The last two episodes were a mashup of present and past as we dealt with the fallout of the faux confession/suicide and Daniel’s attempt to return to normal life while Emily discovers that Nolan had some hidden nuggets of information about her dad’s conviction.

First off, we learn that Nolan has another tie to Grayson Global through his aunt, who was Conrad’s secretary. He tipped her off to get the hell out of dodge when David Clarke was murdered and then made extra sure she was safe by faking her death and setting her up upstate.

When Emily finds the aunt’s name in her dad’s journal, she tracks her down and gets the full backstory from Nolan. The added bonus is that his aunt can ID the guy in David’s last picture the day he was killed—not by name, but by sight and reputation (James Morrison is the actor playing him)—that he was a fixer whom Conrad was afraid of. [I have to call bullshit that the guy would’ve been photographed, but whatever.]

In that same episode, Daniel gets a full confession from Conrad about ALL the Grayson dirty laundry when Victoria sets the SEC on him. Emily overhears everything via her bug in Conrad’s study and she’s happy Daniel will be on her side now but is instead devastated when he takes an opportunity to rip the rug out from under his parents on national TV and doesn’t do it. They run this development up the middle like Daniel really is that stupid, so if it turns out he actually had a plan, Emily and I will both be surprised.

Ashley gets a job with the attorney who was handling Daniel’s case and then loses it when Victoria outs her for leaking the crime scene photos to the press. By the end of the episode, Conrad has reversed her fortunes again with the keys to a fancy Lexus and a new job at Grayson Global. Out at the cemetery, Victoria tries to convince Charlotte that she really does love her, and she really loved David, and they’re startled to find Emily’s rose on his headstone.

Last week’s episode tabled all of that for a blast from the past to the last week of 2002 that showed us a much more fragile Emily who went blazing up to the Hamptons full of rage but not poised enough yet to take on the Graysons. Nolan rescues her from an NYC bar fight and tells her she really needs to read the journals so she finally does. Then she stints at the Graysons’ New Year’s Eve party (where she ended up in the background of one of the photos as a cater waiter).

In a neat casting trick, the party is a sea of people she’s since checked off her list. We find out the motivating factor for her vengeance on all of them was Roger Halstead, the one promising lead at the party, who was David’s friend and who Frank (remember, we’re back in 2002) kills because there was a concern about him coming clean about what they’d all done. When Emily finds Halstead’s body, she’s shattered and newly resolved to get her mad on. She also takes the time to tattoo the infinity on her wrist (which I think is a retcon, but I can’t be 100%).

We also learn that Nolan had previous dealings with Jack’s dad when he bought their house along with their neighbors, which is what sent the family to live above the bar. Turns out Nolan did them a favor because Declan and Jack’s mama came calling for a divorce and only wanted cash. I found it odd that neither Jack nor Declan has made any sort of comment in the present about Nolan’s swankienda sitting on their former land.

We get a sidebar of how Lydia came to own the Clarke house—the Graysons had kept it and only decided to relinquish it when Lydia wanted to be nearby. Victoria confesses to Lydia that she’d kept it as a remembrance of David, the only thing she had left. So I’m guessing Lydia didn’t know David was Charlotte’s father. That Lydia had already thanked Conrad for the house earlier that evening by launching their affair is particularly skeevy.

In the extra backward flashback, we see how Victoria and David met at a New Year’s Eve party at the Graysons, but we don’t get the year of that party. When Emily lands in the Hamptons, it’s New Year’s Eve 2002, and she tells Nolan she’s been on her own for ten years (which would make Sammy over 20 years old, so I do now have to also call bullshit on that).

We finish back in the present with Emily and Daniel leaving for a New Year’s Eve 2011 party, where I’d bet we can expect Emily to launch her own fireworks.

It’s been a meandering 22 episodes. As I said a few weeks ago, I think the first 15 were super tight, but the back five so far have treaded a bit as they tried to figure out what the end game is for the first season. I’d guess we’ll get a cliffhanger, or a new crime, or both, to wrap up. It was announced Tuesday that the show will be moving to Sundays in the fall, inheriting the Desperate Housewives slot. I get that ABC needs the eyeballs, but I’ve been kind of partial to my midweek soap fix. Either way, I’m glad they’ll be back.

Two more episodes!

Photo Courtesy of ABC

The Fall Schedule:

Sunday:
8:00: Once Upon a Time
9:00: Revenge
10:00: 666 Park Avenue

Monday:
8:00: Dancing with the Stars
10:00: Castle

Tuesday:
8:00: Dancing with the Stars
9:00: Happy Endings
9:30: Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt 23
10:00: Private Practice

Wednesday:
8:00: The Middle
8:30: Suburgatory
9:00: Modern Family
9:30: The Neighbors
10:00: Nashville

Thursday:
8:00: Last Resort
9:00: Grey’s Anatomy
10:00: Scandal

Friday:
8:00: Shark Tank
9:00: What Would You Do?
10:00: 20/20

Saturday: College Football

Midseason:

Mondays in January::
8:00: The Bachelor
10:00: Castle

Tuesdays in January:
8:00: How to Live with Your Parents for the Rest of Your Life
8:30: The Family Tools

Fridays in November:
8:00: Last Man Standing
8:30: Malibu Country
9:00: Shark Tank
10:00: 20/20

Mondays in May:
10:00: Mistresses

Other midseason shows include Body of Proof, Red Widow, Wife Swap, and Zero Hour.

The New Shows:

666 Park Avenue is a drama about a couple managing an apartment building full of supernatural stuff, starring Dave Annable (Brothers & Sisters), Rachael Taylor (Charlie’s Angels), Terry O’Quinn (Lost), and Vanessa Williams (Desperate Housewives).

See more at the official site.

The Family Tools is a comedy about a man taking over his father’s handyman business, starring Kyle Bornheimer (Perfect Couples), Leah Remini (The King of Queens), and J.K. Simmons (The Closer).

See more at the official site.

How to Live with Your Parents for the Rest of Your Life is a comedy about a recently-divorced mother who moves back in with her parents, starring Sarah Chalke (Scrubs).

See more at the official site.

Last Resort is a drama about a nuclear submarine crew that goes rogue and declares itself a nation, starring Andre Braugher (Homicide), Scott Speedman (Felicity), and Autumn Reeser (No Ordinary Family).

