In Washington D.C., Beckett (Stana Katic) is talking with a guy at the FBI who tells her she comes very well recommended for an open spot on the AGI team. She tells him she’s a homicide detective. He tells her that she knows she’s headed for bigger things but if that’s not what she believes “door’s right over there.” She tells him she knows why she’s there.
In New York, Alexis (Molly Quinn) wants to talk to Castle (Nathan Fillion). Castle meanwhile is debating cover art with himself. When prompted, he tells Alexis that he’s worried for her going to Costa Rica. She asks if it’s about Paris. “Dad, I can’t stop living my life because of what happened...I don’t want to let fear win.” That’s our girl! Castle responds that he’ll right the check. Castle gets called to the crime scene.
They go to talk to one of her friends. One of the other neighbors insists that Crystal was a hooker. The friend, Ziff (Niko Nicotera), defends her. Another neighbor chips in and that is not appreciated. Crystal’s room looks wiped down. Beckett has the security evidence pulled.
At the station, Castle spins a tale. Ryan brings them information that their victim, real name Erika Allbrooke, is a Harvard honors student.
The vic’s parents insist that she should be backpacking across Europe for two weeks. The parents give the usual song and dance that their little girl couldn’t be into drugs and would never stay in a place like that. The mother insists that the body isn’t their little girl. Castle remarks to Kate later that there is no way he’s going to let Alexis go to Costa Rica. Neither thinks the transformation makes much such. Castle asks where Beckett was. She evades him.
Espo shows them footage of Crystal going down to the laundry room which is normal enough but then going to the roof looking around to make sure that no one’s following her. Kate says it looks like whoever killed her used the stairs. Ryan comes in and tells them that the cell phone was with the parents. Her credit card has been charged to an expensive restaurant in the last few weeks.
Despite all claims, Lanie (Tamala Jones) says that their vic is not a prostitute because of a lack of sexual activity and that Crystal was dead before she hit the water. Caskett go to the apartment and find a CD of sex sounds. They go to talk to the only person who would defend her. Ziff tells them that there is a hole in closet door he used to watch her thru as she would have her headphones in and be typing on her laptop. A laptop has not been recovered.Ryan and Esposito call in a class mate. She tells them that Crystal was “sexed up and her hair was pink.” After seeing her with a man, Crystal freaked out and asked her not to tell anyone because it could place her in danger. She tells them that the man told Crystal, “You have no idea what you’re up against. These people don’t mess around.”
Castle and Beckett arrive at the conclusion that Erika created the identity of Crystal so that she could hack whatever she was hacking in relative privacy. Captain Gates (Penny Johnson) calls Beckett into her office. Gates tells Kate she talked to the deputy director of the FBI and also informs her that she was given the highest recommendation. Captain Gates tells her that’s what she should be doing with her life and that “from what I hear, you’re on a short list. And with any luck, this could be your last case.”
Kate goes down to talk to Lanie early the next morning and Lanie asks her what’s wrong. Kate asks “if you had the opportunity to do something you wanted to do but it would change everything in your life would you take it?” Lanie asks about the job and then asks if it’s about Castle. Kate tells her that they never talk about where their headed. She wonders if their eventual talking about it will be a bad thing. Castle calls her to talk to a tech person.
The tech person has ruled out most of the sites accessed by the hotel that month and narrows it down to just one of them. Castle wonders if Erika was a hacker version of Erin Brockovich. Kate is less convinced. Caskett take Erika’s photo to the law firm she was hacking. The woman they talk do doesn’t remember her. The tech guy also claims they weren’t hacked. Castle has him bring up the records for the past week. Someone was accessing the server but no one was logged in. The law firm gives them no information. Without the laptop “we’re dead in the water. Just like Erika.”
Their new lead comes in the form of a man last named Blaylock. When they go to his house, he is hanged.
