photo: abc

Original Air Date: Nov. 23 2009

Karen Belgrad- Two Cents Reviewer
karenbelgrad @thetwocentscorp.com

If last week’s episode was a return to form, this week’s episode was Castle at the top of its game. The witty banter returned in premium fashion and the murder was less twisty than weeks past. It all begins with a scantily clad woman trying to shove an empty pizza box into the garbage when a dead body comes sliding down the chute. Don’t you hate it when that happens?

The body is that of Sam Parker, husband of Helen and father of two from Connecticut. But… it’s also the body of Jake Holland, fiancé to Sarah Reed. It’s quickly surmised that Jake is the fake identity, so he’ll be referred to as Sam for the rest of this review.

Sarah and Sam met at his new job, a green company called New York Recycle, a battery recycling company. She’s an engineer, he’s a consultant. The wife, Helen, thinks he’s in the city all week for work. Sarah thinks he goes to visit his sick father upstate on the weekends.

Sam’s old job was at Connecticut Solutions, a different battery recycling company that is having financial troubles. After meeting with his new CEO, Lance Carlberg, and finding his resume to have been falsified, Beckett and Castle put two and two together in rapid succession and realize that Sam has been acting as corporate spy for the old company. It seems the new company has a new, inexpensive solution of recycling battery sludge. He was trying to find out the secret to deliver to his old employer. Sarah is devastated to learn her whole romance was a lie.

At this point, the thirty minute mark, I wrote down two theories regarding the case. We’ll revisit them later.

Beckett and Castle suspect his old boss wasn’t happy that Sam hadn’t been delivering the secret formula he was paid to retrieve. Turns out all of his information was partial formulas. The old boss has an alibi so he’s no longer a suspect.

The two are summoned to the Parker home in Connecticut where Sarah was caught trespassing. The jilted fiancé was hoping to retrieve her grandfather’s pen she had given to Sam. Helen is none too pleased to see her. After some bickering, including Sarah claiming Helen caused Sam to have ulcers, Beckett brokers peace and all parties head home.

The next day Beckett is bothered by the ulcer comment as Sam’s autopsy showed a clean bill of health (except for the gunshot, of course). They follow the trail of his fake doctors appointments to show he visited a Long Island home, New York Recycle’s plant, and a Newark port. The home belongs to Laura Branston… otherwise known as… Sarah Reed.

Laura/Sarah had been hired by Lance Carlberg to intercept Sam’s corporate espionage. She had been feeding him fake formulas and company information all along. She was no more invested in the relationship than he was. However, she has an airtight alibi for the murder.

Castle and Beckett realize the grandfather’s pen must’ve been a cover story for whatever information she was really looking for at the Parker home. They had back, and thanks to Castle’s vivid imagination, realize she had shredded something. The something turns out to be photos proving that New York Recycle hadn’t developed a new way to recycle battery sludge, they were dumping the waste in the ocean.

They bring in Lance Carlberg, the CEO, and finger him for the crime. The key evidence… the ballistic-matching gun they found in his dumpster.

“Had you recycled, you might’ve just gotten away with it”

In a sweet side plot, Alexis works at the precinct cataloging evidence for school credit. She proves herself a quick study and becomes fascinated by an unclaimed valuable, a family photo album. Using familial quick wit, she tracks down a retired detective and is able to reunite the album with the owner’s daughter.

And those theories I jotted down half way through… “CEO did it. Sarah’s a plant too.” I expect my junior detective badge any day now!

What made this episode a standout for me was the massive amounts of witty banter that flowed freely throughout the night. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed it until I found myself rewinding to capture quotes throughout the night!

Castle (upon finding out the corpse was in the garbage chute): “A killer who cleans up after himself, very American Psycho.”

Castle (to the corpse, upon meeting the wife and fiancée at the morgue): “Dude, you are so busted.”

Castle: “Two wives is too many…”
Beckett: “Seems like the common denominator in that equation is you.”

Castle (to Martha upon seeing Alexis dressed maturely for work): “That ever happen to you with me? One day you look and see your boy all grown up?”
Martha: “I’m still waiting for that moment, actually.”
Castle: “I set you up for that, didn’t I?”

Castle (to Ryan, regarding Beckett): “Just ignore her and she’ll lose her witchy powers.” (Beckett responds by looking for her lost broom)

Castle (regarding corporate rivalry): “Like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs… Kobe and LeBron… Jolie and Aniston…”

Castle (to Beckett): “That was pretty cool, they way you filled in the story there. I think I must be rubbing off on you… That sounded dirtier than I meant it.”

Castle (regarding wife/fiancée cat fight): “Please tell me we can stop for popcorn on the way!”

Castle (to Beckett regarding Alexis): “She’s a chip off the old block, isn’t she?” (Beckett rolls eyes)

That’s my TwoCents! Did you enjoy this week’s witty banter as much as I did? Were you surprised by the killer?