Castle: What Lies Beneath... (8x04)

I wanted to like this episode. In fact, I did like this episode in many ways. But I'm still pretty annoyed by one big thing, and it definitely influences my opinion of the whole episode. Let's take a look.

Cons:

Beckett and Castle's separation still makes no sense. I know I already talked about this in last week's review, so I'll try not to go overboard. But honestly - if Beckett's enemies were going to target Castle because they were married, wouldn't they still target him if he's constantly around? And if that's not the reason for the separation, then what is? It's so stupid!

Beckett's search for Vulcan Simmons - I'm fine with this in principle (although I still don't understand why she left Castle). There was a really awkward scene here, though. She calls in a narcotics specialist to ask about testing heroin samples against one another. The guy explains the process to her, and then Beckett repeats pretty much his exact words to get clarification, and then he leaves. It was super stilted and strange, and obviously the scene was only in there so that Ryan and Espo could walk in and notice that she was up to something mysterious. It felt very sloppy.

Pros:

The case itself was really fun and twisty. Compulsive lying, government conspiracies, blind (or not so blind!) priests, the Irish mob, a famous novelist, etc. were all involved in some way. The best thing about this case is that it seemed to be going in every direction at once, in a very convoluted way, but then it settled down around one simple fact: the victim was a compulsive liar. The corruption that the victim found in the government was real, but nobody would be likely to believe him, given his habit of lying. Then, there's a twist ending - turns out all of these mysterious twists and turns were a distraction from the real answer: the victim's wife killed him, because he lied about who he was when they got married, and she was disappointed.

Alexis got to help, which was of course awesome. I love that she's playing a bigger role in the show this season. She had a lot of the best moments of humor. My favorite line of hers was when she and Castle were confronting the blind priest, who then suddenly turns and runs away. Alexis says: "The blind priest ran away!" Molly Quinn's delivery was excellent.

Castle and Beckett's chemistry was so cute and fluffy and it reminded me a lot of the earlier seasons of this show, back when they were still in the will-they-won't-they stage. I thought it was adorable that they were teasing each other and solving mysteries together again, but at the same time, it felt pointless to keep their marriage on the rocks. It's so confusing!

Martha had an awesome moment at the beginning of the episode, where she came to talk with Beckett about her marriage. She didn't yell at her for leaving her son. She was actually very supportive and motherly, and gave Beckett a hug. Even though I think Beckett is entirely wrong to be shutting Castle out like this, I'm glad that Martha was supportive of her. That was really sweet.

The subplot was also excellent. Ryan learns there's only one spot left for a sergeant exam, and decides to take the spot without telling Esposito. When Espo finds out, he's hurt that Ryan would betray him, but Ryan tries to explain that he's been stressed about money lately, and he really wanted the promotion. In the end, Beckett says she can pull some strings and get them both a spot.

I liked this subplot because it focused on the relationship between Ryan and Espo, and how their own personal lives can interfere with that. While Esposito is still living the single life, Ryan is married with a kid, and with another one on the way. It's starting to cause some tension between them. Ryan obviously felt terrible for lying to Espo, but in the end the problem was quickly patched up. These two are amazing partners.

This whole plot line about Beckett and Castle being separated is making the show feel really unbalanced. They're still trying to go for some of the lighthearted humor that they've always had, but now it's mixed in with the fact that our main characters are currently going through real marital strife. It's not really working for me overall, I must say. As a stand-alone episode, however, I thought this one was pretty good.

8/10