After last week’s Halloween extravaganza, this week Castle took a turn for the musical with “Famous Last Words.” What it lacked in flashback costuming shenanigans, it made up for with a very clever plot that let the Castle family take the lead in the crime solving. Castle has always been helpful to Beckett and her team (mostly), but this is the first time that the team got it completely wrong. And with an assist from Alexis, Castle saved the day.
There was a lot to like about this case from the start. Hailey’s (Erin Foster) body left mimicking a scene from a music video was a good start, and did well pointing the finger at Franco, the stalker. What really sold me right away on the case though, was the appearance of Alexis at the squad room, and the way Beckett was willing to take advantage of her particular expertise.
I was suspicious of the new managers, the Busches, right away. But the various twists and turns did a nice job presenting a believable list of alternate suspects. I didn’t finally settle on Ian (Robert Curtis Brown) until they went to the big wrap-up scene all too quickly. They certainly did an admirable job of trying to sell it. Castle and Alexis having their little heart-to-heart really did feel like the close of the episode. But there was just too much time left to go. That, and Bree’s (Anne Ramsay) protestations, sealed the deal.
More interesting than the result though, was how they got to it. Everyone at the station seemed satisfied with Bree as the killer, and Ian was going to get away with it. If not for Castle, Beckett would have nabbed the wrong person. That fact is something that goes a long way in justifying his position with the department. Friends with the mayor is one thing, but actually cracking cases is something completely different. All things considered, I’d call it another solid entry in the Castle story.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Nov 03, 2009 @ 00:18 EST5EDT
