There are two things going on in this episode.
There is the murder investigation. This is a total departure from classic Castle. 1) Castle has almost nothing to do with the investigation. He doesn't even butt in. 2) Beckett is suddenly a hard-ass. She's always been tough and driven, but this is different. 3) Beckett takes on a somewhat unfamiliar role as mentor. It looks good on her. 4) Beckett doesn't even give Flannagan a chance in their first meeting. In one way, this is classic Castle. This series has one flaw in terms of portraying investigations. They waste far too much time in confrontational interviews that they should know will lead them nowhere, even though those interviews frequently lead them in a direction they didn't expect. In this case, Beckett is only threatening with no expectation of getting anything of value. 5) There is barely any of the banter that made this show great. 6)The investigation consumes most of the screen time, but it isn't the story of interest.
Castle reveals to Beckett what he learned about his lost time. This goes far deeper than the screentime devoted to his agonizing over it and doing it. Hayley actually draws out the most important point. And this point reflects much of the series, even before we ever heard of LokSat, or even Bracken. Both Castle and Becket, who love each other deeply, have a history of not acting with faith for the other. At first that trust hadn't been earned, but by now it is long overdue on both their parts. And their actions haven't been consistent with that trust.
I have trouble with this relationship thread. Part of me wants to say it doesn't fit either one of them. Part of me doesn't want to believe it's real. But another part of me realizes that it is, and that's why I hate this plot thread in the series.
There is the murder investigation. This is a total departure from classic Castle. 1) Castle has almost nothing to do with the investigation. He doesn't even butt in. 2) Beckett is suddenly a hard-ass. She's always been tough and driven, but this is different. 3) Beckett takes on a somewhat unfamiliar role as mentor. It looks good on her. 4) Beckett doesn't even give Flannagan a chance in their first meeting. In one way, this is classic Castle. This series has one flaw in terms of portraying investigations. They waste far too much time in confrontational interviews that they should know will lead them nowhere, even though those interviews frequently lead them in a direction they didn't expect. In this case, Beckett is only threatening with no expectation of getting anything of value. 5) There is barely any of the banter that made this show great. 6)The investigation consumes most of the screen time, but it isn't the story of interest.
Castle reveals to Beckett what he learned about his lost time. This goes far deeper than the screentime devoted to his agonizing over it and doing it. Hayley actually draws out the most important point. And this point reflects much of the series, even before we ever heard of LokSat, or even Bracken. Both Castle and Becket, who love each other deeply, have a history of not acting with faith for the other. At first that trust hadn't been earned, but by now it is long overdue on both their parts. And their actions haven't been consistent with that trust.
I have trouble with this relationship thread. Part of me wants to say it doesn't fit either one of them. Part of me doesn't want to believe it's real. But another part of me realizes that it is, and that's why I hate this plot thread in the series.