Castle: Reckoning (7x15)

So, this episode was pretty intense. I'm actually the tiniest bit torn about it, though, because it was sort of too intense, you know? There weren't really any quieter moments to break it up. It was all go, go, go from start to finish. Let's take a look, but I'm going to be brief in my plot summary.

Castle and the rest of the team are on a frantic hunt to find Beckett, who has been kidnapped by Tyson and Kelly Nieman. Castle gets overzealous, confronting Tyson with a weapon and threatening him. At this point, Tyson is still pretending that he's Michael Boudreau. Castle is arrested for harming what appears to be an unarmed and innocent man. However, he gets a call from Tyson and hears Tyson ask "how did it feel to be that close?" Now that everybody is sure it's Tyson, the fight gets amped up a bit.

Castle realizes that the only way to beat Tyson is to stop going along with what he wants. Captain Gates tells Castle that he needs to find the story of Tyson. Why is he the way he is? What will his next move be? Castle is able to figure out what Tyson wants. He goes to Tyson's former cell mate and gets information about a safe place where Tyson used to go as a kid. Castle shows up there. Tyson is lying in wait. He catches Castle.

Meanwhile, Beckett wakes up to find herself strapped down in a room with Kelly Nieman. Kelly talks about what a great face she has. She says she's going to need a new face to go under cover, and she chooses Beckett's. Beckett manages to work herself free from her bonds just in time to stop Nieman from cutting her.

Tyson thinks he has Castle right where he wants him, but Castle informs him that this was the plan all along. Castle had figured out that Tyson needed to prove that he was smarter than Castle, so Castle let him. Through an earpiece, Castle gives the order to the police waiting outside. They take the shot, and take Tyson down. They discover Beckett's location based on Tyson's latest phone call to Nieman. They show up to find that Beckett has killed Nieman.

Beckett and Castle are both badly shaken by what's happened. Beckett talks about how she sees Nieman when she closes her eyes. Castle sees Jerry Tyson too, but he solves this by opening his eyes and looking at Beckett instead.

So, there you go. As I said at the beginning, this episode was just too much, all at once. I felt like I could never catch my breath. This show ultimately does drama very well, and comedy very well, but there's not much of a blending of the two. This episode really showed why that can be a serious weakness.

This episode ended up focusing pretty much entirely on Castle and his own journey, which would have been fine if I weren't so interested in what Esposito and Ryan were going through. Or what about Alexis and Martha? They were there for one brief moment and that was it. I just felt like there could have been... more.

My complaints are a bit hard to pin down, and for that I apologize. This episode did have a lot of really strong elements to it, and ultimately I enjoyed being pulled along for this rather intense ride.

Castle was scary! He was so angry, and single-minded. I don't know if he would have shot Jerry Tyson, but a big part of me thinks he really would have done it. That's some dark stuff! When it comes to Beckett, Castle isn't afraid to go all out. I think my favorite moment was when he finally revealed the truth to Tyson. He played him. He knew how to get into his head, and he won. Castle was able to watch with no remorse as Tyson was killed right in front of him. I think it speaks a lot to how much he's changed (and not always for the better) over the years.

Beckett is such a bad ass. She's so strong, and amazing, and perfect. I love how scared she was, and how even though she did what needed to be done, she isn't just instantly okay with everything after her traumatic experiences. She's shaken, and distressed. Which makes perfect sense! I like this balance between reasonable fear and panic, and total professional bad-assery. Beckett will always be one of my favorite characters on TV.

Then there's the villains. Jerry Tyson is creepy and all, but I gotta say, I was most scared of Kelly Nieman in this episode. Her scene with Beckett was so very chilling. The way she caresses her face, and talks about how beautiful she is... ugh. Really creepy. Then there's that image of Beckett standing over her body with a knife... unsettling!

Ryan and Espo didn't have a ton to do, but I did like seeing the way the whole team came together to help Beckett. Everybody was pretty frantic when it came to Kate's disappearance, but we know that these two boys love her as much more than a boss. Lanie, too, got a little moment in here, where she hugged Kate in relief.

I gotta say, though, the side-character award of the night goes to Captain Gates. She talked to Castle about how to get into Jerry Tyson's head, and it was her advice that made Castle see the full picture. She was so calm and comforting with him, in contrast to her usual acerbic nature. She knows how much Castle loves Beckett. She loves Beckett too, after a fashion.

And, of course, it's thanks to Gates that Castle gets to come back and work at the precinct! Apparently, Castle's punishment for his armed assault earlier is to do 1,000 hours of community service: to be completed working with Detective Beckett and her team! Woo hoo!

Lastly, I want to talk about the utter adorableness of that final scene with Castle and Beckett in bed together. The two of them have been through so much, but they still have each other at the end of the day. It's cliche, it's cheesy, and it's exactly what the doctor ordered. Castle tells Beckett that he went crazy without her for just two days, and tells her he finally understands how hard it must have been for her when he was missing for two months. I do hope that we can get back to that little story line, now that 3XK has been dealt with. I have to wonder, though... is this show set for a Season Eight renewal, or are we winding down? It seems like a lot of the A-plot stuff is getting taken care of.

In any case, this episode sort of polarized me. I liked it but I didn't at the same time. I'm still excited to tune in next week, though.

7/10