Valkyrie" opens in the moments immediately following Castle pulling out the ring, allowing the characters to discuss how serious he was and how it sounded like he was breaking up with her but also allowing the audience to get her answer immediately. But then it catapults the show-- and Beckett-- in time and distance to her new FBI training, where she isn't the self-assured, always hero she has been within the NYPD. Instead she makes mistakes. Big ones. She has to relearn a lot of things and rid herself of other habits. She is no longer looking at evidence but intel, and the instincts that made her such a good detective, caring about victims and witnesses and hostages, can and will trip her up in the bigger leagues. It's great to finally get to see a different side to Beckett and some different vulnerability from her, too, even if it is a bit short-lived. It's even better to see her play off Lisa Edelstein, as her senior partner who seems to see a lot of herself in Beckett, flaws and all.
Castle has always been a procedural, even if a character driven one, and this episode is of course no different. Therefore, it doesn't take long for Castle to pack up for an impromptu weekend with his lady in D.C. and just "happen" to stumble upon a piece of evidence in her classified case. Like the overgrown child that he is, he decides he just has to investigate even when told not to. It's out of sheer curiosity and the hope that if he helps Beckett solve it fast, they'll get more time together (you know, not realizing, even after all of this time, there will always be another case and the ones she is working now are matters of national security) so he calls up old pals Esposito (Jon Huertas) and Ryan (Seamus Dever) for some very minimal aid. It's a way to get the gang back together, but again, in a very minimal way. It gives Esposito and Ryan some brief face time but not anything real to do. They're basically sounding boards, and that means extensions of scenery. It's a shame and will be a huge waste of their talent if it is a long-term plan solution to keeping the original cast active.
Source: Full Review @ examiner
Castle has always been a procedural, even if a character driven one, and this episode is of course no different. Therefore, it doesn't take long for Castle to pack up for an impromptu weekend with his lady in D.C. and just "happen" to stumble upon a piece of evidence in her classified case. Like the overgrown child that he is, he decides he just has to investigate even when told not to. It's out of sheer curiosity and the hope that if he helps Beckett solve it fast, they'll get more time together (you know, not realizing, even after all of this time, there will always be another case and the ones she is working now are matters of national security) so he calls up old pals Esposito (Jon Huertas) and Ryan (Seamus Dever) for some very minimal aid. It's a way to get the gang back together, but again, in a very minimal way. It gives Esposito and Ryan some brief face time but not anything real to do. They're basically sounding boards, and that means extensions of scenery. It's a shame and will be a huge waste of their talent if it is a long-term plan solution to keeping the original cast active.
Source: Full Review @ examiner
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