SxS 5x09 "SECRET SANTA"

[Queen Of The Castle]

ACT FOUR

We return right back to the Case Commerce building where Castle and Beckett are gathering more information from Mr. Case and his assistant, who tell our DD that Edmund stole a clock from Mr. Case’s office. Beckett is taken aback, unsure of why he would steal a clock, of all things, but it turns out that this is a very special clock. Of course, we don’t know the true significance of it just yet, but thanks to Castle’s varied knowledge of all things, he points out that this particular brand of clock is worth a great deal of money.

I love that Castle always has these random tidbits of information, and it’s been a tradition of sorts on this show for him to provided these to Beckett. What’s always great about this tradition is that it’s also shown us the progression of Beckett and how she sees Castle. In the early days, she was simply not amused, not appreciative, and certainly not impressed by his random knowledge. Despite it often being relevant to the case, she had never needed his help before and it was as if she was put off by him butting in and maybe even showing her up with his varied knowledge of things. But as time went on, she started to have a true appreciation for his vast intellect and the random tidbits of information he knew on so many different subjects. Now, in this scene, we see her smile at him as this has become yet another thing that impresses her and makes her love him even more.

Mr. Case fills them in on the fact that he had the clock appraised at $30,000 and this gives Castle and Beckett the idea that Edmund was stealing it for the money it was worth. But what they can’t figure out is why he would have needed a helicopter to be waiting for him to make his escape from the party with the stolen clock when it would have been small enough for him to conceal in his costume sack and walk out the front door without being suspected at all.

Now, Mr. Case, to me, seemed like he was holding something back in this scene. While he was helpful to their investigation by answering their questions, it almost seemed as if he wasn’t surprised by the information about Edmund escaping via helicopter or that he knew much more than he was letting on. At the time, I wondered if he was in on the murder, and while we’ll find out later on that he wasn’t really a part of it, he certainly did know who was responsible for Edmund’s murder. But if he revealed the truth to Castle and Beckett, he would have been implicated in his own crimes of working with Edmund in the past with Suncove.

Beckett follows her usual protocol here… she’ll send an officer down to get their statements and she’ll need a guest list of all of the party’s attendees. She still believes there’s more to the story than what they’ve been told, as it doesn’t quite add up in her head, but she’s not sure what the missing link is yet. I love that she mentions that they’ll need the security footage from the elevators as well, as they’ll want to make sure nobody was crashing the party. This is vital, as this is the setup for how they’ll discover that Tim was at that party.

Back at the precinct, Castle theorizes that Edmund stole the clock as a means to pay for the Cabbot’s lawsuit, as the clock is worth just a little more than what the lawyer was asking them to pay to continue with her work on their case. But Beckett is still stuck on why Edmund would have needed a helicopter to escape the building with the stolen clock when that doesn’t seem like it would have been necessary at all.

There’s a great little beat here where Beckett sits down next to Castle while she’s talking and he gives her a little glance and then gets up, as if he’s uncomfortable sitting next to her knowing that she lied to him. He’s acting like the traditional Castle would, wounded by what he believes is the truth yet not wanting to confront the issue head-on. At first, it seems as though he’s going to continue down the typical path that these two have been on before and not actually talk to Beckett about what he’s learned or how it’s made him feel. He’s keeping up with their usual brand of avoidance. It’s a small example of it in this scene but it’s clearly there. Luckily, he’ll show us a brand new side of himself and of their ever-growing connection soon…

In the meantime, Castle theorizes that the clock itself is the key to their mystery. In a way, it is, but he’s got some pretty wild ideas about how it fits in. And again, Beckett is actually amused by his ridiculous theory about this secret band of Santas being the guardians of time and the clock being an ancient symbolic relic to them, and while it’s obvious she doesn’t put any stock whatsoever in his theory, she also doesn’t shoot him down as she once loved to do. Instead, she just tries to get him back on track and thinking in more realistic terms.

Kate’s concern now is how Edmund even knew about that clock in the first place. With the mystery of the helicopter being a dead end for them at the moment, she was trying to find another angle to breaking their case. So she did what Castle always does himself and goes straight to a question about the character himself… how did Edmund know about that clock and what would that answer reveal about his plan itself?

Esposito arrives, right on cue, and fills them in that Edmund cased that party, even going as far as to call up the Santa who was supposed to work the party, pretending to be someone from Case Commerce, and cancelled on that other Santa, thus opening the door for him to swoop in and work the party without them knowing the difference. Now they’re left trying to figure out if Edmund knew about the clock in advance or if he just assumed that there would be something of value in that building that he could steal.

And here’s where we get our next wonderful SO reference… Beckett asks Esposito to take their picture of the clock to the robbery division at the precinct to spread around to the local pawn shops and such to wait and see if Edmund’s partners try to cash in on the clock. Immediately, this reference to the robbery division had me wondering about Demming and whether he could be the one from the past who helps Castle and Beckett spend Christmas together. I’ve always secretly (or not-so-secretly) hoped that Demming would return at some point and effectively spill to Castle the truth behind why and when Kate broke things off with him. He always suspected there was something between those two and if he knew they had eventually gotten together, I’m sure he’d know for sure why her heart wasn’t in it with him. He’s also a pretty decent guy so I could see him letting Castle in on the big secret. Just as I think it’s important for Beckett to learn the truth about Castle’s past marriages and why they really ended, helping her to see that he really was committed to his wives and wanted to live happily ever after with them but that they were the ones to hurt him and run out on him, I think it’s also very important for Castle to learn the truth about how long Beckett has actually wanted to be with him and that she was willing to throw away what she could have had with Demming to take a chance on putting her heart out there for Castle. The spoiler about someone from the past helping to get Castle and Beckett together for Christmas specifically said this person would not actually be seen on-screen, so I didn’t think we’d get this whole storyline playing out, but when Beckett mentioned the robbery division, I wondered briefly if maybe this would be the first hint of Demming coming back.

However, I think that these multiple references to the SOs in very indirect ways was just a clever way of setting the stage for Meredith’s return after the winter hiatus. I mean, really, we don’t even get a mention of her with this Christmas episode, yet we get these great little references to each of the other SOs in such subtle ways. The publisher comment, the motorcycle shop comments, and now the robbery comments… it’s certainly not a coincidence and it makes me smile just thinking about how incredibly brilliant these writers are to have thrown those in there for us to find.

Anyway, we now jump into one of the most wonderful scenes of not only just this episode but of the entire season itself… Castle and Beckett have a true heart-to-heart conversation about where they stand with this whole Christmas tradition issue and it’s absolutely amazing to watch this scene unfold.

First, I love that Castle and Beckett are both in the breakroom together, with Beckett still driving herself crazy trying to figure out how the pieces of their puzzle connect together while Castle makes her a cup of espresso. Normally, Beckett would have just sat at or on her desk, staring at the murder board and those files and tried to figure things out while Castle would have gone to the breakroom himself to make the coffee and come back. But it’s so sweet the way this scene starts because it’s as if Beckett didn’t want to be away from Castle, even for those few minutes it would take for him to make the coffee. She’s in detective mode but she still needs him by her side, and she’s still relying on him to help her figure out the mystery as well. It’s actually rather wonderful to see this break in their typical routine or tradition, something that sets the stage for this scene perfectly.

The scene starts with Castle clearly taking his time doing something over at the espresso machine while Beckett laments over how none of the clues in their case add up. She expresses her frustration and Castle smiles as he hands her the espresso he’s been working on as he tries to elicit a smile from her as well.

If we think back to his fantastic and gut-wrenching speech to her in “Always”, we can remember how he said that he brought her a cup of coffee every morning just to see her smile. That’s what he’s doing here in this scene, only he’s going above and beyond to do that by creating such a lovely little image with the cream in her espresso, knowing that it will take more than a simple coffee to cheer her up right now.

So he presents her with this beautifully-made cup of espresso, with an image of a flower or maybe a Christmas tree of sorts made with such care and such artistic flair. Perhaps he’s preparing to have this important conversation with her and wants to let her know that he cares so much for her that he’s willing to go through such effort to bring a smile to her face, or maybe he’s doing this just for a simple gesture of his love. Whatever the case may be, it’s a beautiful moment and it does bring a smile to Beckett’s face.

When Beckett tells him that there’s an explanation for everything, clearly talking about the case itself, Castle sees his opening to have the conversation he needs to have with her. I love that he doesn’t put this off and doesn’t come back with a hurt remark, rather that he opens up to her and opens the door for her to be honest with him.

