Johanna Beckett: It
may seem like a simple name to non Castle viewers, but the Castle faithful know
the high stakes that come with anything involving her name. Season after season we gained information
about her case and while it sometimes caused tension with our favorite crime
fighters it also ultimately brought them closer together. Whenever Beckett’s
mom’s case is involved you know the episode is going to be full of intensity,
emotion, and drama and Recoil came packed with all three. If I could I would just say the entire
episode was worthy was a spot on the countdown, but this week I should really
rename this the Kate Beckett Top 5 because Stana blew this episode out of the
water!
Honorable
Mention:
First, I have to say that honorable mention goes to Castle
walking into Beckett’s apartment mainly because now I’m curious if he had a key
or it Beckett had the door unlocked. I
like to think she had it locked considering she lives in the city but maybe
that just wishful thinking by me. Thoughts? And onto the countdown…
5. Opening Up
Later
in the episode, Beckett is interrogating McManus and is trying to get him to
open up. In a rare moment, Beckett opens
up and reveals some of her personal life stating “I know what it’s like to lose
someone that you love, to live with that pain. To feel the rage towards the
person responsible for it. Towards
Bracken.” While she is saying this Gates
enters and she hears Beckett say “he took someone close to me, he killed my
mother and then he went after my friends, even tried to kill me.” Slightly confused Gates asks Castle “is she
talking about Bracken?” But Castle covers for Beckett saying “she’s just trying
to get through to him.” I love that Castle covered for Beckett! I’m not sure Gates was 100% convinced though,
so what do you guys think? Is she really
as clueless as she is coming off or do you think she is onto the “relationship”
between Beckett and Bracken especially after their awkward encounter earlier in
the episode? Also, do you think by this
point Gates knows something is up with Castle/Beckett?

4. Keep Your Friends Close and Your Enemies
Closer
At
the very end of the episode, Bracken asks Beckett to walk him out stating “you
saved my life.” Clearly not pleased with
their current situation Beckett says “yea well you can’t win them all can you?” Continuing with the somewhat forced and
awkward conversation Bracken says “I suppose this means I’m in your debt” and
Beckett keeping with her no nonsense tone replies “nothing’s changed between us
senator.” I would have to disagree here Kate.
Clearly there has been a slight shift because you did just save his
life. I’m not saying its all ok with
Bracken but I think there has been a change and maybe she is more motivated now
than ever before to find the evidence to convict him. In an ominous but what
seemed to be a foreshadowing fashion Bracken ends the episode saying “even so,
it’s a dangerous world out there detective, you never know when you might need
a friend.” DUN DUN DUNNNNN! Sounds like Bracken might be back in the near
future!
3. Dotting
the I’s
Trying
to match handwriting of the potential killer with threat letters to Bracken,
Beckett is seen going through Bracken’s mail with Castle. In one of the episodes lighter moments,
Castle says “considering what he’s capable of, you would think bracken would
have more formidable enemies.” Beckett
says “oh, obviously you never saw the letter that I sent him,” but Castle
quickly says “oh I did actually. I liked the way you dotted the “I” on kill
with a little heart it’s a nice touch.”
Kate smiles a little (which is nice to see during such an intense
episode) and says she was “trying to give it a personal feel.” The lighthearted attitude takes a little turn
when Castle asks “so are we really not going to talk about this?” and Kate
tries to stop him with “what is there to talk about?” Castle tries to convince her to talk but
Beckett shrugs it off as usual saying “it’s just like any other case.” Is that
so, Beckett? Then why did you just
quickly tuck a letter away? Yawning, Castle tries to keep going through the
letters but Beckett tells him to go get some rest. He tries to tell her no but she places a
reassuring hand on his harm and says she will call him if she needs him. In one of the few Caskett moments of the
episode Castle says “you really are remarkable you know that?” before leaving. Kate
tries to contain a shy smile (that I adore) but then we realize that she
actually found the matching letter. I
picked this moment because I loved the little, subtle Caskett moments and I
can’t resist the shy Beckett smile. I
mean, seriously… try to. You just
can’t! Kate Beckett is the queen of all
facial expressions.