See more at the official site.

Malibu Country is a comedy about a woman who moves from Nashville to California after her divorce, starring Reba McEntire (Reba) and Lily Tomlin (The West Wing).

See more at the official site.

Mistresses is a drama about, um, mistresses, four female friends, starring Alyssa Milano (Charmed), Yunjin Kim (Lost), Rochelle Aytes (The Forgotten), and Jes Macallan (Justified).

See more at the official site.

Nashville is a drama about country musicians, starring Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights) and Hayden Panettiere (Heroes).

See more at the official site.

The Neighbors is a comedy about a gated community of aliens, starring Jami Gertz (Still Standing).

See more at the official site.

Red Widow is a drama about a woman forced to take over her dead husband’s position in a criminal empire, starring Radha Mitchell (Melinda and Melinda).

See more at the official site.

Zero Hour is a conspiracy drama about a skeptics magazine, starring Anthony Edwards (ER) and Michael Nyqvist (the Swedish Dragon Tattoo movies).

See more at the official site.

(Photo courtesy of ABC.)

Here’s our schedule, so hit the library or bookstore and join us back here on June 4 for the first installment!

Schedule:

June 4: Heat Wave Chapters 1-8
June 11: Heat Wave Chapters 9-20
June 18: Naked Heat Chapters 1-6
June 25: Naked Heat Chapters 7-12

July 2: Naked Heat Chapters 13-20
July 9: Heat Rises Chapters 1-5
July 16: Heat Rises Chapters 6-12
July 23: Heat Rises Chapters 13-20
July 30: Movie Week! The Thin Man

August 6: Deadly Storm
August 13: A Brewing Storm
August 20: A Raging Storm (to be released 7/3)
August 27: Derrick Storm Short #3 (to be released 8/7)

(Photo courtesy of ABC.)

You know things are serious right off the bat because we start with an almost literal cliffhanger: Beckett’s hanging off the edge of a roof, yelling for Castle. And then we cut to three days earlier, to a cozy domestic scene in which Alexis searches for inspiration for her valedictory address. Just as her father advises her that “the most worthwhile things in life are often the most difficult,” his phone rings – Beckett. “Wow. That really is a smartphone.” Heh. When he arrives at the crime scene with coffee, he and Beckett are cute and jokey, clearly riding the high of the things they said in “Undead Again.” When conversation turns to the fact that Castle will spend the night after Alexis’s graduation alone in his apartment marathoning John Woo movies (The Killer and Hard-Boiled, and yes, both are now in my Netflix queue for summer viewing), he cautiously invites Beckett to join him – and seems delighted but honestly surprised when she replies “Actually, I’d love to.” Aww. Surely nothing will happen now to disrupt that adorable plan.

Anyway, so yes, there’s a crime scene: The victim is Orlando Costas, a former gang member who cleaned up his act by going into the military, but is now dead in an alley, carrying lock-picking tools and shot by two different guns. His girlfriend Marisol confirms that he (and her car) vanished during the night, and tells the detectives that Costas had been out of work for months, but claims there’s no way he would have returned to his life of crime. When they find Marisol’s car, it contains blood, a gun (but not either of the two used to shoot Costas), and a GPS that shows his last destination was Captain Montgomery’s house. Well then. Montgomery’s widow confirms that she shot him in the shoulder when she found him breaking in, but he got away with files and Montgomery’s computer. Interestingly, her kids weren’t home, and she wasn’t supposed to be – it was like he knew.

Back at the precinct, everyone’s worried because the four of them are the only ones who know about the connection between Montgomery and Johanna Beckett’s murder. Beckett asks Castle to tell her something reassuring, and he rambles a bit about how many break-ins there are in the city and how many cases Montgomery worked on, but she’s not buying it: “I wake up sometimes and I think to myself, how the hell am I still alive? It’s like I’m just waiting for that other shoe to drop.” Castle, of course, knows exactly why she’s still alive, so we fade out on him at home, looking angstily at his murder board (and that’s the end of day one, I believe) and fade back in on Beckett looking at the murder board at the precinct. That was a very nicely executed transition. Castle appears with coffee and sits with her, saying “You’re not in this alone. I’m here.” She says “I know” and takes his hand, and doesn’t let go until Ryan and Esposito come in, and it’s all very adorable, but by now we’re the ones waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The boys bring with them a quick diversion in the form of a suspect – Vincente Delgado – unrelated to Johanna Beckett, but DNA evidence soon shows that Delgado didn’t shoot Costas – but whoever shot Kate Beckett did. Castle, Ryan, and Esposito are all worried about Beckett, who of course doesn’t want to tell Gates what’s going on because she doesn’t want to be removed from the case. Castle thinks maybe she should be off the case, but of course can’t explain why, and Esposito convinces Ryan – at least for now – that Beckett would keep investigating no matter what, so it’s safer to have her officially involved so they can have her back. That night, the mystery man calls Castle to reiterate the stakes: Make Beckett drop the case or they’ll kill her. “I can’t control the situation if you can’t control her.” And this, of course, is where this deal was always going to break down – no one, not even Castle, can control Beckett, and really, 99% of the time – when her life isn’t actually at stake – that’s a lot of why he loves her.

Beckett, meanwhile, offers Delgado a deal to get him to talk about his recent contact with Costas. It turns out that Costas had called asking for a loan, saying he had “something big” coming up, but had then called again the day of the murder asking for help because someone was trying to kill him. Delgado set a meeting place, but Costas was dead by the time he got there – which proves that the actual killers were tapping Costas’s phone. Esposito theorizes that someone Costas knew through the military hired him for the break-in, and throughout this part of the investigation, Castle keeps trying to get everyone to stop while Esposito encourages them to continue. Some aggressive interrogation from Beckett – who has to be pulled back by Castle – makes Marisol finally point them to a church where Costas met with his employer, and they find the man on security camera footage. Beckett doesn’t want to make his picture public, because they don’t know who they can trust, but Esposito recognizes that the man is holding a keychain from a car rental place. (The issue of finding the man’s identity was a bit funny on a meta level, because the actor, Tahmoh Penikett, was instantly recognizable to many fans from Battlestar Galactica and Dollhouse.)

