Castle: The Good, the Bad and the Baby (6x10)

Time for a super short review, because I’m tired and bored of writing and yeah. I’ll touch on the plot briefly and then discuss what I thought. I’ll start with this, though: this was an average episode. Average in terms of plot, characterization, jokes, all of it. Nothing about it really stands out as particularly special, or particularly bad. I pretty much instantly forgot what happened in this episode the minute I stopped watching. Let’s take a look.

So, Castle and Beckett are involved in a case that begins with a man stumbling into a church carrying a baby boy. The man dies, and the team can’t figure out who the baby belongs to. As the case continues, we learn that their victim is an ex-con, and that he’s involved in a lottery scam. Someone involved with the lottery is also involved – her husband and child had been kidnapped by the victim’s people. The victim, it turns out, had been forced into all of this, and tried to help the husband and the child, which is what got him killed. The team returns the baby to his mother, and her husband is safe as well. They get the bad guys, and all is well.

During the episode, Castle and Beckett have to care for the baby because it’s Thanksgiving weekend and there’s nowhere else for him to go. Although it’s very hard work, they manage to work together and succeed. They discuss having kids of their own someday. Beckett is tricked into participating in a fake Castle family tradition, as she dresses up as Pocahontas for Thanksgiving. Castle, Alexis, and Martha all laugh at her, but it turns out she has a costume for Castle to wear as well, so she gets her comeuppance.

Ryan is nervous about impending fatherhood, but Esposito reassures him. Ryan also tries to win the lottery in this episode, and is extremely upset when he finds out that their case means that the lottery has been fixed.

So, yeah. The baby was pretty much just Caskett fan service, but I’m not complaining, necessarily. Let’s discuss the stuff I really did like, because it was there. Then, we’ll move to the elements that didn’t work nearly as well.

Yeah, the baby stuff was pretty adorable. I like how they showed how hard it is, but at the same time, Beckett and Castle succeeded in taking care of the little boy. It shows the audience that Beckett and Castle are actually a strong couple, capable of facing all of life’s challenges, including having kids. I also loved Ryan’s anxiety about having kids, and how Esposito talked him through it. You know me, a sucker for the bromance.

The case itself was in no way a bad setup. Nothing outstanding, but I did love the twist with the kidnapping thing, and the mystery of the baby was pretty well set up.

Then for the stuff that wasn’t as strong… I’m going to have to mention the Pocahontas costume really briefly. Beckett’s white, so it’s really not okay for her to wear that. End of story. If anyone disagrees with me/wants to get into a deeper discussion about it, I’d be totally willing, just let me know. The thing with the costumes was supposed to be funny, but instead I was pulled out of the moment by the slightly racist undertones to the entire thing.

Also, Ryan’s whole lottery ticket plot was a bit difficult to believe. I could sort of see Ryan being obsessed with the lottery, but did they seriously randomly come across a case connected to the lottery just when Ryan’s love for the lottery makes itself known? It was too silly and sitcom-y for the rest of the story. Castle has always been whimsical, but the whimsy in this episode was already supplied by all of the baby stuff. The lotto was an unnecessary addition.

As promised, this isn’t all that long. As I’ve said several times already, this episode is just somewhere in the middle. Nothing offensive, but also nothing fantastic or memorable.

6/10