SxS 5x11 Under the Influence

[Shutterbug5269]

I will be rolling up my sleeves on this shortly.

[mandier2]

I can't wait!

[Shutterbug5269]

Episode 5x11

Under the Influence

Our episode begins at a rocking album release party at the home of Regina Cane. Her new album is coming out next week and she's pulling out all the stops.  She was unhappy, however that her producer invited the hot younger artist Josie Lange (who's album is going to release the same time as hers) to her release party without her knowledge. Good for P.R., good for Josie, not so great for Regina, and she is quite unhappy about it. That there is no love lost between the two rivals is readily apparent even as they exchange “pleasantries.” (green eyed monster, anyone?) This will become important later.

The focus shifts to Holly Rhodes (a.k.a. DJ Beat) kicking out the tunes for the dance floor (by her facial expression she isn't terribly fond of Regina Kane either)when she sees a shadowy figure in a green hoodie slipping through the crowd on his way out. She opens her bag, revealing a handgun and produces a flash drive marked playlist which she slides into her PA system, grabs her bag and follows the figure out the door.

This opening showcases the jealousy and rivalries going on in the music biz and gives us a rare glimpse of the victim before she is murdered. Not a plot device we see often on Castle. Though I guess with Alexis away at college, and with this being a more “Esposito centric” episode it makes sense not to start at the castle loft as per normal.

Cut straight to the crime scene, where Rick and Kate are walking into view in the middle of a lively intellectual argument over weather She loses a turn choosing the movie for “movie night” for a poor movie choice. (I have never seen “Valentine's Day” so I will not comment on whether this was actually a bad choice and I have seen my fair share of “chick flicks”) Castle elicits Esposito's opinion about it, and when she states her choice, he not only backs Castle up, he tells her she “should lose two turns.” to which the two men casually fist bump, much to Kate's consternation. She smacks the back of Esposito's head with her gloved hand.

*side note*: Kate contaminated her glove by hitting Espo with it, according to procedure she should change them immediately, which I believe our resident forensics expert will back me up on, but I digress...

On to the victim, Holly Rhodes, who was found in a dumpster at a construction site. Cue Lanie to give her preliminary findings followed by Castle giving his opinion as their resident murder theorist/amateur profiler. Ryan is next on the scene to answer Kate's latest question on the matter of identification, producing her wallet with her ID and her business card.

When he mentions that she was supposed to be working Regina Kane's album launch party, Esposito's eyes light up, momentarily forgetting that Lanie is well within earshot as he gushes about what she looked like dressed in sexy girl scout uniform, (not to mention admiring her “cookies”) to which Castle gives a mischievous smirk earning, him an eye roll from Kate and Espo a dirty look from Lanie as Ryan shuts his partner down before he really digs a hole for himself with the saucy ME.

They figure out that her death took place while the party was still on, so Castle deducts that “Whatever happened, happened at the party.”  After which Kate discovers that there is a fresh number written inside her hand. She assigns Ryan and Espo to eyeball the canvass while Castle and herself are going to Regina Kane's house to “see what happened the previous night."

The entire team seems to be in rare form in this episode. The witty banter is just bouncing quickly around everyone in “Team Beckett” like a properly inflated beach ball. Everybody seemed to be getting in a good jab or one liner in as we head into a very lighthearted episode after last week's episode-ending bomb was dropped. Definitely the “lighter side of law enforcement.” (Bones reference intended)

Moving right along...

We pick up at the home of Regina Kane, the morning after her album launch party. Male and female party-goers are sleeping where they fell (I dimly remember parties like this in my college days) The front door opens in, rolling a not quite conscious guy a little out from in front of the door and Kate steps over him, showcasing one of her gorgeously long legs in those impossibly high heeled boots.

Castle is chuckling to himself, obviously somewhat remembering throwing parties like these himself, as Kate sing songs “Good Morning” to the guy still down for the full count face down on the floor. Remarking as Castle follows her inside remarking how Regina went all out to promote her new album. Castle remarks how Alexis used to play her big his repeatedly, driving him nuts. Though he couldn't help one more dig about her movie choice.