Castle, desperate, finally goes to Beckett’s apartment to tell her everything: She has to stop, because he made a deal for her life, because he loves her, and he knows that she knows. This scene was incredibly well-written and well-acted, and I’m tempted to just transcribe the whole thing for you, but I’ll try to restrain myself. The best part:

Beckett: “Listen to you? Why should I listen to you? How am I even supposed to trust anything that you say?”
Castle: “How are you – Because of everything we’ve been through together. Four years, I’ve been right here. Four years, just waiting for you to open your eyes to see that I’m right here. And I’m more than a partner. Every morning I bring you a cup of coffee just so I can see a smile on your face because I think you are the most remarkable, maddening, challenging, frustrating person I have ever met. And I love you, Kate, and if that means ANYTHING to you, if you care about me at all, just don’t do this.”

They’re both crying – so was I, by then – but she’s too fixated on her need for justice, or is it vengeance, to really absorb what he’s saying: “Let them come. They sent Coonan, and he is dead. They sent Lockwood, and he is dead. And I am still here, Castle, and I am ready.” When Castle finally gives in, gives up, it’s heartbreaking, and feels very real. “Well, I guess there’s just nothing I can say, is there? Okay, um, yeah. You’re right, Kate. It’s your life. You can throw it away if you want, but I’m not going to stick around and watch you, so this is over. I’m done.”

And then Castle goes home to his daughter, and assures her that everything is fine, and focuses on her problems (currently the graduation speech), and I love that they put these scenes in this sequence. He’s an adult, with responsibilities, and while Beckett certainly matters a lot to him, she isn’t the only thing that matters, and that’s important. (Tangentially, I think this is one of the reasons for the widespread Alexis hate I see among Castle fans – fans get invested in the idea of their favored couple only “really” loving each other, and that’s simply not an option here.) Again, they’re adults: He recognizes that he can’t actually control whether she throws her life away, and recognizes that he can’t put his own life entirely on hold, either. At least Castle’s current heartbreak makes him finally able to help Alexis with her speech:

Castle: “Everything you know, everything you will know, is what’s true for you.”
Alexis: “I know everything’s changing, everything’s going to be different. I’m so scared.”
Castle: “Of what?”
Alexis: “Moving on.”
Castle: “Write about that. That feels true.”

Not quite ready to move on: Beckett, who pays a tearful visit to her mother’s grave. Inscribed on Johanna Beckett’s headstone: “Vincit omnia veritas.” Now – sorry – I’m going to get into the Latin a little bit; if you aren’t into this sort of thing, just know that the basic accepted meaning here is “Truth conquers all” and skip down to the next paragraph. Still with me? Okay. A few things here. First, I’ve seen some people translate this as “Truth conquers all things,” which is technically correct, but this is a standard phrase, and “Truth conquers all” is the standard rendering. The use of this motto interestingly evokes the better-known “Love conquers all” – Castle has chosen love – and life – over truth – and death, and with the headstone we have an almost literal illustration of the way Beckett’s mother’s death keeps her from doing the same. But what did Castle just say to Alexis? “Everything you know, everything you will know, is what’s true for you.” Right now, the truth that Beckett cares about is the identity of her mother’s murderer, but will her personal truth change before the pursuit of it kills her? And to really go down the rabbit hole here, we need to discuss the word “vincit.” As I said, this is a common phrase, used to mean “Truth conquers all,” and for all I know, that’s the only translation the writers were aware of. But “vincit” is actually a conjugation of two different verbs: vinco and vincio – and it’s the third person singular present indicative active for both, so grammatically, they’re interchangeable. Vinco means conquer, as discussed, but vincio means bind or encircle, or, rhetorically, link together. So truth is conquering, yes, but it’s also what will inevitably bind Castle and Beckett together.

Back to the show! Sorry. Okay. They eventually figure out that the suspect is using the name Cole Maddox and use the rental car’s GPS to track him to a residency hotel on the Lower East Side. Beckett and Esposito want to go after him immediately, but Ryan, the sensible, practical one here, wants to do it right, with a full team and backup. Beckett refuses, because she doesn’t know who to trust, and scoffs at his concerns: “Unprepared? I’ve been preparing for this for the past thirteen years.” When he fails to stop Esposito, either, Ryan calls Castle – who sees “12th Precinct Calling” on his phone and ignores the call. Beckett and Esposito find Montgomery’s files in Maddox’s hotel room, but they’re ambushed by Maddox himself. Beckett follows him to the roof, where they fight, and he leaves her dangling off the edge, both literally and figuratively:

Beckett: “Just tell me who’s behind this.”
Maddox: “You’re wasting your time, detective. You have no idea what you’re up against.”
Beckett: “Neither do you.”
Maddox: “Actually, we know exactly who we’re up against.”

That was . . . not very enlightening, but I guess if the bad guy is going to inexplicably leave her dangling off a roof, it’s better that he doesn’t spill all his secrets, too. Beckett is terrified, of course, and yells for Castle. She thinks she hears him replying, but it’s actually Ryan (followed by Gates and a whole team) who saves her at the last moment. This is reminiscent of the boys showing up to save Castle in “Headhunters,” and seriously, thank God for Ryan and his rule following and worrying and waistcoats. Gates suspends Esposito and Beckett for withholding evidence and lying to superior officer – but Beckett responds by flat-out resigning.

And then, in a scene that’s more emotionally cohesive than it sounds, we’re at Alexis’s graduation speech:

“There is a universal truth we all have to face, whether we want to or not. Everything eventually ends. Much as I’ve looked forward to this day, I’ve always disliked endings. Last day of summer, the final chapter of a great book, parting ways with a close friend. But endings are inevitable. Leaves fall, we close the book. You say goodbye. Today is one of those days for us. Today we say goodbye to everything that was familiar. Everything that was comfortable. We’re moving on. But just because we’re leaving, and that hurts, there are some people who are such a part of us that they’ll be with us no matter what. They are our solid ground. Our North Star. And the small clear voices in our hearts that will be with us, always.”