But he’s not angry or upset or even hurt here, he’s just concerned about why she didn’t tell him the truth from the beginning. So he lets her know that he knows and he’s got this whimsical look on his face when he does, making sure to tell her point-blank to stop pretending and just tell him if she’s not ready to spend the holidays with him. He knows that this sort of thing could be stressful and put a lot of pressure on someone and I think he understands that Beckett isn’t the most open person in the world so he assumes she’s just scared or unsure of taking this step with him so soon in spending the holidays with him and his family. She’s already alluded to that in her discussion with him about not exchanging gifts so it’s a normal response that he has to assume that she’s got reservations about spending the holidays with him in general or that she’s just not ready to take that step yet.

But he’s confused as to why she wouldn’t just tell him and be honest with him and trust that he would be okay with her answer, so he asks her why she didn’t tell him the truth from the beginning. And here we see Beckett clearly disappointed that she ended up hurting him anyway, which was never her intention and was the very reason why she didn’t tell him the truth in the first place. She looks away, something she does when she’s unable to handle seeing the pain in his eyes, and she apologizes and starts to tell him that she didn’t mean to hurt his feelings. He cuts her off and asks her what she didn’t mean to do, putting her on the spot and making her feel even more disappointed in herself because she’s known all along that lying to him wasn’t the right thing to do and now she’s facing the consequences of that knee-jerk decision that she made.

I love that she comes right out and tells him the truth here. No hesitation, no dancing around the issue, and no second guessing what to tell him. She starts by explaining that Christmas means something different to her than it does to him, which completely backs up the way that she first started to doubt whether she could put aside her own issues and traditions and celebrate the holidays with him when she first realized how big of a deal this holiday actually is to him. It wasn’t the pressure of the holidays, it wasn’t her need to fulfill her own tradition, it was simply that she didn’t have the same love of this holiday that he does and she felt like he deserved better. It’s always been that same story with Beckett, feeling like she wouldn’t be enough for Castle. Now, knowing that this is Castle’s favourite time of the year and knowing that her heart isn’t in it the way his is, she likely felt as though she would only disappoint him. Maybe she thought that, in time, she could come to love Christmas as he does and that she could replace her painful memories of the past with great new ones of their time together, but this wasn’t the year for that and so she reverted back to old habits and clung to her own tradition.

So she tells him that Christmas isn’t the same for her as it is for him, that it doesn’t hold the same meaning, and this is something that Castle initially can’t wrap his head around. After all, it’s Christmas! For someone who throws himself into this holiday with all of his childlike abandon and has so much love for this time of the year, someone who sees all of the magic and wonder of the holidays, it’s impossible for him to entertain the idea that others may not feel that same way. He’ll understand soon enough, once Beckett can explain it to him, but his initial reaction is to question how it’s even possible that someone could truly not love Christmas.

Notice that Beckett looks right at Castle as she tells him the truth. No more avoidance, no more fear of hurting his feelings, and no reservations about letting him see what’s in her heart or even what’s missing in her heart. She recants her story about that holiday season well over a decade ago. Her mother was murdered in early January and their Christmas decorations were still hung at the time. When she and her father put those decorations away after her mother’s murder, they felt as though they were putting the entire holiday away as well. Thus, Christmas reminds her of that fateful night when her entire life was turned upside-down.

I love that she starts her story by explaining that as soon as that winter chill rolls in, she’s brought back to that night. It’s so similar to what she’s told him in the past about how crossing the yellow police tape at a crime scene always brings her back to that night as well. This is the key to understanding Beckett because as much as she’s put a great deal of her tragic past behind her and has made the most of the life she has, you can never really move on completely. There are always reminders. There are always simple sights and sounds and feelings that will bring you back to that moment and hold you there as you remember the pain you felt. She’s taken steps to move on and she’s certainly trying very hard to live her life without holding on to the past, but she’ll never be able to completely escape her past either. At the end of the day, she still saw her mother’s murdered, lifeless body in that alley. At the end of the day, she still lost someone she loved with all of her heart. And at the end of the day, someone stole her mother from her. Nothing she can do will ever truly erase those truths, not even finding justice and putting the Senator behind bars. It may give her a sense of vindication and a sense that she’s done right by her mother in seeing that justice is served. It may give her closure in terms of finally solving that case and righting the wrongs that have cost so many people their lives. But it will never change the fact that she lost her mother. Nothing will ever change that.

We see this so clearly in how Beckett tells this story to Castle and explains why Christmas has lost its meaning to her. It’s a time for family, something Beckett lost when her mother was killed and her father turned to a bottle of alcohol to drown his sorrows. Immediately, Castle understands, and we can see that in his expression and his body language. He gets it, but he lets Beckett continue and he listens intently to the rest of her explanation, knowing she needs to let this all out. He simply tells her that he didn’t know and now he’s the one who seems disappointed in himself.

Beckett continues to explain, knowing that she still has to let Castle know the full story of why she asked to work that night and why she lied to him about it. She doesn’t want him to think that she didn’t want to spend the holidays with him or that she wasn’t ready for that step or that she didn’t feel strongly enough about him to want to be with him. She needs him to know the truth, that she has her own tradition for the holiday, one that honours her mother in her own way and one that she believes so strongly in that she couldn’t bear to walk away from it.

So she tells him that her father has always gone up to his cabin alone for every Christmas since her mother passed away and that ever since she’s been a cop, she’s volunteered to take the Christmas Eve shift as a way of watching over all of the families out there who were celebrating together in the hopes that none of them would ever suffer the tragedy that she and her father suffered all of those years ago. It’s actually a rather beautiful thing, isn’t it? And it’s exactly in line with why Beckett became a cop in the first place, so I thought it was fitting to have this revealed about her in this episode. This is her calling and this is what she’s dedicated her adult life to. It’s not just a job, it’s who she is. She fights for justice and she fights for people to have closure and be protected from the horrors of the world we live in.

And Castle gets it too. He’s no longer hurt or disappointed in either himself or in Beckett. He understands everything now and he’s got this beautiful look of sheer adoration for Beckett. Just as we saw this look from Beckett earlier, we see it now from Castle. As if he could possibly love her any more than he already did, but that’s certainly the case here, as knowing what Beckett has done for the past thirteen Christmases is something he has such a profound respect and admiration for. She’s been looking out for all of those families who have been able to celebrate Christmas together, happy and content and with their lives untouched by the evil of the world. Castle and his family have been one of those out there who she watched over, unknowingly so, and knowing that he’s had thirteen happy and magical Christmases, partially because of people like her who keep watch over the city, that brings it all home for him.

Now, I know some people have been or are struggling with this concept that Jim spends the holiday up at his cabin alone and Beckett spends it working and neither have spent the holidays together since her mother’s death and are clearly not dealing with the past in the proper way. All I can say to that is it’s hard to understand that unless you’ve been in their position. And even then, we all have different ways of dealing with things. According to what Beckett has said, her father has spent every single Christmas following her mother’s death up at his cabin, even prior to her being a cop and working on Christmas. So that was his choice and his way of dealing with not having his wife, the love of his life, to celebrate the holidays with. There are plenty of people out there who do the same thing, who just can’t bring themselves to celebrate a family holiday when they’ve lost the most important person in their family. He likely spent the first number of Christmases getting drunk in his cabin and with Beckett working every year afterward, he now goes up there just to get away from all of the reminders of Christmas and get some peace and quiet to reflect. Maybe that cabin was a special place for him and his wife and he finds solace being there alone, as if he’s actually there with her in some way each time he goes there. We don’t know the whole story but whatever it is, it’s Jim’s choice to spend his time there and it doesn’t mean he and his daughter have a fractured relationship at all. It just means that his Christmas tradition is to spend the time alone, away from the city and away from everyone else, and just find his own peace up in his cabin. There’s nothing wrong with that, even if it differs from our way of celebrating the holiday.

As for Beckett, she clearly respects her father’s choice as much as she expects him to respect hers. Christmas doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone. Some love the holiday while others would rather forget it even exists. Some celebrate it with family and friends, others prefer to be alone. When I was thirteen years old, my best friend’s mother passed away after a long fight with cancer. It was devastating to her and her family but it was also devastating to me as I was always very close to her mother. Finding out on that day made it very difficult to truly celebrate my birthday as, to me, there was nothing good about that day that warranted celebration. To this day, I won’t celebrate my birthday on the actual day because that’s not a day for celebration, and I typically don’t do anything at all to celebrate on any day. I let my family and friends do what they will and I’ll go along with it to an extent, but I’ve never made a big fuss about it since that 13th birthday when the world became a whole different place to me. So I can completely understand why Beckett and her father, having Christmas associated so strongly with Johanna’s death, would have a hard time finding a reason to celebrate the holidays the same way most people do.

