Castle S7 Ep8 – Kill Switch

We get an Esposito-centric episode this week, with our boy getting caught up in what looks like a suicide bombing gone wrong on the subway (gone wrong in that the bomber is discovered before he gets to his intended destination). The bomber, Jared Stone, wouldn’t have even been on their radar except that he was tied to the murder of government investigator Paul Reeve. So Espo tracks him down on the subway, and ends up triggering Stone’s plan early. That means he and a subway car full of people end up as hostages.

This was a good scene. And of course Espo would ruin the serious moment.

It quickly becomes obvious that Stone isn’t really in control of the situation, and doesn’t know all of what’s going on. He thinks he’s got the suicide vest and instructions for the Hostage Response Team in order to negotiate for his “soul mate”‘s release from prison. But he’s really being manipulated by a woman who works with Paul, who wants to cash in on a pharmaceutical company that makes a vaccine for a certain strain of flu. Right, because I forgot to mention: Stone gets sicker and sicker throughout the hostage situation, and when Espo and the transit cop who’s with him take him down, everyone on the subway car gets to go to the hospital. Because they’ve all been exposed to a rare, very deadly strain of the flu for which this pharmaceutical company happens to have a large store of vaccine.

I feel like I’ve seen this plot on a bunch of shows recently: evil pharm company – or someone associated with it – engineers an outbreak of a rare, deadly disease in order to profit from the results. It’s a little boring/predictable. But at least Espo and the rest of the hostages – and even Stone – are none the worse for wear from exposure to the flu by the end. Really, the most interesting part of the whole episode was Espo’s conversation with Ryan before he went into the subway: how he thinks he might want to start a family, but Lanie doesn’t seem interested in changing up what they have. This leads Espo to show some interest in the transit cop who was with him on the subway – especially when he finds out she’s an Army veteran, too. But she tells him he shouldn’t trade “something that’s real (Lanie) for something that isn’t”. I agree. Come on now, Espo. Try a little communication with Lanie, instead of just giving up.

I’m rooting for you two crazy kids. Don’t let me down.

Other than that, this was a fairly unremarkable episode. Nice to have a little bit of commentary between Castle & Beckett about the weirdness but rightness of coming to work on a case together as a married couple. Also a fun callback to season 1 when Beckett says Castle still reminds her of Hooch, of Turner & Hooch. Hee.

I’m guessing next week will have something to do with Castle’s missing months, which might be a little more exciting. How did this ep stack up with the rest of the season for you?