On Monday night, "Castle" ended its annual two-parter with a heart-stopping episode. After NYPD Detective Kate Beckett was kidnapped at the end of part one, part two was all about the hunt to find her. It showed off an emotionally raw Richard Castle, who was frustrated with himself for letting his wife fall into a trap.
Castle has had a streak of being very aggressive in protecting his loved ones/family, and since Beckett is his wife, this was no exception. Ryan and Castle had gone to Michael Beaudreau's apartment to question him, but without any substantial proof, they could not hold him to anything and both were thrown out.
Castle doesn't handle standing on the sidelines very well when the people closest to him are in significant danger, and so he took matters into his own hands. Castle went back to the same apartment and barged in, questioning Beaudreau until he decided to just beat him. When Castle wasn't hearing where Beckett was being kept, he pulled a gun out on Beaudreau and threatened to kill him. NYPD officers barged in and arrested Castle and charges were pressed against him.
Hours later, Captain Victoria Gates informed her detectives that 'Beaudreau' had escaped his apartment and Kelly Nieman had emptied her office. A clear indicator that 3xk had played a role, and had bested Castle yet again. Frustration had hit a boiling point for Castle, and he had even visited 3xk’s ex-cell mate for answers.
Meanwhile, Beckett was shown strapped to a table with a gag on her mouth. A look of panic on her face as Nieman indicated she was going to take Beckett's face and use it as her own. A tough detective, Beckett was busy the whole episode playing with a screw from one of the bars on the table she was on, knowing that if she could get one strap loose she could win.
Castle had witnessed a woman get shot in front of him, believing it was his wife due to her voice telling him to stay back because it was a trap, but as Castle ran over with his heart in his throat, he found it wasn't his wife at all but a no-name druggie from Florida. After he had discovered that 3xk uses a cabin as a place he would go to clear his head, Castle set out by himself to attack 3xk. Police would have driven Beckett's captors to kill her, but Nieman and 3xk would have gotten away, which was the last thing that Castle wanted.
Castle was led up to a room with a monitor which showed Beckett, and while he stared with his heart breaking, 3xk walked into the room with a gun pointed right at Castle. It seemed as though Castle had been outsmarted again, unable to save his wife and likely to die. But what the audience and 3xk didn't know was that Castle hadn't come here alone. He had an earpiece to communicate with detectives Ryan and Esposito, and had detective Esposito, who is ex-special forces, hide in a tree and kill 3xk with one sniper shot.
As the detectives and Castle rushed to find Beckett, accompanied by a SWAT team, Nieman was waiting for 3xk to call her so she could commence with the surgery. Once her patience ran out, she decided to pick up a scalpel and start anyway, which was when Beckett pulled free of the strap that had held her right arm and grabbed Nieman's wrist, glaring at her in a fashion which struck fear into Nieman.
Castle found Beckett standing over a dead Nieman corpse. She had a bloody arm and held the very scalpel Nieman was planning to use on her. The moment she saw Castle she was tentative, which fit the story perfectly because after a traumatizing event, being excited wouldn't be at the top of the emotion carousel.
Castle and Beckett finally managed to get rid of the enemies they could never catch, and they did it in a very convincing fashion.
"CASTLE" airs on ABC Monday nights at 10/9c.