After navigating around a guy with no pants on they enter the bedroom of a barely conscious and mildly hungover Regina Kane to ask her about the victim. She had little nice to say about Holly as she had left the party with a playlist and never even came back for her equipment.  The overly self centered woman seems to have gotten on Kate's nerves. (remind you of a particular redhead?) She really isn't that used to somebody dismissing her out of hand, though she does throw an amused smirk in Castle's direction.

It would seem that Rick and Kate are on pretty solid ground at the moment, relationship-wise anyway she is even taking his good natured jibes about her movie choice the night before in stride. Amazing how liberating it is for them not to have to hide their relationship from everybody they know so that now they can be more relaxed with each other in public.  Especially Kate, she seems much happier now that her support system is back in her corner. Lying to some of her closest friends was really taking a toll on their relationship.

Back at the precinct, Kate is looking at the murder board, until Ryan walks up to inform her that other guests corroborate Regina's story about Holly's abrupt departure. Castle notes that she left in the middle of her set which is out of character for an experienced club DJ. He also supplies that Holly was an only child and an orphan with a past history of criminal activity, but had cleaned up her act when got serious about being a DJ. He also supplied that a neighbor had reported a man pounding on her door the night before she was killed. My...Ryan is quite the picture of efficiency in this one, he isn't just a pretty face and a snappy dresser.

Shortly thereafter Espo arrives with the 411 about the phone number written on her hand, it belongs to a record producer named Tyrese Wilton.  Castle confirms that he was on the guest list for the party. At that precise moment, Kate's smart phone rings. It's Lanie down in the morgue, she knows where the victim was killed.

A lot of information is being thrown at us in a short period of time in regards to this case, and Castle has yet to postulate one of his grandiose theories. Did anyone else find this weird?

Here we are in the morgue, Lanie is busily giving Kate the rundown of her findings. Stains on her clothes were identified as peanut oil with high concentrations of MSG. Unlike Kate, she seems to not be quite as happy with Castle, she seems to frown when he speaks up. I guess somebody is not quite as ready as Kate to let him off the hook over the whole Meredith fiasco. She seems to be giving him the stink eye whenever possible.  When she points out that Holly may have been killed in or near a Chinese restaurant and Castle makes his comment that that narrows it down to “every single block in Manhattan” she really fires a glare his way. Castle is so in her dog house. The murder weapon is discussed and then she points out fibers which were not from the dumpster either.

I know I pointed this out already, but did anybody else pick up on the tension between Rick and Lanie? She's giving him much the same look that she was leveling on Ryan and Espo when they were trying to pump her for information on Kate's love life in “Murder He Wrote.” It took me a few play throughs on this scene to pick up on it, but she seems to have little patience for Rick at the moment. Castle better watch his step where Lanie is concerned I think.

Moving right along...

Ryan and Esposito are walking down an alley toward the studio of Tyrese Wilton. They are in an animated discussion about Ryan fixing his hair before meeting a celebrity or a pretty girl, when Ryan reveals that Tyrese is producing Josie Lange's next album to which he states she's no Regina Kane. Ryan fires back about his obsession about her in the Girl Scout uniform. Espo gives as good a he gets though by pointing out that Josie's fans are primarily 12 year old girls and him.

I love the banter between Ryan and Esposito. We rarely get to see so much of them having the same type of back and forth that Castle and Beckett have on the job.  It is good to see them back in synch and to get a peek at why they are such a good team in their own right.

When the boys get into the recording studio, Tyrese tells Josie that they need to take a break while he talks to the detectives. Ryan is about as excited as a kid in a candy store with a ten dollar bill and is going all drooling fan-boy. He offers to take Josie's statement, runs his hand through his hair (pretty girl and celebrity) and is off to the races, leaving Espo to interview Tyrese himself.

You can tell that Espo is almost embarrassed for him, and it is all he can do not to roll his eyes at his partner's overeager behavior. It's like they went out of their way to apply the Beckett/Castle dynamic to the boys in this one with Ryan as the nine year old on a sugar rush.

