Castle: The Last Seduction (8x07)

This episode was such a confusing mix of annoying and wonderful. I'm really happy with a few things, but still aggravated by a lot. Let's take a look.

Cons:

Hayley was in this episode, and I'm still struggling to figure out what the hell she's doing in this story. This week, she helped Beckett by going under cover at a spa and trying to uncover a woman with an adulterous secret. Was Hayley really the only person who was available for this? Aren't there other women working at the precinct? And what is Hayley, exactly? Is she consulting with the NYPD? I'm confused and I'm struggling to find her character interesting. There was one jarring moment when she asked one of the suspects to tell her the name of her tattoo artist because she really liked her tattoo. No offense, but the tattoo was a really basic pattern on the lower back. It was annoying, because if Hayley was going to make a point of talking about it, shouldn't the tattoo actually look cool?

Vikram also made an appearance, to annoyingly point out to Beckett that she shouldn't be spending time with Castle because of the ongoing dangers of their illicit research. Go away, Vikram. You make no sense and annoy me greatly. 

And let's talk more about Castle and Beckett's idiotic separation... this episode includes their one year wedding anniversary, and Castle asks Beckett out to dinner. Beckett says yes, although she says that she isn't ready to come back to their marriage for real. Their dinner ends up cancelled because they have to deal with Ryan and Espo's feuding, which we'll get to in a minute, but later Beckett shows up at Castle's place with dinner. The two of them end up in bed together, and then Beckett leaves, effectively ending their "time in" from their marriage's "time out." I'm sorry, but Beckett is being just awful! I feel like we're supposed to be sympathizing with both of them, and understanding the greater complexities of this situation. But all I can think is that Castle has done nothing wrong, and Beckett is just messing with him at this point. I don't like feeling this anger for Beckett. I'm trying to understand her side of it. But I just can't.

Pros:

The case. This week, our victim is a guy who has been sleeping with married women. As the case unravels, we learn that these women's husbands were actually paying this guy to seduce their wives so that they could get divorced and the husband wouldn't have to pay the wife anything in the divorce, since she broke the infidelity clause in the prenup. This scheme leads to him being murdered by the lawyer who was handling the divorce cases. Turns out, the guy was having a crisis of conscience, and was planning on coming forward and confessing all. The lawyer killed him to stop him from talking. This was a great setup. I liked that the murderer wasn't the most obvious choice, but it wasn't some obscure and forgotten character either. She was pretty prominent in the story, and I was genuinely surprised and intrigued when we learned that she was the guilty party.

Castle and Beckett's stuff annoyed me for the most part, but I will admit that Castle's little surprise for Beckett on their anniversary was rather cute. He rigged a button in her office to set off confetti and a banner, and a balloon with an invitation to dinner tied to the string. It's goofy, it's over the top, it's so Castle. I really enjoyed this little hint of how things used to be.

Alexis had only a few brief moments in this episode, but I love the continued evidence that she's helping out on cases. She's the one who helps get client information from the lawyer, when they're still trying to track down the bad guy. Go Alexis!

Espo and Ryan saved the episode for me, though. I was annoyed last week that their relationship didn't get any focus, but this week we're back to focusing on their tumultuous partnership. The episode starts with them in therapy, yelling at each other. When the therapist suggests that they get different partners, each of them backs down, seemingly not willing to go that far. I loved this moment, because while they were saying nasty things to each other, both of them really want to find a way to fix this.

Most of the humor in this episode came from their escalating spat. They bring Castle in to act as a buffer and stop them from fighting. Castle takes his job seriously, recommending that they try role playing, or try writing down what they're thinking instead of blurting things out. The role playing scene is hilarious. Espo pretending to be Ryan is priceless, especially when he walks out of the room doing Ryan's uptight walk and Ryan has to admit that "his physicality is pretty good." The other moment of humor comes near the end, when Espo and Ryan run down the bad guy, and Ryan says "don't move, I'll shoot your ass." Espo replies: "he'll do it, too. Trust me." Ha!

I also loved the scene where Beckett and Castle talked to each of the boys, Beckett taking Espo and Castle taking Ryan. They tried to get them to see that their issues weren't insurmountable, but each of them said they couldn't let it go. But then...

As Espo confronts the murderous lawyer, she pulls a gun on him. Ryan rushes into the room and pushes Espo out of the way, taking the bullet himself. Luckily, his notepad where he had been scribbling all of his angry thoughts ended up stopping the bullet. Ryan and Espo decide that they should remain partners, and Espo tells Ryan how grateful he is that Ryan saved his life, risking his own even though he has a family back home that depends on him. All of this stuff was so perfect. Serious props to Jon Huertas as Esposito. When he realized that Ryan wasn't moving, and that he'd been shot, the look on his face was pure terror and anguish. Later, Ryan seems a bit uncertain, saying he'd like to continue being partners with Espo "if it's cool with you." Espo is incredulous, nearly tearing up as he expresses his gratitude for what Ryan has done for him. The two share a well-deserved hug. Yay! And we know that they're going to be okay now, because Espo agrees to come over and watch UFC with Ryan. The boys are back!

  

That's where I'll stop. I'm just so, so annoyed about Beckett and Castle, and it's really distracting to me. I just don't understand the motivations here! The whole thing is making me so frustrated. Hopefully this forced conflict will go away at the midseason finale and we can get back to form. Grrrrr. Luckily, Ryan and Espo helped save this episode for me.

7/10