Castle - Episode 5.09 - Secret Santa - Review

Merry Christmas everyone. I know that this is way overdue, but I’ve been so busy with school and the exams that are coming up. Which is why I’m not sure when my next review will be posted. Castle comes back on January 7^th and my exams start on the 11^th and last until the 28^th so there’s a very good chance that I won’t post again until afterwards. But those are worries for later, let’s get to the episode.

The episode starts with a family making snow angels when they are interrupted by a dead Santa falling out of the sky. Poor kid, she’ll be traumatized for life. At the Castle loft it seems that someone really loves Christmas, as the entire loft is filled with decorations. But Castle’s plans are soon ruined when Martha and Alexis tell him that they have both made plans on Christmas Eve. At the crime scene, Castle asks Kate if she’s still coming for Christmas and replies that she’ll come if she doesn’t have to work. She also tells him to not get her any presents. Castle’s night gets even worse when he sees that Santa is dead, well fake Santa at least. Lanie tells them that with that beard and belly he could be the real deal, to which Beckett reacts skeptically. Lanie also tells them that the ID won’t help much since it says Kris Kringle. Now I’m not that familiar with all the Christmas stories so I’m just going to assume that the name has some Christmas related meaning. Ryan tells them that the family didn’t see or hear any aircraft when Santa fell which lets Castle conclude he fell out of his sleigh. Beckett then notices the boots and tells them that they are custom made.

At the precinct Ryan tells Castle and Beckett that there’s no record of any aircrafts flying over the park that night. Beckett wonders how it’s even possible for someone to fly over New York since 9/11 without there being any record. Castle says that sightseeing tourists do it all the time and starts to tell a story of when he took out a Latin “publisher”, but stops when he sees Beckett’s face. Gates agrees with Castle’s theory and says that her mother-in-law is a pilot and loves to remind her of that. Apparently Gate’s in-laws are staying with her and she tells Ryan that if Jenny’s parents ever come to visit, think hotel. I love this scene, there is no way Gates would have shared this much a year ago. When Castle and Beckett leave, Esposito asks Ryan if they’ll keep their tradition going, but Ryan says that Jenny has other plans. Aww poor Espo. At the morgue, Lanie tells them that Santa was shot. When Beckett asks Castle if he still believes that he fell out of his sleigh, Castle says that it’s clear he was shot out of it. Esposito then shows up and tells them that the victim’s name is Edmund Smith (really, you couldn’t think of a better last name). When Beckett asks him if he came all the way over there just to tell them that, Espo reacts evasive. After they leave it becomes clear he’s there for Lanie. But before he even asks, she tells him that she already has plans for Christmas Eve. She says that she doesn’t want to be one of those sad holiday hook-ups, but if he still wants to get together after the holidays, that’s fine with her. I wish these two would get more scenes together.

At the victim’s place, Castle and Beckett are let in my his neighbors. They tell him that Edmund was helping them with their lawsuit to get their house back. They also tell them that there was an older guy pounding on Edmund’s door and he told Tim (one of the neighbors) that if he ever saw Edmund again he’d kill him. Tim then points out the guy in a picture and turns out the guy is a pilot. Castle and Beckett go to pick up David Dunne and find him teaching a Santa class. David explains to them that he was just mad that Edmund had stolen one of his gigs. Back at the precinct Ryan tells them that David’s alibi checks out. Esposito then shows them a picture of Edmund 5 years earlier, talk about a makeover, and tells them that the night he died, he withdrew 2000 dollars from his bank account. Ryan tells them that he also called his ex-wife, who he hadn’t called in 3 years. The ex-wife tells them that Edmund stopped by to apologize for walking out on their life. She says that Edmund seemed very nervous and on edge. She also tells them that after he left, she saw a man on a motorcycle follow him. At Ryan’s desk, Esposito sees a box on his desk. And even though Ryan tells him not to touch it, Espo can’t help himself, especially when he sees that it’s a sexy Santa outfit for Jenny. He then starts to dance with it, not knowing that Gates is right behind him. Busted!