Tyrese doesn't present like a suspect, as a matter of fact he wanted to work with her. He had given her his number to set up a meeting. Though he did have a wealth of information to share about an MC Thug. He had been menacing Holly after her first set but took off when Tyrese approached them. (Ryan in the meantime is grinning like a kid in a candy store in the studio window all smitten with Josie Lange. I am definitely getting the Castle Jr. vibe from him here)

With Esposito's interview with Tyrese over, he walks past Ryan who is still chatting up a smiling, though obviously put upon Josie while getting her autograph while explaining how Jenny will be thrilled, and says, “Hey fan-boy, let's go.”

Back at the 12^th Precinct, Espo holds up a booking photo of MC Thug and gives a quick rundown of his rap sheet. When Kate asks how Holly could have ended up on this guy's bad side, it is Ryan once again with the additional info when he points out that their beef went back a ways when he produces the sketch from the neighbor who had been pounding on Holly's door. It is an almost exact match for the photo of MC Thug. Everybody shares a look when Ryan asks if he looks familiar.

Thus ends part one of my SxS with the first commercial break.Will be back later withpart two.

[castlelover66]

Nice job, Bug! Can't wait to read the rest of your take on this episode. I did pick up on the tension between Rick and Lanie right away and am wondering where it came from. Is she still ticked at him from letting Meredith stay at the loft? Or is it something else?

[fantasynovelreader]

Great start, Bug

[Queen Of The Castle]

Great job on this first set of scenes, Bug.

I agree that there's more to Lanie's looks that we've yet to discover, and I'm pretty certain that we're going to see this play out in an upcoming episode. She was always one of the biggest supporters of Castle and Beckett getting together, yet she's been extremely protective of Kate ever since she found out about their relationship and I'm anxious to see this come out and for us (and Caskett) to find out why she's being so hard on Castle lately.

And yes, the episode didn't begin like a traditional Castle episode. We've almost always seen a bit of the murder or the aftermath of the murder, followed by Castle with either Beckett or his family before getting the call about the case. Whenever we don't see this, it's usually an early indication that it won't be a standard Castle episode.

Yet it does begin, as you mentioned, as a lighthearted and somewhat playful episode, with Castle and Beckett engaging in relaxed relationship banter with Espo joining in. And it tells us a lot. First, that Castle and Beckett are very much a normal couple, with regular movie nights and trading turns picking what to watch, and it's pretty clear where this movie night would have led afterward. It also shows us that Beckett's not in a place of being insecure or upset over what Meredith told her to end last week's episode, something that should give us a pretty clear sign that this wasn't the dark cloud that some believed it would be. Lastly, as you mentioned, it's a great example of these two feeling free and clear to talk about their relationship and share in these moments with their friends. Gone is the tension of them lying to everyone and trying to hide things. Instead, they're open and honest and looking to their friends to pick sides in their hilarious debate.

I really enjoyed the opening scene here and I think it was a great way to set up the case in the episode as if it would just be any other lighthearted episode following a dramatic turn in the storyline, basically throwing us off and not preparing us for the drama that would soon unfold. It really was a unique formula, one they've not really used very often in the past. It kind of reminded me a bit of "Sucker Punch" where we thought the episode was going in one direction and then spiraled into a much deeper and more dramatic realm when they dropped the bomb that their case was connected to Beckett's mother's murder. Of course, "Under The Influence" didn't have that same level of impact because it wasn't a game-changing episode, but it ultimately may have changed a lot for Esposito, something we may see as the season progresses, so perhaps we'll see more of an impact from this episode later on.

[csttraveler018]

I love it so far, Bug. I did pick up on Laine's not so nice look to Castle and I am also wondering what is that all about. Like you said, Ryan is sooo Castle Jr. I loved the Espo and Ryan banter as well. Can't wait to see your take on the next scenes.

[Shutterbug5269]

SXS 5x11 Under the
Influence Part Two

We are picking up in the 12^th Precinct's interrogation room, Rick and Kate have Darius Carson (aka MC Thug) in the box. He makes it readily apparent that he does not like being referred to by his given name, and in amoment reminiscent of Knockdown tries to throw Kate off by making an appraisal of her merchandise. This time she isn't biting, however and now she knows how to throw him off his game by continuing to use his real first name. She has a little bit of fun at Castle's expense when he interjects that does kinda throw Castle off a little though. A little harmless revenge over his repeated ribbing over her movie choice, maybe?

