Castle Cliff Notes: Target

Castle’s two part episodes are always one of my most highly anticipated moments of the season and last night was no different.  Target, in my opinion, was one of the most intense and emotion filled Castle’s we have watched recently and a box of tissues along with a pillow/stuffed animal/friend was a definite must.  That being said, unlike last week’s countdown, which was full of fun moments, this week focuses on a lot of drama filled and tear jerking moments so be prepared! Picking 5 moments was extremely tough, so this week there are a few honorable mentions because they were just too good not to talk about.

Honorable Mentions:

Going over the evidence, Beckett tells Castle there are hopeful signs. Obviously feeling helpless, Castle tries to say all their leads are dead and that they are back to square one.  Beckett, remaining hopeful, tries to tell him it won’t be the first time they don’t have any leads and they will find a way to solve the case because they have done it with less to go on.  She asks if he remembers who told her that and he says “I did- in a fit of irrational optimism.” This episode just plays too much with my feelings!  I can’t stand seeing Castle so torn up and want him to get his drive back to go for Alexis!  

Taking Castle’s hand (for the second time this episode!), Kate tries to provide support for Castle when he begins to remember the moment Alexis was born.  He recalls “she just stared up at me and when I looked down at her this feeling hit me…like I’d been struck by lightning. It was love. That instant inexplicable love you can only feel for your child.”  He continues saying “in that moment I knew my life had changed forever.  And now it’s about to change again.”  Again, all the awards for Nathan!  You could just feel the love between father and daughter and how torn up he was inside about what happened.  Meanwhile, Beckett is left to try to pick up the pieces and help in any way she can.

5. Broken Promises

While watching Alexis’ Vlog Castle realizes that this is most likely how the kidnappers knew where Alexis and Sara would be.  Castle tells Beckett to try to have tech trace IP addresses which Beckett informs him may take awhile and Castle states “what if she doesn’t have time?”  Beckett firmly says “Castle listen to me-” and is clearly getting ready to tell him she will find Alexis but is quickly cut off by Castle saying “don’t.”  He continues with “don’t promise me you’ll find her unless you can do it because I would never forgive you anymore than I’d ever forgive myself.”  Beckett is clearly caught off guard with this comment and like the viewers she appears to feel somewhat helpless.  When I heard Castle deliver this line for the first time I actually felt like I got the wind knocked out of me because of how withdrawn his tone was.  I don’t even know how I would respond because you want to try and reassure him that it will all be ok but he doesn’t want promises to be made that can’t be kept.  I guess all Kate can do is use her actions to speak to Castle and get Alexis back.

4.   Listen To Your Heart

Back at the loft, Castle starts apologizing to Martha about Alexis and she says “Richard this is not your fault.” Castle tries to justify what he should have done, but Martha cuts him off stating “no ifs… do not torture yourself with ifs. The only people to blame for this are the ones who took her.”  She continues saying that “Alexis is her father’s daughter.  She is strong and she is smart and she is going to get through this.  She’s gonna be alright. I feel it in my heart and my heart is never wrong.”  Castle lets a small smile escape and asks “what about your first marriage… and your second?”  Touché, Castle, touché!  It was nice to see a smile though in such an intense episode.  Martha does admit that “occasionally” her heart is wrong, but in this case she is confident its right.  Personally what I loved here was seeing more of Castle’s support network.  Obviously Beckett and the rest of the 12^th is there for him, but I expected Martha to be a little of a mess as well.  It was nice to see her being her usual strong, confident self which was exactly what Castle needed.  

3. Appealing to Humanity

Beckett and Castle find Douglass Stevens at his sister’s house, and he is refusing to answer Beckett’s questions about the whereabouts of Alexis and Sara.  Castle says “I’d like a minute with him” which Beckett allows and he shuts the door. Stevens tries to say he isn’t talking to a cop but Castle reveals “I’m not a cop. You remember the girl with the red hair? I’m her father.” and says “please know I will do whatever it takes to get her back.”  He continues saying “those police outside are my friends, my daughter’s friends too, so it’s just you and me” basically reinforcing that he will use whatever force he needs to get his daughter back and the police most likely won’t care.  Stevens still not getting his point says “if you touch me, I’ll press charges” which prompts Castle, with the most serious expression I’ve seen, to say “I don’t care.”  He continues to ask Stevens where the girls are and the camera leaves the room and all we hear are screams.  Beckett later asks him what happened with Douglas Stevens and Castle just says “I appealed to his humanity” in an emotionless tone.  “I didn’t think you had that side to you” replies Beckett and Castle just responds with “when it comes to the people I love I do.”  Goosebumps!  I have never seen Castle so intense and to be honest it scared me.  Obviously in his situation you would expect this behavior, it’s just so different than the fun loving Castle we are used to.  Even in prior seasons during intense scenes I didn’t feel like he has ever been this driven by emotion and while its emotionally draining to watch it’s an excellent performance by Nathan.

2.  “I Don’t Care”

After talking to Agent Harris about Alexis, Beckett and Castle walk out of interrogation and Beckett embraces Castle trying to be his rock and provide support.  Castle says “Gates will see” which would in the past seasons probably lead Beckett to stop, but she responds “I don’t care.”  Personally, I think this is a HUGE moment for Beckett.  Every other episode this season she is so concerned with hiding their relationship but at this moment she realizes sometimes the needs of others are more crucial then following the precincts policies.  Beckett tries to reassure Castle saying “we’re gonna find her Castle, we will” but Castle walks away stone faced.  Gates, clearly having witness the whole exchange says “you do whatever you need to do to get back his little girl” and offers Beckett anything she may need to accomplish this.  I think by now it’s clear that Gates knows what is going on between Castle and Beckett but obviously at this time getting Alexis back is the main priority; and even Iron Gates isn’t cruel enough to bring up their relationship at this point.  Overall, just a really well done scene showing how much Beckett has grown and what she will do for those she…dare I say… loves.

1.  Breaking Down the Castle Walls

Castle shows up to the kidnappers van and asks Kate “why the hell” she didn’t call him.  She tries to tell him they aren’t sure what exactly is going on yet so he doesn’t need to see the van.  He sees the blood and in a panic asks Lanie whose blood it is and if someone had died in there.  Castle becomes slightly hysterical, which is understandable, and Kate tries to calm him down saying they don’t know anything yet because Lanie had just arrived.  Lanie asks Alexis’ blood type (which luckily Castle knows) and asks for a minute, which will officially go down as one of the longest minutes in TV history.  Beckett pulls Castle aside and tries to remove him from the situation and appears to be unsure of what exactly she should do or say to try and comfort him.  We are left to wait until Lanie tells Castle the blood does not match Alexis’ type which earns a sign of relief from both Castle and Beckett.  Castle wipes away tears and begins to justify that she is safe somewhere and Kate tells him she thinks the kidnappers changed vans.  She takes his hand and assures him that “if there is a lead we are going to find it.”  Seriously, if you weren’t on the verge of tears during this scene you must not ever cry!  Nathan was fantastic and my heart broke for him during the moments he was waiting to hear if the blood was Alexis’.  A few weeks ago I said Stana deserved a lot of awards and after this performance Nathan deserves them too.

February sweeps continue to be amazing for Castle!  So many great scenes and Molly and Nathan killed it. Were you on an emotional rollercoaster during this episode and did you go through a box of tissues?  And how about next week’s conclusion?!?!?!  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 screencaps: Castle-fans.org