Congrats Castle fans! We made it through hiatus! For first time readers, this is my knockoff version of "Cliff's Notes" (hence the spelling difference) where you get a little peak into the episode and its story line but I decided to spice it up a little bit and rank my favorite moments just for fun!
It was a crazy summer full of changes, excitement and drama (see my rant to the fandom…) but it was all worth it! For this year’s season opener we were
introduced to a new character and thrown right into an intense case that has
Castle and the rest of the 12th gang in the dark. This week we got Castle’s perspective on the case
that left all of us wondering what the newly appointed Captain Beckett was up
to that had her on the run. Also, if you
didn’t know it already… a friendly reminder that Castle loves Beckett “like a house on fire.” We got Caskett, action, drama, Bracken and
arachnids…so put your fear of spiders aside and let’s get the first Castle
Cliff Notes of Season 8 started!
Also… if you enjoyed
the opening song as much as I did here’s the link for the audio!
5. Moth to a Flame
After Alexis discovers that Beckett visited Bracken in
prison, Castle goes to visit him.
Bracken walks into the room, sees Castle and says “oh no no no! Forget
it! I’ve got nothing to say to you.” Bracken
agrees to talk and says “you come in here all on fire about your wife. You
don’t even know who she is. 16 years Kate Beckett’s been obsessed with solving
her mother’s murder and you really think she could turn off that kind of obsession.” He continues with a dagger saying “she’s
never going to be happy being just Mrs. Castle.” Bracken then threatens Kate’s wellbeing saying
that she is like a moth to a flame and we all know what happens to the moth in
the end. I have to give credit to
Castle; he stayed relatively calm during the entire exchange while I was
freaking out at my television. I have
such a love/hate relationship with Bracken because I love his character and
Jack Coleman’s acting but obviously if Bracken is involved it is never good
news! Poor Castle though, between the
this and the torture scene he has to have a small voice in his head questioning
Beckett’s happiness and commitment with him (even though we all know this isn’t
true!). Regardless I curious to see how Bracken’s involvement plays out in the next
episode and I hope we see Beckett’s full exchange with him.

4. Trust
After being rescued, Castle questions Alexis on why Beckett
doesn’t trust him. She reinforces to him
that Beckett does and tells Castle that he needs protecting. She says “you’re a writer, Dad. And you and Beckett
are magic together, but you don’t have her training or her skill set.” Alexis then tells Castle that she thought he
was dead for months after he went missing last year and that she was worried
today when he went missing. She tells
him that if he loves Beckett he has to trust her. Now I know there are A LOT of Alexis haters
out there (personally I like her character) but you have to admit this is a good
scene. Regardless on if you agree with
Alexis helping (hijacking?) the PI business (which Castle could use this exact
same logic on her in that scenario) or like her character in general this was a
touching moment between father and daughter.
I like that when Beckett isn’t around to comfort and talk logic into
Castle, Alexis can fill the void. She also doesn’t let Castle dwell on the fact
that Beckett has left him in the dark as a negative thing and promotes trust. I look forward to seeing what the writers have
in store for Alexis this season and hope they develop her beyond her PI
involvement.