Once the preliminaries are out of the way, the purpose of the interrogation goes into full swing. Darius refutes any involvement in Holly's death and states his issue with the DJ is that he wanted his girl's bracelet backwhich was stolen when she was working one of his parties. He admits to threatening her, but that he had given her a day to produce the stolen bracelet. He then provides his alibi and is almost overjoyed to be placed in holding as it “helps his street cred.” He even brought his own lighting guy for the mugshot.

After the interrogation and MC Thug's trip to holding, Rick and Kate are back in the bullpen when Espo informs then that his alibi checked out. He was with the woman in question at the time of the murder. Ryan subsequently provides the information that he also filed a police report about the missing bracelet and that of the fifty events that Holly worked as a DJ there were high end thefts at seven of them. All at parties in upscale residences. This information led the team to her assistant Paul Travers.

Again, there is no grand Castle theory, most noted for its absence. Kate's more grounded and rational theory seems to carry the day. Weird that Castle seems to be more of a spectator so far in this episode, and even Kate's drive to find the killer seems muted a bit, which I'm guessing was intentional to give Esposito center stage.

Next in the box is Holly's assistant, Paul Travers. He seems to be more insulted that Holy and himself were being made out to be involved in criminal activity than he is about being under suspicion of murder.  He was passionate in his defense of Holly's character in the face of accusations that she may have stolen from her clients. When asked about the night of her murder he states he wasn't there, but Kate didn't believe him as he was listed on her invoice. When he pointed out that she occasionally used somebody else and yet offered to pay him anyway, Castle asks him about the dates this other guy worked and they just happened to be on the seven dates where the thefts occurred.

There seem to be a lot of really cooperative “suspects” in the box in this episode. Castle does seem to be a bit more of an active participant in the case in this scene than he has been to this point, as Ryan seems to be taking on his usual role Castle seems to be picking up Ryan's in this interrogation, providing relevant information and playing good cop.

With the second interrogation/interview over they are no closer to solving the case, but thanks to more information from Ryan and Esposito they are now certain that Holly wasn't the one stealing from her clients, nor was her regular assistant. Everything seems to
point to her “other” assistant who has yet to be identified nor has anything been reported missing. Where we finally get a theory from Castle, though it's more grounded in what they actually know as opposed to his more wild theories. Oddly enough, it is Esposito who
picks up his thought process and and finishes it and not Kate. As Castle points out that the assistant would have left fingerprints if
he set up the equipment, Kate orders the team to “Get CSU on it.”

Esposito building theory with Castle? Now that is unusual enough to point out again, nearly as unusual is Kate's reaction to it. In previous seasons she has been both jealous and territorial whenever Rick has built theory with anyone else but her. This is another instance of how much more secure she is in her relationship with Castle that she would be okay with this.  It would also seem to be another case of role reversal with Esposito stepping into Kate's investigative role to the point of even finishing off one of Rick's theories.

Moving on:

The next morning dawns in NYC with a spectacular aerial shot of the iconic skyline as daylight brings with it Kate Beckett going over

Holly's phone records highlighting a call from a Washington Heights payphone as Castle enters, bringing his usual gift of sugar free
vanilla flavored, caffeine filled love in the iconic white paper cups. He makes his usual joke about ditching her with the paperwork and Kate shoots back about leaving the coffee. She has obviously made her own, judging from the steaming ceramic cup on her desk, (by
odd coincidence my mother has two of the exact same mug but in orange and dark red, not blue) but as we all know she prefers his and tears into it almost immediately, her blue mug ignored.

**I'm gonna pause here for a moment to note the fact that Kate is wearing a turtleneck (which appears to be on wrong side out) AND a tightly wound scarf quite high up her neck in this scene, leading me to wonder what she she might be concealing as she usually doesn't wear her scarves that way. Evidence of a little late night fun with her writer boy perhaps? (If so, he is doing a really good job of behaving himself in the precinct) But I digress.**

Espo enters to note that the prints came back to a Joey Malone, street name “Monster”, that unies had brought him in and he is waiting in the box. We finally get some “Castle style” over the top theorizing based on his street name, to which Kate can't help her
grin as he goes on about it. Until of course, “Monster” is revealed as a rather small teenage boy, to which Castle can't help but state, “More like Cookie Monster.” which gets a nod out of a mildly amused Esposito.