As she speaks, we cut back and forth between her father and grandmother watching her and scenes of the team: Beckett packs her things. As Esposito leaves, Ryan ventures a broken-sounding “Javi. I had to,” but gets no response; all alone now, he throws something in frustration. Beckett goes back to that park, to that swing, and sits in the rain. Alexis finishes speaking and smiles at her clapping father.

Back at the loft, Castle tells Alexis (over the phone) that he’s fine home alone, but he’s clearly not – he ignores a call from Beckett and then deletes her from his digital murder board. Seeing the file with her name on it, with her picture as its icon, going into the computer’s Trash folder was a surprisingly heartbreaking moment. But then, of course, there’s a knock at the door, and it’s her. Castle’s still mad: “Beckett, what do you want?” But her response? “You.” Aww. She kisses him, and apologizes, but he needs to know what happened. “He got away, and I didn’t care. I almost died, and all I could think about was you. I just want you.” That’s her new truth, at least for now, and that’s enough reassurance for him, at least for now. (Will her resignation stick? Doubtful, though “Castle & Beckett, Private Investigators” is far from the least appealing idea I’ve ever entertained.) And while I generally feel no need to give point-by-point recaps of make-out scenes, it’s worth mentioning that this one was extremely well choreographed and remained very true to the characters while incorporating some surprisingly specific moments fans have long called for – everything from Castle literally shutting the front door by pushing Beckett up against it to him kissing her scar. But my favorite moment was when they stopped and smiled at each other, because yes, this was really happening. Beckett bites her lip, takes his hand, and leads him to bed – and yes, if you weren’t quite sure whether you should believe: showrunner Andrew Marlowe has confirmed in several places that they weren’t about to be interrupted by an emergency call or anything.

I realize that most fans’ brains started short-circuiting around then, and that’s understandable, but believe it or not, there was another scene! And it was kind of important! So, if you missed it: Maddox was in Mr. “Smith”‘s study, and we know the name is fake because they helpfully showed a picture that had his face circled and the name “Smith” written literally in quotation marks. But anyway. Mr. “Smith” is Castle’s mystery friend, and he’s none too pleased with Maddox, claiming that they had a deal. But Maddox disagrees:

“No, what you had was blackmail. Now, you’re gonna tell me where all that information is, and after you do, I’m gonna put Kate Beckett in the ground, once and for all.”

Oh. That’s not good.

So . . . what did everyone think? I was extremely impressed with this finale – it covered a huge amount of ground and made lots of plot progress, but it all felt extremely faithful to everything the show has set up before. I know a lot of fans had complaints about this season. Did the finale make up for that, at all? Is everyone still too fixated on the kissing to even discuss the rest of it? (Did anyone not like the kissing, for that matter?) Tell me all your thoughts and feelings in the comments!

(Photo courtesy of ABC.)

(Photo courtesy of ABC.)

The last episode before the break two months ago, “Scandal”, veered off into ripped-from-the-headlines pacing (and camera work) as charges were filed against Daniel in Tyler’s murder, and then the return in April with “Doubt”, almost two months later, had the crisis averted with Daniel returning home with an ankle bracelet but leery of his girlfriend while his mother was off gallivanting with her long-lost first love, Dominik Wright.

That Victoria spent the previous day ordering Lee, the same guy who attacked Jack, to deliver a beat down on Daniel that would get him a house arrest release while awaiting trial, was just a little above and beyond. Emily puts the pieces together after she follows Victoria and sees her paying Lee off. Later, she sashays, dark wig and all, into the bar where he hangs out, liquors him up, and then lays her own beating on him.

Treadwell comes back into the Grayson fold (at Nolan/Emily’s behest) long enough to help with tabloiding Charlotte’s pill problem after Declan outs her and discredits that she saw Jack on the beach the night Tyler was killed. This goes against the intent of bringing Treadwell in to live blog a defense for Daniel, so he’s one episode and out. In other news, Ashley has evolved into the family spokeswoman.

When we picked up last week with “Justice,” we’d jumped a few months ahead and landed on day 15 of the trial. (If the math holds, it should be a few weeks after Thanksgiving but there’s nary a Santa in sight, although there is snow.)

Jack has been driving up and down the East Coast looking for, but not finding, Amanda. This has all been an elaborate ruse orchestrated by Nolan and Emily to keep him out of the Hamptons. Declan is summoned to testify, so Jack hauls ass home. Declan is also reeling from Charlotte’s post-outing parting nugget that he failed his entrance exam at school but was granted a placement thanks to a check from Grandpa Grayson.

Victoria strongly suggests that Charlotte make peace with and “convince” Declan to change his testimony so she saunters into the bar really late at night and really underdressed but doesn’t close the deal because Nolan interrupts to tell Declan to do whatever he feels he has to do. When Jack gets home, he’s in a twist because Nolan’s babysitting job hasn’t kept Declan out of court (but Declan jokes that it has helped him in precalc).

Emily welcomes Jack with a fireside chat and then when Nolan tells that her Jack has a bloody sweatshirt, she enacts her own plan on Lee and steals the shirt, trashes Jack’s room, and plants the sweatshirt in Lee’s car so he’s arrested. This is after Victoria tries to have Lee scare a juror by threatening to kidnap her child (as they did with David Clarke’s trial when they killed the wife of a juror to throw the verdict).

Victoria’s lover gets a backstory that they worked together conning the rich with fancy forgeries, including one they sold to Conrad way back there. Conrad confronts Dominik and tells him to hit the road or he’ll reveal him and Victoria to everyone. Conrad of course then drops a hint on this to Victoria and she goes racing to stop Dominik but finds his loft abandoned.

Meanwhile Daniel falls into the bottle again because his doubts get the better of him and he confronts Emily in a rage and gets thrown back in jail when he violates his house arrest by going to her house.

The wrap up lands a stunning piece of news on Emily, though, when Lee “suicides” in jail after Victoria cuts him off, admits what she’s done to Conrad, and Conrad makes a call. Then the penny drops for Emily that her dad’s death in custody was not as simple as it seemed and was yet another Grayson power play. Lee’s death also opens the door for Daniel’s release because he conveniently confesses to Tyler’s murder before he “hangs himself. “

BUT, there are still four episodes left.

This week, Tess Harper’s in the house wielding a very big gun and Emily looks like she’s smacking the crap out of Nolan.