Lanie is pretty certain it was not a suicide. The main ligature mark indicates suicide but a fainter one runs across the neck. The law firm rang a bell with Erika’s parents. Erika’s best friend used to work for the firm—that is until she died in a suspected drunk driving incident. Castle thinks that this is starting to sound like a John Grisham novel. Castle says that if he were Erika, he would have hidden the laptop. Because of Lanie’s finding of creosote under Erika’s fingernails and her elevator ride, they think she left the laptop in the boiler room.
Ryan and Espo discuss what might have happened with Beckett acting weird. Ryan suggests that Kate’s pregnant. Espo asks why he would have jumped to that. Ryan tells him that Jenny is pregnant. And they find the laptop.
At the apartment, Rick finds Kate’s boarding pass after it fell out of her jacket. She tells him about her job offer. “You interviewed for another job in another city and you didn’t tell me?” He tells her that he would never have lied to her about an opportunity like that. She tells him about how it’s such a wonderful opportunity for her. He tells her that the point of the conversation is that she didn’t think to include him or if she did think to include him, she chose not to. "What does that say about our relationship?” Richard Castle then walks out of the apartment.
Down at the station the next day, Kate tells Ryan and Espo about the fight she had with Castle. The tech woman tells them that Erika stepped up her research. Ryan shares that she was focusing on the week her friend died in the accounting department. Blaylock was billed at around the same time Erika’s friend was killed. Everyone arrives on the same page that the scene was staged. Blaylock also billed the client for a round of golf on the same day.
Martha (Susan Sullivan) tells Castle that Rick should be interviewing for that job because of her career and that he’s being selfish wanting Beckett to put her plans on hold for him. She observes that it took him a long time to tell her that he loved her and then another year on top of that to act on it. She asks if maybe it’s because Rick doesn’t think it’ll work deep down.
The papers put the suspected killer in Maine at the time of the murder. Kate suggests that a close friend would have done it. She then gets a phone call from the FBI. He tells her the job is hers.
Kate goes to talk to her dad (Scott Paulin) about the job offer. He tells her that her mom would be proud “hell, I’m proud.” She tells him she’s standing at a crossroads where she’ll either have no time for anyone or she’ll be giving it up for Castle. She wonders what happens “when the music stops” on her relationship. Her dad says that she always hides in her work and never lets her relationships go very far. Kate tells her dad that the job is what she wants but worries that Castle will hate her. “That’s something you’ll have to live with.” She gets a text from the 12th precinct.
“My last case.”
Castle writes the check from Alexis’s trip. She tells him she’ll be back before he misses her. “There comes a point in our lives we have to stop fooling ourselves about how we want life to be.”
Beckett goes down to the station and asks the family friend what makes him think he’s so special from all the other case she’s solved. “This room has been my life, my home, and I will not let you sit there and lie to me in my own home.” She shows him that his fingerprint matches one found in Erika’s blood before asking him if she’s still wasting her time. “Are you ready to deal?”
She walks out of the room looking remorseful as to what she’s leaving. She tells the team about the confession. They ask her what’s up. She tells them there’s something she has to tell them but “There’s someone else I have to tell first.” She steps aside and calls Rick.
He agrees to meet her in the park where they sat on the swings to talk about her mother’s murder. Kate apologizes for keeping secrets. “It’s who you are. You don’t let people in. I had to scratch and I had to claw for every inch.” He’s been doing something about them and has decided that he wants more from their relationship. “We both deserve more.” She agrees. He proposes. Join us this fall for her answer!
In the meantime to get your Castle fix, there’s officially licensed books, graphic novels, cups, and a whole myriad of merchandise to show everyone your Castilian allegiance. Other ways to keep up with the latest news include following @NathanFillion, @Stana_Katic,
But what did you think?
Robin Smyth is an avid watcher of television who often finds herself in want of more time for her favorite hobby. On the verge of publishing her first novel, her favorite obsessions are Justified and Dexter.
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