'Castle' Wedding Time: "Till Death Do Us Part" Recap

Things finally feel right in the world after last night's 'Castle' episode. It seems as though the writers are taking the show back to its roots: a nice light, frothy murder with just a hint of sexual tension between our two main characters. Last night's episode also featured the original cast, so we didn't have to deal with the new captain and the tension she keeps bringing.

The episode opened with Castle, Beckett, and Esposito watching in disgust/admiration as Jenny and Ryan fawned over their upcoming nuptials. There was some cutesy baby-talk, and Ryan admitted to the rest of the gang that he had agreed to do a cleanse before the wedding (honestly, who in their right mind thinks it’s a good idea for the bride and groom to stop eating before their wedding? Apparently planning a wedding isn't stress provoking enough for Ryan and Jenny).

Evidently Ryan doesn't like to be stressed out by himself, so he decides to tell Esposito that Lanie is bringing a plus one to the wedding. Since Espositio and Lanie broke up a hot second ago he is upset.

Beckett and Castle head off to investigate a potential murder. A man fell several stories out of a window. Lanie is already there, and she proves that the man wasn't alone at the time of his death: he has recent scratch marks on his back. Oh, but he wasn't pushed, they're from sex.

Later on, in the autopsy room, we find out that the dead man had sex with two different women within hours of his murder. Both Castle and Beckett instantaneously assume that this probably has something to do with his death (revengeful girlfriend etc.).

Beckett mentions having sex with "a lot" of men, and Castle pounces on this, asking her to give him a number. Kate asks him if he'd really want to know if they were getting married (can this please be some kind of foreshadowing!?). Anyway, Castle claims he would, and states: "you tell me your number, I'll tell you mine". Kate doesn't want to play.

Another Castle/Beckett moment occurs when Esposito mentions bringing a date to the wedding. He explains that he doesn't want to go solo when Lanie has a guy with her. Beckett says that she's going by herself, and that she'll dance with him if need be. Castle then states that he does have a date, and it's clear that Kate is a little concerned about who he's bringing. She attempts to ask him nonchalantly, and he admits that his date is "beautiful…intelligent…funny", and that "the way she smiles at [him] melts [his] heart". As he's describing this woman Kate looks more and more worried, and I think it's clear that she purposefully decided not to bring a date to the wedding. Luckily, Castle quickly admits that his date is Alexis.

Back to the murder: it turns out the man has lots and lots of girlfriends, and that he was poisoned (probably by one of them) shortly before his death. When Ryan and Esposito reveal that he had a complex fake identity (including a fake driver's license, and websites backing up a false persona), Castle immediately decides that he's a spy. Beckett often shoots down his crazy ideas, but in this case she doesn't have a better one, and she asks the guys to contact government agencies to see whether the murdered man was working for them.

They quickly find out that he wasn't, but they are told by one of his many girlfriends that he was kidnapped right in front of her, in the middle of the day, on a busy street. When Beckett and the rest of the team discuss this she laughs it off, claiming it isn’t possible, and explaining that it fits too much into one of Castle's crazy theories. Turns out she's wrong (for once! Normally Castle's the one who’s wrong). They find video footage of the kidnapping.

Except, they soon learn it wasn't a kidnapping. They find the two men who did it, and they explain that it was an  "exstalksion", designed to get the woman out of their friend's life. He wasn't a spy, he was a pick-up artist. They tell the police that the murdered man kept a diary of all of his conquests.

Back in the office the guys laugh over the conquest diary, which includes photos of hundreds of naked women. Kate gets annoyed at their immaturity (ahh, it’s just like the good old days in Season One). Shortly after Ryan and Esposito leave, Castle asks Beckett when Ryan first started dating Jenny. For some reason she has a incredibly specific time-line in her head (I know, I know, he wore a special tie after their two week anniversary, but why is Kate remembering this?) and she tells Castle a specific date. She also seems really puzzled about why he wants to know (shouldn't she realize by now?). Anyway, he shows her (gasp!) a photo of Jenny in the conquest diary.

This sparks an interesting conversation between Castle and Beckett, as he is emphatic that Ryan needs to be told before the wedding, while Kate insists that some secrets are necessary to have a healthy relationship. I wonder if she'd feel the same way if she knew that Castle is hiding the threats he received during the investigation into her mother's death. I'm guessing no. Esposito later learns about the entry, and also thinks that Ryan should be told. My guess is this has less to do with his morals, and more to do with the fact that he doesn't want his best guy friend to get married.

Anyway, I want to jump past a lot of the rest of the plot, because I think it's sort of irrelevant. Suffice to say, Esposito tries to pick up a woman so that he can get a date to the wedding (this irritates me about 30 seconds after it starts). Lanie is apparently dating some doctor. Alexis and her grandmother go dress shopping for the wedding, but Alexis ends up meeting a cute boy, and decides that a private Lady Gaga concert is more important than going to a wedding with her father (at least she has priorities).

The murder gets solved: apparently the man was trying to use his skill as a pick-up artist to steal corporate secrets, aka take part in "sexpionage". One of the women at the company, who he was also sleeping with, realized this and got mad/poisoned him.

Ryan finally caves and eats solid food (since the cleanse was starting to piss me off, I was relieved). It's Chinese food (excellent choice). Once he has eaten he realizes that he forgot to ask something, "is Jenny in the book?". Everyone else is shocked to learn that a) Ryan and Jenny were not exclusive the moment they started dating and b) that Jenny told him she might be in it.

At the wedding Esposito gets introduced to Lanie's date, and she explains that the good doctor is actually gay. Esposito admits that his date is actually his cousin. Neither of them wanted to show up alone, and they share a moment which indicates that maybe their relationship isn't truly over. I know there's a reason they broke up, but I can't remember it (time to read Wikipedia!).

Castle, dateless now that Alexis has abandoned him for a pop icon, shows up at Ryan's wedding alone. Kate calls him over, referring to him as a "lost puppy". They agree to be each other's dates. Castle admits that Ryan's wedding is making him happy, and Kate tells him that "maybe third time's the charm". They then walk into the church, and down the aisle (okay, you're not supposed to do this during a wedding, but it's still adorable) arm in arm.