Finished Castle and Castle Season 1, and I really liked it!
I think what I really loved was how it tried to avoid melodrama—most of the key stories are grounded in somewhat realistic scenarios, not manufactured conflicts because two people didn't communicate. Avoided common tropes, especially in the romance area. The last few episodes were a bit of a letdown, though.
Also love how the characters were fully fleshed out. They weren't just caricatures with a particular "shtick"; they had good traits and bad traits. And there was some good character development too, which surprised me.
Beyond that, the actors developed. Some of the acting was subpar, but actually got better as the show went on!
Also, the show was pretty well-researched. They used actual laws and references.
What I didn't like: Some of the lawyering was inconsistent. One moment a lawyer might seem capable, the next totally lost. And some of the scenarios they brought (brilliant ideas, btw)—while they were very real Nigerian things, in real life, the people involved would have never gone to a lawyer.
I'm most impressed by the writing, because we've seen movies from the "new Nollywood"—they often have good acting but terrible writing. But holy hell, this show was better written than many popular "Western" shows even.
They also used a device that I loved: alluding to past events. Basically they mention things that happened between them before the start of the show, but they don't go all out and explain it. It makes it feel real, as though we joined them in the middle of their lives; much better than some forced exposition. They also didn't do it too much like some shows do, where they hint at some "mysterious past" that they partly reveal in some finale and turns out to be connected to everything. 🙄
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Season 2 — I'm yet to seriously watch it. For one, the episodes are now an hour long, which I hate. Secondly, the story really went off the rails in the last few episodes of S1, so I've kinda lost interest.