I honestly did not know what to expect from this episode, this was my first “spoiler free” episode of the season! It was not one that I absolutley loved, but it had some amazing parts!
As the episode opens to introduce our victim, it also includes the ever present (since season 5 at least) domestic Caskett scene. THANK THE CASTLE GODS!!! They are finally addressing Kate’s living situation! I love the little glimpses that we get of Kate’s backstory while they are packing up, like what she wore in high school or that her Nona used to make her scrambled eggs, and that she keeps the pan. I also like that the apartment is staying in the family. (Even though they have demolished the set and we won’t be seeing it anymore!) What I didn’t like was Castle’s cavalier dismissal of what that apartment meant for their relationship. Yes, it might have held bad memories for him, but that is where Kate broke down so many of her walls, and as an “observant” writer, he should have put those pieces together.
As much I as LOVE fangirl Beckett, fanboy Castle is almost as entertaining! With our vic identified as Lance Delorca, “one of the biggest action heroes from the 80’s!” But even in his “fanboy” state, Castle continues his season 7 trend of being extremely helpful with the info and background on the case! I love the visual parallel between the boys doing research for this case and the one from “The Mistress Always Spanks Twice”. But what makes it even better is that each one of the boys has some tidbit to help justify them with Beckett! That doesn’t even help Castle, when his over enthusiasm gets him benched, nice almost save with that whole “for about a minute” comment!
At least something good comes of Castle’s admiration of Lance’s costars, as they get some very valuable information about his most recently know whereabouts, and background on his involvement with Spanish Intelligence. Thus leading Castle to believe that there is a solid connection to the way that Delorca killed as a member of CNI and the way that he was murdered.
I am also loving the trend of Gates saying that Castle is right! That cannot happen enough! Another one of my favorite parts of the episode were the catchphrases that Ryan was trying out, some of them ad libs from Seamus Dever himself!
Tory Ellis is swiftly becoming the rising star of the 12th! So many of the past investigations have been solved because of what she has been able to come through with! Case in point, finding the POI based solely on her ear?! Come on, ear bio-metrics!?!
Deeper into the investigation, we discover that Lance’s entire backstory was a facade borrowed to make his character seem more authentic, when in fact he had started out as a professional goat herder. Which results in one pouty Rick Castle. It was comical to see Kate trying to spare his feelings, whilst implying that her beloved husband might be overreacting a tad.
And to Rick’s despair and Kate’s delight the suspicion falls on none other than the “jilted” ex-wife. One of my favorite moments in the episode is when Kate has Ms. Kingsley in interrogation, and points out that, “she knows bad acting when she sees it.” As someone who has seen Kate Beckett’s “acting” that line is truly laughable! Unfortunately, Beckett wasn’t able to make any of the allegations or the charges stick to Ms. Kingsley’s alibi. So on Rick goes, deeper into the investigation, holding onto his belief of Kat Kingsley’s innocence.
I love that Lanie shows up in the episode! It gives such depth to the fact that Castle and Beckett are actually married now!! Not everything is always going to be sunshine and roses, even for the perfect couple, and I am really happy that they are showing that. I am also thrilled that Kate is using Lanie as a sounding board! I’ve always loved their bonding moment, and let’s face it, Lanie has been giving her advice about Castle since S1! And this was one of my personal favorites:
“…to him this is just an apartment with creaky floors, but to you, this is where you rebuilt you life, where you solved your mother’s murder, where you fell in love.”
“To the best apartment ever!”
With the discovery of some surveillance footage, Castle’s faith in Lance was justified as the team watches him very handily dispose of four thugs with less than favorable intentions. Which gives the team a new direction and best of all a new lead. Which points them back to the movie set, as they revisit to interview their newest suspect, the story only gets deeper. It is discovered that Lance might have taken matters into his own hands by running a sting operation at a downtown club, known for its involvement in the drug distribution business.
As they go to interview their potential suspect “El Hefe”, Beckett makes a break through on the case. All the information that they would need had been recorded on a bug that Lance had planted in “El Hefe’s” office, now if only they could get their hands on it!
All image and gif content courtesy of ABC and Castle, gifs courtesy of drinkingcastleskoolaid
With Beckett unable to procure a warrant, the “Indestructibles” plan to take matters into their own hands, but what does that mean for Castle? With permission from Kate, (in the most adorable form), “Castle, you really think I could stand between you and your boyhood dream?” ” You are my boyhood dream.” (let the swooning commence!) Castle heads on out for a night of “drinking” with the “Indestructibles”. Which ultimately is code for, we are sneaking in, grabbing the device, and putting away the bad guy, consequences be damned! Even if Castle’s cop wife would kill him! With the listening device in their possession, after Castle’s very own comical action sequence, Rick heads back to give the evidence to Kate. The exchange between the two, was honestly one of the funniest of the night, complete with a S1 callback of putting it on speakerphone! And in a tactic that is a little more telling than it should be, we see just how big of a tease Kate is, poor Castle!
With yet another name added to the suspect pool, Kate and Rick seem nowhere closer to closing the case. But they hope that Trey might be able to give them some more insight into why Lance would put his life on the line to help save his. With a little more digging they find out a plot twist that is more soap opera worthy than hard action; that not only had Trey saved Lance’s life with a bone marrow transplant, but that they were actually father and son. And with all the pieces falling into place, Kate and Rick can easily identify and detain the guilty party.
So with an evening of “Hard Kill” to be had, Kate sends Rick home as she has one last errand to finish up with. Admittedly one of the most emotional moments of the season thus far, we see Kate say a final goodbye to the place that she’s called home for the past 5 seasons. But not before putting her lasting mark on the place. 
All in all, like I said, it wasn’t one of my favorite episodes, but it did have some of my favorite moments of the season. I would love to hear what you think! Drop me a line in the comments, tweet me @camifaith_fn and on tumblr at drinkingcastleskoolaid.tumblr.com!
Tune in tonight for the spring return of Castle to see Rick try his hand at private investigating! It should be hilarious! Happy Watching!
Tonight’s Ep: “Castle P.I.” – Tonight at 10/9central! Come join the liveblogging conversation on Twitter!
All image and gif content courtesy of ABC and Castle, gifs courtesy of drinkingcastleskoolaid
