on DVD.
{Spoiler}{Spoiler}The first episode starts with a 'Previously on', then we're subjected to seizure-inducing editing/cutting as Beckett's wheeled in on a gurney and Lanie's riding along with her, trying to save her life and insisting she's her friend until she's told to get off the Beckett ride.
How 'convenient' that Beckett's often-referred-to-but-rarely-seen boyfriend, Josh, just happens to be working at the same time Beckett's wheeled in. At least he
tries to do the right thing by getting another doctor to come and take over since he's 'too close' to the victim (being Beckett's boyfriend and all), but then he can't wait and ends up operating on her anyway. And just to make sure we'll be extra happy that this is the
last we'll be seeing of his character, he then goes and attacks Castle (both physically and verbally), blaming him for both Beckett and Montgomery, and gets into a yelling match with the whole Castle family (it was a cheer-worthy moment, seeing both Martha and Alexis tell off Josh). I had remembered Castle's line to Martha when he was feeling guilty about Beckett and said he "put her in the crosshairs".
Castle is, of course, there for Beckett...and subtly checking whether she remembers him telling her he loved her
as she lay on the ground dying. I mean, I get him being curious, but like with when he finally decided to tell her his feelings, his timing could've been better here. She tells him she needs time and doesn't remember anything after getting shot. I must say, she looked pretty good for someone who almost died.
Three months go by and we meet the new Captain, Victoria Gates, who's earned herself the nickname 'Iron Gates’ since she's much more by-the-book and clearly not going to be as lenient towards Beckett or Castle as Montgomery was (thanks, Ryan, for the exposition/summarising her character to us). I remember hating the character Penny Johnson Jerald played in
24, and so when I originally watched this season, I was apprehensive about her being in this show as the new Captain. Beckett, Ryan and Esposito have to be sneaky around her/keep secrets, Beckett wants her gun, but is told by Gates she has to re-apply, and it's amusing when Beckett says "I want my gun." almost through gritted teeth, as it sounds like there's a silent "I have to go
shoot something." to the end of that (and it may have been nothing, but I thought I noticed Ryan and Esposito dressing a bit differently - which I attributed to Gates. Well...maybe not so much Ryan, as he always seemed to wear suits, but I didn't think Esposito did...until now).
Before she turns up at Castle’s book signing, he's looking rather bored/like he’s wishing he were on a case or is thinking of Beckett, then when she appears (handing him a book and saying "Make it out to Kate."), we learn he's angry at her because three months have passed and she hasn't contacted him in all that time (it was kind of a reversal of last season's premiere, where she was angry at him for not keeping in contact when he went away on holiday with one of his ex-wives). Although I think they may have previously had a scene together on a swing set, this was the first time I really took note of it, as I knew it would become an important place for the two of them as the series went on. I was glad it wasn't long before they were together again, as I didn't like him being angry with her (even if part of me understood it).
Gates apparently kicked Castle out, but Castle has his friend the Mayor get him back in, though he's told by Gates that if he slips up once, she’ll bury him and Beckett (not a great start to the character). Castle gets a call from the guy Montgomery mailed stuff to in the Season 3 final (I recognised the actor from
Dexter), who tells him that Beckett has to stay away from her mother's case or she won’t be safe. After considerable effort, Castle manages to talk her into it leaving it be 'for now'. Clearly Beckett's still affected by her shooting, since she freezes when a guy aims his gun at her, but later she manages to subdue another guy/killer who points his gun at her as well.
Also in the episode: Alexis is upset with Castle because he could’ve gotten shot or she could’ve, which kind of makes it sound like she couldn't give two figs about Beckett, but then she asks him whether Beckett makes him happy and he confirms that she does (I would've thought it had been obvious for a while now that Beckett made him happy). The ending of the episode is Beckett telling her therapist that she remembers everything about her shooting. This kind of doesn't paint her in a positive light - the fact that she lied to Castle about not remembering him telling her that he loved her - but I can understand that she needed time to process it. It wasn't one of Beckett's finest moments, to leave him in the dark. However,
he decides to keep
her in the dark about the fact that he's contacted by that 'Deep Throat' type of character, so they're both as bad as each other with the keeping secrets business.