2. Withholding Evidence
Ok,
so this is more like a series of moments but they all work to get us to the end
point of where I want the moment to be.
Beckett continues to struggle with her dilemma of what to do with the
letter she found that matches the suspected murderer’s handwriting. She even goes as far as to talk to Dr. Burke
about her dilemma and says that it doesn’t feel like there is a right choice in
her current situation. Dr. Burke
suggests that “maybe the right choice is one you can live with,” and we are
left hanging with Beckett holding a lighter towards the letter. Turns out she decided not to burn it though,
and almost tells the team about it until they get information on the
suspect and eventually find out his location. Arriving at the address, I was super excited to see the return of the
Writer/Detective vests but the suspect was not home. Beckett leaves to question the building owner
but McManus, the suspect, steps out of the elevator at that moment and starts
to run after Beckett warns him “don’t move or I’ll shoot.” Well she does shoot, but only after she waits
a second and misses potentially on purpose since she may want this guy to carry
through with his plan. Castle turns the
corner and you get the idea he can pick up on the struggle she is having
internally. She later admits to Castle
that she had him in her sights and he brushes it off telling her that she just
missed and it wasn’t a big deal. Beckett
then drops the bomb on him that she found the letter in the threats file and
knew it was McManus before they did and almost suppressed evidence. She reveals to Castle that McManus had
previously accused Bracken of murdering his son. Castle continues to be supportive, telling
her she ended up not doing anything wrong but Beckett continues with her
internal struggle of thinking she possibly wants McManus to go through with
his plan and that’s why did couldn’t take the shot. I felt so bad for Beckett as she opened up
and said she could see McManus’ pain and that’s why she couldn’t shoot. You knew all the moments surrounding her
mother’s death and her journey to find justice all came flooding back during
this case and it was intense to watch.
So what do you think? Did she
miss on purpose because she wanted Bracken dead or was it just the raw emotion
that hit close to home preventing her from shooting?

1. In My Dreams…
In
my favorite Beckett/ Bracken scene of the episode Gates tells Bracken than
Beckett will need a moment with him.
Thrown off guard by this request, Bracken asks “why?” and Gates,
slightly confused by his apprehension says “because she’s leading the
investigation.” You can tell she is
still slightly confused by the vibe between Beckett and Bracken so she asks “is
there some reason why you don’t want to work with Detective Beckett?” You can
tell Kate is daring him with her eyes to say something, but Bracken knows
better. Once alone, Bracken says “hard
to miss the irony of this situation.”
Beckett tries to not act affected and starts her series of questions. “Senator Bracken, do you have any enemies? Is
there anyone that you can think of that would like to kill you?” He explains to her that he gets a lot of
threatening letters because of his job and that a man doesn’t get to his
position “without upsetting people along the way.” He says that “most of them aren’t crazy
enough to want to try to kill me, present company excluded.” Beckett seemed slightly amused by this remark
and she says “you know Senator, I’m not the one you should be worried about
right now.” Seriously Bracken… you don’t
want to mess with an angry Kate Beckett so don’t say we didn’t warn you in the
future. Bracken isn’t feeling pressured
though, he continues to think it’s a game saying “it’s just us here
detective... a shooter on the loose…me in the crosshairs…must be a dream come
true for you.” With a cold, icy stare
Beckett responds with “in my dreams I’m the one that gets to pull the trigger.” I don’t know how he managed to stay calm and
collected because I got goosebumps during this scene. Stana was fantastic with her delivery and I
think 99% of the population would have lost it right about there in her
questioning if they hadn’t yet. Daring
him to push even further Beckett says that if he isn’t comfortable with her
leading the investigation he can step out and tell everyone why. She then ends the questioning with “when
someone commits murder, whoever he is senator... I will bring him to justice no
matter how long it takes” followed by one of the most serious Beckett stares I
have ever seen. Something tells me
Bracken will eventually see that he is messing with the wrong cop. Bravo to Stana on this one and let it be
known that I never, ever want to be on Kate Beckett’s bad side.

Episodes involving the Johanna Beckett storyline never
disappoint me but what about you guys?
Think Stana deserves all the awards for her performance in the episode
or not one of your favorites? Excited
for the first Valentines Day episode with Caskett as a couple? Join the
discussion in the comments section below, tweet me @DenialLove or
tweet us at @TwelfthPrecinct! Follow me, I’ll follow you
and we’ll talk Castle!
All screencap credit to: Castle-Fans.org
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