I was seriously concerned we were getting off track with the speed up/fast forward/amping-up-the-preposterous change in tone, but the reveal about David’s murder was very well played. Points to the show. I was right there with Emily when her jaw hit the floor. Here’s hoping they keep that momentum for the last four episodes. The show seems a lock for a second season, so get ready for a cliffhanger!

Photo Courtesy of ABC

This week’s victim is currency trader David Locke, found beaten to death (but not robbed) in his office’s parking garage – and the only witness says he was killed by a zombie. David had recently had an affair with his ex Greta, and though she had broken things off, her fiance Tom was still insecure and jealous. Tom also had a secret life in the zombie enthusiast subculture – and sold scopolamine, a “zombie drug” that makes users suggestible and compliant and keeps them from remembering anything later. Tom drugged a fellow zombie enthusiast named Kyle to kill David during a “zombie walk” – basically a glorified game of tag in which players dressed up as zombies chase the “normals” to try to turn them. (Castle, after he and Beckett are caught in the middle of the game: “How did I not know about this? This is outstanding!” Heh.) Since Kyle and David didn’t know each other, Tom thought he’d designed the perfect seemingly-random murder, but Castle doesn’t believe in perfect crimes unless he’s written them. The team eventually gets Tom to confess by having Castle dress up in Kyle’s zombie outfit and makeup and attack him. I’ve seen a few people as whether this was legal, and – I’m not sure. This might be one of those times when it’s helpful that Castle isn’t a cop, because technically he’s just a random guy eliciting a confession from Tom when he happens to be in the presence of a bunch of cops. Hmm. Any lawyers who watched want to weigh in?

We have some retread of previous conversations about the supernatural this episode, as Castle is thrilled by the zombie aspect of the case, and spends a while insisting that the killer might actually be a zombie. Beckett and Esposito are complete skeptics, of course, but Ryan gets nervous, especially when a seemingly-dead suspect wakes up and runs out of the morgue. (This allows for one of Castle’s best-delivered quips of the episode: “Is there a police code for zombie on the loose?”) Ryan ends up asking Castle whether he really believes in zombies – and Castle says no: He just believes in driving Beckett crazy. It’s interesting, though, that this is one of those cases when Castle’s and Beckett’s diametrically opposed theories of the crime are both helpful: Castle thinks that the killer thought he was a zombie, so had a random kill instinct, which is true for Kyle, while Beckett insists that they’re dealing with a human killer with a human motive, which is true for Tom. (Castle on vampires, while we’re at it: “Being a vampire, that I understand. That’s the romantic route to immortality. The gentleman’s monster, as it were.” Beckett, for her part, would rather be Van Helsing.)

The case is fraught with expectation for Castle, because he decides at the beginning that it will be his last. When he ignores a call from Beckett, his mother tells him to stop punishing his partner without telling her why, and when Martha insists that they can’t go on like this, Castle agrees. He drops some hints to Beckett that really just confuse her, but never comes out and says he’s leaving; to everyone else, it looks like they’re back to their old selves and getting along again. Luckily, before Castle can make anything permanent, Kyle’s memory loss leads to a bit of revealing conversation:

Castle: “When a life-altering moment occurs, people remember.”
Beckett: “Well, maybe it’s too big to deal with. Maybe he can’t face it just yet.”
Castle: “Well, you think he ever will be?”
Beckett: “Hopefully. If he feels safe.”

Castle certainly starts hoping again then, and that moment might have been enough to tide over many fans, but the finale is next week, so there’s even more.

Later, after Kyle gives Castle his zombie outfit and, perhaps speaking for Beckett, announces that his zombie-walking days are over, Castle says that Kyle will need therapy, and Beckett agrees that it helps.

Castle: “I didn’t know you were seeing a therapist.”
Beckett: “Yeah, well, I didn’t want to make any excuses. I just wanted to put in the time, do the work. But I think I’m almost where I want to be now.”
Castle: “And where is that?”
Beckett: “In a place where I can finally accept everything that happened that day. Everything.”
Castle: “I think I understand.”
Beckett: “And, um, that wall that I was telling you about? I think it’s coming down.”
Castle: “Well, I’d like to be there when it does.”
Beckett: “Yeah, I’d like you to be there too.”
Castle: “Only without the zombie makeup.”
Beckett: “I don’t know, I kind of think that the zombie makeup suits you, Castle.”
Castle: “Yeah, I make it work.”
Beckett: “Tomorrow?”
Castle: “Tomorrow.”

This is really the closest they’ve ever come to discussing their feelings, and even skeptics like myself are starting to believe that the show might actually get them together in this year’s finale. (To clarify, I have complete faith that the show will get them together eventually, just not necessarily right now.)

Alexis does some important decision-making this episode, too. She tells her father that she’s too old for the continuing game of laser tag they started when she was five, and he’s extremely sad about it, but it turns out that it’s a ploy to give her a chance to ambush him when he’s let down his guard. (He later gets her back by scaring her with the zombie outfit.) Her angst about her future is real, though, as her head tells her that Stanford and Oxford are her best choices but her heart won’t let her send her acceptance to either. Castle points out that things are going to change no matter what, and mostly-convincingly insists that change is good, but his faith has just been restored by Beckett so he ultimately tells his daughter “Follow your heart. Follow your heart and you can’t go wrong.” As I predicted in my last recap, Alexis’s heart leads her to Columbia (and staying on the show), though she makes her dad promise to give her her space – and he promises to try. Awww.

Next week: Finale time! And this promo was so intriguing that I’m going to go ahead and embed it for you. Thoughts? Theories? Inarticulate emoting? Hit the comments!

The actual case was particularly incidental this week, so let’s dispense with the basics quickly. The victim is a young Irish mobster named Glitch; he’s the son of Brian Reilly, a big man in the Westies. Glitch is found shot under an overpass – with a bag of heads. He was trying to atone for his mistakes and get back in good with the Westies by digging up bodies of members of a rival Jamaican gang and cutting off their heads, planning to leave them in Jamaican territory to . . . taunt the gang, I guess? It’s okay that this plan doesn’t make any sense, because it turns out that Glitch is none too bright and the plan was fed to him by Cesar Vales, the head of a Mexican gang that wants to move into territory held by both the Jamaicans and the Westies. Vales was using Glitch to start a war, hoping that his rivals will take each other out. The Mexicans ambushed Glitch at the cemetery, and he hid under the underpass and called his father for help – but his father showed up and killed him. Brian said that Glitch had crossed a line by digging up and decapitating corpses, and the fact that Glitch was his son just meant he was Brian’s responsibility.

