I know I’m a bit late with my thoughts this week, but “Sucker Punch” was such a game-changing episode of Castle that I decided I had to talk about it anyway. So what made it so important? Well, as the previews put it–”every suspect, every clue, every case for this detective has led up to this moment.” And so it had, because this was the episode where Beckett has the chance to find her mother’s killer, not because she chooses to revisit the case but because the killer has struck again and she has no choice but to follow the clues to the end of their trail….
The body they find is a stabbing victim, a man named Jack Coonan who had been a fixture in the Irish mob for decades. Laney sees an immediate resemblance to the stabbing pattern of Beckett’s mother and 3 other unsolved cases, and confirms her suspicions with the consulting M.E. Castle had used to find the pattern in the first place before going to Beckett. Jack’s employer (James Cosmo) stonewalls the detectives, but on a second interview reveals that Jack had not strayed to another gang but been working undercover for his boss to find out who had started selling drugs on their turf. His grieving girlfriend gives them a key he’d told her to give to the police if “things go down bad,” and it opens a bus locker full of self-help DVDs packed with heroin at the back of the DVD case. The self-help guru points them to Jack’s virtuous brother, of all people, who offers to give up the assassin “Rathborn” if he gets full immunity. It’s a deal with the devil, but one Beckett can’t refuse.
This was another episode (like last week’s) that was much more about the character than the story, only in this case the focus was on Beckett, not Castle. I thought Stana Katic did a really great job this week; she really got to show more emotional range than the stoic, reserved Beckett usually does, and she hit the vulnerability, grief, self-doubt, desperation, and ultimately strength perfectly. As a plot point relating to her emotions, I loved that she didn’t want to keep the case when she found out it was her mother’s killer. To me that was a very humanizing moment for her, to show that as strong as Beckett is, she’s not unbreakable. But the talk with her dad, and maybe just a little time to think about it, changed her mind–which says maybe she’s stronger than she gives herself credit for. Nathan Fillion also had another stand-out week, displaying the sensitive, caring man he buries beneath his cocksure swagger.
I thought the villain was obvious…the second Coonan said “full immunity as soon as Rathborn takes the job” to confirm what their deal was, I knew there was no assassin, that it was him. I mean, he had described himself when he described Rathborn, and with that arrogant comparison and that particular deal…of course it was him. I was kind of hoping that Beckett would turn down his offer and nail the dirtbag she had in hand, but I couldn’t really blame her for making the choice she did, to go ahead with the deal. And Castle’s offer to pay the hit fee was very sweet, although also quite obvious as well; the second Beckett said the department would never go for the $100,000 price tag on a job for Rathborn, I knew Castle was going to offer to pay it for her. In a way it was disappointing that there was so much predictability to this particular episode, but I have never accused this show of being hard to predict so I can’t actually be mad about it.
The end was sad. Beckett had to make a choice—which was really no choice at all—to save Castle vs. keep Coonan alive so that she could maybe find out who hired him to kill her mother. Since, despite his being the hired gun who did it, she still doesn’t know why it was done or on whose orders. Of course Beckett would save the hostage, because that is her job aside from the fact that she has worked and developed such a friendship with Castle. And of course she would shoot to kill.
That part (Coonan’s dying) I actually liked, despite it being heartbreaking for Beckett, because it kept the mystery of who actually killed her mother alive. Yes, she found the instrument—but not the hand that wielded it. The show doesn’t have too many running plotlines, so I’m glad that this one is getting an extension. I hope that the show stays on long enough for us to find out with Beckett what really happened to her mother.
The epilogue was possibly the best scene of the episode. I guess this was also meant to be an ending episode if they got cancelled or something, since it had Castle telling Beckett he was “done.” He had finally seen something that he couldn’t laugh off, something that made him realize following around a real detective and working real cases with her wasn’t a joke or a game or a “field trip”—it was real, and it was serious. I think this scene showed Castle’s changes well, as he readily and sincerely apologized to Beckett for overstepping his bounds and maybe costing her the chance to find out why her mother died. Beckett’s change was verbalized, as it has to be with someone as naturally reserved as she is—she told Castle that she wants him to stay around because he makes her job lighter and therefore easier. I am curious to see what her dropping the pretense of being put-upon by having him around will do for their friendship/is-it-more-ship.
In all, a worthy episode for a case this personally important to Beckett not because of the story but because of the acting. Proving once again that this is a show about and carried by its characters….
If there’s a future Wikipedia write-up about the series, I think this episode and last week’s Castle-centric episode might stand out as a threshold. I’ll admit that seconds after seeing the anguish of Beckett followed by the nice epilogue scene, seeing the scenes for next week was a bit jarring. The best series-ending episodes are not the “Happily ever after” kind but the kind like “Monk” threw up: they’ll keep doing what they do but we viewers just won’t see it. I have an idea that, from here on out this season, it’ll be lighter, crime-of-the-week episodes which are good but may not have the emotional depth these first episodes had. The writing is solid and they can do more. I hope they exceed my expectations. Nonetheless, Mondays at 9pm, I am watching. Period.
Scott, I agree that the scenes for next week’s lighter-seeming episode were jarring…and that probably most of the rest of Season 2 will be lighter stuff. The closing ep of the first season was in this vein though, so I would expect at least the season finale to get back there. I wonder if that’s when they’ll find more clues about her mother? Although that seems too soon after this (episode 13 or 14), even if this season is running for a full 20 or 22 episodes.
I think one of the things this show does very well (along with the strong cast) is to balance comedy and drama. In this episode, there were a lot of light hearted moments until they got to the realization of how the murder tied in to Beckett’s mother’s. Then it got heavy, and real, for Beckett and Castle although there were still light moments between Esposito and Ryan.
The promo for the next episode makes it seem like a frothy one, which is good because after two relatively heavy episodes it’s time for froth. But from what the show has given us so far, I don’t think it will be all sweetness and light. Certainly not if this seasons ends strong the way the last season did.
Kate, it’s funny, in any other episode I’d probably have called out some of those early moments (because there were some gems–”that was so cool just then! very Miami Vice”–but there was too much serious stuff to talk about.
I certainly agree that the whole rest of the season is unlikely to be froth, but I expect we’ll have at least a few episodes in a row that are. as you say, we need a break!
I was wondering…the two male detectives always working with Castle and Beckett…are they gay or what? Not that there is anything wrong with that, in fact I would quite like to see an episode that explores their relationship…how they fell in love, what they do together when off duty…maybe an episode where one is abducted and in mortal danger and the other goes all Riggs from Lethal Weapon to get him back. That’d be neat.
Anytus, I don’t know if it’s intentional or not, but Ryan and Esposito do come across as a couple. When I bring them up at all, I tend to refer to them as “the Ambiguously Gay Duo”–even Castle thinks it (in the minds of the show’s creators) because in Heat Wave he gives those characters a combined name. Also, you’re absolutely right that that would make a killer storyline…if the focus ever shifted off Beckett and Castle enough to run it.