Of course, that’s not to say that people can’t change and that now that Beckett has ultimately found a way to start new traditions for Christmas and will learn to love the holidays for what they can be and not what they once were to her, she may find a way to bring her father into the fold and give him some happy new memories to move forward with at Christmas. If that never happens, though, and if Jim decides to maintain his own traditions and just let the Christmas holidays roll by, it’s completely understandable.

But I digress…

As Beckett finishes her explanation, telling Castle that this has been her tradition for so long and while she thought she could let it go, she simply couldn’t do it, you can see the heartbreak within her as she feels so much that she’s let him down. She apologizes for not being able to let it go and she looks away as she says this, not being able to bring herself to look into his eyes and see the pain or disappointment that she thinks will be there to meet her. She knows how much he’s wanted her to let go and move on from her past and while she’s come leaps and bounds in such a short amount of time, she still feels like he’ll be disappointed in her now that she knows that she chose her past over him when it came down to how to spend her Christmas Eve.

But Castle isn’t disappointed and he isn’t hurt. He understands and he supports her and he loves her more than ever before with this new knowledge of her. It’s another part of the mystery of Kate Beckett that he’s intent on solving some day. It’s another layer to the Beckett onion. And it’s yet another reason why he believes in her and loves her and is so enamoured by who she is inside and how strong she has always been to have overcome what she’s overcome to fight the good fight every day.

He surprises her with his response and she looks up at him and sees the love and support in his eyes. He understands and he’s so far from disappointed by her or hurt by her. She can see all of that, as can we, and it brings a genuine smile to her face and makes her light up like a Christmas tree. It’s such a beautiful moment between these two, and while there’s nothing but silence between them for a brief moment, the looks they are exchanging in their eyes speaks volumes on its own.

Of course, her phone ringing breaks the wonderful moment between them, as always. Lol. Again, a classic Castle tradition being used in this episode, just as so many others have been as well. Beckett puts her phone on speaker and she and Castle listen to Ryan telling them that a worker at the Case Commerce building found some evidence on the roof while having a smoke, and that it appeared someone had been waiting on the helipad for someone else. They figure this trash was left behind by the person flying Edmund’s escape helicopter and when Ryan points out that one of the items was an empty pouch of smoking tobacco, Castle and Beckett know they’ve got their suspect… David Dunne.

So we cut to the Santa school, where Esposito is about to bring David in for questioning. I love how he makes his grand entrance and the music suddenly changes to the upbeat “Run Run Rudolf”, another wonderful addition of classic Christmas music being used in the episode.

At first, it seems like David is going to make a run for it, but then we see him turn back around after having grabbed a giant candy cane from one of his displays and he starts waving it at Esposito. I love how this whole scene plays out like your typical grade-school playground fight, with all of the Santas standing around cheering David on and making “ohhh” and “ahhh” sounds as David effectively beats up on Esposito. David turns around to run and Esposito gets up to follow him, but two of the other Santas tag-team against him, putting their bowl-full-of-jelly stomachs together to block Espo’s way, grabbing him and holding him back long enough for David to grab his sack full of toys and whap Esposito with it, knocking him to the ground again.

But in typical and traditional Castle fashion once again, David turns to run and finds Ryan there with his badge and his gun raised, stopping him in his tracks. I always love when they do this bit with the bad guy trying to make a run for it but they get cut off by someone else on the team who was ready for them. Such wonderful teamwork!

With that, Esposito gets up from the ground and throws David into the wall as he handcuffs him, with he and Ryan splitting the infamous Christmas line… “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.” Perfect.

This concludes Act Four and brings us to the final quarter of the episode.

[mandier2]

We return from our brief pause. We are back at Case with Castle and Kate. They wonder what kind of company this is. The boss tells them that he would believe it if the thieves had tried to steal identities and such, but he was shocked because all the thieves stole was a clock. Kate seems a little taken back at what was stolen.

I absolutely LOVE that Castle is such a wealth of information. He knows so many random things. I would think that’s it’s probably because he does a lot of reading and studying himself. Nathan mentioned in the first season commentary that he likes that Castle is a very intelligent man. He absolutely is right. It’s also something that Kate has come to learn about him over time. I think that initially, she figured he was just a famous guy who like a good time and enjoyed all of the attention form fans and from women. That is true, he does enjoy that, but it took Kate a while to realize that behind all of that was not only a very caring and thought man, but a very smart one as well. Every time he throws out some little detail of information that shows his intelligence, she always gives him this look of respect. She does it here as well. I think this is another side of him that she really loves.

They learn that the clock was small enough to have been taken on the helicopter. It was also very expensive, appraised at roughly $30,000. Kate asks for a list of guests and lets them know they are going to scan video just in case they can pick someone out there as well.

We are back at the station. Castle and Kate have realized that the price of the clock is about the same as the amount of money that the victim’s neighbors needed for their lawsuit. Castle deduces that Edmund stole the clock for his neighbors and was going to give it to them. We have a little moment here where we are reminded that Castle is still angry with Kate. She sort of plops down next to him on the desk, and he looks over at her. Then, he gets up from the desk and walks over to the murder board. This suggests that Castle is trying to distance himself from Kate just a little. Physical contact is a no-no right now. You know that Castle is upset if he voluntarily moves away from Kate so he’s not physically near enough to touch her!

I love this next part right here. Castle mentions that Edmund had a couple of clocks at his place. Maybe this clock is important to him in some way. Kate then asks for his theory. I remember noticing this the first time I watched the episode, and it shows just how far Kate has come. There was a time when she would barely even let him say his theories, unwanted of course because they were just so silly and crazy. Then there was a time when she was willing to let him share his theories, but she would usually just brush them off. After that, there was a time when she started to become a little more comfortable with them. She was comfortable enough that she let him write on her murder board even if they theory was silly because she knew enough to know that sometimes his theories were right on. She’s reached the point where her first instinct isn’t always to think his theories are silly. She’s ready and willing to hear what he’s thinking because she now knows that he has some very good ideas. A lot of the time they are right too! Just when she thinks Castle is going to give her a solid theory, he goes right into his crazy theory ideas! Kate sort of glares here, but I think she’s glaring back at herself rather than Castle. She should have known he’d have some sort of silly idea, but that wasn’t her first thought anymore. She really did think he was going to say something serious.

We now find out that Edmund wanted to make sure he was at that particular party. He even cancelled the gig for a fellow Santa so he could show up there himself for whatever reason.

Now we are in the break room. I kept thinking that Castle couldn’t really be too mad at Kate. He’s still making coffee for her, and we know that when he’s really mad is when he quits with the coffee. It shows me just how much Castle has grown since he and Kate have gotten together. He may be angry with her, but he’s not going to just run like before. Castle hands Kate the mug and we see he’s gone that extra mile to make her cup of coffee extra special.

His thoughtfulness has not gone unnoticed. Kate rewards our guy with a big smile! They had been wondering what Edmund was doing, and Kate says there is an explanation for everything. Castle quips back with an, “Is there?” I love this part. Castle confronts Kate with the information he knows. He doesn’t even ask her as a question, he just tells her he knows what she has agreed to do. The anger is gone now. He has realized that maybe this is all too much for Kate too soon. If she’s not ready to spend Christmas with him, he understands.

She starts to apologize, and starts to tell him that she didn’t mean to do……….. Castle tries to get her to finish. I think she was going to say that she didn’t mean to get his hopes up or give him false hope about her spending Christmas with him. She goes on to say that Christmas means different things to different people. Castle doesn’t understand. He has never suffered a loss like hers so it’s understandable why he would have trouble getting why Christmas is a holiday she would rather avoid than celebrate.

Kate goes on to explain that this time of year sends her right back to that alley when her mother was killed. She and her father had delayed taking down the decorations for a long as possible, and when they finally did, it was like they were putting them and the holiday away forever. She goes on to admit that those boxes have been left unopened since then. She explains that every year her father goes to his cabin and she works on Christmas. She further explains that she does this for all of those families that are celebrating so they never have to go through what she did. This is her tradition. The tradition of making sure the families of New York have one more Christmas to spend with loved ones.

I think it was very brave of Kate to tell Castle this. THIS is exactly why Andrew was exactly right when he said there is so much story left to tell AFTER they get together. This story is not a story that Kate probably would have shared with Castle if the two of them were still just friends. This is the kind of story reserved for a significant other. Castle has only just scratched the surface when it comes to learning about Kate Beckett. He has now pulled back one more peel to the ‘Beckett onion’. Kate also continues to explain that to her, doing her job on Christmas is just as important as Castle’s traditions of trains and dinners and presents. She told him that she originally thought she could let go of that, but it doesn’t appear as if she’s ready.

