Even before Castle and Beckett officially got together, fans (and lots of fan fiction) were calling for a romantic trip to Castle’s house in the Hamptons. And this week, in Castle‘s “Murder, He Wrote,” we get just that – well, sort of. Because it wouldn’t be Castle if things didn’t go awry.
Both Castle and Beckett (and Martha and Alexis, for that matter) are adorably excited about the couple’s first weekend trip, though Beckett, of course, is worried about people figuring out who she’s with. Castle has told the rest of the team that he’s going to the Hamptons alone to write, while Beckett admits to going away with her boyfriend, but refuses to tell Ryan and Esposito who that boyfriend is. They therefore convince themselves that it’s their duty to figure out who Beckett’s dating and make sure it’s an okay situation. They spend most of the episode checking up on her previous boyfriends and, of course, coming up with nothing.
Beckett, for her part, is impressed by Castle’s lavish vacation home (Castle says his favorite part is “the serenity.” Ha.), but she’s a bit weirded out thinking about the other women who have been there. Castle: “I’m not gonna deny that I’ve brought other women up here, but um . . . none of them were you.” Aww. Just as things start to get romantic, though, a man covered in blood wanders into Castle’s yard, falls into the pool, and dies. Happy vacation!
The sudden appearance of a dead body literally in Castle’s backyard throws our duo into something of a role reversal. Beckett wants to hand the case over to the local cops and enjoy her vacation, while Castle’s the one who wants to investigate. (Beckett also fears that involvement in the case will out her relationship with Castle – and the local cop thinks that her desire to keep her name out of the public record is because she’s a prostitute. Heh.) The local police – who have never dealt with a murder before – are all too eager to arrest a local meth addict who’s found with the victim’s wallet, but Castle realizes that the evidence doesn’t really add up and gets Beckett and the team to help him investigate. They go so far as getting arrested for their interference before the locals look up Beckett’s name, admit that they’re in over their heads, and officially ask for help.
Let’s summarize the basic facts of the case: The victim was Randall Franklin, last seen arguing with his mistress at a beach party earlier in the evening. As I mentioned, the police quickly arrest a local addict, but he clearly didn’t do it. The spurned wife, the mistress, a former coworker/enemy, and the local mob boss are innocent – at least of this – as well. What really happened: After a stint in jail for insider trading, Franklin got into the drug business in the Hamptons. Local policeman Deputy Jones – who also happened to be the local drug dealer – does like the way this new big-city operation is hurting his business, so he decides to get rid of his rival. And he’s pretty clever about it: He frames a local marina owner he’s claiming sells drugs, but makes it look like the marina owner is framing Franklin’s former coworker/current drug dealing associate by shooting him on the man’s boat.
In the middle of the real investigation, Ryan manages to solve his own investigation: When one of the witnesses he interviews mentions that Castle was in the Hamptons with a girlfriend, Ryan gets enough information out of the man to determine that the girlfriend was in fact Beckett. At this point, Ryan is the only one at the precinct who knows, so it will be interesting to see if and when he tells others. Other items of note: Castle decides to try out portmanteaus for his name and Beckett’s, finally landing on “Caskett,” and that whole scene was a little too inclined to break the fourth wall for my taste. There’s also a lot of joking about a potential new Nikki Heat book called Hamptons Heat, so it will be interesting to see whether that materializes. (So far as I can tell, it hasn’t been officially announced yet.)
And because apparently Castle and Beckett’s brief stint in jail this week wasn’t enough, next week, Castle is being accused of murder! That should go well.
(Image courtesy of ABC.)