To get new inspiration and to avoid the rising tension between Beckett and himself, Castle teams up with the rogue Detective Ethan Slaughter to solve a Gang murder.
✭✭✭✭✭
------------------------- Spoilers Ahead -----------------------------
In the open scene Castle is playing with action figures, or “envisioning a scene” how he calls it. It’s a shout out to Firefly, which I absolutely loved.
Martha hands Castle a bunch of College letters Alexis got. Castle hides them in a little drawer, explaining to Martha, that Alexis will get all the letters at once, meaning she will get the bad news together with the good news. Martha calls it “the dumbest idea he ever had” though we all know he means well.
Castle seems to be dealing with a Writers Block because he can’t seem to finish his newest Nikki Heat Book “Frozen Heat”. He needs something different, something new. That’s where Detective Slaughter comes into play. Castle sees the News about a supposedly Gang murder victim who had a bag with severed heads with him.
Castle goes to see Beckett, bringing her a coffee. When Beckett sees him, she smiles the most adorable smile ever. As she takes the Coffee from Castle she says “that’s so sweet”.
Castle starts questioning her about Slaughter and the Gang murder. She’s obviously upset about him using her like that. She puts the coffee down and heads back towards the room she uses to prepare for a trail. Castle asks her where he can find Slaughter. Although she’s not happy about it, she tells him to look where the body is.
Castle has his first encounter with Slaughter at the morgue. He’s clearly a whole different story than Beckett, Espo and Ryan. Castle tries to talk him into letting him help. Slaughter even gets his fine coat (which of course is brown and another shout out to Firefly ♡) but refuses his help anyways. Only after Castle mentions he’s a good friend of the Major and he’d owe him a favor after the case, Slaughter lets him join.
They take a ride to tell the dead boy “Glisch”’s father that his son is dead. He doesn’t seem to be too surprised by the News. Apparently his son was a troublemaker. Slaughter and Castle follow the father in hope he would lead them to the killer. Castle asks Espo to run some names down for him and Slaughter. Espo says he’s “not working for him” and wants front row tickets for the Knicks in return. Furthermore he tells Castle that Slaughter’s nickname is the “Widow maker” because his last three partners all died in the line of duty. Slaughter counters that it’s not his fault they keep sticking him with idiots.
After they see the dead boy’s father enter a Club, Slaughter hands Castle a gun and tells him to enter through the front door. Castle does as he is told, walks in and shouts “NPYD. Nobody move!” Super hilarious moment. You can see how scared Castle is. A lot of people run out and run him over. When the dead boy’s father, who is threatening another guy with a gun, is taken on by Slaughter, other guy tries to escape and Slaughter tells Castle to get him. They fight each other and in the end Castle hits a beer bottle over the guys head to knock him out. Another hilarious moment, that made me laugh so hard. Castle surely showed he can handle himself… barely lol.
Ryan asks Beckett what’s it he is hearing about Castle being involved with another Cop. Beckett just replies that she doesn’t care what he’s wrapped up in, as long as he is outta her hair. She’s clearly upset. Just in that moment the elevator opens and Castle, looking all beat up, and Slaughter bring two suspects in. They still look super cool doing so.
Beckett talks to Castle and is a bit shocked to hear that Castle took down one of the suspects. He tries to defend himself, saying that he can take care of himself but that she never gave him a chance to do so. She counters saying, that it’s only because she’s trying not to get him killed. Castle starts bragging about how cool Slaughter is and that it’s going to be cool to have his character meet Nikki Heat. Beckett counters again, that that is only if he lives long enough to write it.
The interrogation is quite funny too. Not because Slaughter is really badass and rogue, but because Castle is trying to be the exact same… and he’s failing miserably.
Esposito is great in this Episode, how he keeps reminding Castle about the Knicks tickets. Pretending to wave away a fly after Slaughter notices his Basketball moves – so funny.
Beckett’s upset look when she hears Castle saying that he loves this running gun police work was another priceless moment. It was another moment where Beckett’s “always being in control”-front shatters.
Another scene I pretty much enjoy was the Beckett / Shrink scene. It’s always great to see more of Beckett’s emotional side. Her being so upset about Castle’s pulling away and being afraid that she might have waited too long was really great to see. She came a long away since she beginning of the Show. She can finally admit her feelings for him. Her Doctor is helping her to understand Castle. I loved how she tries to use Castle’s voice when she says “oh everything is fine”. This scene might even be my favorite Beckett moment so far.