The reason why Castle gets involved, of course, is because he and Beckett are having problems – a continuation of their tension from “47 Seconds” and “The Limey.” When the episode starts, Beckett is prepping for a trial, so Castle is home trying to write – but he has writer’s block. He’s acting out a Frozen Heat scene with dolls (including a dinosaur, Firefly fans) when he sees a news report about Glitch’s murder and decides he wants to meet Slaughter. When Martha protests that he already has a muse, Castle retorts “Yes, well, muses are to provide inspiration, and right now I ain’t gettin’ any.” Heh. He takes coffee to Beckett at the precinct, and she’s obviously, adorably thrilled that he stopped by – until she realizes that he wants an introduction to Slaughter.

Castle eventually finds Slaughter at the ME, but Slaughter wants nothing to do with him – “I need a writer hangin’ around like I need a case of the crabs” – until he learns that Castle is friends with the mayor. (There’s also a moment when Castle tries to win Slaughter’s affection by giving him his rather attractive brown coat. If you know what I mean.) Castle quickly learns that he got more than he bargained for, that an insane, whatever-it-takes loose cannon detective might be fun in fiction but will get him into serious danger in real life. Esposito soon tells him that Slaughter is known as the Widowmaker, because of his habit of getting his partners killed, and this colors Castle’s perception of Slaughter’s behavior, some of which is exaggerated or faked for effect – but some of which is very real. At one, Slaughter gives Castle a gun and makes him go into a bar alone; Castle ends up winning a fight that results, but he’s injured, and while he claims that this shows he can take care of himself, it’s obvious that he’s suddenly appreciating how much Beckett and the team do to keep him safe.

What makes Castle eventually object to Slaughter’s tactics, though, is not concern for his own safety, but rather concern about Slaughter’s bad police work. Castle is less than impressed by Slaughter’s rough interrogation techniques, which include locking witnesses in garbage trucks and car trunks and threatening their kid brothers. Castle’s protestations that what Slaughter is doing is wrong have no effect, and he finally draws a line when he realizes that Slaughter is coaching a witness to say that Vales is guilty even though the witness didn’t actually see the murder. Slaughter says Vales is guilty of lots of other murders – “The question is, are you in or out?” “I guess I’m out,” Castle replies. Good for him.

Castle goes to the boys for help, but Head Shipper Esposito sends him to Beckett. She at first objects that she isn’t allowed to get involved in another detective’s case, but Castle knows how to get to her:

Castle: “I’m not asking you to do it for me. I’m asking you to do it so the real killer doesn’t get away with murder.”
Beckett: “What makes you think I’m actually gonna fall for that blatant manipulation?”
Castle: “Because it’s true.”

And it is true, and, again, this shows how far Castle has come since the beginning of the series. It’s not that he wasn’t basically a decent person all along – he’d have had to be, or Beckett would never have gotten so close to him, or even let him stick around – but worrying more about justice for strangers than his own feelings and needs isn’t necessarily something that would have occurred to season one Castle. Luckily, it turns out that Beckett has in her hand at that very moment a traffic cam photo showing Vales didn’t do it. Castle’s blown away that she was helping even before he asked: “You did this for me? All this time, you had my back.” Aw. And he’s even more grateful – and feels guiltier – when he realizes she’s risking her job to help him with the case.

They solve the case, of course, but as Vales leaves the precinct, free for now, both Castle and Slaughter watch as Beckett confronts him with one of her best speeches ever:

Beckett: “You feel cocky, I get it. You just dodged a murder rap. Probably going to go out tonight and celebrate with your boys, and you should. Paint the town. But then? In the morning, I want you. To get. The hell. Out of my city.”
Vales: “But I like it here.”
Beckett: “You might like it right now. But starting tomorrow, you’re gonna see just how hard a city New York can be when the full force of the NYPD comes crashing down on you. Thirty thousand cops, making it their daily duty to make your life a living hell.”

When Slaughter says Beckett’s speech was sexy, Castle gives him a dirty look, but clearly agrees. As Slaughter leaves, he asks Beckett out: “Detective. You ever want to go on a date that ends in hot sex after a drunken fistfight, you know where to find me.” “Yeah. In never-gonna-happen-land,” she replies, turning him down flat. Point taken: Castle and Beckett have both had enough of Slaughter and what he represents, but he’s acted as a catalyst to start them on a path back toward each other:

Castle: “Hey, thanks very much for your help.”
Beckett: “No problem, Castle. It’s what partners are supposed to do.”

Slaughter’s craziness accomplished what it needed to do, as far as sending Castle running back to Beckett, but honestly, watching it got old very quickly. Luckily, Slaughter did drop a few nuggets of truth amid the nonsense, starting with “Rule number one: Do not use the word awesome. You’re a grown man.” And during a stakeout, Slaughter asks Castle if he’s sleeping with Beckett, and when Castle says they’re just friends, Slaughter asks what’s wrong with him: “Man needs a friend, he gets a dog. Woman like that, you storm the beaches or die trying. Come on.” Even the crazy guy who’s been on the show for twenty minutes is a shipper. (Unfortunately, the new red-headed intern at the ME’s office is also on Slaughter’s list of hot women – and when Castle realizes Slaughter means Alexis, he punches him.)

Back at the precinct, Ryan and Esposito are adorably offended that Castle is working with another cop, and when Castle brags to Slaughter that he has a team who will do stuff like run plates, both boys make it very clear that they work for Beckett, not Castle, and Castle ends up bribing them to help so he can save face. Ryan first calls Castle’s work with Slaughter “just a phase,” and eventually makes it explicit: “I feel like he’s cheating on us.” Aww, Ryan. But when he and Esposito realize that Slaughter and Castle are going after Vales and his gang with no backup, they rush to help and arrive just in time. Once they’ve rescued their wayward writer, they pull no punches with Slaughter:

Esposito: “Hey! Slaughter! Going in there like that without backup, putting a civilian in harm’s way, that’s not only reckless, that is bad police work.”
Ryan: “You’re just lucky that we traced Castle’s phone and we found you guys in time.”