Castle finally gets this. He nods his head and tells her he understands. Then our DD give one another this FABULOUS look between them, and we know that know more words are needed. They both understand one another better now and all if forgiven.

The moment is of course interrupted by Kate’s phone. It’s Ryan. He’s been up on the roof on the heliport. They found some trash. It’s as if someone was up there waiting! Hmmmmmmm! Some of the trash was also an empty pouch of pipe tobacco. I wonder where we’ve seen that before?

We are back at the Santa school. All of the Santas are standing in a big circle, being given directions. Esposito shows up to question him, and this was so funny! In all fairness, Esposito struts into that circle like he’s ready to rumble, so I guess I can understand why the Santa’s first inclination was to fight, but don’t’ hurt my man’s adorable face! The Santa runs over and picks up a big, plastic candy cane, ready to defend himself. He goes after Esposito. The two dance around for a bit, but then the Santa takes out Esposito and tries to make his escape. I loved it when the two Santas stopped Esposito with their bellies and the another Santa takes him down with his toy bag! Plus, in the background “Run, Run Rudolph” is playing!

The Santa has almost made his escape as Ryan stops him at the door. He holds up his badge as he says, “Merry Christmas to all”, and then Esposito finished up with, “and to all a good night!” He then slaps the handcuffs on Saint Nick and we go to commercial!

Oh, and for anyone who celebrates it, Happy Saint Nicholas Day!

[castlekat]

Dec 4, 2012 21:54:02 GMT -5 Queen Of The Castle said:

ACT THREE

We return to the airstrip where Beckett and Esposito have called in a forensics team to search for evidence in the helicopter but they come up empty aside from being able to determine that the blood is, indeed, Edmund’s blood. They question the manager, who is more concerned with his Christmas obligations than with helping them solve their murder investigation but they do get some information about the fuel that was used in the helicopter in order to help them figure out where the chopper flew to.

Back at the precinct, Ryan and Beckett work together to establish that the helicopter must have flown to Long Island to pick Edmund up from wherever he was there on the night of his murder and Beckett asks Ryan to determine where the helicopter could have picked him up there.

Meanwhile, Castle and Alexis return from their shopping and continue to discuss Alexis’ holiday plans. She admits that she isn’t planning on hanging out with her friends on Christmas Eve, rather a new beau that she met while away at college. Castle tells her to invite Max (another Christmas name… as in Max, the dog from The Grinch) to Christmas Eve and Alexis tells him that there’s no way she can ask Max to meet her family for the first time on such a major holiday. Castle understands, as much as he is disappointed, and then Alexis throws in what she thinks will be a comment that he can take solace in, reminding him that he’ll be with Beckett anyway on Christmas Eve. Of course, we know this isn’t the case and the look on poor Castle’s face says it all. He needs to figure out a way to get Beckett out of working on Christmas Eve.

I love this scene between Castle and Alexis. It has Castle doing his typical fatherly thing of prying for information without pushing too hard and Alexis revealing only what she wants to reveal about her new love interest. I’m sure we’ll see or hear more of Max in the new year, but for now he is only a name to us, and to Castle. But the key here is that Alexis is ready to start some new traditions of her own, making some wonderful new memories of ice skating in the park with her new guy on Christmas Eve. Considering they met just around Thanksgiving, it says a lot about their relationship that they’re committed to spending the holiday together so soon after their initial meeting. And she’s certain that Castle and Beckett will be making their own new memories together as well, so she’s perfectly okay with leaving them alone and having her own free time with Max.

Castle seems to have figured out a plan for getting Beckett out of working on Christmas Eve and he arrives back at the precinct to talk to Gates in private. I love that he warms her up with a gift, something he may have done anyways, but he totally tries to charm her into listening to his request. And I love that Gates, while genuinely appreciative of his kind gift-giving, can see right through his words and knows that he wants something.

I love this moment where Castle finds out that Beckett lied to him and asked Gates if she could take the Christmas Eve shift. While he’s initially hurt and confused by it, he doesn’t jump to conclusions as he has in the past. Instead, he knows she must have her reasons. He believes that she’s just not ready, that perhaps celebrating the holidays with him and his family is just a bit too much pressure for her to handle, but he does understand and while he’s hurt by it in some ways, he also wants to make sure she knows that he understands and supports her decision.

What I thought was interesting is that Gates full-out states that Beckett doesn’t have a family, as if she believes that’s the reason why she was so willing to take the other detective’s shift to let him be with his family on Christmas. Even with that pretty obvious hint to Castle, he doesn’t immediately pick up on it and put the pieces together. It should be obvious that Beckett missed out on those wonderful family Christmases after her mother died and for the five years that her father was an alcoholic. She lost her family and even though her father is around now and may be willing to celebrate with his daughter despite not having his wife around anymore, it’s not a stretch to consider that maybe Beckett couldn’t bring herself to enjoy the holidays after those very difficult years without a family to celebrate with.

But sometimes we don’t want to think of our loved ones being in pain and that, mixed with Castle’s passion for the holidays, blinded him to the obvious answer that was right in front of him all along. Christmas isn’t really Christmas without that sense of family and togetherness. Whether your “family” is comprised of your relatives or your friends, we all need people around us to truly feel the spirit of Christmas. Spending it alone would be difficult for anybody, let alone spending it alone because your mother was murdered and your father drowned his sorrows in a slew of bottles. Castle doesn’t see it in this moment, but he will soon enough…

Again, just a quick note, we see this recurring symbolism of the two being separated by that fence-like partition in the precinct, something we’ve seen used on many, many occasions where there’s been something keeping the two apart. I love that it’s used in this scene because it truly illustrates that there’s something keeping them apart at this point, even though they are still very much together and in love. And Castle wants to resolve that, so he makes his way onto Beckett’s side of that partition.

I love that he just stands there, quietly watching Beckett and Ryan work, as if trying to figure out what’s holding Beckett back and why she lied to him. He doesn’t look angry or hurt, rather just curious and as if he’s trying to solve this mystery just as Beckett is trying to solve the mystery of their case. And then Beckett turns and sees him standing there, with a warm and welcoming greeting as she repeats a line we’ve heard so many times before… “You comin’?” I adored this moment for not only it’s sweet simplicity and the way that Beckett greets him when she sees him, unaware that he’s still trying to dissect what’s going on in her mind or her heart, but also for the clever little mirror there to such classic Caskett moments throughout the seasons, again speaking to tradition.

Castle and Beckett make their way to the Case Commerce building and find that there is already an investigation going on there. It seems there has been a robbery and they put the pieces together. Edmund was working the party and stole a rather expensive clock, something they believe he did in order to pay for the lawyer for the Cabbits’ case. What they can’t figure out, however, is why he would have needed a helicopter to make his getaway rather than just walk out the front door with the clock hidden in his sack.

But I love this little moment in the beginning of this scene where Castle and Beckett are making their way down the hallway and Castle make a somewhat cold remark about how they can’t escape Christmas and how there’s so much pressure to have a good time over the holidays. Beckett immediately picks up on his change in attitude but doesn’t have a chance to really ask him what’s going on before they arrive at the Case Commerce lobby. I didn’t get the feeling that this was Castle’s typical routine of being upset with Beckett and making sarcastic or snide remarks to make her aware of his feelings, rather that this was maybe Castle’s way of trying to take the pressure off of Beckett and let her open up about why she felt so wary of celebrating Christmas with him. If he honestly believed that it was all too much for her to handle and she wasn’t ready, this was a perfect way of downplaying his own expectations of the holiday and try to get her to feel more comfortable sharing her true feelings with him. Of course, the better way would be just asking her for the truth, but he’ll get to that point later. First, he tried the non-direct approach… lol.

This ends Act Three. I hope you’re all enjoying our SxS so far and that you’ll all jump in with your own comments and observations or interpretations!! We have a whole month before the next new episode in the new year, folks, so we’ll have plenty of time to discuss the episode in-depth. Lol. So whenever you want to start, feel free to jump in here!! The more the merrier!!

Hey friend.... Awesome. Don't know if you read through the epilogue thread, but K-Man & I were discussing Kate and her feelings about Christmas over there, too.

[Queen Of The Castle]

Thanks, CK! I didn't have a chance to read the epilogue thread yet as I've been busy all week with the SxS, CBR last night, and a review tonight, as well as my holiday shopping. Lol. I'm so far behind here but I'll catch up over the weekend or next week!!

I'd really like to hear what you and K-Man were discussing in terms of Kate's feelings and whatnot.

