Castle: Backstabber (8x18)

Ugh. Last week gave me such hope. And then this week is just... ugh. Plus there's the fact that ABC is in talks with Nathan Fillion for a Season Nine, but it's now confirmed that Stana Katic will not be returning. If there's another season of this show and Beckett isn't even on it, then I'm not sure how I'm going to keep pushing my way through. Let's just get started.

Cons:

This is a Hayley-centric episode. In short, the plot is that she inadvertently helps a terror attack that causes the lights to go out in London for a short time. She didn't know what she was involved with. Castle and the others all trust her, and she works with them to discover the truth. Apparently, her old partner from MI6, who she believed to be dead, was the one who caused the attack. He wants to run off with Hayley and the millions of dollars he got for the job. Hayley says no, and her former partner almost kills her. Hayley is forced to kill him instead. Hayley's name is cleared, and she decides to decline MI6's offer to return to work for them, instead staying on with Castle's PI business.

This plot thread has nothing terribly wrong with it, exactly, but... what the heck is Hayley doing in this show? Honestly, I like her just fine, but she makes no sense! In this episode, despite the fact that Hayley is implicated in a terror attack, Beckett is totally fine with covering for her and helping her hide from the FBI. I understand that our main four characters have earned this level of unprofessional loyalty... but Hayley? I mean, sure, we've seen her bonding with Castle and Alexis. But not Beckett! Not Ryan and Espo! There were lines in this about how Hayley had found her family and I was just like... what?

Alexis and Hayley have a slightly more convincing relationship, and I guess I do like seeing Alexis bond with somebody. But... why Hayley? What ever happened to Alexis and Beckett bonding? Beckett really doesn't act like a part of Castle's family a lot of the time, and it aggravates the hell out of me. As this episode ends, Beckett goes off for a drink with Ryan and Espo while Castle hangs out with Alexis and Hayley. It was almost like the three of them were meant to be the family. It's so dumb!

There was also this weird subplot where Beckett had a dream where Castle betrayed her, and she wakes up actually angry with him. Even Ryan and Espo chastise Castle for whatever he did wrong in the dream, and Castle actually apologizes to Beckett for it in the end. Apparently Beckett's subconscious brain knew that Castle was hiding something... because Castle does indeed have a surprise for his wife. Her motorcycle, fully restored. He also took lessons himself, and wants to go on a cross-country trip with her, something Beckett has always wanted to do.

The thought of Castle planning something special for Beckett is sweet, but the buildup for this was just so strange. Why would Beckett be actually angry about something that happened in a dream? That doesn't make any sense. Coming off of a season of forced conflict between this couple, even a joke fight gets on my nerves at this point. And did I even know that Beckett was in to motorcycles? Probably at some point. But Beckett's character has been through the wringer this season, and not it a good-development sort of way. More in a "all of the writers have clearly forgotten her basic personality and motivations" kind of way. So when Castle surprised Beckett with the bike and said she always wanted to go on a cross-country trip, I was distracted from the sweetness of the gesture because I didn't even know it was something Beckett had always wanted to do.

Pros:

I guess I do like Alexis and Hayley's friendship, even if I'm annoyed that it comes at the expense of closer connections between Alexis and other characters (mostly Beckett). They had a sweet hug at the end, and I'm glad to see that Alexis has at least found a person outside of her family to connect with in a real way. I might have really enjoyed an episode focusing on Hayley's character if we had a plot focused on her and Alexis taking down bad guys together. That might have been fun, and I do think there's enough of a relationship there to sustain it.

The cold-open of this episode was really exciting. Hayley and a thief named Duncan break into an office and plant the virus on the computer's software (Hayley doesn't know what it is that she's planting), but they are interrupted by a drunk couple coming in to the office. This whole scene made me really pumped to untangle the mystery of Duncan's death... too bad it didn't really go anywhere good.

The humor in this episode was pretty spot-on in small instances. Some of my favorite moments include Hayley saying "lead on, Castle-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope," and then later Castle trying to one-up Hayley in the investigative department, even though Hayley knows much more about the crime scene than Castle does. There's a guy from MI6 who comes in and tries to convince our heroes that Hayley is a bad guy, and at one point they need him to tell them where Hayley and Wesley may have gone to hide out. The MI6 guy, in an effort to protect himself, says "I can neither confirm nor deny that MI6 has ever conducted operations on U.S. soil." The words are barely out of his mouth before Castle is brushing him aside: "yeah, yeah, just tell us where it is." That was pretty great.

Unfortunately, that's all I really have to say for this one. Last week's episode was this shining moment of optimism and opportunity... and now we're back in the dumps. I pray that ABC cuts its losses now and doesn't bring this show back for another season.

3/10