I am glad to see that Castle's overeager imagination finally makes an appearance. I had wondered where it went. And Kate's rapt attention to his wild theory and her slight smile at his alliteration remind us that in spite of his childish ways she is still very much in love with him, but I believe that this is the tipping point where the torch for carrying this episode is being firmly handed off to Javier Esposito.

Thus ends part two.

[Shutterbug5269]

Bump

[Queen Of The Castle]

I like what you pointed out about Castle and Beckett not playing their usual roles in this case, though I kind of took it as being that this isn't one of those unusual cases where Castle immediately jumps in with a crazy theory, therefore he's just taking in the information and waiting for his chance to come up with a legitimate theory instead.

To me, Castle only really offers those ridiculous theories because he has fun coming up with wild stories and those unusual cases offer the opportunity to do just that and sort of give the team something to laugh about in the midst of being puzzled about the case and the odd twists and turns. This case was much more realistic and much more straightforward, so he never really had that same opportunity.

As for Beckett, it could be much the same thing, where the case was pretty straightforward and they had an ideal suspect in Shane Winters (despite not knowing who he was at that point) pretty early on. She had a lot more to go on than she has in most cases, thus there wasn't as much need for building theories and really delving into the areas that she's typically very good at exploring in their cases.

Ryan and Esposito are very good at those straightforward cases or the straightforward aspects of any investigation, whereas Castle and Beckett seem to be better at thinking outside the box and putting together pieces of the puzzle that wouldn't have seemed to go together.

I really liked what you pointed out about how Esposito and Castle seemed to be building theory together and Beckett took a step back. I'm not sure I've ever seen her get jealous of Castle building theory with either Esposito or Ryan, and it has happened in the past, as she's usually more upset about him sharing that routine with outsiders more so than their friends / coworkers. But it's nice to see her step back and let the guys sort things out, something that does show how secure she is in both her relationship with Castle and her role on the team. She knows she's their leader in so many ways but she also recognizes that there are times where she needs to let them take the lead and run with it. After all, Ryan and Esposito will both be in a position one day where she's no longer their lead detective or where one of them has the opportunity to be a lead detective on a different team, so helping them to gain that experience is something I can see as being important to her as she surely cares a great deal about them and their future. And if they're on the right track and can solve the case primarily without her, that's a very positive thing. If not, she's there to put them on the right track when they need her.

I really like the metaphor you used of Beckett passing the torch to Esposito in this case, which we'll see happen exactly in that way in the next set of scenes. She was genuinely surprised and impressed at how Esposito took to Joey and how dedicated he was to not only get the information they needed to solve their case, but also to look out for Joey. To me, that was the exact point at which Beckett knew she could step back and let Esposito handle Joey himself, and that was where this episode really took a turn and started to focus on Esposito as the lead.

Great job so far on this, Bug, and I can't wait to read more when you get a chance to post it!!

[Shutterbug5269]

SXS 5x11 Under the Influence
Part Three

Picking up where we left off before the commercial break we learn that Joey Malone, Age 14 (aka Monster) is not related to Holly, both his parents are dead and his uncle who had guardianship over him is nowhere to found. He also has a rather extensive criminal history for a boy his age. When Esposito asks her what the plan is, Kate decides that she will talk to him alone and see “what he's made out of.”

Castle's paternal instincts are kicking in here, as he finds it hard to believe that a 14 year old boy could be involved in a murder. He can't help looking at the boy, but seeing his own child. It was probably for the best that he isn't going in there. Esposito lets him know that in that boy's world it is not so hard to believe.

It is interesting to note that where Castle sees his bright eyed, innocent little girl at that age, Javier Esposito sees himself as a boy. His loneliness at Christmastime is beginning to become much clearer. You can tell he feels bad for the kid.