On a 'shallow' note, I wasn't as fussed on Beckett's hair in this episode (or season).
I much preferred how it was last season.
The second episode was the superhero/comic book episode which I'd remembered from the first time I watched this season when it originally aired on TV. However, I'd forgotten that a female cop (who was introduced last episode, but treated like she'd been around before that), turned out to be the superhero/vigilante at the centre of this episode. Though, really, it should've been immediately obvious that she was the one, since the show so awkwardly brought her character in last episode (whenever a random cop character gets some lines/focus, you know they're going to be 'important' later on).
I appreciated all the superhero/comic book references from Castle, it was amusing seeing Ryan act like Castle with the 'murder board' and it became quite obvious that Gates didn't like Castle (which would turn out to be a running theme throughout the season).
I've always remembered the fourth episode, which focused on Ryan (I came to think of it as the 'Ryan's gun episode', but its actual title is 'Kick the Ballistics'). Beckett’s reaction to hearing that the gun that killed the victim of the episode was Ryan’s really said a lot. And if Beckett's reaction, as well as Ryan's reaction, to hearing his gun was responsible for someone's death wasn't enough to let us know this was going to be a 'serious' episode of the show, then the different title card/serious music played over it certainly made it clear.
I'd always liked Ryan, so I was happy to see him getting an episode focused on him. His reactions throughout the episode really said a lot, and it seems every character - Beckett, Castle, Ryan has an episode where they push a suspect 'too much' and others have to come in and tell them to go cool off or whatever. One part of the episode that always stuck in my memory was Ryan telling Beckett of his early days in narcotics when he yelled out the name of someone who'd called in with a tip across the bullpen and how it was the stupidest thing he'd ever done as a cop until 3XK got the drop on him and stole his gun. It was nice to see Beckett having a one-on-one scene with Ryan and her reassuring him it wasn't his fault what happened with his gun.
I also liked seeing Ryan's scenes with Ben Lee (though I wonder if the Australian musician/actor Ben Lee ever caught wind of them using his name for a character? I guess it was just a coincidence). Although I remembered quite a bit of this episode from when I originally saw it on TV, I couldn’t remember if Ben Lee died or not (so it was a bit of a surprise when he appeared alive, but just wounded). I remember thinking that Ryan struggling to keep him alive was in many ways like that time Beckett was forced to shoot the guy who had information about her mother's murder and then she tried to save him (but failed to do so). I liked the scene between Beckett and Castle where they discussed Ben Lee's brother who had information about 3XK and him wanting to make a deal, but Castle said they'd find 3XK another way and Ben Lee's brother shouldn't get any deal.
I had no problem with Martha and Alexis getting minimal screentime in this episode since Ryan got plenty instead. Him toasting to the episode's victim at the end was a nice way to finish things. As far as 'serious' episodes in the show go, this was one of my favourites. Seamus Dever got time to shine in his role as Ryan and proved himself more than capable of carrying so much of the episode on his shoulders.
The fifth episode was another one I vaguely recalled, which featured an art thief who turned out to be an insurance investigator. I recognised the actress who played the part of Serena Kaye, Kristin Lehman, from her guest appearances in
Felicity and
The X-Files. This was another episode where a guest character showed an interest in one of the lead characters thus making the other one jealous. They seem to have at least one or two episodes like this per season. In this case it was Beckett's turn to be the green-eyed monster again. I liked that Serena recognised Castle's and Beckett's feelings for each other and didn't wish to get in the way. It was good that she and Beckett came to an 'understanding' of sorts by episode's end. We also saw Beckett's therapist again, as he asked her whether she wanted Castle to wait for her or not.
