright blue vests that say "POLICE". Castle has his own blue vest emblazoned with "WRITER". But of course he's no clown. When the team is stumped, it's Castle who suggests they follow a hunch that is way outside the box. In a cute touch, actual crime writers including Patterson and Elmore Leonard appear on the show as his poker buddies. Over a green baize table they invariably suggest gently that he's a dope for wasting his time working as an unpaid cop. They have long ago deduced that he stays only for his love Kate Beckett.

It's not the trappings that make Castle a worthy object of desire though. It's what's inside. Between the ears, this guy is the one we'd all like to have. He is sensitive--he frequently asks "are you all right?" and he is always interested in the answer. But he's not super-sensitive about himself.   He listens and he doesn't interrupt. When a team member is struggling to find the right birthday gift for his spouse, Castle advises him to "get her what she told you she'd love to have someday, when she was sure you weren't listening". He is a loving father who talks openly about his parenting dilemmas. Finally, he is faithful to his lovely Kate, even though models and other women regularly throw themselves at him. In my book--just not one of those awful Patterson novels--a Castle would make an ideal Valentine's Day gift.

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