Castle, S5 Ep8 – After Hours

To start off: I’m still very pleased by how the show writers are portraying Beckett and Castle after they’ve gotten together.  So far, they have succeeded in maintaining dramatic tension without needlessly breaking them up.  I really want to believe they can keep going in a similar fashion as the show continues.  We’ll see.

‘Tis the season for awkward family dinners, evidently. At least our duo looked fantastic.

This week, we start off with a dinner between Rick, Kate, Kate’s dad Jim, and Rick’s mother Martha.  The promos for the episode called their dinner “disastrous,” and it was pretty bad.  In fact, I have no idea why Jim and Martha would behave as poorly as they did, especially since neither of them are opposed to their kids being together as far as has been shown.  I guess it’s that time of year, for TV shows.  But, whatever.  That doesn’t bother me as much as it would have if the dinner had been disastrous because of anything Beckett and Castle did.  Anyway, the two kids are rescued from increasing awkwardness by news of a murder downtown: a priest whose childhood best friend just happened to be Mickey Dolan, leader of the O’Reilly clan of mobsters.  (All of this Irishness, by the way, brings us to an amusing scene with poor Ryan having to confront a nun and thereby relive his Catholic school trauma.  Even Esposito is a little afraid of Sister Mary by the end of the scene, which, hee.)

I should have realized as soon as it was revealed that the supposed witness to the priest’s murder, Leo, was played by Patrick Fischler that there would be more to him than met the eye.  He doesn’t always play bad guys, but his wide-ranging appearances on many, many other shows means it was both a surprise and not a surprise when he turned out evil in this episode.  But before that, the schtick of the guest star giving the main couple relationship advice went on juuuust long enough, I’d say.  That usually gets old fast.  Instead, Beckett and Castle figured out what was really behind their bickering for themselves – as they should.  And Castle easily understood Beckett’s coded message on the phone – as he should.

Oh, come on. You didn’t think I *wouldn’t* feature this scene, did you?

Our duo’s reunion after the police finally arrive to arrest Dolan and Leo the ‘witness’ was very, very adorable.  I loved that Beckett didn’t even wait for her duct tape cuffs to be removed before she hugged Castle.  Castle’s murmured reassurances were swoon-worthy, too.  And while it was highly predictable that the time spent together waiting for news of their missing children would help Jim and Martha bond, I was still happy to see it happen.  Sure, the two of them might be from “different worlds,” but they have their love for their only children in common.  They seem to like each others’ children a fair amount, too, as I already mentioned.  Perhaps their next family dinner won’t be so painful – although I’m not saying I’m clamoring for another one any time soon!

Now, we have a short break until December 3rd, when we’ll be getting a Christmas-themed episode.  See you all then!