The sixth episode featured another change in the
Castle title card with a wolf howl and creepy music playing, which was fitting since this episode featured a haunted house, the supernatural and demons. It
had to be a shout-out to the show
Supernatural that this one just happened to feature Fredric Lehne and him claiming 'a demon made him do it', since he played the Yellow-Eyed Demon in Season 2 of SPN (he also guest-starred in an episode
Firefly with Nathan Fillion). Another guest star I noticed in the episode was the actor I've currently been seeing playing Enoch the final season of
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (he was playing a very
different sort of character here, complete with totally different voice and also sporting
hair).
There was a funny moment with Beckett giving Castle and Ryan 'a look'. Also amusing was Castle getting Beckett to say the phrase "I ain’t afraid of no ghost." before a piece of the 'Ghostbusters Theme' was played. This is probably where the show started having Castle's 'wild theories' get even more outlandish, as he apparently believed in ghosts...so much so that he was suckered in by Beckett's ghost tale, but she pointed out to him (after laughing) how long he'd known her and
of course she didn’t believe in ghosts. Might've seemed slightly 'mean', but she had a point.
There was a side story to the episode involving Ryan and Jenny (played by the actress who is married to Seamus Dever in real life, as I seem to always feel the need to point out in my
Castle reviews for some reason) going on a double date with Esposito and Lanie (which Esposito was opposed to). Jenny makes the mistake of asking Esposito and Lanie when they’re getting married, which leads to both of them being pissed and Ryan having to later apologise to Esposito repeatedly. For some reason I misremembered Jenny as being far more chatty and 'annoying'...but she wasn't
that bad, really. Everything was going fine until she mentioned that one thing (which could've easily been avoided if Ryan had just said to her not to mention marriage earlier). I guess the writers must've listened to those fans of the show who weren't into 'Esplanie' as a couple since this led to them ending up 'taking a break'.
Also in this episode: I noticed Beckett started having her hair up, not down/long and flowing, then later in a braid. She continued having it up for a few episodes.
The seventh episode was what I thought of as 'the hostage episode' which I guess was designed to help make up for the lack of screentime Martha had been getting so far in the season, as it focused mainly on her and Castle being held hostage in the bank with a group of characters who were the typical types of characters you always seem to get in episodes like this.
I appreciated Beckett’s blink-and-you'd-miss-it reaction to Castle saying "Tell me you need me." (though, of course, he hadn't intended it the way it sounded to her), as he was on the phone to her when the doctor robbers came in (speaking of, at least wearing doctor scrubs/masks and using the names of different TV doctors was a nice change from the usual monster or clown masks bank robbers seem to use on TV). I was mildly amused when one of them wanted to talk to the ‘lady cop with the bedroom voice’ (referring to Beckett). I was less amused by Alexis basically threatening Beckett with her ‘they better (be safe)' remark when she turned up (she also gave her rarely-seen boyfriend, Ashley, the boot since he didn't answer when she called him, needing his support in this 'difficult situation'. Oh well, he barely appeared onscreen anyway, so this didn't really make much of a difference. He can go hang with Beckett's ex-boyfriend, Josh, and they can commiserate about both being dumped while offscreen).
All those who'd complained that Castle had been 'dumbed down' and/or made to act 'foolish' more than how he started out on the show should've been happy with the fact that he got to be
smart in this episode, calming other hostages down, observing things, getting info to Beckett, etc. Clearly I hadn't remembered this episode in great detail, as I forgot there was an explosion and it appeared as if the robbers had accidentally killed themselves (though they would've had to be the worst robbers since the ones in the
Home Alone films to accidentally kill themselves like that).
Beckett’s reaction to the explosion and Castle (once he was rescued) really said it all. It was a nice/funny moment when Martha had to remind Beckett that she was there too and in need of freeing, as she'd been too focused on Castle. It turned out the whole bank robbery thing was all a plot by one hostage to find his wife and kid who'd changed their names/hidden from him since he abused them. At least that was somewhat of a
surprise in the episode. I liked things ending with Martha hugging Beckett (her reaction to it was nice) and Castle saying Beckett had saved him eight times and he had saved her nine times, with him reviewing the different instances of them saving each other (I'm sure certain fans had already done that).
