Castle, S5 Ep10 – Significant Others

This was another Castle ep the summary of which made me cringe in anticipation. Castle’s ex (Alexis’ mother) arrives and insists on staying at Castle’s loft to look after Alexis? While Beckett is already staying there because her apartment is being fumigated? Sigh. Talk about the potential for “fun” hijinks. But thankfully, once again, the writers took what could have been a terribly cliched scenario and made it work.

The scenes involving Castle, Ryan, and Espo talking about the catastrophe that is having the “worlds” of your ex and your current girlfriend colliding were very amusing – especially because of Castle’s increasingly worried reactions to their predictions. Then his panic at both Meredith and Kate laughing at him reminded me of that fantastic scene in Doctor Who‘s “School Reunion” where Rose and Sarah Jane are doubled over laughing at the bewildered Tenth Doctor. Hee! I think there was just the right amount of that kind of interaction. (Oh, and speaking of Doctor Who, I’m sure my sister and I weren’t the only Whovians watching this show who were very distracted by the sleazy pro golfer being named Billy Piper!) Furthermore, I’m glad that, while Meredith does seem a little eccentric, she’s not scheming, conniving, and just plain nuts.

Sadly, this Billie Piper does not appear in the episode.

As for the case, again it was not hard for me to guess that the first guy they interviewed – lawyer Michelle Twohey’s boyfriend – was not as innocent as he seemed. But once again I didn’t predict that he was actually gathering intelligence for the DEA. Also, I don’t really get tired of Ryan and Espo working together to take down suspects when the suspects start running. Gotta give our boys props this ep for a spectacular tackle. But I can’t decide if I don’t want this DEA guy to have been just a mysterious and very convenient one-off, or if I’ll be more annoyed if he does show up again out of the blue.

Based on this episode and several others I’ve recapped, it seems like Castle has a thing for people impersonating other people, complete with plastic surgery to aid their disguise. Leann Piper certainly wasn’t very smart, staying in NYC very close to where her slimy first husband lived, but trying to remain undetected in her new life. There’s a good reason why, for example, Witness Protection moves their protectees to another state far from their former lives.

Don’t worry too much, Beckett. I have this hunch we’re all going to learn more about Castle’s past this season.

Finally, Meredith’s and Beckett’s conversation about the reason for the failure of Alexis’ parents’ marriage would worry me more if A) I weren’t pretty confident that Rick and Kate care about each other enough not to let each others’ secrets ruin everything, and B) ABC hadn’t already released information on some of the revelations about Castle himself that we’re going to get during the rest of this season. So while I hope Beckett does consider what she learned from Meredith about Rick’s reluctance to open up about his past, I’m hopeful that she won’t obsess about it to the point of lasting damage to their relationship.

It’s good to have the show back from its holiday hiatus! I’m expecting to enjoy the rest of the season. How about you?