Castle and Beckett are having trouble connecting the dots, so Castle starts to throw around new theories. Ryan tells them that Edmund had gotten himself involved in a lawsuit (the one including the neighbors) where millions of dollars were at stake. Castle then switches the subject to Christmas Eve, suggesting a movie marathon (or a different kind of marathon) but Beckett cuts him off and tells him that she has to work on Christmas Eve. Castle is clearly disappointed but says that he understands. After Castle leaves, Espo tells her that Edmund met with someone at a small airfield. When they go to check it out, Espo mentions that he overheard that she pulled the Christmas Eve shift again. She tells him not to eavesdrop and then notices a helicopter that’s cherry red. The same color as the paint chip they found on the victim. Inside it they find fresh blood. A guy at the airfield tells them that the fuel in the helicopter was full before it left. Back at the precinct, Ryan is using his magic math skills to figure out how far the helicopter flew. Back at the Castle loft, Castle finds out that Alexis’ plans involve her new boyfriend. Turns out that she can only see him once before he leaves for London so Castle says she can go. When Castle returns to the precinct, he gives Gates a Christmas gift, to which she positively responds. I love that she’s being nicer to him. However she quickly figures out that Castle wants something. Castle asks if she can give Beckett off on Christmas Eve but Gates tells him that Beckett volunteered to take the shift. In the meantime Ryan and Beckett have figured out that Edmund went to Case Commerce. When they get there, they find out that there was a heist at the Christmas party the night before. At it just so happened that Edmund was the Santa who was working the party. One of the employees tells them that all that was stolen was a very expensive clock. Back at the precinct Castle confronts Beckett about the Christmas Eve shift. She explains to him that Christmas means something different to her ever since her mom died. She tells him that she always takes the Christmas Eve shift because she’s keeping watch over the families that are celebrating. He says he understands. Ryan then calls them to tell them that he found some trash on the helipad which includes pipe tobacco. When Ryan and Esposito go to pick up David Dunne, he attacks them with a ginormous candy cane. Of course it’s always Espo who gets hit.

When Castle and Beckett question him it turns out that he doesn’t have an alibi after all. They also tell him that they found the clock in his apartment. He tells them that Edmund had asked him to fly the helicopter and had given him 2000 dollars to do so. Edmund had wanted to know how much extra weight the helicopter could take. But the plan didn’t go so well because all he had was a clock. When they took of someone started shooting at them and Edmund was hit. He then fell out of the helicopter. When they get back to Beckett’s desk, Ryan and Espo show them a surveillance picture from the party. Turns out Tim (the neighbor) was there. Gates tells them that it was Edmund who helped get the people who were now involved in the lawsuit out of their homes. She also tells them that Tim’s dad died in a car accident on Christmas Eve because he fell asleep after working 3 shifts to pay off the mortgage that was there thanks to Edmund Smith. This was 5 years ago, the same night that Edmund left everything behind to become a Santa and turn his life around. When they go to question Tim, he tells them that when Edmund told him he wanted to kill him, but he didn’t. He also tells them that Edmund had asked him to break the lock on the storage room at the party. According to Edmund, there were files in there that could help them win the lawsuit. When they question the employee we saw before (who I assume has some kind of very important position in the company), he denies ever seeing those files. He says he has no connection to Suncove or Edmund but Beckett tells him that the clock that was stolen from his office belongs to one of the families whose house they stole. He says that he didn’t kill Edmund, but he does know who did. Turns out it was the ex-wife who did it. If Edmund and the families won the lawsuit, she could lose everything. Afterwards Gates tells them that the documents went to the D.A. and now all those families have a good chance of getting back what they lost. When her mother-in-law texts her again, Gates tells Beckett that if she hears about a homicide at her address, she has to ignore it. Beckett then walks Castle to the elevator and find themselves under the mistletoe. But since they’re in the precinct, they are unable to kiss. I don’t like this at all. We then see Ryan tell Espo why he’s been so down the past days. He tells him that he’s not sure if he’s ready to bring kids into a world this hard. But Espo tells him that having kids and starting a family is what keeps the world together. At the Castle loft, Alexis and Martha tell Castle that they’ve canceled their plans for the evening. But he tells them that he was wrong and that there someplace he needs to be. When he opens the door to leave he finds Kate. Turns out she had Karpowski (is that how you spell it?) take her shift. He leads her to the gigantic Christmas tree and they kiss. He then says that he didn’t get her anything, to which she responds with a “What?”. Don’t men know that when we say “don’t get me anything” you should still get us something. We then see Espo at the apartment of Edmunds neighbors, bringing them their clock. They tell him that the clock was handed down in the family for generations. Just when Espo is about to leave, they invite him to join them. This way he doesn’t have to spend Christmas Eve alone after all. THE END

Now if this didn’t put you guys in the Christmas mood, I don’t know what will. Happy holidays and a happy New Year.