When Castle and Slaughter go to see one of Slaughter’s informants, Slaughter is being a jackass talking about Beckett and making inappropriate comments about Alexis. Castle punches him in the face, which kinda impresses Slaughter. Just loved it. After Slaughter went in to talk to his informant, gunshots are fired and he comes rushing out again, telling Castle that they were never here. Castle is all torn up. He’s more or less terrified of Slaughter, because he thinks he’s insane. Espo sneaks up on Castle, asking what he’s doing. Castle tells him Slaughter is insane, but before he can tell him more, Slaughter sneaks up on him. He goes to talk to Slaughter when the supposed to be dead Informant comes in, who’s an undercover Cop. Castle laughs it up with them, which drives Ryan crazy. Ryan seems to feel a little betrayed. Beckett convinces him that it’s not worth it to say something and that Castle is just branching out.
Slaughter and Castle go to talk to another witness, Max. They find out that a Mexican Gang might be involved. Castle asks Ryan to run a plate for him. Ryan plays his cards well and scores the Ferrari for a weekend and a date for his wives Cousin Ramona. Castle promises he will never forget this.
Slaughter wants to celebrate with Castle because he survived the first day as his partner.
Castle is drooling while he’s asleep, which is kinda funny. He’s awakened by Alexis’ squeeing because she got into a bunch of Colleges like Princeton, Oxford, Sarah Lawrence and Stanford. While Castle is hung over, she’s torn between being happy that she got accepted into Stanford and feeling betrayed that they rejected her for early entry.
Slaughter and Castle go to talk to Vales, the boss of the Mexican Gang. Slaughter convinces Castle, that they won’t need backup because the guy is a piece of cake.
Espo and Ryan realize that Vales is as worse as it can get. They worry about Castle.
The situation is about to escalate with Valez and his Gang, when Ryan and Espo arrive with backup. Espo confronts Slaughter, telling him that what he is doing is bad police work. Slaughter convinces Castle that he had a plan to find the weakest link.
At the precinct Ryan tells Castle that he had no idea that he had a death wish. While Castle tries to convince Ryan that Slaughter had a plan, his hands are shaking. He doesn’t seem too happy when he gets a text message from Slaughter. Ryan points out that they might not be there the next time to safe him.
Espo talks to Beckett and tells her they need to do something. Beckett points out that she can’t do anything about it.
When Castle walks towards the elevator he locks eyes with Beckett. He seems pretty scared.
Meanwhile Slaughter has snatched up Mendoza, the weakest link of the Mexican Gang. He has him in his trunk, turning rounds after rounds to get him to talk. Castle is not too excited about this. Especially not since Slaughter wants him to help with his civilian review boards thing.
Castle observes Slaughter’s interrogation of Mendoza. He notices that he’s coaching the kid of what to say and to accuse Vales. Castle confronts Slaughter and tells him he’s out.
Castle asks Ryan for help but he turns him away, telling him they caught a murder. Esposito tells Castle to talk to Beckett.
Castle goes up to her. Beckett is still upset and she’s not making a secret out of it. She tells Castle to stop the Smalltalk and tell her want he wants. He tells her that Slaughter went to far. She points out that it’s not her Case and that there are strict rules about interfering in another Cop’s investigation. In the end Beckett hands Castle a file that has a traffic light photo of Valez’s car. Castle is surprised to realize that she did it for him, that she had his back all the time. Together they go to the crime scene to figure out some missing parts. Slaughter turns up, confronting Beckett. She puts her job in danger for Castle. Later Castle and Beckett find out why Glitsch hid in the darkness and that he used the pay phone. They find out that his father has killed his own son because he went too far this time.
Slaughter is still frustrated that they had to release Vales. Beckett confronts Vales and tells him to get the hell outta her city or otherwise she would have the whole NYPD crushing down on him.
Slaughter points out that this is so hot and if she ever wanted to have a date that ended in hot sex she should tell him. She counters “Yeah, in never gonna happen land!” Absolutely funny.
Castle thanks Beckett for her help. She tells him that this is what Partners are supposed to do.
Alexis is still figuring out what she should think about her Stanford acceptation. Castle tells her that it’s a question of do you want it badly enough to get over being hurt.
