Castle: Driven (7x01)

This entire episode was just a series of plot twists. Seriously. One right after the other. I kept gasping out loud. Seriously. What is even happening right now?!

So, we pick up right where we left off. Beckett sees the burning car and rushes towards it. However, it looks like Castle isn't inside! With the help of Ryan and Espo, she is able to find a man who might have connections to Castle's disappearance. However, this proves to be a dead end. There seems to be evidence that Castle is responsible for his own abduction - there's a video of him dropping off money to pay for a car being totaled.

Two months later, Beckett has still not given up, when Castle shows up on a boat, unconscious and badly dehydrated. When he wakes, he has no memory of the past two months. The last thing he remembers is driving to the wedding. Beckett isn't sure if she can believe Castle, because it seems like he was acting under his own volition. However, she and Castle start investigating to figure out the truth.

In the end, Castle laments to Beckett that they won't be able to pick up where they left off, but he's sure they can get through this.

I know that summary wasn't exactly swimming in details, but I wanted to get right to my discussion. First, were there elements I didn't like?

Well, I was a little bit put out by Ryan and Esposito. When Castle shows up again, Espo thinks that Castle betrayed them all. Later, when it looks like there's DNA evidence to support Castle living on a beach, Ryan believes it too. I wanted some more faith from these two. How could they truly believe Castle would leave them all like that?

On the flip side, I feel like we got too simple of a reaction from Alexis and Martha. They were acting as if nothing suspicious were going on whatsoever. I would have liked to dive into the complexities of their reactions a bit more, but maybe we'll get that at a later point.

The focus of the episode was on Kate Beckett, as it should be. Over all, I really enjoyed this premiere.

Beckett was so fierce and angry and desperate as she looked for her lost love. It was heartwarming, but also a tiny bit scary. She seemed to be willing to go to any lengths to get him back. Pushing Beckett to the limit is never a good idea.

Also, I liked the plot twists. I liked that I really had no idea what was going on. Was Castle involved? Was something else going on that we didn't know about? And then amnesia! While perhaps an overused trope in shows like this, I'm still excited about the idea of Castle not remembering the past two months. When and if he does start to remember, what will be revealed? I enjoy being left a bit in the dark.

I think I'll leave it there. I'm excited to see how Castle and Beckett move forward from this traumatic experience. And will we get our answers any time soon? I guess we'll have to wait and see!

8/10