“Clear and Present Danger” diverged from the tangent that was presented in the first two episodes of the Castle’s seventh season. This week’s focus departed from Castle’s abduction and went back to the familiar case related, murder centered episode. Or did it? Because not much of this episode seemed familiar, and I’m loving the new wave. It seems like they’ve finally managed to balance out the Caskett, the bromance, the procedural and the crazy.
It seemed like it was going to be an episode filled with sexual tension because apparently, Castle and Beckett haven’t done *it* (Can I say sex, here? Because I don’t think they’ve used it once during the episode) since Castle came back from his mysterious disappearance, ouch. But he’s ready, she’s ready. They’re so ready. But the universe isn’t ready, and when it seems like they’re going to finally get back to it, the darn phone rings. Dogs, phones, murders and family members, that’s their kryptonite, and it looks like that’s going to have to wait. From Beckett’s discouraged, “Yes?” to Castle’s lean it says it all.
The murder this week is one of the crazy ones, where Castle reality meets science-fiction. It seems straight out of a horror film, when a mysterious unseen force kills the pool shark, stabbing him in the chest with a broken pool stick. The man apparently made a deal with the devil for his talent, his time was up and he was about to lose his soul. When visual evidence that contradicts with logic comes up, Beckett’s still the sceptic one, and Castle’s the believer. Bouncing theories back on each other is their version of foreplay, but it’s the phone again.
The killer’s not Spiderman, the killer’s not the Devil, or one of his minions, it’s not even a suicide, it’s the Invisible man, and when Castle and Beckett go back to the victim’s apartment for the key card, the “Invisible man” is there and it was hilarious. This is really what they’re going for, this is real.
The acting was great, and it must have been so fun/weird/difficult to play. (Side note: in the first three episodes of season 7, we probably saw more of Beckett’s engagement ring than all the season 6 episodes combined!) Castle’s head getting banged on the floor was awesome and I haven’t laughed this much watching an episode in a long time. After saving Beckett from the invisible force, Castle expertly swapped cards so the villain would run away with his credit card.
Even skeptical Beckett can’t argue with what just happened. Gates has been cool lately, almost part of the gang, but she’s not cool enough to go with the invisible killer theory, I don’t think she’ll ever be. So, it's better she be kept out of the loop for this one. I would have loved to see Gates reaction though, if she Beckett had said it, I can’t even imagine it.
You’d think third time’s the charm, but it’s not. It’s not time yet, because they’re feeling watched, and maybe that’s what happens when your bedroom has no door, and the walls are made out of book shelves, I’m pretty sure this is a recurring feeling. But it’s been months… Months, and Castle’s not letting something like an invisible killer or an overwhelming paranoia stop him. Making nerdy, sexy, he booby-traps the bed, but only manages to catch Martha sneaking in for some dental floss. Flawless performance from Susan Sullivan. But that pretty much kills the mood, right?
Back at the precinct, it’s discovered that the victim actually sold his soul to the government, working as a quantum engineer. Invisibility is fiction, but cloaking is science, someone’s been watching too much Harry Potter, I think. Okay, so this is an extremely far-fetched concept, but I’ll run with it. It turns out the government’s system was hacked and with that we get our usual red herring, the neighbor, the victim’s partner in crime. The invisibility suit was their atomic bomb, the break-in their Oppenheimer moment, and I love that Beckett knew that. Some people use the Lord of the Ring as a metaphor, but not her.
It’s the Chinese, it’s always the Chinese, and when they mentioned it, I had a light-bulb flashing moment. It had to be the girlfriend, and she’s mad she got played, for her research. (Anyone else realised how Castle’s now allowed to sit in Beckett’s chair, I smiled at the scene.) The case was cool, but the motive ended up being disappointing, but I guess there has to be some, because there really are only three motives for murder, love, revenge and money. Beckett and Castle go back to her office, and in an awesome mind meld moment, they use the fire extinguishers to locate the culprit.
In the end, Beckett doesn’t put on the invisibility suit, but an invisible suit, and it seems like their time has finally come.
Javi and Ryan also share some great moments in the episode, when Esposito gets Ryan a different kind of suit. Ryan let it slip up in “Montreal” that money was tight with Jenny being out of work. It came to no surprise here that he had gotten another job, but I actually thought he was stripping. For a while there, I was brought back to a season 3 episode (can’t remember the title), with the strip club wanting to hire him because the “twilight” look was catching on. I’m sure some of you probably have a better memory than me but if it was the same club, I'd love the continuity. Anyhow, he isn’t a stripper, he’s security. Ha.
He’s right, I’ve once been to a strip club, cray-zay. I love it almost as much when Ryan calls Esposito, Javi than when Beckett calls Castle, Rick.
