Yes, they did air last night’s Castle. I wondered if they might not to cover things in Boston, but they probably figured that those who wanted to know the latest could turn to the all news stations and the rest of us would like a break from the coverage. Something light and fluffy – like a murder. Personally, I welcomed the break, and it was just what the doctor ordered.
The episode opened with a woman being dumped out of a car at a hospital. Two workers rush to her side. She’s still alive, but she dies not too long afterward from her wounds. She was bashed in the head and has scratch marks on her face.
That’s when our characters take over. They quickly learn she was a student at a nearby college, but she’d been taking a break and working at a home for retired movie primates. Castle immediately starts spinning Planet of the Apes like theories, especially after one keeps snarling at him. But Beckett is more interested in the man who was seen right outside of her job arguing with her the day she died.
Meanwhile, they’ve tracked her last phone call to a foremost expert on Bigfoot (as played by Dr. Hopper from Once Upon a Time). And that’s when we learn that she was studying larger primates so she could track down Bigfoot.
Of course, Castle is thrilled and is sure they’ve found the killer. Beckett, meanwhile, is certain that a human was really behind it.
And we learn that there have been sightings in the outskirts of the city. Maybe Hurricane Sandy drove Bigfoot into civilization? And a TV show is willing to pay for absolute proof that Bigfoot is around, which isn’t helping things any. There’s even a Bigfoot hunter in the area who is obsessed with track down and killing every one of the beasts because one took his hand, leaving him with a hook.
They’ve also managed to track down the person who dumped her at the hospital. He claims that, despite the evidence and his history of abuse, he was just a good Samaritan who knew he’d be blamed if he actually came forward. But he does take them to the ally where he found the victim. And next to her body? Giant footprints that only Bigfoot could have made.
The coroner, meanwhile, has come up with some weird clues like camera lens glass in her wound and a medallion that she had swallowed.
And through the camera lens, they are able to figure out she had bought a specialty video camera and uploaded a video to her cloud account. It shows someone attacking her the night she died in the forest. So Castle and Beckett head out to try to track down the actual murder site. We’ve also learned the victim was “planting” those fake Bigfoot footprints.
Meanwhile, Ryan and Esposito are working on a possible connection to her old roommate’s murder. That case, from a year ago, is unsolved, but the roommate’s boyfriend was the chief suspect and he’s vanished. He also happens to look remarkably like the person our present victim was talking to outside of her work. They manage to find him, but he isn’t saying anything.
Castle and Beckett, meantime, are almost to the place where our current victim was attacked when they fall into a giant hole. Beckett climbs out and goes for rope to pull Castle out. Only when she comes back, there is Bigfoot.
It turns out Bigfoot is actually the Bigfoot expert in a costume. He’s been using it to hunt Bigfoot himself.
And when everyone makes the connection that the victim’s roommate’s boyfriend (our suspect in custody) was living in the forest, he finally starts to defend himself. He says he is innocent in both murders. His girlfriend was going to transfer colleges, and she wouldn’t tell him why. So he was going to transfer, too. Just before they did, she was murdered. And our current victim had figured something out, but the boyfriend doesn’t know what.
The roommate always wore a medallion, and the boyfriend quickly identifies it as the one the victim swallowed.
So, what does it all mean? It all comes back to the person who runs the primate home. He also teaches at the college, and he had the roommate in a class. He made a move on her, sounds like all but attacked her, and left her feeling unsafe, so she was going to transfer. She was about to tell someone, so he killed her. Especially with his spotty employment history (transferring schools every few years), he couldn’t have the truth coming out.
Castle, of course, is not going to give up believing in Bigfoot, and the boyfriend gives him hope, saying at some point while he was in the forest, he saw something out there.
Castle and Beckett have a talk about why she refused to believe in mysteries, but she ends it by talking about how she believes in the mystery of them and why they work so well.
Meanwhile, someone was stealing food from Castle’s refrigerator. He set a trap and turned Alexis Smurf/Avatar blue. Turns out, she spent her allowance on a friend’s project since he thinks he can help the environment. Rather than facing a lecture about how she used the money, she was coming home and sneaking food. She does admit she should have saved some of her money and Castle agrees to hear more about what her friend has to say.
And thus ends the episode. It was actually very funny with some great banter. The case was out there but still grounded with some great twists.
So, what did you think?