Joey's appraisal of Kate aside. (though admittedly not wrong) this boy has definitely either been in the box before, or he has been coached, as he knows exactly what to say. Essentially, that he doesn't need to answer her questions without his guardian present. His favorite answer seems to be “I don't know nothing about that.” until of course she hits him with the big guns and accuses him of Holly's murder, and his tough guy act promptly crumbles. You can see it all over his face that this was the one line of questioning he was not prepared for. He gives an alibi for where he was after he left the party, and then promptly informs Kate that she can talk all she wants but he is done talking to her.

I get the feeling that Kate is not accustomed to having a teenager in the box. She does rattle his cage a bit, but for the most part she seems to be keeping the kid gloves on. She and her partner are the wrong people to get through to him, as they lack the frames of reference to deal with him.

Back in the squad-room, Kate is discussing the outcome of her chat with Joey. Though Castle is thinking it could be him, as he did a pretty good job of shutting Kate down for a kid, but Kate doesn't think so. The only time she was able to trip him up was when she accused him of murdering Holly. To which Ryan has the answer, his alibi, it turns out is solid. Castle asks the 100,000 dollar question about who could have killed Holly, which Esposito answers. It has to be the brains behind the operation, the person pulling Joey's strings.

This gets Castle and Ryan going back and forth with the Oliver Twist references for a moment that even Kate picks up on, which is a nice bit of levity as the theory spinning seems to be going around the room between Kate, Rick, Ryan and Esposito. And now the case truly does get handed off to Espo as he makes the affirmation that he understands Joey in a way that Rick and Kate do not.

It was nice to see the whole team getting into the act, seeing them all in synch together on this. After the discomfort of lying to them both for so long, it is nice to see Rick and Kate have a relaxed moment with the boys, one that would not have been possible just a few short weeks before. (show time-line wise) I bet they never thought that the hell they went through with 3XK would turn out to be a good thing, right? The whole first half of the season seems to have been this great big cathartic moment for them all and now they are all finally back on the same page. (now they just have to work on Lanie)

Just before Esposito goes in to take a crack at Joey the scene cuts to a shot of both Rick and Kate, and you can see the looks on their faces. It is a “mom and dad” moment, they are proud of him for stepping up. You can practically see the look of pride on Kate's face, she obviously has at least some knowledge of his past and is glad to see him try to make it work for him.

Espo starts out all nice guy smooth, setting a can of soda on the table next to him. Joey makes a wise ass crack about the “super hot detective” which Espo shrugs off with a comment about how he's in the NYPD calendar. They trade one liners back and forth, Joey trying to be smooth and tough and Espo letting him know in subtle ways that he isn't buying it. The kid has obviously been in this position more than once before as he lays out chapter and verse about how he has always seen this situation go.

He isn't interested in anything Espo has to offer, so Espo brings out the big guns by showing him the crime scene photos of Holly's corpse. Joey's expression changes almost instantly, showing that he did care about the fact that she was murdered and her body was left in a dumpster like a piece of garbage. When Espo lays it out for him that he is a loose end to the man who put him up to this, he refuses to believe it. His “friend” would never do that to him. His expression darkens and he once again refuses to cooperate.

This kid is obviously stuck somewhere between the desperation for a father figure whom he obviously sees in the man he is protecting, and the rules of the street. He has been forced to look after himself with no one to rely on. In a way he is what either Kate or Rick could have become if they had not found another outlet for the empty places in their lives. This kid is drowning in it, and Espo can see it.

We now cut to the interview room where Kate and Esposito are speaking to Joey's case worker from social services. She informs them that his uncle is most likely in Atlantic City, and they are trying to track him down. They make it clear to her they they aren't really looking to charge him with anything but the case worker's options (and theirs) are limited, they can either put him in temporary foster care, or Juvenile detention. Neither option seems palatable to Esposito as he wants to gain the boy's trust.

When he offers to take the boy, even Kate is shocked. You can tell by the way her head snaps around to stare at him. The woman tells him it will be for only one night and Espo states that the boy just needs someone to connect with. The expression on his face makes it clear he was I the same spot once.