Frankly, I’m surprised they haven’t given Castle a microchip implant by now. When they can’t convince Castle to stop putting himself in danger, Esposito goes to Beckett:

Esposito: “You need to do something.”
Beckett: “Espo, if the guy’s hellbent on leaving the nest, then there is nothing that I can do about it.”
Esposito: “You don’t really feel that way, do you?”

No, no she doesn’t. Beckett herself keeps insisting that she doesn’t care that Castle is working with someone else, but she’s not fooling anyone. When Castle returns to the precinct injured after the fight at the bar, they argue, but she’s obviously just worried about his safety. She finally admits to her therapist that she’s upset: “I thought that the two of us were actually getting closer together, and now it seems like he’s just pulling away.” She’s adorably defensive when Dr. Burke asks if the cop Castle’s working with is a woman, but gets seriously worried when Burke suggests that Castle is finally reacting to her lack of response to his feelings.

Beckett: “What if I waited too long?”
Burke: “You weren’t waiting, Kate. You were healing.”
Beckett: “Yeah, but then in the meantime he’s moved on.”
Burke: “Or he’s protecting himself by not taking more emotional risks.”
Beckett: “So then what do I do?”
Beckett: “What do you want to do?”

Indeed. In any event, the season finale is in two weeks, so she’ll probably do something.

Meanwhile, Alexis has a subplot that does a good job of being believable and important for the character while still mirroring things that are happening elsewhere. Because of her Stanford disappointment earlier in the semester, Castle’s been hiding all of her college letters, thinking that it will be easier for her if she gets the good news and bad news all at once – but Martha points out that this is dumb, since it just makes Alexis freak out about not getting any replies. It turns out that Alexis has gotten in almost everywhere – including Stanford, but she’s no longer sure whether she wants to go there. Castle: “They rejected you, and you feel betrayed.” Alexis: “How am I supposed to get over that?” The question of the hour indeed. Later, she wonders whether Stanford’s first rejection was a sign from the universe that she’d be better off somewhere else, and since Stanford is Beckett in this analogy, she and her dad have another conversation in which they’re talking about completely different things:

Castle: “You think you’d be better off somewhere else?”
Alexis: “I don’t know. Do you?”
Castle: “I don’t know either. I guess the question is, do you want it badly enough to get over being hurt?”

For what it’s worth, I’ve always assumed that Alexis would end up somewhere like Columbia or NYU to keep her around, and I haven’t heard anything about Molly Quinn leaving the show, but . . . I guess we’ll find out. I hope she stays.

Two random nitpicky things that bothered me in this episode: First, Slaughter consistently called Castle “Sherlock,” which was cute, but . . . Sherlock wasn’t a writer. Watson wrote the stories. And second, Castle’s publication schedule doesn’t work at all. He says he hasn’t even turned in a full draft of Frozen Heat to his agent, never mind his editor, and the book is out September 18. This is not how publishing works, kids. If he hadn’t said the title, we could choose to believe he was working on the next book, which would be far more realistic. I get that they want to mention the title of the next book that will be published in the real world, as a marketing thing, but couldn’t they have woven it in some other way? This was just frustrating.

Tonight: Zombies! Or something. And maybe Castle and Beckett starting to confront their feelings. Maybe. We’ll see.

(Photo courtesy of ABC.)

This clip is an extra from last week’s episode, “I’d Rather Not”:

(If the embedded clip does not work for you, head directly over to the Memory Book and watch it there!)

Photo and Video Courtesy of ABC

When Emma discovers Mary Margaret has pulled a Houdini and escaped from her prison cell, she goes on a frantic search to find her before anyone realizes she’s missing. But instead she crosses paths with a loner dressed like the host of Mystery Science Theatre, who offers his help. She goes back to his house to peruse some maps of the woods, pretending to be on a hunt for her dog ‘Spot’. For a law enforcement officer, Emma is CRAP at sensing trouble. Has she never heard of stranger danger? The dude is wearing a cravat. When cravats are involved something creepy is guaranteed to happen. Do not go inside, do not drink tea … just back the hell away!

Creepy loner serves Emma a hot cup of tea laced with a little something special. She drinks it, gets all woozy and passes out on the couch. When she wakes up, she sneaks out into the hallway and tries to find an escape route, but instead discovers Mary Margaret tied to a chair and gagged in another room. Um, how many times has Emma bragged to us that she can sense a liar? Apparently not so well when a mentally disturbed weirdo is chatting her up. What kind of a freak is this?

The freak’s name is Jefferson and he was once the poor single father of a lovely little girl named Grace. Jefferson dreamed of giving his daughter the world, but all he could afford was a ragtag rabbit doll sewn together from scraps. None of that mattered to Grace who just loved her daddy and only needed his time, his love, and their regular tea parties.

But Jefferson had one very valuable possession that his daughter was unaware of – something that occasionally attracted unsavory admirers. He had a magic top hat than could open a portal and transport people to a bizarre world called – you guessed it – Wonderland! Queen Regina (Jefferson calls her by her Storybrooke name and I believe that’s the first time we’ve heard her first name used in Fairytale Land) paid him a visit and requested his assistance at retrieving something from Wonderland. She was willing to pay Jefferson handsomely to use the hat and accompany her on the journey. He was hesitant at first, but she spoke the seductive language of riches: just one last trip and he could give his beloved Grace the life she deserves.

Jefferson watched his little girl, so blissfully happy with a life full of rags, and steeled himself to do whatever it took to give her more. He left Grace with the neighbours and promised to be back in time for tea. He met up with the Queen, spun his magic hat to open the portal, and ushered her into Wonderland. It’s a crazy animated world, just as it’s always been depicted, stoned talking caterpillar and all. But there is one very specific rule that I’ve never heard before: only the exact number of people who enter the realm may exit. No more, no less.

