Castle: Hong Kong Hustle (7x17)

Eh... I didn't dislike this episode, but I also didn't love it. Let's start with a plot summary.

When a man ends up murdered in a park, Beckett and her team are on the case. They end up crossing paths with another police officer, Chief Inspecter Zhang. This woman is amazing, at the top of her career and with an annoyingly perfect family. Kate starts to feel insecure about her own accomplishments, and wonders if she should be doing more to advance her career.

The case ends up being tied up in the victim's girlfriend's life. Apparently this girl, Suyin, was in debt to the people who had smuggled her into the country. The victim, Henry, was going to rescue Suyin from her servitude, but Suyin's friend Mei Wu killed Henry to prevent him from taking away her only friend. It was a lot more complicated than that, but that was the basic situation.

Mostly, we focus on Beckett's growing insecurity as she works with the incredibly attractive and accomplished Zhang. The case is personal for Zhang, as she and Henry were friends when they were kids. Zhang steps over some lines in the investigation, and Beckett starts to understand that this woman isn't as perfect as she appears. She also reveals that her home life is terrible, because she focuses too much of her energies on her work. This prompts Beckett to think about what she would like to prioritize for her own future.

That's all I'll say in terms of a plot summary. I'll start with complaints... the case didn't have the best resolution. I loved all of the buildup. Henry seemed interesting from what we got of him, and I was interested to see how Suyin and Mimi would fit into everything. But then in the end, it was just a sacred friend trying to prevent her support system from leaving. Okay... not an unrealistic motivation for murder, but it was a bit out of the blue.

I also wanted much, much more from Ryan and Esposito this week. The few moments we got of them were especially funny, and it just made me miss them more than ever before. I want another episode focused on them. And I want Alexis. And Martha.

But despite the fact that this episode wasn't anything too amazing, I really did love the character of Zhang. She was this amazingly attractive, successful and kind woman, and I couldn't really blame Beckett for being jealous. My favorite moment of her was when she disarmed Ryan and Esposito at the start of the episode. She managed to get both of their guns from them, a fact which delighted Castle to no end. The boys could barely look anybody in the eye after that little fiasco.

Predictably, Zhang didn't end up being perfect. But that just made her even more interesting. I sort of wish she could stick around for more episodes. It would be nice to see Beckett find another female friend within her career.

The most interesting thing that Zhang offers, though, is a chance for Beckett (and the viewers) to explore the future. What is Beckett going to prioritize? Does she want to have kids, and make them a priority, or does she want to keep going with her career? Can she do both? Can Castle? I want to explore this more moving forward.

Sorry for the rather brief review. I wasn't too impressed with this particular episode, but there wasn't anything terribly wrong with it either.

7/10