The eighth episode was the 'Vegas episode' involving Ryan and Esposito going away with Castle and at one point the three of them all dressing as Elvis (though Esposito was 'El-vez'). I wasn't that fussed on this episode, as although I like the Castle/Ryan/Esposito dynamic, the main reason I watch is for the Castle/Beckett dynamic and that was sadly lacking for a large part of the episode. Beckett was stuck with Gates (though at least it let us get to know her character a bit more), while Alexis had a party to get over her boyfriend who she dumped...which, naturally, got out of hand as parties always seem to do when parent characters are away. Though she wasn't the only one recovering later on, as Castle was recovering from Ryan's Las Vegas bachelor party which was probably why he didn't care that much what Alexis had gotten up to. This is as good a place as any to mention that after several seasons of Alexis being the 'all too perfect' daughter, she really started becoming the typical 'annoying teen' this season. She acted out, was rude to her father at times (and Beckett as well) and just not as 'likable' as she had been in the earlier seasons. Oh well. I guess it had to happen eventually. Still, she was more tolerable than most annoying teen characters in shows. She wasn't
too bad.
I'd always thought of the ninth episode as 'the sniper episode' since it focused on the sniper who'd shot Beckett in last season's final and her PTSD from that - not that she
admitted to having any, of course (being stubborn and all that). In this episode Beckett freaked out, snapped at Castle (more than usual), pushed suspects 'too far' (as seems to be a common thing with those who work at the 12th Precinct), freaked out at home (only time her hair was down in this episode except for at the end) and talked to her therapist.
Castle was patient with her after asking Ryan and Esposito (the two of them have always seemed sort of like 'brothers' to Beckett) what he should do. Since Ryan got an episode where he was featured quite a bit, I guess it made sense that this episode had quite a bit of Esposito's gun expertise (since he knew guns/weapons well, given his background). It was a good scene between him and Beckett when he was getting her to face the gun she was shot with. When the bad guy of the episode was about to shoot her, she tried to talk him down and say they were similar, but Esposito ended up shooting him (boring conversation anyway).
I noted there wasn't any humour this episode (there was, however, the 'blue lighting of seriousness' that this show tends to use whenever it's a 'serious' episode) and Castle said "Always." in response to Beckett thanking him for giving her space to deal and not pushing her. 'Always' is
their thing!
The tenth episode was a 'bottle episode' in that it took place in mostly one place, with Castle and Beckett handcuffed together, bickering, but having to work together. I enjoyed having so much of them together, and their bickering was entertaining as ever. I enjoyed Castle asking how she runs in her heeled shoes when she had to stand on his shoulders to try to get them out (such a comment about Beckett's shoes was previously made in the 'Nikki Heat' episode from last season by the actress Natalie Rhodes who was mimicking how Beckett dressed and acted). There were quite a few amusing moments between them, their reactions to having to move so awkwardly since they were handcuffed and and different 'innuendos' that came with being handcuffed together....then a TIGER was added to the episode. That made things even more fun. Thankfully there was no dodgy CGI tiger, but an actual
real one. It was interesting listening to the commentary for the episode (probably the last one that Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic would do together, as I imagine it was sometime after this that they apparently started not-liking each other in real life, sadly. It was funny hearing Stana remarking on the commentary that tigers didn’t so much 'purr' as they made a Chewbacca-like noise...which she then proceeded to demonstrate) and all the technical stuff about how they shot things with the tiger, etc. I was amused by Ryan's “grrrreat” as they walked out of the scene near the end.
