The first time I really experienced an episode of television that dealt with a character dealing with PTSD, it was The West Wing’s brilliant “Noel.” I didn’t appreciate the episode nearly as much as others did, at least at first. I just couldn’t wrap my head around the idea that Josh — who even in the second season was already my favorite television character of all time — hadn’t shown any signs of his disorder since his shooting. I thought it was bad storytelling on Aaron Sorkin’s part, and was incredibly disappointed.
What I’ve learned since, as we saw with Beckett tonight, is that PTSD often goes unnoticed. While I may not appreciate that fact from a storytelling and foreshadowing perspective, it’s a lot more accurate. In Beckett’s case, her memories and her pain were brought to the surface when Lee Travis began a sniping spree across her precinct. What we learned in the episode’s closing moments — that her pain is considerably older than her shooting — makes sense, as we continue to learn more about the detective.
I like Stana Katic … quite a bit as a matter of fact. But the range that she showed in this episode absolutely blew me away. Watching the different levels of terror play out on her face pulled me closer and closer into what she was going through. She was as confused as she was scared; it was like Kate Beckett, Ms. Nikki Heat herself, couldn’t allow herself to comprehend what was happening to her. Even though as smart as we know her to be, she couldn’t reconcile all of the pieces together.
What was also great about this episode was the way her friends and teammates handled her fall. Castle uncharacteristically gave her space. He did encourage Esposito to reach out to Beckett, as his was the only voice of experience in her circle of trust. Even Captain Gates got in on the action, accepting excuses from the team for Beckett that you know she could see right through.
Not to say that the episode was perfect. While Castle got many of the details of PTSD right, there was one massive television conceit in the episode: There’s no way in Hell that Beckett would have been allowed to stay on the case. I get that the show is about her – at least this episode that is – but it was still a big pill to swallow in order to be able to enjoy the rest of the episode.
What did you think? Are there any PTSD survivors out there that can chime in on the accuracy of the way Castle dealt with Beckett’s story?
Notes & Quotes
Clacked by Ivey West 
on Nov 21, 2011 @ 23:01 EST5EDT
“I’m racking my brain trying to remember the previous injury Beckett sustained that she was still recovering from in this episode (And am worried I’m going to get all pissy when she gets hurt in the next episode back from hiatus)”
Do you mean the forearm injury? Wasn’t it the deeds of drunk Beckett in her own apartment, coping with PTSD? It was the broken alcohol glasses on the floor while she panicked to grab her gun.
Btw totally agreeing with you on your review.
*POST AUTHOR*
No, not the forearm injury … Check out my reply to andrea below :)
Beckett was targeted and shot during a police ceremony at the end of last season. The beginning of this season opened with her being rushed to the hospital and nearly dying-this is the injury she sustained and is still recovering from in this episode.
*POST AUTHOR*
I dunno … The injury she sustained in the opener looked pretty well healed to me (Physically, you know, not mentally).
No, what I’m referring to is whatever she did that required a physical therapist (Mentioned at the beginning of the episode), and gave her trouble when she tried to climb the ladder to see why the sniper did not shoot from the rooftop.
I think when they extracted the bullet they went from the side, they might have injured ribs or muscles while doing that and the PTSD is just making the pain worse?
Also, is it possible that Becket might be saying she is going to a physical therapist to hide the fact that she is still going to the shrink?
*POST AUTHOR*
Perhaps … But she couldn’t climb the ladder.
I just don’t remember anything in the intervening episodes that hinted that she was still recovering, to this extent, to her shooting.
Yea, the show didn’t imply much to those scars/injury much after the season opener. They did however mentioned in the beginning of “Kicks of Ballistic” when Castle gave Beckett her morning coffee just as she enters the crime screen. She was reaching for the coffee cup and the same side scar bothered her, which prompted Castle to ask if she is sure she doesn’t remember anything.
I thought she had trouble with the ladder because of her forearm injury. She couldn’t pull herself up.
*POST AUTHOR*
Here is the scene:
To me it looks like she grabs her side …
I thought it was the pain in her arm that caused her to put her arm like that. She wasn’t grabbing her side, more resting her arm there.
*POST AUTHOR*
Perhaps, but it was her other arm that was bleeding before and was bandaged in this scene.
*POST AUTHOR*
And here is the one earlier when she is looking at her scars:
Doesn’t look like anything serious on her side, just the area where they removed the bullet from, which is what Maria was pointing out earlier.
It might well be that there were scenes in other episodes where she was being bothered by the scar/trauma but were cut because of time constraints too.
Two reasons why it seemed plausible that Beckett stayed on the case: 1. Gates didn’t know how badly it was affecting her, and the others didn’t have the authority to take her off the case and knew that wouldn’t stop/help her anyway. 2. The entire case only took 3 days, from finding the first victim to stopping the final attack.