[castlekat]

Dec 6, 2012 22:46:21 GMT -5 Queen Of The Castle said:

Thanks, CK! I didn't have a chance to read the epilogue thread yet as I've been busy all week with the SxS, CBR last night, and a review tonight, as well as my holiday shopping. Lol. I'm so far behind here but I'll catch up over the weekend or next week!!

I'd really like to hear what you and K-Man were discussing in terms of Kate's feelings and whatnot.

Oh, hunny. I totally get it. TOTALLY. I'm on that "so far behind here" train with you! No worries.

Dec 7, 2012 8:38:01 GMT -5 castlekat said:

Dec 6, 2012 22:46:21 GMT -5 Queen Of The Castle said:

Thanks, CK! I didn't have a chance to read the epilogue thread yet as I've been busy all week with the SxS, CBR last night, and a review tonight, as well as my holiday shopping. Lol. I'm so far behind here but I'll catch up over the weekend or next week!!

I'd really like to hear what you and K-Man were discussing in terms of Kate's feelings and whatnot.

Oh, hunny. I totally get it. TOTALLY. I'm on that "so far behind here" train with you! No worries.

And I am in the caboose!

I love talking to you CK... we were having a grand point/counterpoint moment that exposed both sides of the fence.

[mandier2]

Kate and Castle are now in the interrogation room with our sinful Santa. He insists that he had nothing to do with this. He was nowhere near that building. Castle confidently lets him know that they checked his alibi. He wasn’t where he claimed to be. He’s lying. Also, I love it when Kate and Castle take this approach in the interrogation room. A lot of times, it’s both of them sitting at the table together. I really like it when they use the whole space. Right now, Kate is at the table and Castle is standing back against the wall. I feel like they can play off of one another so well when they interrogate like this. They can switch positions as needed depending on who is taking lead in the interrogation. For me, it’s just another way to show how in sync these two have become during interrogations. They know when to give the other person space so that they can get the information they need to convict.

The Santa still insists he wasn’t there, but Kate has proof that he was. She briefly exits the room as LT brings in the clock that has been stolen from the office party that night. They have all the proof they need that he was there. Kate pushes on the suspect a little more. She tells him that she believes that Edmund was going to work they party, Santa was going to be the getaway, and they’d both walk away rich. Castle is a little more forceful here as well. I’ve noticed that Kate’s voice tends to get a little louder when she has a suspect on the line and she’s just about to reel him in. She’s sure he’s the killer and she’s confident that he will crack any second. That’s why her voice lowers and gets louder.

Finally, Santa admits that he was there. Edmund hired him to take something away from the party, but it wasn’t a clock. We find out that Edmund had asked how much weight the chopper could hold. Our Santa deduces that whatever he wanted to take was big and it was heavy. Santa explains that he waited like he was told. Edmund ran out and jumped in the helicopter, but someone was shooting at them. Edmund was shot while climbing inside. He hadn’t been able to get the door shut, and unfortunately Edmund fell out of the chopper before our friendly Santa could shut the door, thus causing the fall from the sky.

Our DD are still a little stumped here. They now realize they
know how Edmund was killed and why he fell out of the sky. What they don’t know is who the killer is or what Edmund was trying to steal from Case in the first place. Ryan and Esposito show up just in time, as usual. We discover that the neighbor’s son, the one Edmund was trying to help, had shown up at the party……..and he wasn’t supposed to be there.

Gates comes in to work with the team. It appears that the lawsuit against a company is very relevant. The person who was in charge of it all was our victim, Edmund. We find out that the victim was actually a thief in a suit (not a Santa suit). I love it that they are getting Gates more and more involved. I can remember reading so many posts last year where people were either complaining about Gates or saying they didn’t like her. I am starting to like her more and more now that she’s getting so involved with the group.

We also discover the deceased father of Edmund’s neighbors was killed in a car crash. We also find out that the man was working many jobs to pay his bills because of what Edmund’s company had done. We also find out that this happened on Christmas Eve…..five years ago. We now have the reason that Edmund decided to turn his life around.

Then we have Castle telling the story in only the way that Castle can as the others listen. I really do think that Nathan Fillion is a great storyteller. I think that’s part of why he makes Castle so believable as a storyteller. Nathan is a great storyteller too.
We are now at the apartments. Castle and Kate are there to talk to the son. We find out that Edmund had told Tim what he had done and the son was angry. Edmund told Tim that he knew how to make sure that they could win their case. He wasn’t going to sit around anymore, but he wanted Tim to help him. Time went in and picked the lock on a door. When he opened it, he found boxes of files. In them was the proof that would help him win the case.

Now we see Castle and Kate do what they do best. They are spinning theory together. I am so glad that they writers have found a way to keep this part of Castle and Beckett fully intact. This is one of my favorite parts of the Caskett relationship, and I would hate it if they had changed it too much! What our DD have now realized is that someone must have recognized Edmund and taken him out before he could get to the files. This means that the files are still there and so is the killer!

Okay everyone, I will be back later tonight to finish this up!

[Queen Of The Castle]

ACT FIVE

We return with Castle and Beckett interrogating David at the precinct. He’s rather angry and defensive but Beckett pushes him to tell them the truth by exposing his lies and leading him with her theories, forcing him to come clean in order to save himself.

He explains that Ed offered to pay him to be his getaway driver and that he asked how much extra weight the helicopter could carry but David never knew why. That night, Edmund came running out of the building onto the helipad and David tried to get away quickly but Edmund was shot by someone as they made their getaway. David never saw who it was and is clearly disturb by his recalling that fateful night, explaining that Edmund died on the helicopter and fell out of the open door and into the night sky.

Castle and Beckett return to the bullpen, still unaware of how to fit their puzzle pieces together. Ryan and Esposito arrive with even more puzzling evidence that came from the elevator footage from the Case Commerce building. They discovered that Tim was also at that party, arriving via motorcycle, and the team pieces it together that he was the person following Ed at one point.

Gates arrives with further information, pointing to Edmund as the one responsible for Suncove’s extortion-like plans to force people out of their homes. Tim’s father died in a car accident when he fell asleep at the wheel one Christmas Eve, exhausted from working three jobs in order to keep up on their inflated mortgage because of Suncove. They put two and two together, with Castle taking the lead in telling the story of how Edmund felt so guilty about his role in this tragic death and walked out on his life in order to try to make things right with the Cabots. He moved next door to them and tried to help take care of them with the patriarch of their family gone. They never knew who he was or what his real story was, but the team guesses correctly that Tim must have found out.

Castle and Beckett arrive at the Cabots’ apartment and they question Tim, who admits that he found out who Edmund was and that he was angry when Ed told him the truth but he never took matters into his own hands. Tim explains that Ed told him the truth and asked for his forgiveness, telling him that he had a plan to make everything right. He asked Tim for help and the two went ahead with Ed’s plan. Tim was to use his lock-picking skills to open a storage room at Case Commerce during the party in order for him to get in and steal the old Suncove files to push the Cabots’ lawsuit forward.

Castle and Beckett deduce that Ed needed the helicopter to cart the files out without being caught. They also figured out that one of Ed’s former partners at Suncove must be working for Case Commerce as well, hence the files being there, and he recognized Edmund and realized that he was there to steal the files. Thus, Ed was killed by this former partner. But with the cops combing the building after the clock was reported as stolen, the murderer wouldn’t have had the opportunity to destroy those files, so they realize the files must still be in the building, along with their killer.

With that, Act Five wraps up and we get ready for the final act in the episode!! And what an ending it is!!

[Queen Of The Castle]

ACT SIX – THE BIG FINALE!

Well, folks, we’re at the end of my contribution to this week’s SxS. This is the sixth an final act of the episode with a wonderful ending to the case and to the Christmas storylines that we’ve watched throughout the episode.

I hope you’ve enjoyed what you’ve read so far from both myself and Mandier and I want to thank you all for reading! Please share your thoughts as well, whether it be on a single line or moment, a whole scene, a set of scenes, or the entire episode as a whole. The more the merrier!!

