Castle S5 Ep21

Wow. What an episode.

Ah, the memories.

In this, the ep that was – wisely, I think – rescheduled by ABC (originally scheduled to air last week), Beckett steps on a pressure-sensitive bomb in a murderer’s apartment. The bomber kills himself in his holding cell, leaving Beckett stuck. While the bomb squad tries to work out defusing it, Castle keeps Beckett from giving in to either fear or fatigue by debating with her on whether or not she had a thing for him from the very beginning, among other issues. This is enough of an excuse for us to get several mini clip shows throughout the ep. Aww, remember back when Beckett had shorter hair and barely tolerated Castle? Remember when Castle was incredibly self-centered and a jerk?

I wasn’t too bothered by these various clip shows, actually, which is kind of a surprise to me. They were used juuust sparingly enough and to decent effect. If there had been one more or if the last one, especially, had gone on longer, my goodwill might not have lasted. (Because seriously, when you have less than two minutes to live, how much time should you really spend arguing about the past?)

Soon, the bomb squad discovers that the bomb on which Kate is standing has a timer, which gives her about 30 more minutes. At Beckett’s insistence, Castle promises he’ll leave at the end. This gives Beckett an opportunity to think through the most important events (more clips!) in her life in the past few years. But Castle returns before the countdown gets too close to the end. And in the end, naturally, as he reminds Beckett that it’s the story he tells from the evidence she finds that makes them such a good team, the two of them discover that the bomber was trying to find his son. He was going to force the information out of the seemingly random guy he invited to the apartment. So all they need is the son’s name, as the code to deactivate the bomb. Which Ryan delivers to them over the phone with seconds to spare. Beckett is saved! And Captain Gates is so happy that she lets the two know she’s known about them for a while now, and she doesn’t mind as long as they’re professional at the precinct. Ha! I knew it. Go, Captain Gates!

A montage of previous kisses, and then a Princess Bride-style closing kiss? It must be Christmas.

So all in all, a well-done, intense episode not badly marred by the clip show aspect. However, I am confused as to how Castle could be taking Beckett for granted so soon after the events of this ep (although I suppose we don’t know how much time was meant to have passed between this one and “The Squab and the Quail”). Also, I’m guessing those viewers who watch the show for the cases (if such a group still exists) were not happy with this ep, since there was pretty much no case at all to speak of.

Two more episodes left this season. What emotional and story arc ground do you think will be covered? Let us know in the comments!

You can catch “Still” on Amazon Instant Video.