Let me introduce the cast and characters. Annie “Boots” Frost (Kelli Giddish) dazzles as the team’s ball-bustin’, fearless leader. Giddish deserves the lead … in something else. Her presence is strong and draws you in; it’s too bad she can’t spit out what the show gives her to work with. Her previous role in Past Life was much of the same, and that show was yanked after two episodes. (On a personal note, she reminds me very much of my high school celeb girl crush, Amy Steel of Friday the 13th Part 2 and April Fool’s Day fame, not that you asked.)
Her right hand man is Jimmy Godfrey (Cole Hauser, K-Ville), described as a real American cowboy. Unless that means he’s hot, I have to wonder: if he’s a real American cowboy, why isn’t he roping cattle instead of fugitives? Or … is my ignorance of Texas culture showing? Marco Martinez (Amaury Nolasco, Prison Break) is the comic relief, over-analyzing everything and rambling in great detail about stuff no one wants to hear. Luke Watson (Jesse Metcalfe, Desperate Housewives) is the team’s awestruck newbie, and I’m sorry to report I don’t remember anything about Daisy Ogbaa (Rose Rollins, L Word). Kinda makes me sad. The actress hasn’t had a lot of roles, and I can’t even remember her part! The big question here will be whether the writers can breath life into these characters through the performers. Frankly, the pilot didn’t give me hope, as the cast is far better than the material they are given.
The 10PM time slot on Mondays is ripe with competition trying to keep you from Chase, but if you’re missing shows like Saving Grace, Without a Trace and Cold Case, then give it a try. My favorite part of the pilot was watching the team interact after work at a gritty Texan bar (much like that frequented by Grace Hanadarko and friends). Their camaraderie felt genuine, and if it becomes the heart of the show, you’ll want to stick around to cheer them on. It brings nothing new to the table by way of the Marshal Service, and isn’t a match for In Plain Sight or what little I’ve seen of Justified. If nothing else, I’m in because I think Giddish is an actor to watch. If you watch, the worst that can happen is you’ll like it enough to make your Monday night viewing a more difficult road to travel.
Clacked by Carissa Pavlica 
on Sep 10, 2010 @ 13:00 EST5EDT
The tv preview that I’ve seen for this show did not sell me on it. I will probably watch at least the first couple eps to see what it is all about, but I am loyal to Castle. And, I think Hawaii Five-O looks much better than this show.
And we just watched the Castle premiere last night — it was awesome! A great start to the season!
Can’t WAIT for the Castle premiere! Glad to hear it is awesome. Care to share any details? :-) The spoilers for this season have me a little worried… as does Hawaii 5-0’s potential to kill its ratings. I’m not worried about or interested in Chase.
I really can’t share any details — ABC would have to come and kill me, but I can tell you that it was a really interesting case of the week and there’s tons of good interplay between Castle, Beckett, Ryan and Esposito that’s very fun and clever.
*POST AUTHOR*
It is definitely going to have a tough road. Really tough. And I think it might stand a chance on a different night, perhaps at a different time. They’ve given it a time slot with the least possible chance to succeed, in my humble opinion.
I intend to give it a try, thanks to Tivo’s, DVRs, and even the old stand bye VCR. However, I agree that it has a tough road against Castle and the potential of Hawaii 5-0. As you do mention, I miss both Cold Case, and Without A Trace. Saving Grace was a show that I never was particularly fond of. Even though some of the reviewers don’t seem to care much for In Plain Sight, I like it very much, and I consider Justified one of the best new adventure shows I have seen in a long time–love it.
*POST AUTHOR*
I’m really glad to hear someone wants to give it a try. It’s rare that I want to watch three shows on at the same time, so I give the networks some credit for this season (and I’m really not excited about the season, in general). The part of Chase that reminded me of Chase was the bar scene. How everyone got together to unwind, solidifying together what they went through during the day.
I see from my TIVO previews that NBC has gotten smarter. They are now showing their new shows on USA cable only one day later than they show on the network channel. Also the other networks, at least for now, are repeating their pilot episodes on their Saturday line-up. Maybe the “suits” are finally getting it right.
Definitely loyal Castle viewer. Will be watching Chase as well. Looks interesting & I have a friend that works on the set. So thankful for TIVO:)