Without further adieu, here we go…

We return with Castle and Beckett in the storage room at the Case Commerce building, sifting through the Suncove files and awaiting their suspect who they know will be coming along shortly. Right on cue, Mr. Case barges in and demands to know what this is all about, with Castle calmly responding, “we were about to ask you the same thing.” Cue frantic / dramatic music and the alarmed look on Mr. Case’s face as he looks down and sees the files that Castle and Beckett are sifting through… the Suncove Funding files. Oooh…

Back in one of the conference rooms, Mr. Case claims to Beckett that he doesn’t know anything about those files or where they came from. Of course, Beckett isn’t falling for his pretty obvious lies here. I love the way that she plays this moment, laughing at his claim and seemingly having some fun here with the idea that Mr. Case is actually trying to deny any involvement when they’ve found these files in his own company’s storage room. She sits down and explains to Mr. Case that they know he and Edmund were partners, asking why he would lie about that unless he had something to hide. Again, though, Case tries to pull the whole “you have no proof” card and Beckett lays it all out for him; the clock that was stolen from his office belonged to the Cabots before Suncove took it to cover as collateral. The clock being in Case’s possession is what connects him to Suncove as there was no way he could have gotten it otherwise. Game. Set. Match.

I love watching Beckett when she’s in her groove in these types of scenes. The criminals always think they’re smarter than she is yet she’s always got that winning card in her back pocket and when she pulls it out, it’s game over for the lying slimebags.

But just as Beckett really has Case on the ropes, he realizes he has no way out of his involvement in the Suncove crimes but that he needs to come clean about what he knows to avoid being charged for murder. So he reluctantly tells Beckett the truth; he didn’t kill Edmund. But he knows exactly who did.

On cue, we cut to Castle and Beckett questioning Ed’s ex-wife one final time, now knowing that she’s their murderer. I love when they nail their killer in one of the offices at the precinct instead of the interrogation room. I’m not sure what it is about this setting but it’s almost like they’re luring them into a safer place before hanging them out to dry and it adds something to these scenes.

Edmund’s ex defends herself but Beckett and Castle tag-team the truth, using it to get a confession out of Edmund’s ex-wife, which she gives in wonderfully dramatic fashion.

With that, their case is wrapped up and Castle, Beckett, and Gates discuss the conclusion of the case and the fact that the Cabots and forty-two other families that Suncove was guilty of pushing out of their homes would be getting one heck of a Christmas miracle; they were about to get their homes back.

Gates’ phone rings and she make a hilarious comment about her losing her house, in other words that her mother-in-law had taken over, and we can tell that she’s already had enough after just a single day of her mother-in-law being in town. Poor Gates. Yup, I said it. Lol. She makes another joke to Beckett about how if Beckett gets a report of a murder at her house tonight, just ignore it, and Castle and Beckett smile and laugh as Gates stomps away to what will surely be an unpleasant holiday experience.

Now, I totally got the little joke here and I admit that it was somewhat cute, but I really thought it was just a tad too corny for the typical brand of Castle humour. It actually bothered me somewhat, like it was REALLY forced in order to make Gates come across as funny. I loved her “tiny freakin’ sandwiches” comment SO much more because it was natural and actually really funny just in the way it was delivered. This one was more like the type of joke you’d see in a repeat of “Full House.” Maybe it was just me but I felt like this one was just a bit too out of place for this show. I was almost expecting the canned laughter to follow…

Anyway, I do love this moment that follows… Beckett makes a comment about how maybe Castle was right and there really is a Santa Claus. I love that she’s giving him that, even though she knows the truth, because she’s encouraging that childlike wonder and imagination in him so much these days and even though she’s not a big fan of Christmas in general, she’s trying to warm up to his ideals about the holidays.

But Castle stuns her here a bit by telling her that whether there’s a Santa Claus or not, that’s not why he loves Christmas. He explains to her, as she literally hangs on his every word and is focused on him and only him as they walk (surprised she didn’t walk into anything!), that every Christmas as he was growing up, no matter how difficult things were, Martha would always make an effort to make the holidays magical for him. She would perform a one-woman show of The Nutcracker for him every year and he was always amazed that she could do that in their tiny apartment when money was tight and they were alone. It gave him the hope that things could get better and that everything would be alright and he whimsically tells Beckett how much he loved and still loves that feeling of hope that he had in those moments. The whole time, she’s smiling and never stops looking at him as she’s captivated by his story, just as we all are.

What I love about this short bit of dialogue from Castle is that it tells us so much. Perhaps this is where his hopeful way of seeing things came from, where his optimism and childlike innocence was born and why it’s forever been such a huge part of who he is. It also tells us that Martha clearly struggled as a working actress if money was often tight and they had just a small apartment in the city. As good as she may have been, she obviously wasn’t a huge star or anything like that, rather just likely a Broadway and off-Broadway actress who bounced from gig to gig, struggling to provide for her and her son yet always giving him the love and support and hope that money could never buy.

It makes so much sense as to why Castle is such a generous man with his money and why he shows no lack of abandon in wanting to provide Martha and Alexis and anyone he cares for everything they could ever desire. He grew up with very little and he learned that money isn’t nearly everything, so when he struck it rich, he was happy to give that money away through his generosity yet he still makes sure to provide his family with everything they could want and need, making sure that no matter what, he first and foremost gives them the love, support, and hope that he was given growing up.

And I love that Beckett watches him with such captivation, so incredibly enamored by his boundless sense of hope and optimism and now, finally, hearing where that all came from to begin with. He’s one heck of a man and he’s got one heck of a family, and I think, more than anything, Beckett knows how incredibly lucky she is be able to share her life with him. It’s funny because he started off as being everything she would have never wanted and turned into everything she could have ever wanted.

I adore this little moment here at the elevator. First, with Castle’s comment about how “On the shortest and darkest days of the year, people of all faiths celebrate the light” and then with the whole mistletoe moment. I know a lot of people wanted to see a handshake here and I admit that I did when I first watched the episode as well. But when I watched it again and really thought about it from their perspective, I totally understood why it was actually better without it…

It’s a complete twist of fate that they even noticed the mistletoe, as Castle glances up and Beckett sees that look in his eyes so she looks up too. They both see it and look at each other, the obvious longing and tension so evident in their expressions. But before they can really decide what to do, the elevator rings and opens, bringing them out of their daze. They’re both nervous now and tense and unaware of what to do or say. They know this is their goodbye, the way their holiday will end, and neither one is ready to part ways like this, especially not being able to at least share one Christmas kiss together.

Sure, they could have done the handshake thing or sure they could have kissed each other on the cheek, but that would have never been enough for either one of them and it would have made it impossible for either one to walk away with that. To me, THAT is why they didn’t hug or kiss or shake hands or anything whatsoever, because any contact at all would have caused them both to just give in and they knew they couldn’t do that. Beckett had to work and Castle had to go home and be with his family. Any contact between them would have been too much to handle and it would have broken their resolve to keep to their holiday traditions alone.

So, instead, they just stand there, frozen in place and really playing up the traditional sexual tension between them because anything more would have been too much for them in that moment. It was hard enough saying goodbye like this and any amount of contact would have made it impossible.

So Castle says a sad “Merry Christmas” to Beckett and she simply says “you too” as he enters the elevator. I love this moment here where the elevator doors close on Castle with this wounded puppy look in his eyes and then we see Beckett standing there, the same wounded puppy look in her eyes. Both are already showing their regret in the decisions that they’ve made and both are already missing each other before they’ve even lost sight of one another. But Beckett has a job to do and Castle has a family to go home to, and both part with heavy hearts.

Next we get a wonderful moment between Ryan and Esposito, complete with a lovely holiday tune in the background again, wrapping up Ryan’s storyline with a nice little bow, just like the present he has there from/for Jenny (still on the fence about that one). I love Esposito’s comment to him about how he should be home stuffing his wife’s stocking. So hilarious and SO suggestive yet it’s also very festive

Ryan is obviously still struggling with something as he tells Esposito that he’s not sure he’s ready. He explains to Esposito that he and Jenny have decided to have a baby but he’s not sure he can bring a child into the world they live in. As a cop, he sees it all, the worst of the worst in the world, and he’s not sure how to bring a child into a world that’s falling apart. Esposito gives him some truly wonderful words of wisdom, telling him that the world has always been falling apart, but that having a child and having a family is what brings that world back together again. He tells Ryan to go home to Jenny and make a baby because he knows that Ryan’s ready. Ryan smiles and wishes Esposito a Merry Christmas and Espo wishes him the same in return as Ryan gets up to go home. But there’s a look on Espo’s face and we know that he’s gotten an idea. At first, I wondered if he was going to offer to work for Beckett to let her be with Castle since Espo didn’t have anyone to spend Christmas Eve with anyway and Beckett obviously did. But once I saw him looking at the Santa picture, I knew there was something else that Espo was going to set out to make right.

