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Season 2, Episode 14

Review by Holli

“Dead body.  I’m good.”

This show is so charming and yet a great cop tale.  Fillion could sell his charm as awesomesauce and retire happily, if he was so inclined.  Stana gives us the beautiful, tough-as-nails cop who is the subject of Rick Castle’s books and, episode by episode, perhaps the object of his affections.  This show is a joy each and every week.

Castle and Beckett remind me so much of Nick and Nora Charles of the Thin Man film series when it comes to crime solving.  It’s not necessarily the crime you’re interested in, but how they handle it and each other.

Tonight’s episode involves a vacationing family, who comes home to find a dead body in their young daughter’s bed.  Rick’s mission is to make sure Kate doesn’t see the newspaper.  He’s been voted the ninth most eligible bachelor (he was seventh the year before – Martha reminds him).  That’s not what makes him scoop up every issue within his visual range.  It’s the blurb the reporter wrote indicating that Castle may be ‘romantically involved’ with his inspirational female detective.

“Someone’s been sleeping in my bed, too.  And he’s still there!”

The crime: Deadman Doug Bishop is found in young Simone Dyson’s bed.  It looks as if he, or someone, has been living there during their absence.  The actual squatter, Mickey Carlson is found in photos taken of another apartment.  He was the newspaper delivery boy for both residences.  Eventually it leads to a late 1800’s apartment with a dumbwaiter (one of my personal fav things) over a pet store.  Deadman Anton Francis, the second man, falls out of the fridge.  The two deadmen were ID’d by Mickey in interrogation, but  . . . there is a third man, who injected Doug to his death and who killed Anton.  The vacation cruise the family went on was a ruse to get them out of town.  (Doug owned a travel agency and had no criminal record.)  The dumbwaiter allowed access to the pet store which begs the question, “Why were two men dead if they hadn’t gotten what they wanted?”   Through some mystery writer wizardry, they figure out it’s a diamond smuggling job.  Doug had a brother-in-law (we met earlier at the morgue to identify the body) who worked at the airport (knew when shipments came in) and this ‘third man’ went to high school with Anton.

“Oh, you hate me a little bit right now, don’t you?”

The cohabitators:  Alexis and Martha continually steal each and every scene they are in.  Can’t get enough of them.  They adore Beckett and regularly put Rick in his place.  They’re on her side.  What fun!

“Do they know they’re finishing each other’s sentences?”

The cohorts: Dr. Parish the coroner, I just adore.  She is sassy, smart, and totally aware of what is going on between our leads.  Ryan and Esposito again keep information from one or both of our couple in order to have some fun and to instigate some tension.  All three were well utilized in this episode.

“A date. A guy.  A man!”  “Did she just flip her hair?”

The couple: I thought Kate would have already seen the newspaper, but she hadn’t.  When she did, the heated discussion that followed led Castle to a clue.  Love these two when there’s passion and banter firing back and forth.  Beckett decided she needed to go on a date.  Dr. Lanie Paris fixes her up with Mr. July of a firemen’s calendar.  [Lucky girl!]  Castle ends up on a date with the woman who made third place in the most eligible bachelorettes.  They all end up at the exclusive restaurant Beckett inquired about – which Castle didn’t think she could get into.  While Kate and Rick worry about the case (and each other), their dates’ eyes fog over.  Yea, the call of the crime runs deep within these two.  After the crime is solved, they have dinner at a burger joint as they critique their dates.

Rating:  A-. The chemistry is really peaking for these two.  They work well together.  Dialogue was crisp and intelligent.  Goldilocks and puppy references.  Who could ask for anything more?  Always a pleasure.

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