Castle S6 Ep18 – The Way of the Ninja

After the last episode’s more serious outing, this week we get a largely fun one.

Now you see them (murder weapon + ninja), and now you don’t.

A young Japanese ballet student is murdered down in the warehouse district, by an expertly thrown knife. When Castle and Beckett find the murder weapon, only for a mysterious figure dressed in black to steal it and vanish, Castle quickly decides the murderer must be a ninja. This is despite the fact that the woman from the Japanese consulate tells him that ninjas no longer exist. But further investigation reveals that Jade, the murdered student, is really the orphaned daughter of a family who was all killed by a Yakuza (Japanese organized crime) enforcer known as the Green Dragon. And that woman from the consulate? Secretly her sister, who is a cop, who has trained in martial arts well enough to pretty much be a ninja. She saves Ryan’s, Espo’s, and Castle’s lives when the Green Dragon attacks them outside a Japanese hostess club. And then she finally unmasks the Green Dragon – as Chris Bruno. Boy, I sure didn’t see that coming as soon as the fairly recognizable guest star was introduced early on in the episode!

Things I liked about this ep: Castle’s continual delight about the possibility of ninjas, as well as the skepticism he faced from everyone after he encountered ninja-like assailants. I also felt that Beckett’s fears brought on by meeting up with her old friend were very believable, and thought that Castle’s response was just right. I don’t think it’s a given that they’ll be boring after they get married (which is not to say this show needs to continue for all that many more seasons, either). Castle accidentally throwing the throwing star at Captain Gates at the very end was a funny moment. And I was pleased that Castle attempting to explain away his time in the hostess club to Beckett was not over-the-top: Beckett was annoyed and angry but not outraged, and didn’t believe he had really cheated on her. Also, a little thing, but the fact that the Japanese characters had Japanese accents was a nice touch. (Oh, I also liked the long ponytail ‘do Beckett had for part of the episode – very Olivia Dunham, very stylish.)

Yeah, you didn’t think I wasn’t going to use a picture from this moment, did you?

Things I didn’t like quite as much: as I mentioned before, the real identity of the Green Dragon was not a big surprise. And while I understand that Jade’s boyfriend was incidental to the story, he seemed pretty bland to me. I guess you can’t always knock it out of the park in the guest star department.

Well, we’re nearing the end of the season. I suppose the action and drama will be picking up! Who wants to bet that the season finale will be the wedding? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Watch “The Way of the Ninja” on Amazon Instant Video.