Castle S8 Ep11 – Dead Red

This episode was a lot of fun, just the way I like this show.

I kind of hope he shows up again. He was fun.

The case this week is that of a Russian diplomat’s son, found murdered in an abandoned building. The Russian consulate “requests” that the precinct work with one of their security specialists in solving the murder. No one on the team is very excited by that at first – but it turns out that Vasiliy is actually a pretty cool guy. For one thing, he’s a massive fan of Castle’s books, and of Nikki Heat as well. For another, he seems like he really doesn’t want to hamper the investigation, and really wants to see more of NYC while he’s here. It’s also cute to watch his disappointment at learning that Castle & Beckett don’t work together anymore. Aw. Such a shipper.

But things aren’t as simple as they appear, shockingly enough. The kid’s mom, Anya, was a spy during the Cold War, as was the “boyfriend” she was meeting on a regular basis. Her kid had started to investigate his mom’s death in a car accident. That was likely what got him killed. Also, Vasiliy is a lot scarier than he initially seemed, as Castle’s stepmother tells a concerned Beckett when Beckett calls a meeting at Beckett’s LOCKSAT base of operations. He’s got a reputation. But Beckett just sent him out with Castle so that Castle could keep him away from their case. Oops.

For a few minutes, it looks like Vasiliy might in fact harm Rick, despite his love for Nikki Heat and Derrick Storm. Vasiliy sort of kidnaps Castle while he tracks down the other former spy that Anya was seeing, whose WITSEC alias is Frank. He’s about to interrogate Frank using jumper cables (eek!) when Castle begs him to give him sixty seconds to find out what he can without violence. Vasiliy is not enthused by the idea, but agrees. And in true private detective style, Castle deduces from his wallet that Frank has been making fake IDs and arranging for someone to get into a party. Which party? Why, the one about to happen at the Russian consulate, of course!

Vasiliy and his plus four. Be cool, guys.

So Beckett, Castle, Ryan, & Espo go with Vasiliy to the party. They don’t know who the infiltrator is or who the target is, but Beckett sees a laser target coming in from a window! She isn’t quite able to stop the victim’s father from getting a non-fatal chest wound. The assassination attempt is enough to make the Russians angry at the American cops who “distracted” their security. Right.

That means Vasiliy has to help our team without his country’s support. He also has to confess that he’s been investigating a leak in the consulate – someone selling information. It turns out Anya isn’t dead, and she’s been trying to find proof that her husband is the leak. She also witnessed him kill her son.

In the end, her husband the bad guy can’t be arrested because diplomatic immunity. So he gets sent back to Russia – but Vasiliy and the consul general promise that he’s going to end up working in the coldest city in Russia, where it takes four days to thaw the ground enough to make a dent in it. Sounds ghastly, and fitting enough.

That was pretty delightful! Also one of the more positive portrayals of Russians on TV in recent memory. Even if the idea of Castle & Beckett ending the episode by having a quickie somewhere in a Russian consulate is preposterous. Heh. Let us know what you thought in the comments!