When I realized where Castle was going with these last few episodes, I figured it would end in a couple of different ways. And they chose one of my options. Seriously, if you’d made me guess, last night ended how I thought it would. And I’ll be interested to see how they play out the cliffhanger next season. I mean, I know what will happen, but I am interested to see how the characters get there.
And also of note, this is the first season finale that hasn’t once mentioned Beckett’s mother’s murder. Of course, there isn’t much left to do there – just take down the Senator.
We’re going to discuss this in two parts. There’s the case of the week and then Beckett’s job interview. We’ll start with the murder.
Our victim is found in the water tank on top of a transient hotel/living facility. She’d only been there about a week and a half. Her neighbors, well all but one, were sure she was a prostitute.
Digging into her background, they discover that she actually lived in New York. Her parents thought she was on a trip to Europe when she was killed. So what was she doing in this dive?
When they go back to question the one neighbor who didn’t think she was a prostitute, they learn he’d used the hole in his closet to spy on her. And all night, she was hacking into the website of a law firm.
The victim was scene meeting with a mysterious man. That man had worked at the law firm until he was fired. They track him down to also find him murdered. And Laney places the time of death at before the initial victim was killed.
So what is the connection with this law firm? It turns out a year ago that the first victim’s best friend interned there until she died in a car crash. But the victim never bought the explanation because her friend was wearing high heels and driving drunk, two things she’d never do. (That is, wear high heels and drive and drink and drive.) And the mystery man knew something about it, which is why our victim was in touch with him.
Finally, we find the victim’s computer and see what she had hacked from the law firm. Using that, they figure out that there was someone else involved in the car crash – a fledgling politician with aims at national office. And he’s a client of this law firm as well. But, of course, he alibis out for the victim’s murder.
However, his brother (cousin? I don’t remember the family connection) doesn’t have an alibi. In fact, he’d moved into the same place where our victim was living to keep an eye on her. And when Beckett confronts him with a partial finger print, he confesses and agrees to testify.
So, let’s get to the part of the episode we really care about, shall we?
The episode opens with Beckett in DC for the job interview. The job she said last week she wasn’t interested in at all. And she tries to play down her interest initially as well, but the man she is interviewing with tells her that she is qualified and she knows it or she wouldn’t be there.
She hasn’t told Castle or anyone else about this trip, which makes her last to the crime scene in fact. Gates is the first to find out when she is called for a reference, which she is very happy to do. And she tells Beckett to take the job – she’d be good at it and she deserves it.
Beckett keeps it under wraps until Castle finds the boarding pass for her flight in her jacket later. When she tells him about the job, he gets upset with her. Her moving to DC to take the job would be the end of their relationship.
The next morning, Beckett goes to Laney. Later in the day, she gets advice from her father. She talks to both about how she doesn’t know where her relationship with Castle is going. Her dad tells her that he has seen her do this multiple times, as soon as things start to get serious in a relationship, she bolts. He tells her that he needs to make sure of what she wants. She tells him she wants this job.
Castle, meanwhile, has been talking to Martha. Martha tells him that, while he and Beckett are obviously having fun, he needs to start figuring out what he wants from the relationship. And he is dragging his feet like he always has with Beckett.
Meanwhile, we do get a brief sub-plot involving Alexis wanting to go on a six week trip to Costa Rica and Castle dragging his feet there are paying for it. It’s the first time the Paris two parter has been mentioned since it happened. Castle admits he is worried about letting her go, and Alexis says she is scared, too. But she needs to get out there and do things to get over her kidnapping.
So, the final episode finds Beckett and Castle at the swings. Beckett arrives ready to tell Castle she is taking the job, but Castle doesn’t give her a chance. He starts talking about how getting to know Beckett is a struggle, but he’s been doing some thinking about what he wants, and now he knows. Getting down on one knee, he asks Beckett to marry him.
Fade to black.
I can not tell you how frustrated I was with Beckett last night. She made this huge decision without really talking to Castle at all. And it obviously affects him, too. Furthermore, if she wants to know where Castle sees their relationship going, she should ask him instead of complaining to everyone about how she doesn’t know. Yes, the one time she did ask Castle, he didn’t really respond, but guys have one track minds, and right then he was focused on the surprise he had for her. Frankly, it wasn’t the time to blurt out the question anyway.