Bottle episodes often 'feel' like what they are - ie. episodes made in an effort to save on budget, but this one thankfully didn't feel that way, as it allowed for lots of good Castle/Beckett interaction and gave us a freakin' TIGER to boot! So kudos to the show for not making this feel like a 'waste' of an episode. I also noticed Beckett’s hair was finally back to being down again after a few episodes of it (mostly) being up.
The eleventh episode was the one where Ryan and Jenny finally got married (would've been weird for the couple who were already married in real life, I'd guess). Of course there was some 'drama' added (as there always must be) before that could happen, as Jenny was discovered to be in a ledger (along with a lot of other women) of a guy who had slept around and was at the centre of the case being investigated in the episode. I would've been annoyed if they'd painted Jenny in a negative light, but luckily Ryan knew about it and explained to the others that she and him hadn't been 'exclusive' at the time and that's why he was fine with it (while Castle, Beckett and Esposito had all struggled with whether or not to tell Ryan). I
was annoyed, however, that after seasons of build-up, we didn’t even get to
see any of the actual wedding. Instead time was wasted and it became more about Esposito and Lanie bringing other dates (hers was gay and his was a cousin) to the wedding, being jealous of each other and then reconnecting. This should've been RYAN's moment (well...his and Jenny's, to be exact), not anyone else's. Very disappointing. On the plus side, Beckett told Castle that the third time might be the charm in regards to him someday possibly getting married again as they walked arm-in-arm.
Other things in this episode: Ryan was put on a 'cleanse' by Jenny, drinking gross-looking green stuff and consequently starving as a result until finally he gave in towards the end with takeout food. Also, the actor who played Edgar in
You're the Worst guest-starred.
I remember that when the twelfth episode originally aired here, we missed it (I can't recall for sure why that was, but I think it was because the power went out). It was the episode that finally let us meet Castle's friend, the Mayor, who was the reason Castle got to follow Beckett around and continued doing so after being kicked out by Gates. Castle meets with his ‘Deep Throat’ character twice, tells Ryan to give him info but not Beckett, once again is deemed 'too close' to the case (him and Beckett seem to take turns with this just like they take turns being jealous of the other showing any interest in guest star characters) since it was his friend the Mayor who was the prime suspect, Gates talks with Beckett (and we got to know her a bit more, as she apparently is well aware of the nickname the others have for her, but she explains to Beckett that she doesn’t hate all cops...just ones like the one who assaulted her partner), Beckett calls Castle 'Rick' at one point (which she rarely does, I've noticed. I think we hear him call her 'Kate' more than we've heard her call him 'Rick'), Alexis didn't really have anything to do in the episode, while at least Martha had her stormy light show of King Lear in Castle's apartment going on.
The next episode was the 'dog episode' and the cute dog was the most noteworthy thing about it. It was fun seeing Castle and Beckett both wanting to take him home, but acting like they weren't desperate to.
They got ‘shared custody’ of him and Beckett was saying he wouldn’t be allowed on her couch with her.
But clearly she was a big softy, as it wasn't long at all before she relented and encouraged him to join her on the couch and there was a very sweet moment between them.
Though I'm sure other viewers were more focused on what happened prior to that^. Before Castle left, he demonstrated on her hand how the dog liked to be gently rubbed and they had a 'moment' between them.
The next episode was 'The Blue Butterfly' and was one of those types of episodes where they have the regular castmembers in the roles of characters from the past. It seemed mainly an excuse to have all the actors/actresses dolled up in the style of the 1940's (we even got era-appropriate music over the title card).
Of everyone, Beckett looked the most glamorous. The era really suited Stana Katic (who could've been nicknamed Stunner Katic).
Unfortunately, I also remembered from this episode that they had Seamus Dever attempting an Irish accent which seemed to consist mainly of him saying "boyo" a lot, thinking that made him sound more convincing with his accent. It did allow for a funny exchange between him and Castle, though, where Castle was trying to get Ryan to say "boyo" (because he'd been imagining everyone as these past characters, including Ryan) and the two of them kept saying the word over and over back and forth between them. Also funny, before that, was when Castle asked himself "Why am I narrating?" (nice breaking of the fourth wall there) and in flashback mode there was a record scratch as Castle said 'Kate' in place of the past character he was picturing her as and she figured out he was imagining them in the roles. He then said ‘fate’ instead, attempting to cover his slip-up.