This was definitely one of my favorite Episodes ever. Not only was it great to see Nathan Fillion and Adam Baldwin team up again, but also the whole storyline of this Episode was fantastic. After Castle pulled away from Beckett, this was exactly what we all needed. Seeing that Beckett is finally realizing what she has on Castle and him realizing that Beckett had his back all this time was great. I may not be a huge Fan of Adam Baldwin’s radical political view but I absolutely adore him as an actor. He’s quite amazing and really good at playing badass characters. I loved the way Beckett got all upset and her rant at her shrink. It’s great to have more insight into her feelings for Castle. And I loved how Castle got himself into trouble because he tried to pull away from Beckett. I hope he has his lesson learned. Of course some of the funniest moments in this Episodes were the Scenes between Castle and Slaughter. I’m really hoping that this won’t be the last we have seen of Detective Slaughter. I also loved Esposito and Ryan very much in this one. Loved how they had Castle bribe them into helping him, but still being there to rescue him when it was important. As a Firefly Fan myself I absolutely adored the Firefly shout outs. They weren’t too obvious but still good enough to be caught. Loved Slaughter’s side glances that scared Castle like hell. Another great thing to see was that Beckett risks her Job to help Castle. That should count for something since she seems to love her job. It should be another reason for Castle to not ever question Beckett again. She might have lied about the fact that she does remember him saying I love you to her, but he’s also lying about her mother’s case. So they should be even. It’s always great to have Martha and Alexis in the Episodes. It’s nice to see that Alexis gets so many College acceptations, however I’d love to have her stay and do more interning at the Morgue. I think that’s a pretty interesting storyline, especially since she often enough helped Castle to find the right clue to solve a crime.
Only thing I missed in this Episode was Lanie. ;) But I can handle it since this Episode was freakishly amazing. Only Lanie would have made it even more awesome.
This Episode had a great deal of action, great character development, marvelous dialogs and much humor. Much kudos to Alexi Hawley for this Script. He can be very proud of himself. I’m really sad to see him leave Castle. But if that isn’t a great way to say goodbye to Castle and us Fans, I don’t know what is. So thanks Alexi, for a fantastic Episode. J
Also much kudos to the rest of the Cast for another Episode of great acting. So yes, I loved loved loved this Episode. J
Can’t believe we are almost done with this Season. Not sure how to survive the hiatus. ;)
***** Episode Quotes *****
Martha: Richard, that is the dumbest idea you ever had.
Beckett (to Castle): Thank you, that’s so sweet.
Castle: So they call you the widow maker.
Slaughter: It’s not my fault they keep sticking me with idiots.
Castle: NPYD! Nobody move!
Beckett: You what? Are you kidding me? You are a Writer, not a Cop.
Castle: Hey, I can take care of myself. You just never gave me a chance.
Beckett: Yeah, because I’m not trying to get you killed.
Castle: He's really going to help me shake up this next Nikki Heat book.
Beckett: Yeah, if you live long enough to actually write it.
Dr. Burke: Have you asked him why?
Beckett: Yes and he said “everything’s fine”.
Dr. Burke: What makes you think it isn’t?
Beckett: Because he’s acting like a complete jackass. He shows up at the precinct with these bimbos hanging on his arm and now he’s running around with another cop.
Beckett: So what do I do?
Dr. Burke: What do you want to do?
Slaughter: I tell you what I’d do; I’d go all Caveman on your partner.
Castle: Just to be clear my daughter is off limits.
Ryan: I feel like he's cheating on us.
Beckett: He's not cheating on us, Ryan. He's just ... branching out.
Castle: They rejected you and you feel betrayed.
Ryan: Who knew all these years we’ve been working together that you had a death wish.
Castle: Well that... wasn’t bad. Slaughter had a plan.
Ryan: Yeah, he had a plan to get you killed.
Beckett: Espo, if the guy's hell bent on leaving the nest then there's nothing I can do about it.
Esposito: You really don't feel that way, do you?
Castle: Hey, how’s it going?
Beckett: You can stop the Smalltalk, Castle. What do you want?
Castle: You did this for me? All this time you had my back.
Beckett: You do what you gotta do, Slaughter. And I do the same.
Castle: Thanks very much for your help.
Beckett: No Problem, Castle. Tha’s what Partners are supposed to do.
Castle: I guess the question is; do you want it badly enough to get over being hurt?