As my roommate pointed out, in real life this wouldn’t be that big a deal. There’s no reason why Castle couldn’t follow her to DC. Heck, he could keep the loft and let Martha live there if he wanted. But he’s a writer. He can do that from anywhere.
But this is TV world where Beckett changing jobs and moving would destroy the premise of the show. You know, the part about writer follows cop around to solve murders. You know that would never fly in DC. And not all cases would be murder anyway.
Which means we know that Beckett will say yes to Castle. At the very least, she will stay in New York. What makes her change her mind about all that? Well, we’ll have to tune in to season six to find out.
On my recap of Once Upon a Time, I mention the blog I’ve been working on the last few months to house all the reviews I’ve written over the last 10 plus years. Here, again, if the link to my Disney related reviews posted so far. And, since you probably like mysteries if you watch this show, here are my mystery reviews. Keep checking back over the summer as I expect to finish up getting my old reviews over there. Once I do that, I’ll keep plugging away with new reviews
Honestly, my cynical side says if Beckett is smart she will say no. They have not been together that long and this is much too big of a step. I also think an engagement and possibly a wedding next season might turn out to be a “jump the shark” moment. My prediction? She’ll say no and go to DC. If Castle was serious and not just trying to make her stay, they’ll stay together and try to make it work. She’ll take the Senator down (Senator…DC…see?) then realize she wants to be with Castle and quit her DC job and go back to NYC. They can end that season (is it 7?) with a real engagement. In fact, I would like to see HER propose to HIM. :D
They’ve been together a year. At least in my circles, that is plenty long enough before you get engaged.
I just don’t see her going to DC since it would be hard to have her there and still have Castle solving murders in New York? And what about the rest of the cast. In a TV world, her taking this job was always a non-started, and I knew that all along.
But maybe they have something in mind I don’t know about.
I think she’ll say no, but I’m not sure how she can do that and not have Castle see it as a complete rejection/end of the relationship. I did think the same thing about the DC/senator issue, Bonnie. But I don’t think that Castle would be able to follow her there. It’s one thing to let Alexis go on a six week trip, but I think in general he would want to be in the same city as his daughter right now. I just find the whole thing frustrating because we know they can’t fire the whole cast and move the show to DC, so why bother with something that is just a few episodes at best?
Something a few episodes at best gives us a great May cliffhanger. Many a show has done it and the character hasn’t really left. It was kind of like two years ago when Beckett got shot. We were supposed to worry, but we all knew she wouldn’t really die.
Understand that I’m not saying move the show to DC or fire the rest of the cast. I’m talking about a 2-3 episode arc where Beckett is in DC, takes down the Senator (they can’t leave that hanging indefinitely), then realizes she really wants to be in NYC (though she’s already said that, of course). Castle can hang out with Ryan and Esposito or work on his book or even go down to DC. His daughter is going to be in Costa Rica for 6 weeks, remember? So no reason to stay in town while she’s gone. Time apart for Kate and Castle would be good tension for the pair and make them realize how much they really care for each other. Have they been together “a year”? I don’t know. I’m not sure how the timeline of the show follows “real time”. After all, there was the S4 finale (a year ago) then S5 picked up the very next day, so we lost three months there, though probably picked it up in other places. And considering much of that time their relationship was a secret, it’s hardly a normal one-year, let’s get engaged, relationship. Still, I realize this is TV and I’m far more realistically minded in my thought processes. I’m not predicting anything, just saying what I would do if I were one of the writers. In other words, let’s try not to be overly predictable, get them happily engaged, married, have a kid and completely ruin the show. ;)
What you are describing sounds great from the character point of view, and I’d love to see it, too. However, I don’t see how it fits in with a murder mystery show, especially one where Castle follows Beckett around to solve murders. Maybe they could get away with it for one episode, but I find it very hard to see how they could do it.
As to the timeline, yes the first episode picked up right after season 4 ended (for the first time), but three or four episodes later, Alexis was starting college. And we had Christmas and Valentine’s Day episodes at the right time of year, so I figure we caught up at some point in the first half of the season.
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