I think the overacting was intentional (at least I hope it was) by the cast during the flashbacks, considering the time period they were set in. Flashback Alexis and some rando dude were the bad guys (oh, Ashley, if only you hadn't been dumped by Alexis...maybe you could've played the role of her partner in the flashback). It was interesting that the person Alexis was 'playing' in the flashback wanted to kill the person Beckett was 'playing', as I had the feeling actual Alexis had some hidden animosity towards Beckett at times. Luckily, though, flashback Beckett killed her (in the 'present', actual Beckett was pretty quick at aiming her gun at the killer as well), then both she and flashback Castle burned the bodies in a car and pretended it was them (that would've been sort of weird for Castle to be picturing his daughter in the 'role' of someone who turned out to be bad and then the person he was imagining Beckett as killed her and the two of them burned her corpse together). But, hey, it led to the two kissing whilst backlit by the flaming car with corpses inside. And, of course, flashback Castle said the word ‘always’.
I'd remembered this was the season with the two-parter featuring Jennifer Beals as a woman who Castle knew from the past and was involved with at one point, once again Beckett got to be the 'jealous' one and the first part ended with both her and Castle stuck in a car that was pushed into the ocean, making it look like they might drown (not bloody likely). The second part had the reveal that the woman Castle knew was the bad guy and she was killed (that's one way of taking out Beckett's 'competition').
In the next episode, as soon as I saw the girl in the red riding hood, I remembered there was a fairytale episode of the show. I figured this episode must've originally aired around the time shows like
Once Upon A Time and
Grimm were still relatively 'new' on TV. I enjoyed seeing Castle and Beckett's discussion of the old Grimm's fairytales. The episode also featured Ryan being scared of creepy dolls, talk of lies (with Beckett looking guilty), some Martha stuff, Castle figuring out the killer because he just happened to be tying Martha’s apron in a bow and that made him realise the bows that were tied on two victims' costumes were the same but not on the costume of the third victim (just as well Castle spends so much time with his family, since it often seems that they help him crack the cases) and that 'victim' turned out to be the killer who was played by noneother than a young Meghan Markle!
Taylor Kinney (who I know from
The Vampire Diaries and
Chicago Fire) was also in the episode...but, eh, who cares?
A young Meghan Markle as the villain!
I forget the following episode, but the one after that was another 'serious' episode featuring protests and a bomb going off. Nathan Fillion did a good job showing Castle's reactions to seeing the bodies of the dead. Though he wasn't the only one left reeling. Alexis also sees them (since she's now working alongside Lanie). The most notable thing in this episode was Beckett inadvertently revealing to Castle, when interviewing a suspect, that she remembered everything after being shot and he immediately started acting cold towards her after hearing this reveal (not that she realised she'd revealed herself to him, so therefore she just found his sudden coldness towards her as him acting weird/not normal). He's clearly pissed, conveying his woes to Martha and saying how Beckett's lie must mean she thought his feelings for her were a 'joke' and that she didn't feel the same way. While it was unfair of her to keep secret that she'd heard him telling her he loved her, he could've just confronted her about her lie. Instead, he was acting just as immature as he thought her actions were. So they really weren't 'better' than each other when it came to lying. Though Castle does drop subtle hints to her that he knows, she doesn't really get what's up with him. She tries asking him for a drink but he won't go. It's sad that she finally starts reaching out to him but by the the time she does it's seemingly too late. Oh, and the bomber was the reporter that the episode started with. This was at least three female characters who'd appeared 'good' or as 'victims' to begin with, but then were revealed to be the 'bad guys'.
