Castle Season 5: Season so far recap

Note that I’m Italian so there may be some grammatical mistakes in the article.

Season 4 left us with Rick Castle and Kate Beckett finally reunited, kissing and spending their first night together. Plus, Esposito got suspended with Beckett because of Ryan, whom he is still pissed.

In the season 5 premiere, Castle asked Beckett “So it wasn’t a dream?” when he saw Beckett coming to his room while holding two cups of coffee. Definitely it wasn’t a dream. After four years, those two finally moved forward to their relationship. Did they take the right decision? Sure. Martha Rodgers was the first one who knew about their hookup. She knew that Beckett was hiding in the closet when Martha came into Castle’s room and found her son half naked with only a cover around him! In episode 3, she wasn’t surprised when she told Castle about his relationship with Beckett, and she wanted him to tell Alexis before she moved out for college.

The season premiere also gave a closure for Johanna Beckett’s murder. Beckett found out Senator Bracken was responsible for her mother’s death; she confronted him but she didn’t kill him, even if she had the chance. Also, Esposito was still mad at Ryan, but they managed to restore their rocky friendship. Captain Gates allowed Beckett to return to her job, but after she completed her suspension. However, for Beckett and Bracken wasn’t over. Detective Beckett will face again the Senator in episode 13 “Recoil”. Finally she had the chance to take him down, but the 12^th Precinct discovered that Bracken had become the target of an assassination and must do everything it can to save him.

The whole season played on Caskett’s relationship, on what “being together as a couple” means and how the others characters will deal with them. Castle and Beckett tried to hide their secret affair from the people at the 12^th Precinct, but eventually in episode 4, while questioning a suspect, Ryan found out that Castle was at the Hamptons with Beckett.

Castle and Beckett’s relationship ran into some obstacles: in episode 5, he was accused for having killed a woman, and she started to wonder how much she knew the man she loves. Castle learned there’s Jerry Tyson – better known as the Triple Killer (3KX) behind this.

In the Christmas episode, some traditions have been broken, some others have just started. At first Beckett didn’t want to accept Castle’s invitation to share Christmas with him, because that holiday reminded her of her mother. Then, she decided to break this ‘tradition’ and spend her first Christmas with Castle (and his family). With Ryan married and willing to start a family, Esposito spent the holiday with a mother and her son, who had lost her husband.

The new year brought Beckett temporally moving in with Castle while her home was being fumigated... but she found herself uncomfortable when Castle’s ex-wife Meredith moved in too because Alexis had fallen ill. Having his girlfriend and his ex-wife together in his loft was not a good idea. Meredith didn’t want to have Rick back, but gave Kate something to think about. Meredith told Beckett her marriage with Castle didn’t work out because at some point he knew everything about her. So that was the question: how much does Beckett know Castle?

The two-part story arc covered episodes 15 and 16 of the season. In “Target”, Castle and Beckett had to find and rescue the daughter of a powerful foreign dignitary, but the plot took an unexpected turn when Alexis got kidnapped too. In “Hunt”, Castle started finding Alexis on his own, but he realized that his daughter is in Paris! After several obstacles, Castle was saved by a spy, who revealed himself to be his own father! Anyway, Alexis’ kidnapping had been orchestrated by a Russian named Volkov to force Castle’s father into showing himself so that Volkov could kill him in revenge for the death of Volkov's wife. Having tracked Alexis to Paris but knowing that he could not stop Volkov alone, Hunt brings Castle in and together they confront Volkov to barter for Alexis' life. 

This season had some brilliant storylines for both Ryan and Esposito. Episode 18 saw Kevin Ryan back to his old undercover alias when evidence in the murder of a baker leaded the 12^th Precinct back to the Irish mob. Esposito was single for all over the season, even though in the Valentine’s episode, he and Lanie went out for a date.

"The Lives of Others” marked two events: Castle’s birthday and the 100th episode of the series. Castle was stuck at home because of an injury, while Beckett and the team investigated on the death of an IRS agent. In a Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” style, Rick spied his neighborhood and became convinced he had witnessed a murder. Alexis helped his father into his investigation straight to the killer’s house... however, it turned out that Castle’s murder case was an elaborate surprise birthday present staged by Kate. In the background we could see Esposito and Lanie kissing, which we could presume they were back together.

The last episodes before the finale were the most amazing and breathless. According to series creator Andrew Marlowe, “My intent was for the last couple of episodes to turn the focus back to the Castle-Beckett relationship because that’s really what we’re exploring as we go out of the season”.

In the episode “The Squab and the Quail”, Beckett was indeed put in an interesting position about her future with Castle when she had to protect a charming billionaire, Erik Vaughn. Feeling threatening by this man’s charm, Castle decided to win Beckett’s heart back by solving the murder case all by himself. Things couldn’t get worse when even Martha told his son that Beckett “Technically she’s not really committed at all”, miming a bare ring finger. Anyway, he didn’t have to be afraid since Beckett told Vaughn she had a serious relationship with Castle. But the important question was asked at the end of the episode by Beckett: “Castle, where are we going?” which will be explored in the season finale.

“Still” took a close look at Castle and Beckett’s relationship throughout the five seasons. Beckett accidentally tripped the sensor on a bomb, leading her unable to move lest it detonated. Ryan and Esposito searched for the bomber in order to disarm it, while Castle stayed with Beckett to reassure her. They had a conversation in which they asked each other: who fell first? In an amazing clip-episode, we could see the most important moments from Caskett’s story. And when things seemed to get worse and there were no chances to save her life, Beckett told Castle the three words we’ve all been waiting for: “Rick, I love you.” Fortunately, the bomb was detonated, and Castle could hug Beckett again. Also, captain Gates knew about those two for too long! That’s why she wasn’t surprised when she saw them kissing.

In episode 23, there was a case involving the death of a whistleblower, killed in a precision military strike. With her tenacity, she attracted the attention of a special investigator for the Attorney General, who offered her a job in Washington D.C. Will she accept? Can she leave her fellows and the love of her life in New York?

Season 5 finale, “Watershed”, airs this Monday and will see Beckett considering her job offer in Washington D.C. She will start questioning her career and her relationship with Castle, while the 12^th Precinct investigate the death of an unlikely victim in an unlikely crime scene. Don’t forget to tune on May 13^rd to watch Castle season finale, written by Andrew Marlowe and directed by John Terlesky.

What are your expectations for the season finale? Will Castle and Beckett still be together? Share your thoughts here, or follow me on twitter.