The next scene opens in Javier Esposito's darkened apartment as he lets them in. He again makes a rude remark about how he'd “rather have a pajama party with the lady cop.” I can't say I blame him there, I'm sure most of us can agree with that. Though Castle might take issue with it. (kidding!)

He goes on to note that there's no wonder that he's still single, his clearly male oriented bachelor style apartment would scare any woman away. (why does that have my mind going to Lanie at that sentiment. They have something bordering on a bonding moment over Joey's uncle and his father's lack of attention in their lives. The kid shares his experience about his dad dying an his mom trying to hold it together, something that it is plain that this is still an open wound in his psyche. Javier notes that now he looks after himself and it is clear that his life had shaken out along similar lines. Joey does actually seem thankful that Javier took him in instead of throwing him in juvie like very other cop he had ever dealt with had obviously done.

While Javier is in his linen closet after they talk about AC3 while getting him a blanket Joey slips out the window and is gone. When Espo walks out sees the open window and Joey gone, he does not look happy.

[mandier2]

I had a whole big thing typed out and just lost it. 

I will try to duplicate what I had.

[mandier2]

I love this bug.  What a great job highlighting the most important parts of the scenes!

I too thought it was odd that Castle's theories weren't featured front and center, but they really did try to focus mostly on Espo in this episode, so I figured that in order to showcase him more, they chose to pull back on everyone else.

Also, this episode was mostly about Espo forming this bond with this kid.  It was about showing him that the path he was currently on was not going to work for him long term.  They did need to solve the case and they did, but in the end the bond that Eposito formed with the kid was ultimately more important than solving the case.  I figured that was another reason why we didn't hear so many of Castle's theories.

I have to admit that I do love it when Castle spins theory with the guys, and I liked to see him and Epso do this for a change.  He's done it before with Ryan, and with Ryan and Espo together, but seldom if ever does he do that with just Espo.  For a long time, Espo would make fun of Castle's theories, sometimes he would even mock Ryan for going along with them.  I always felt for some reason that part of why he did that was because he felt that it wasn't cool or manly enough or something.  Kind of like it might make him look silly or something.  I think Esposito has come to realize that Castle's theories aren't always silly or crazy, and that he doesn't look stupid for going along with them from time to time. 

As for Kate not being jealous, I don't think she's ever been jealous of Castle spinning theory with the guys.  Annoyed at times, but never jealous and I always thought this was because she saw them all as team and she had no reason to be threatned by them.  If you think about the times Kate was truly jealous of Castle spinning theory with someone else..........Jordan, Sophia, Serena, even Natalie Rhodes, were woman that were vying for Castle's attention and affection.  At that time, Kate had nothing else with Castle.  Spinning theory was their "foreplay" and so I get her jealousy.  Now though, I think she would be jealous because they are together and that "foreplay" is part of their initimate relationship as a couple at the precint.  She may even see it as almost like cheating.  I do give Kate credit for being more secure, but I still think she could see this again.

I do think this episode isn't over though.  Ryan's gun turned up during "Kick the Ballistics" and I think we could see something similar to this.  Now Ryan was cleared very quickly because it was his stolen gun, but what if the guy Espo threatned shows up dead in a future episode? They find out from sources that the victim told friends that if he was found dead that it was a cop (Espo) who threatened him and told him what he would do to him if he tried to bother this kid. Almost like what Castle went through in "Probable Cause".  He did threaten the guy, he's dead, they find the gun he gave to the guy, and no one is around to contradict the story. That could be interesting indeed.

I can't wait to read more bug!

[Shutterbug5269]

Thanks Mandier, I'm working on it. Not sure I'm gonna have this done before tonight's episode, I'm having trouble concentrating, as my vacation is coming to an end and there's a lot gong on at home. I'll be doing well getting the fourth part in.

[mandier2]

Jan 21, 2013 20:20:01 GMT -5 Shutterbug5269 said:

Thanks Mandier, I'm working on it. Not sure I'm gonna have this done before tonight's episode, I'm having trouble concentrating, as my vacation is coming to an end and there's a lot gong on at home. I'll be doing well getting the fourth part in.

No worries bug!  Talk all the time you need!  I love reading your perspective.  You have taken a lot of time to really think this out, and I really appreciate it.