3. Hayley’s Kick Ass Intro
This episode brought the introduction of a new series regular
to Castle and I for one was excited!
Toks Olagundoye made her first appearance as Hayley and I absolutely loved
her first scene! Ryan, Espo, and Castle
are checking out a rented apartment when Hayley punches Castle as he reveals
her hiding spot. Castle tries to
question her about Beckett’s whereabouts but she easily handles him until Ryan
and Espo enter the room yelling at her to get on the floor. And then we got Hayley’s first lines of dialogue:
“Have you seen the floor? If it’s all the same to you buys let’s do this
standing.” I LOVED this! I mean at this point I really had no idea
what Hayley’s role in the story was going to be but the way she handled Ryan
and Espo was fantastic. Her snarky/sassiness
in the interrogation room was also very entertaining! She winks at Castle through the one way mirror
and then insists Ryan and Espo call her Hayley because “I insist that anyone
who’s frisk me use my given name.” She
also states she was in the apartment because she was looking for a Starbucks. To quote Hayley “usually they’re so easy to
find.” Being a woman of sarcasm and
sassiness myself I love having a character like Hayley on the show. She adds to
the amazing group of women already on the show and she’s going to be a handful
for our boys to deal with! I don’t know
about you guys but I am loving Hayley and what Toks brings to the show. I can’t wait to see more from her in future
episodes!
2. Arachnophobia
Leaving the prison, Castle gets taken and tortured while the
kidnappers try to get him to divulge where Kate is. Castle tries to inject his humor by telling
the kidnapper he is serious enough for the both of them but it doesn’t work
when he is met with the ultimatum of telling them where Beckett is or they will
kill him. Castle says “I don’t know and
even if I did know I wouldn’t tell you.” The hit men don’t believe him though
and question “you expect us to believe your wife is keeping you in the dark?” They
then begin “psychological torture” and place gross, hairy spiders on his face. When Castle continues to keep quiet they place
a plastic bag full of spiders around his head nearly suffocating him. They continue
to question him about Beckett’s whereabouts even after ripping the bag open but
Castle attacks them and runs away into the maze of boxes in the warehouse. Right when Castle is about to get shot a somewhat
hazy version of Beckett intervenes. She
runs to his aid and says she has to go.
Castle asks why she is shutting him out and all Kate says is “Castle, I
love you” before running away. This
torture scene totally creeped me out (I really don’t like large spiders…) so it
grossed me out to have to watch it again for this but it had to be in
here! No way was Castle ever going to
rat on Beckett (even if he did know where she was) and Nathan’s acting was
great. The intensity that Castle took
down the tortures was so perfect for someone fighting to find someone they
love. Also, I appreciated that they
interjected some humor into the scene as Castle tends to cope with misplaced
humor in serious situations (and I love it).
You had to feel for him as even the torturers rubbed it in his face that
his own wife keeps him in the dark which was something he was insecure about
already. And then Beckett shows up. They way it was set up it can be debated if
Beckett was actually there or not (as she was a little hazy and dreamlike at
her entry) but I enjoyed their quick exchange.
Based on Beckett’s tone and the fact she continued to keep the
conversation vague with Castle you can tell something serious is going on. Also, her quick I love you topped off a great
scene. Overall a great scene with great
acting! Can’t wait to see how Beckett’s side
of the story plays into it!

1. Smokin’ Hot
Beckett is getting ready for her first morning as Captain
when Castle approaches her with something smoking behind his back. She eyes him and says “Babe, did you set your
hair on fire again?” Castle claims that
only happened one time and then jokes “I am just so good looking I’m literally smoking
hot.” Castle reveals a giant cupcake
from behind his back that has a cute little banner that reads “congratulations
Captain Beckett.” Beckett says she is too
nervous to eat and Castle says “who said anything about eating. I said dig in.”
Beckett pulls out a jewelry box and Castle exclaims “whaaaaat? That was
supposed to be a decoder ring.” Instead it’s
a beautiful bracelet engraved with “always.”
First, so happy to start off the season with such a sweet Caskett
moment! Also, Castle was cracking me up
in this scene from learning that he has caught his hair on fire to missing the
trash basketball and sneakily picking it back up. Finally, I love that Castle is always showing
is love for Beckett whether it be through words of encouragement or giant
cupcakes filled with jewelry. That mix of comedic relief and love is exactly
what Beckett (and myself ;-) ) would need to get through a nerve-wracking first
day! Such a cute Caskett scene was an
easy add to my countdown. You should
know I couldn’t resist a Caskett scene as my first #1 of season 8 after a long
hiatus. Caskett is back!


So what
did you think Castle fandom? Did you
enjoy Hayley and what she brings to the show?
What do you think we will uncover next week with Beckett’s perspective? Join
the discussion in the comments section below, tweet me @DenialLove or tweet us at @TwelfthPrecinct!
Xo Always ~DenialLove
Screencaps via Castle-fans.tv and stana-katic.net
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