The only real notable things about the twentieth episode were Castle returning to his 'old ways' (models hanging off his arms as he arrived in sports cars), him seeming 'off' to Beckett and the Aussie guest star actor in the episode trying (and failing) to do a British cockney accent. Honestly, why can't they just have Aussie actors play Aussies and Brits play Brits? What's so hard about that?
The next episode featured a much better guest star in the form of Adam Baldwin who I knew from the TV series
Chuck and, of course, as Nathan Fillion's co-star in
Firefly/
Serenity. It was fun to see a 'reunion' of sorts between the two...though Baldwin's character of Slaughter (real subtle name there, show) was somewhat of a 'caricature'. He was rough, rude/uncouth, dangerous and rather nuts...oh, and let's not forget that he was showing a creepy interest in Alexis before Castle made him aware that she was his daughter (by way of punching him in the face...though I think that hurt Castle's fist more than anything). His character seemed like a cross between Casey from
Chuck and Jayne from
Firefly/
Serenity...though without any of the 'nuance' or subtlety (yes, there was some nuance to Jayne...if you looked
really deep). His 'unorthodox' methods (ie. dangerous/illegal) included driving around wildly with a guy in the boot of a car, nearly crushing a guy in garbage truck and pulling out his gun a number of times when he probably shouldn't have. It required some suspension of disbelief that he wasn't arrested for all the illegal crap he got up to.
Meanwhile, Beckett, Ryan and Esposito were all jealous of Castle hanging with another detective, feeling that he was 'cheating' on them. There was an amusing running joke of Castle trying to impress Slaughter by getting Ryan and Esposito to run licence plates for him over the phone and them asking for things in return. Because this show likes to feature 'parallels' between whatever's going on with Castle at work and what's going on at home, Alexis was unsure whether she should accept Stanford’s offer since they'd rejected her previously (just as she's hurt by Stanford's rejection of her, Castle's hurt by what he perceives as Beckett's rejection of him/his feelings for her and the two of them are struggling to trust those who 'rejected' them ever again). Sadly, not much time was spent with Castle and Beckett together in this episode until it got towards the end. The one payoff was that Beckett said she had his back.
The second-last episode of the season was the zombie episode. It's funny watching this now, since I've been watching
Fear the Walking Dead lately. It was at this point the show felt like it was starting to really 'reach' for outlandish things for Castle to believe (or at least
want to believe). We'd had vampires, aliens, ghosts, demons...and now zombies. Castle and Ryan were the 'believers', while Beckett and Esposito were not. Castle was still at odds with Beckett, Martha said she understood him being hurt but that they that couldn’t continue this way, and he told Martha it was going to be his last case with Beckett, who was still noticing his acting weird towards her (it was funny seeing her react to the zombie horde like they may have been real, especially after she was so skeptical). She admitted to him she had a therapist and by the end of the episode she said she was close to being ready to accept everything from ‘that day’ she was shot (basically telling him she was close to admitting her feelings for him).
Also in the episode: Castle was sad that Alexis wouldn’t be around to play laser tag with, she wanted him to 'grow up', but managed to get the drop on him later (quite literally) by coming down from the ceiling. However, he got
her back at the end when he was still in the zombie makeup (that he'd used to get the killer of the episode to confess).
The season final was titled 'Always', which was fitting considering how many times that word had been uttered on this show. And in case we were in any doubt that this was going to be a 'serious' episode from all the shadows and fading out from one scene/fading into the next scene with Beckett, we got the 'serious' title card for the show coupled with a moody green background and no jaunty music accompanying it. The episode starts with Beckett hanging off the edge of a building, we hear someone (who I thought was Castle, but turned out later to not be him) shouting "Hang on!" (why do people always say this when it's the most obvious thing ever?).
