The seventh season of Castle started exactly where the sixth season left off, with the image of the burning wreckage of Richard Castle’s car. It wasn’t a shock when Kate finally discovered that the man she was about to marry wasn’t in the car, thus beginning the search, no, the hunt, for Richard Castle.
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It’s no surprise that Beckett does a complete 180, within the first minutes of “Driven,” from heartbroken fiancé to detective with a purpose. She doesn’t need to be told twice, to ditch her soaked out wedding dress. (It must have been so heavy!) When there’s a treat on the people she loves, she’s in no matter what, and if it were me, I’d get out of her way. Doesn’t take no for an answer, she HAS to do something. She’s driven; it’s one of the adjective that best describes her. Castle’s one of their own, an integral part of their family, and it’s up to Kate and the boys to find him. He’s alive, and he needs their help. The search seems promising when the FBI manages to remotely activate Castle’s phone, leading our trio to a scrap yard, where we witness the Escalade being crushed. How many fake Castle deaths can they throw at us?
After a flying squirrel jump on the perp, and beating the crap out of him, Kate isn’t getting the answers she wants, the answers she needs, because he’s afraid of someone, someone scarier than Beckett on a mission. That’s scary.
We are able to witness, once again, the evolution of the Gates/Beckett relationship. I was half expecting Gates to give Beckett the boot off the case, she’s emotional. It probably contradicts dozens of protocols to let a detective work on her fiancé’s kidnapping, but Gates, isn’t the stuck-up, carrier-driven women she used to be when they introduced her to us 3 years ago. Over the years, she has come to know Kate, even care for her and she knew that the detective would only continue her search off the record if she was taken off the case. The fact that she cares enough to understand that shows how much more a part of the gang she now is.
Everything seems to be going well-ish until evidence surfaces that puts everything they know into perspective, and divides the team. It begs one question. Was Castle in on it? Vincent “The Scar” Cardano makes his return on “Castle”, tying into the kidnapping and giving them a solid lead. He was paid by a third party to get rid of the SUV in the scrap yard.
When the surveillance footage incriminates Castle, it doesn’t take more than a couple of seconds for Esposito to come to the conclusion that Castle planned the whole thing. But, just because he wasn't under any duress on camera, doesn't mean they didn't threaten his family. As always, Ryan is on the softer side of things and doesn’t jump to the same conclusions. He gives people the benefit of the doubt, believes people are fundamentally good and stands behind his certitude that there must be an explanation, because come on, Espo, you’ve known the man for 7 years now. You were going to be part of his wedding party, just give him a chance. Kate receives the new like a ton of brick and tows with the idea that maybe; he was in over his head and planned the whole thing. It made me so mad that they would doubt him, especially Kate, even for a minute. After everything he’s done, everything he’s proven to her, she still doesn’t believe in him, in them. He stood by her side for 7 years, 7 years where she did her best to push him away, and he was there for her, always. How is it possible for her to believe that, on the verge of their wedding, he would run away from his life, away from her?
“Well, that’s ridiculous. Why on earth would he do such a thing?” - Martha
Exactly. Spot on, Martha. There has to be an explanation, an explanation we won’t be getting during this episode, but an explanation we’ll be getting nonetheless. Even IF Castle wanted out, faking your kidnapping seems a bit much. Come on, Kate’s scary, but faking all of this, just to get out of marrying her, it seems a little extreme. They have history of being framed for crimes they didn’t commit, she believed in him when he was being framed in the 3xk killings, what’s so different now?
The facts and the evidence are making her doubt, but her feelings are making her have faith. Beckett we know, she always follows her gut, her feelings, her intuition. When the leads stop cold, doubts or no doubts, Beckett still desperately searches for Castle.
Kate Beckett had a clean window pane, now that her mother’s murder was solved. But that window didn’t stay clear for very long. For two months she searches for everything, anything that could lead her to Castle, all in vain, until one day, the man she loves is spotted by a ship, drifting helplessly, severely dehydrated, but alive, in the middle of the Atlantic. It’s the best news she’s heard in a while, because she never thought she’d see him again. Everything isn’t rainbows and unicorns just yet, because he still hasn’t woken up yet, hasn’t explained, hasn’t told her what she desperately wants to hear. That he didn’t choose this, that he would choose her, always.
The dingy he was found in, leads Beckett, Ryan and Esposito to a trailer house, where they discover where Castle has been camping, hiding. It makes absolutely no sense that he would be camping.(And I was thinking that before the whole, Tropical Storm explanation) But finding the tent, his things just laying there, it’s the last straw for Kate, the drop that makes the cup overflow. She stops believing in him. He chose to stay hidden, he didn’t want to be found. Rick deliberately left and she wants to know why.
“I mean, tell me what happened.” – Kate
But he doesn’t remember. Rick wakes up, asking for Kate, but they’re further apart than we’ve ever seen them. He doesn’t understand, thinking he had just gotten into the car crash, so it seems, like everyone else, we will have to wait to get an explanation on his whereabouts. She's mad, she's hurt, and at this point, there is really nothing he can do or say to make it better, but hugs do seem to help.
They'll find their way back, they always do.
“Driven” was fairly good, and I like the direction they’re taking, but I still think it could have been better. Maybe I was hoping Castle would be the lead on this one, I really don’t know. We already know Kate Beckett is a badass; I’m still waiting for Rick Castle to kick some butt. The season premier was tense and mysterious and it actually managed to surprise me. Only, there was a lot less Castle in Castle than I expected. Don’t get me wrong I love the rest of the cast, but Castle is the most under used character, ever. I just hope the new, incredibly confusing, mythology will give him an actual storyline, it actually looks promising. I’m kind of digging the amnesia storyline here, kind of a Hangover/Castle crossover, where we’re going to be retracing his steps until the whole story is uncovered.
Side note: I would have loved to see Kate Beckett pull out her gun on the night janitor for moving Castle’s chair!
Because I’m very confused, let’s have our own murder board here and put down everything we know about Castle's two month absence. I still don't know if Castle is completly in the dark on this one or if he's hiding something for the greater good. Feel free to add anything I forgot in the comments!
-Castle’s run off the road by a black SUV.
-His car is dumped a ditch and his limp (maybe drugged or concussed) body is dragged out of the car by two people.
-Vinny "The Scar" is asked to dispose of the black SUV.
-Richard Castle pays for for the demolition, with the money meant for his honeymoon.
-Castle disappears for two months.
-During that time he contracted Dengue Fever, a tropical disease.
-He was shot weeks ago.
-The boat he was found on had bullet holes.
-He is found in a boat, after drifting for 4-5 days
-There was a key stamped “38”sown in the lining of his jeans.
-Someone faked being Henry Jenkins to lead Espo, Ryan and Beckett to Castle's tent.
Any speculations?