We return to Castle’s beautifully-decorated loft on Christmas Eve night, with Castle and his family sitting down to their Christmas dinner. If you’ve got this episode downloaded or on a DVR, just pause it for a moment when you get to this scene and go frame by frame if you can while they pan around to show the three of them sitting at the table together. The decorations are INCREDIBLE!! There are wreaths and garland hung up in doorways and on the windows, lights strung everywhere, and that gorgeous Christmas tree in the background. There’s also an amazing chandelier hanging over the table where they’re sitting with these wonderful sort of icicle lights hanging from it. It’s truly a beautiful scene and it sets the stage perfectly for what’s to come…

So Castle applauds his mother for the amazing Christmas Eve dinner, whether she cooked it or not, and he comments on how excellent everything looks, saying “just like always” but choking on his words. He’s so distraught and it’s so obvious but he’s trying to push on through. Martha and Alexis assume that he’s upset because as far as he knows, they’ll be leaving him soon to attend to their own plans, so they spring a lovely surprise on him that they’ve cancelled and will be spending the entire night with him instead. And, quite perfectly, Martha also says “like always.” We haven’t heard that word at all this season (yet) and I adore that they use it a few times in this scene as if to keep that tradition going and nod to the importance of that line in this series.

I love that while this seems to at least mildly make Castle happy, it’s clear that that’s not what’s really got him so distraught. He tells them that he was wrong about needing to stick to their traditions and that there’s somewhere else he really needs to be. Alexis is stunned, probably a little miffed that she cancelled her plans with her beau to make her dad happy and now her dad is running out on her to be with his girlfriend instead. Ouch. But Martha completely understands and she’s got that “ah, a Christmas miracle” look on her face as she realizes that her son has figured this one out all on his own. Lol.

With Martha’s encouragement, Castle grabs his coat and gets ready to head off, swinging the loft door open to reveal Beckett. Love it!! It’s so serendipitous and it’s also kind of a neat little throwback to “Always” in the way that it’s done. Minus the soaking wet hair on Beckett and the pissed-off look on Castle’s face… lol.

Castle does a double-take when he sees her, which I thought was so adorable and he’s completely tongue-tied yet clearly very happy to see her. Literally, you can see his eyes light up as soon as he sees her and she’s got the same reaction as well. They’re both smiling like fools (ie: lovesick fools) as they both laugh about how they were just coming to see each other. It’s also reminiscent of that fantastic elevator moment in “The Final Nail” where Castle arrives just as Beckett was about to call him and they share a similar exchange as they do here, just not quite as much with the love eyeballs and giggly smiles, which are adorable on both of them in this scene. Can any of you say that you can watch this scene and not grin from ear to ear because of these two?!?

Castle asks Beckett about her shift and she explains that she got Karpowski to cover it for her and asks him what about his family tradition and he stammers at first but then answers with the beautiful line, “I was thinking it was time for a new tradition” and Beckett agrees wholeheartedly. Again, so freakin’ cute… how can you not love these two together? They stand there, dumbfounded and so caught up in their gazing at one another that they’re just literally standing there, smiling in silence, until Martha (always the voice of reason) reminds Castle that perhaps he should invite Beckett in rather than making her stand out in the hallway. Classic.

With that, Castle invites Beckett in and she steps into the winter wonderland of his loft. But unlike her reaction to the decorations at the Santa school, she’s actually allowed herself to become completely captivated by everything around her. However, nothing is more captivating to her than the man standing beside her.

I love the look these two exchange and the beaming smiles on their faces as they lean in to share a kiss with the backdrop of a beautiful Christmas tree adding to the sheer romance and magic of their sweet Christmas kiss. But what I love even more is the way that they immediately put their foreheads together, both so happy just to be there together, sharing the holidays in a way that they both knew they should. This is that moment of pure love and happiness and joy that they’ve been waiting for. To me, there’s no kiss on earth that could hold the meaning that’s in this moment.

Beckett whispers “Merry Christmas” to Castle, which is her own way of saying “I love you” in this moment even if she’s not saying those same words. And I love that Castle pulls back and looks at her with all of the love in his eyes and whispers, “I didn’t get you anything.” With that, Beckett snaps her head up and gives him her classic Beckett glare as she asks a stern “what?” I love the look on Castle’s face here as he realizes that the one time he’s actually listened to her has gotten him into trouble. Lol.

But Beckett lets it go and pulls herself closer to him, not wanting to waste a single moment of their first Christmas together and her first Christmas spent surrounded by love and joy. They let their heads fall together once again, wrapping themselves up with one another, and just enjoying this moment of peace and love between them.

I read someone say somewhere that their heads together sort of made a heart shaped silhouette against the Christmas tree behind them and I thought that was such a lovely description of the imagery here. It’s a beautiful shot with a stunning set and, of course, the perfect image of our beloved couple sharing such a sweet and tender moment together. It’s the perfect way to conclude their Christmas story.

But the episode itself still has one storyline to complete and while I would have enjoyed seeing Castle and Beckett conclude the actual episode, I did really love this scene with Esposito. He arrives at the Cabots’ apartment with their clock, delivering it to them and letting them know that Edmund had stolen it to return it to them. He’s delivering so much more than just a clock, though, as he’s delivering a true Christmas miracle to this family as well. I love that this is such a wonderful take on the classic “A Christmas Carol” ending, complete with Tim (ie: Tiny Tim) and with the clock replacing the turkey that Scrooge brings to the Cratchet home. Esposito has been searching for how to spend his Christmas Eve, looking towards a fun guys night with Ryan or a holiday hookup with Lanie, but now he’s found something that is truly worthwhile doing on Christmas Eve; bringing a family hope and joy when they’ve been robbed of that for so long now.

Espo has learned the true meaning of Christmas, just as Scrooge did, and his reward, just like Scrooge’s reward, was being invited in to share a lovely Christmas Eve dinner with a warm and loving family. It’s his own Christmas miracle.

With that, the door closes and we see a beautiful Christmas wreath hanging on the door, wishing us all a Merry Christmas from this incredible Castle team.

[Queen Of The Castle]

Alright, Mandier, it's all yours to bring on home now!!

I can't wait to read your thoughts on the big ending!!

[mandier2]

We are back for the reveal of our killer! Castle and Kate are now in the storage room at Case, looking through the old files for proof of wrongdoing. The bigwig isn’t too happy to see them there either. He claims he’s never seen the files before. I love this interrogation scene. It’s not too often that Castle and Kate interrogate someone on his own turf instead of theirs. Plus, the way Kate sort of gives a little chuckle at his claims not to have knowledge of the files tells me that she feels pretty confident that she has her man.

Kate does what she does best here. She calls him on all of his stuff. She knows he knew the victim and knows that they set up some sort of scheme to cheat people out of their money. What I also love about this scene is that Kate is interviewing him by herself. Castle has stepped away from this interrogation. I’m guessing that a high powered guy like that, a guy who thinks he got away with cheating people out of their money won’t believe that some cop, let alone a lady cop could give him any reason to worry. I love that Kate shows her strength here and her ability to be a very good cop. She asks him about the clock. He claims that he doesn’t know where it came from. Kate goes on to tell him that the clock belonged to a family that he stole money from when he cheated people.

This guy has looked pretty confident up until this moment. He has seemed like none of this is a big deal to him. The cop won’t be able to nail for anything. He’s covered his tracks too well. Kate explains that the clock was used as collateral and they can connect it to Sunco and to him. The façade drops from his face as he realizes that she does indeed have the proof to take him down. I love the very satisfied look on Kate’s face as she gets up from the board table. I’d like to think that since Kate found out who killed her mother and why he did what he did, that Kate has it out especially for just this kind of guy. She wants to take down these guys who think they are better than everyone else and can do whatever they want and step all over whoever they want to get it. She wants to wipe the smug looks off of their faces. She certainly did that here.

He tells Kate that he didn’t kill Edmund. She deduces that he was feeling trapped. He knew that Edmund could tie him to Sunco and if that happened he would lose everything, so he had no choice but to get rid of Edmund. He once again insists that he did not kill him, but he also states that he knows exactly who did. We are back at the station and we see Kate interviewing the wife. The wife of course denies it and states there is no reason in the world for her to do this. At first, it appears that Kate is doing the questioning by herself, but then we hear Castle jump in. He states that they know Edmund wasn’t there to make amends. He was there to warn her that things were going to change. The lifestyle she had grown so used to was soon to be over. Backed into a corner, the wife finally gives in and admits to the killing. She admits that it threw her when he left and it threw her when he told her everything would change.

The case has been solved. It’s time to take down the murder board. Castle comments on how Edmund had tried to do the right thing. Gates lets them know that it looks as if Edmund’s neighbors, as well as others in the lawsuit, may finally get justice after all. All is not lost. The sweet moment is broken when Gates’ phone rings and it’s her mother-in-law. Gates tells Kate to ignore any and all calls that may come in from her house to the precinct. Gates once again is there to remind us that for some, the holidays aren’t always so festive.

