Castle – The 3XK brings up everyone’s guilt

Castle and Ryan both had interesting arcs in this episode. Ryan’s was obvious, and was the focus throughout. His guilt over his gun being used in a homicide is something that he’ll not easily put behind him. At least now that the Glock has been recovered, no more weight can be added to the guilt Ryan carries with him.

Castle feels similar guilt, but his experience with Jerry Tyson brings his not-a-cop status into stark relief. I loved the moment of vulnerability that he shared with his mother; on some level, he is right – he is just play-acting. He helps with the cases that the squad is assigned, to be sure, but when the chips are down, the best he can say is that he assists the police. The new captain, and her attitude towards Castle, probably goes a long way into sowing the seeds of doubt that he is now feeling.

Participating in our weekly “Castle Recognizable Suspect Round Robin,” we have The Chicago Code’s Billy Lush as the ex-boyfriend, Band of Brothers’ Ross McCall as the undercover cop and Lost’s François Chau as a “business man” (read: leader of the local Chinese mob). I guess Michael Mosley was too busy co-piloting on Pan Am to return as the 3XK Killer.

Speaking of games, each week while I watch Castle, I’m going to try to guess the killer at the 45-minute mark; I will likely fail miserably on every single attempt. This week, Phillip Lee is the obvious choice: motive, means, and opportunity. Which, in the normal rules of Castle, means that he totally didn’t do it. It looks like I’ll be breaking one of my Cardinal TV Rules (Number Three, if you’re wondering): Never believe that someone from Band of Brothers can be the bad guy (in honor of Homeland, this rule pretty much blows these days). My guess is that “bad cop” Carver got pissed when Herzfeld couldn’t deliver the goods on the Lee family, and somehow lost it.

Obviously, I couldn’t have been more wrong; I should have gone with my first instinct. Ben and Jane, trying to escape his family, is much more of an emotional connection for Ryan to experience, and hopefully allows him to begin to put things behind him. I was impressed, though, the way Ben stood up to Phillip, but, just like my bad guess earlier, I fell hook, line and sinker for the charade of his death. Looks like I’m batting a thousand so far, eh?

Notes & Quotes

• “Execution style hit? Cement trucks? Can anyone else say mob hit? I’m looking at concrete evidence right here.” – Castle
• “I like to pretend I’m Beckett’s partner, like I’m one of them … but days like today I realize I’ve just been play-acting.” – Castle
  “Your play-acting once helped save New York City as I recall.” – Martha
• Loved how Castle backed up Ryan and Esposito by keeping their actions quiet, but only after taking a quick picture of their “undercover” gear

Clacked by Ivey West
on Oct 11, 2011 @ 00:43 EST5EDT