6.10 The Good, The Bad, And The Baby There are a few clear problems with this trope. One, it happens almost exclusively to women on these shows and is based on the misogynistic belief that biology is destiny: all women are mothers or mothers-in-waiting. When we accept this premise, we are also buying into the idea that women who absolutely do not want to be mothers are less than women. Which may just be reality’s way of saying that we’re not all cut out to be parents. It’s not a personality flaw, and it’s a realization that might save more children from neglect or abuse: if we stopped insisting that having a child is part of some prix fixe menu of adult life, perhaps fewer people who deep down don’t want children will stop having them. So you can imagine how thrilled I’ve been looking at the trailers for The Good, the Bad, and the Baby. Castle, of course, has plenty of experience in this area, having raised Alexis alone (despite having two wives during this period, one of whom was the biological mother). He is the “baby whisperer” who instructs everyone on how to properly hold the baby and who, in a move that tells us a lot about Alexis’ childhood, ducks out to pick up a few things to care for the baby and returns with enough swag to properly outfit a nursery. At first, everything is going well. The baby seems happy, Castle is overjoyed. But Becket is… reticent–much as we might suspect a commitment-phobic, only-child, NYPD detective might be. She refuses to hold the child initially, leaving Castle to wonder (worry) that she might not like babies at all. At first, she fudges the truth but initially admits that she has doubts: “Yes, okay, fine. I’ve never really been a baby person. Some people see babies, and they want to hold them and nibble their toes. But I’ve never been one of those people.” Castle, clearly disturbed, suggests that she probably hates rainbows as well, making it clear that this is a potential problem in their relationship. When she tries to suggest she’s sure she’ll feel differently when it’s one of their own, Castle is doubtful. “Will you?” he says first accusingly and then repeats anxiously. Castle decides to take their relationship for a baby dry-run by offering to take care of Cosmo overnight with Beckett, huskily delivering the line that made ovaries the world over twitch: “What do you say, Beckett? Wanna have a baby?” We know it’s only a matter a time before Beckett turns broody. And I’m sure there will be a spike in Fillion’s fan mail answering that question. It was just about this point that I wanted to throw something at the telly. And then something wonderful happened. The cliché was avoided at the last minute. Partly, anyway. The next scene, of course, would be her slow breakdown into really bonding with the baby after she somehow magically becomes the one who is able to quiet the baby that night. Instead, what we get is one of the funnier moments this series as Castle’s baby-whispering skills abandon him, and they suddenly have an upset tot on their hands. Rather than this becoming Beckett’s mommy moment, the two of them quickly deal with the issue with a physical equivalent of their problem-solving banter: short shots of wit fired back and forth between them are replaced with quick teamwork as they change the baby out of soiled clothes and into new nappies and jammies “When I first volunteered to take Cosmo, I thought I was doing it for his benefit. But I realized I was doing it more for mine. When Alexis was little, Meredith wasn’t really around so I did it all on my own. And when you said you weren’t a baby person…” So in case we were too dense to get it, Beckett clears things up for us: “When the time comes, there’s no way I’m going to let you take care of our baby on your own.” It’s a sweet moment, and the look of happiness and relief on Fillion’s face is really touching. However, that said, I have to wonder why the assumption here is that they will have children (other than what the “time-traveller” said a few episodes ago). Castle has already raised a child—extremely successfully–and Beckett has never really expressed any active interest in having a child. Is Castle’s nest really so empty that he is going to feel the need to pressure Beckett on this issue? Is this where we’re headed? Let’s hope not, at least not in the near future. There’s already a ridiculous number of babies on American television right now, and the Caskett relationship hasn’t lost any steam, so the baby trope seems unnecessary here. Still, I would have said the same thing about Bones, but the addition of their baby has added some really fertile narrative ground. Perhaps the same would be true of Castle. Read Laura’s review of the previous episode, Disciple, here. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