Kate is feeling hopeful here. She tells Castle that maybe there really is a Santa after all. Castle says whether or not there is a Santa is irrelevant. He now gets ready to share his reasons for loving the holiday. We are once again reminded that Richard Castle didn’t come from the grandest of backgrounds and he didn’t always have a lot of money growing up. He explains to Kate that when he was little, Martha would always act out the Nutcracker Suite on Christmas Eve. He tells her that the memory of it always gave him hope. That’s why he likes Christmas so much. It’s the feeling of hope that makes it so special for him.

Castle makes a very profound statement here continuing to focus on his hopeful feeling by commenting about how wonderful it is that people of many faiths can come together during a time of year when there is more darkness and light. Why do they do it? They all have hope. Then of course he does his typical Castle turnaround and admits that the presents are pretty great too. Then we see Castle look up and he and Kate both realize that they are standing underneath the mistletoe. It’s an awkward moment for our DD. I do believe that they both want nothing more than to be able to celebrate this simple tradition, but given where they are and the fact that no one is supposed to know about them, they are going to have to ignore it. It’s appears to be their last moments spent together on Christmas and they don’t even get to give each other a kiss. We see Castle board the elevator and he gives Kate a little smile as the doors close. The last shot of Kate is great. She appears to be contemplating what has just happened and what Castle just said.

Then we go Ryan holding the box from earlier. He looks so sad and confused here. I just want to give him a hug. Esposito comes over and starts to tease his partner a little, but Ryan gets serious right away. We know it’s serious because he calls him Javi, which he only does when it’s something important. He admits to his partner that he’s not sure he’s ready for kids. Jenny has told him she’s ready and wants to try, but he’s not sure. He’s not sure he can bring a kid into a world that seems to be falling apart. What I love about Esposito is that even though he acts silly and crazy, deep down he’s a really good guy. He gives Ryan some great advice here. He reminds him that the world is always going to be crazy, but having a family is what makes the craziness not so crazy. He encourages his friend and partner to go for it. It’s time to have a family with Jenny. Ryan thanks him and leaves as our friend Esposito is there all alone. He looks at the picture of the victim and seems to get an idea.

We are now at the Castle loft. The decorations are hung, the tree is beautiful, and the dinner is ready. Castle, Alexis, and Martha are all sitting there. Castle tells Martha that everything looks wonderful just like it always has. He says this with a hint of sadness in his voice. Martha gives Alexis a look and turns to take his hand. The ladies tell him that they have realized that this is one of the most important traditions to Castle, so they have cancelled their own plans in order to spend Christmas with him. I knew that Martha and Alexis would come through in the end. I think even though they didn’t know about Kate, I think they both felt guilty at the thought of leaving him on Christmas Eve.

Castle tells them both that he loves them and the goes on to tell them that he was wrong. He can’t stay because he needs to be somewhere. I love how Castle has figured this out. He’s realized that really, the only person he wants to be with right now is Kate. He’s realized that the traditions don’t mean much if you can’t share them with all the people you love. He’s realized that just getting to be with her, regardless of the location or what they are doing, is more important than anything else. Alexis doesn’t quite understand what’s going on, but Martha gets it. She smiles at him and tells him to go. Castle gives her this wonderful smile before leaving the table. I sometimes wonder what Martha thinks of all the changes in Castle since he met Kate. Now as his mother, she obviously loves him no matter what, but I think Martha has truly come to appreciate Kate for some of the qualities Kate has brought out in her son. Some of these qualities may be brand new and some may have been there all along and now they just shine more brightly. Martha totally gets it because she’s had a great love too.

Castle opens the door an there on the other side is Kate. I love that this scene is so similar to Kate showing up at the end of “Always”. Castle opens the door and there she is. Castle is so shocked to see her that he doesn’t know what to say right away. He tells her that he was just on his way to see her and she was on her way to see him. They both had the same idea. I loved this and thought it was brilliant. This is how I know that these two people are in love. Castle’s traditions have always been important to him, and Kate’s have always been important to her. However, both were willing to give up their own traditions because they both realized that they would rather let some of that go so that in the end, they can be together. They have both realized that instead of holding tightly to their own traditions, maybe it’s time to start some new ones together.

He asks about her shift. She says she got someone to cover. She asks about his tradition and he says it’s time to start some new ones. Then of course Martha breaks the spell as she tells him to just invite Kate in. Martha and Alexis share a knowing look as Kate and Castle make their way over to the Christmas tree. I have to say…….kudos to the prop department for this one. Castle’s loft may have looked overdone to the average person, but it was perfect for the kind of Christmas I would imagine Castle to want. The Christmas tree is so lovely and perfect in the scene. The two turn and give one another these adorable smiles, and they finally get to share their Christmas kiss! I agree that the mistletoe kiss would have been great, but I like this kiss so much better. If they would have kissed at the station, it would have been a quick peck so as not to look as if they are together. Here at Castle’s apartment, the two of them can share the kind of kiss they have wanted to share all night. I LOVE how that magical feeling continues as they both stand there, foreheads pressed together as Kate wishes Castle a Merry Christmas. He softly whispers that he didn’t get her anything. She sort of pulls back and says “What?”

Castle looks so shocked here, and I completely laughed. Now I understand, he thought he was doing what Kate wanted him to, but he should have known that when a woman says, ‘don’t get me anything’, that’s not always what she really means. Knowing Castle, if Kate would have given her permission, he would have spoiled her rotten, but she said no presents so that’s what he did. I really did think it was sweet of him though. He didn’t want to make her nervous or unsure so he just went along with it, never assuming that she didn’t really mean it at all. What I wonder is, did Kate have a present for Castle, or was she just expecting one from him? I guess we’ll never know. The end of the scene is so beautiful. The two of them standing in front of the tree with their arms wrapped around one another is what we’ve all dreamed about and now we have it! What a great Christmas present!

We are now at the neighbor’s house. She opens the door and Esposito is standing there with a package for them. He pulls the paper off, revealing the clock they had lost. It turns out that it is a family heirloom that was put up for collateral so they could keep their house. Esposito tells her that Edmund took the clock for them because he wanted them to have it back. She then invites Esposito in to have dinner with the family and he accepts. He doesn’t have to spend Christmas alone after all. She shuts the door and the last image we see is a sign saying Merry Christmas.

I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen for our DD in 2013! It looks to be a fun year and what could be better than Castle’s ex-wife and all her ‘deep friend twinkie self’ to make 2013 interesting! I hope you enjoyed this everyone! I’m not sure I did a very good job with this one. It’s been a crazy week, but I hope you liked it!

[mandier2]

Truly WONDERFUL job as always Queenie! I am with you about the scene when she shows up at Castle's door. I had a suspicision that's what the show was heading, but when he opened that door and she was standing there I got so excited.

I think I may have even squealed!

This was a truly great episode that we've been waiting for a long time. AM and the entire cast and crew did not disappoint and neither did you my friend!

[Queen Of The Castle]

Dec 7, 2012 23:48:34 GMT -5 mandier2 said:

Truly WONDERFUL job as always Queenie! I am with you about the scene when she shows up at Castle's door. I had a suspicision that's what the show was heading, but when he opened that door and she was standing there I got so excited.

I think I may have even squealed!

This was a truly great episode that we've been waiting for a long time. AM and the entire cast and crew did not disappoint and neither did you my friend!

Same to you, my friend! It's been a pleasure tag-teaming with you again on this one.

It truly was the episode we've been waiting for and it did not disappoint. And your SxS did not either, that's for sure!

[geezer2008]

Kudos to both of you for a job well done. It was a great read. The mistletoe scene left a bad taste in both of our mouths. We were both firmly in the camp of a handshake. Queen, after reading your interpretation, we changed our minds and like your thoughts better. Nicely done. We are enjoying Gates more and more this year. It's really enjoyable to see her human side come out as she evolves. There is not a doubt in our minds that she knows about Caskett. The lady rocks. She did not get to be a Captain by being dense or stupid. She knows and it will be great fun to see how she reveals this to Kate and Rick.

[castlekat]

Dec 7, 2012 13:34:36 GMT -5 @kurlyuu1 said:

Dec 7, 2012 8:38:01 GMT -5 castlekat said:

Oh, hunny. I totally get it. TOTALLY. I'm on that "so far behind here" train with you! No worries.

I love talking to you CK... we were having a grand point/counterpoint moment that exposed both sides of the fence.

How sweet, K-Man! Thank you!
And, Ditto that, my friend! Ditto that.