It then comes up with '3 days earlier' on the screen (such an old device, but I guess it's used so often because it works). Beckett gets a lead on who's behind her mum's murder when it’s revealed the guy who "put a bullet in her heart" (Ryan's words) has resurfaced and is killing again. Ryan wants to tell Gates, but Beckett (supported by Esposito) is opposed to that because she wouldn't be allowed to investigate the person involved with her own shooting.
Alexis is preparing for a graduation speech and we get one scene with Martha, but the most important scene of the episode (and one of the most important/memorable scenes from the show as a whole) is the one where Castle finally confesses to Beckett about the guy he’s talked to over the phone and met with in an effort to 'keep her safe' by steering her away from investigating the case of her mother's murder. She gets angry about him sitting on a lead and lying to her, he gets angry because he doesn’t want her to risk herself and finally says that he knows
she knows that he told her he loved her after she got shot, then adds that if she cares about him at all, she has to drop it...but, naturally, she
won't. She doesn’t like that he made decisions for her about her life, he says he won't watch her throw away her life and that they're over/done.
Very strong scene between the two, with great acting from both. Maybe it's this scene that makes the episode so highly regarded/rated among the fans? I myself preferred last season's final, but this was a really good moment.
While Castle goes to Alexis’s graduation, Beckett and Esposito go off to get Tahmoh Penikett/Maddox, she fights him on a rooftop, this is one of the few times she
doesn't manage to kick the bad guy's arse, and she winds up where she started the episode - hanging off the edge of a tall building with only a balcony down below (but off to one side, so she can't really land on it. It's almost like it was there taunting her, "Haha! You need me, but I'm just too far away! Suck it!" - kind of like how Castle wasn't there for her this time when she really needed him). Her epiphany about what matters most in her life occurs to her as she's losing her grip and says Castle's name, then we hear the "Hang on!" shouted out again and it turns out to be Ryan accompanied by Gates and backup. This obviously gets Beckett and Esposito into trouble with Gates, but Ryan was doing the right thing and is the reason Beckett didn't die...so I hated seeing how Esposito treated him after (with Beckett, we didn't really get to see what she thought of Ryan doing what he did. She was more focused on telling Gates that she resigned, handing her in badge and gun and storming out). Screw you, Esposito, for being such a prick to Ryan! Like it wasn't bad enough when he punched Ryan in last season's final when he was just stating the truth about Montgomery. Did he ever get an apology about that? By my count this makes at least
two apologies Esposito owes him now. I felt so bad for Ryan (and we got our seemingly traditional throwing of something in a season final courtesy of Ryan this time around).
Alexis's speech was then played over a montage which ended with Beckett at hers and Castle's swing set (maybe it was a different swing set to the previous one/s? Maybe they just have a monopoly on ALL swing sets? Take
that, kids! Stay of Castle/Beckett's meeting place! Swings aren't meant for
swinging on!) in pouring moody rain. She then knocks on Castle's door and says she wants him. Evidently, it took her
almost dying to realise she didn’t care about catching Maddox, she just wanted Castle (I'm sure there were some viewers who thought when watching this scene, "How presumptuous of you, Kate, to just
assume Castle wants to be with you now after you took so long to return his feelings and after the way you treated -- aaand now they're snogging."). The episode ends with Maddox visiting the guy Castle's been talking with over the phone/meeting with and wanting him to hand over the damning evidence against the person responsible for ordering the murder of Beckett's mum, because his next job (after throwing her off a roof) is to put Beckett "in the ground once and for all". DUN DUN DUN!
As I mentioned before, this seems to be regarded as one of the 'best' episodes of the show (if not THE 'best'), but while it has some good scenes/moments, I thought last season's final was stronger overall. But that's just me. Anyway, this season as a whole wasn't as 'strong' as last season in my personal opinion, but I think part of that was this big secret between Castle and Beckett which kept them at a distance (and illustrated some of Beckett's less flattering personality traits). Still, there was some decent, and at times
very good, stuff sprinkled throughout the season. I'm interested to see what Season 5 is like upon rewatch, as I don't recall that much from it.