Queen Regina had a very specific agenda and headed straight to the royal realm of the Queen of Hearts. Jefferson vehemently warned her against it, but had no choice but to follow her. After blasting a fiery path through a people-eating tree maze, they arrived in a strange room with a wall that looked a lot like the box-o-hearts wall we’ve seen in the Evil Queen’s palace and in a hidden lair in Storybrooke. Eww – I always thought the Queen of Hearts was merely a reference to her choice of playing card décor, but might there be a more substantial reason for her title? Ick. And if so, who started collecting organs first, the Queen of Hearts or Regina?

Regina knew exactly which box to steal. She grabbed it and made her escape with Jefferson. When they safely made it back to the entrance to Wonderland, she broke a tiny piece off a giant mushroom and delicately placed it the box she stole. Jefferson started raving frantically about the dangers of the ‘food’ in Wonderland. He he he. Suddenly Regina’s father shot up like a weed right before their eyes. He was tiny sized and trapped by the Queen of Hearts and Regina came to Wonderland to rescue him.

So that made 3 people who needed to escape from Wonderland … and only 2 who could get through the exit using the hat’s magic. Jefferson realized he’d been duped and that the Queen intended to strand him in this topsy-turvy hell. He pleaded with her for the sake of his daughter but she coldly replied, “If you truly cared for your daughter you never would have left her in the first place. You were right. You don’t abandon family.”

A deflated Jefferson was dragged before the Queen of Hearts, who demanded to know how he came to her land. He told her about his stolen magical hat and Regina’s deception. The producers of OUAT made some rather odd creative choices here, choosing not to reveal the Queen of Hearts’ face. Her strange voice slithered out from behind a thick red veil as she decided his fate. Am I reading too much into this or could there be a surprise reveal of her identity in the future? The Queen ordered Jefferson to construct a new hat and make it work despite his protests that he can’t manipulate such powerful magic. . (If Tim Gunn were a she-devil they would have a lot in common!) She pulled an ‘off with his head’ as incentive, which weirdly didn’t kill him. He was just as freaked out as I was at the realization that he was still alive. The Queen offered him his body back if he committed himself fully to the hat project.

So Jefferson cut and sewed, and cut and sewed … until he was sitting in a room, filled with hundreds of hats, laughing maniacally. Poor soul was mad as a hatter! And that’s how a devoted young father ended up as the comic relief of Wonderland, destined to throw tea parties with door mice.

Back in Storybrooke, Jefferson catches Emma trying to free Mary Margaret and holds them both at gunpoint. He orders her to tie Mary Margaret back up and tells Emma he has a special assignment for her. And then he starts dropping the kind of ‘strange’ that Emma’s only used from her imaginative son. Jefferson swears he was just saving Mary Margaret’s life when he abducted her. They both know that bad things happen to anyone who tries to leave Storybrooke. Duh – the CURSE?!? He accuses Emma of being willfully ignorant to the magic around her, dismissing storybooks as fiction. There are hundreds of co-existing realities – some with magic, some without – and life in Storybrooke is only one of them. Jefferson knows Emma is special and that she can bring magic into this world.

Jefferson’s been stuck living in his crazy house for 28 years and he has not been passing the time productively. He has a giant wall of identical hats on display, but one day the clock started ticking and things began to change in Storybrooke. He’s convinced that Emma is the missing piece of his failed hat making mission. He slams her down at a workstation and forces her to start making magic hats. She starts to clue in to his fairytale persona. “The hats, the tea, your psychotic behaviour, you think you’re the mad hatter.”

And he remembers everything. Like everyone else in Storybrooke, he’s been ripped from what he loves by an evil curse. (Again I still find it debatable that everyone else is really suffering, but we’ll go with that for the sake of consistency.) The difference is that he realizes what he’s lost and aches for it everyday. He points a telescope towards a window in town and has Emma look through it. Through its lens she sees a young girl eating dinner with her family. Jefferson’s daughter Grace is called Paige in this world and she has no recollection of him or the life they shared together. He NEEDS a magic hat so he can try to take her home to the world they belong in.

Emma realizes that logic won’t exactly work on the Mad Hatter so she pretends to start believing to lure him into a false sense of security. She even uses “If what you say is true, then that woman in the other room is my mother.” She promises to try to get the hat to work, but as soon as Jefferson turns his back, she knocks him over the head with a telescope and runs off to save Mary Margaret. Jefferson’s head must be extremely resilient because he manages to chase after her and they wrestle for the gun he’s holding. Mary Margaret (who Emma has just untied) finally grabs a croquet mallet and knocks him out a window. When they look down to where he’s fallen, they see Jefferson’s hat lying on the ground, but he has vanished.

One REALLY cool thing to note is that Jefferson has a scar all the way around his neck from when his head was chopped off!

Emma and Mary Margaret have a heart to heart and Mary Margaret decides to return to jail of her own free will, putting her faith in her friend. Emma calls her family and Mary Margaret is touched that she cares so much. She’s back in her cell just in time to be ushered off to her arraignment.

But Regina is completely nonplussed when she realizes Mary Margaret did NOT escape. We learn that she’s been plotting with Mr. Gold and had hoped that Mary Margaret would take the bait/key she left her. We don’t know what their end game is, but if they’re both angling to screw poor Mary Margaret … she is doomed!

The first thing that struck me when I was watching this great episode was WHY does Jefferson remember everything? Was that a special hell Regina designed for him? Or was it just the way the curse worked on its own? I don’t believe Regina had the time or the ability to design a specific fate for each person so I’m inclined to believe their destinies weren’t predetermined. What if Jefferson’s damaged mental state is what kept the curse from working completely on him? By the time it was enacted, he must have been a raving lunatic. If his brain works in different ways, the curse may also affect him differently. The only other potentially mentally ill character we’ve encountered is Belle, who Regina has locked up somewhere. In Fairytale land, Regina told Rumpel that Belle was driven mad when her father locked her in a tower and tortured her until she killed herself. We know her death was a lie, but perhaps the rest is true. Did Regina have Belle locked up because she remembered her past?

I’m sure we’ll see more of the Mad Hatter and I think his presence adds a fabulous dynamic to the show! Emma thought he was a ‘crazy sonofabitch’ but he tunneled his way into her mind more than she’s willing to admit to herself. While visiting Henry at school, she spotted Paige on the playground and inquired about her. She turned to a page in Henry’s storybook and settled on a picture of the Mad Hatter with his daughter.

Photo Courtesy of ABC