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'Castle' began moments after 'Dancing with the Stars' ended, and the sets looked so familiar that for a second I thought that Tom Bergeron was going to pop up and tell the viewers that it was all a big hoax, and that we were going to have to suffer through a second hour of 'DWTS'. Thank goodness, this wasn't the case. Instead, we were watching the set of 'A Night of Dance', a dancing competition show that would feature heavily in this episode of 'Castle'.
The host and judges of the show were waiting in anticipation for a dance-off to occur between two competitors, Santino and Odette. Santino stepped onto the stage, but Odette was nowhere to be seen. Of course, since this is 'Castle', we instantly knew that she was dead.
And dead she was. The whole gang arrived at the scene. Odette had been shot in the chest, and Lanie quickly confirmed that it was a recent murder. Lanie also revealed that she was a huge fan of 'A Night of Dance', and that Odette was favored to win the whole competition. Oh, and that Odette had previously been a spoiled rich kid with a shopping addiction and drug problem. Anyway, now we know that Lanie loves trashy reality television, and that she wanted to be a ballerina as a child (um, way to randomly throw that storyline in, I can only assume it is because the writers later want to have Beckett and Castle discuss their childhood dreams).
Castle and Beckett interview all of the judges, and learn that a contestant who was previously voted off the show had been extremely upset. His name was Eddie, he had a problematic past with law enforcement, and he had been cast as the 'bad boy' (now would be a reasonable time to debate why Eddie and Odette, who both had problems with the law, were dealt with so differently on the show...financial backgrounds maybe? But, you know, I'm too distracted by Beckett's hair).
Beckett and Castle interview Odette's brother (I think?), and he says that he was pleased that she had been behaving so much better, and that she had stopped using drugs. She was still rich, but after a recent brush with death (a literal train wreck) she had apparently cleaned up her act. At this point in the episode, I couldn't help but wonder how Beckett would deal with this news---would she be reminded of her "brush with death"? Would it help her realize that she should make changes in her life (i.e. get with Castle)? I was a little disappointed when none of this was addressed, but then I saw the promo for next week's episode and I realized that they are addressing all of those things then. Guess they didn't want to jump the gun.
But, I digress. Odette's financial adviser and a bunch of other people reference the fact that she used to make crazy purchases (paying for a friend's plastic surgery, shopping sprees, etc.) when she was using drugs, and that all of that had stopped after the accident. However, recently those purchases had started up again.
Beckett is not convinced, because she notices that Odette bought only clothing, and that the clothing was in a size four (not Odette's size). Castle remembers his glory, college days, and how he would let other people use the gas card his mother gave him in exchange for cash. He suggests that Odette was buying clothing for her friends in order to get cash so that she could pay for drugs. All this seems rather logical, except that it isn't right. Instead, it turns out that Odette was buying all the clothes for an assistant on the show--because the assistant had overheard part of a fight and Odette was worried she would tell someone about it (can you say blackmail?).
Castle and Beckett approach the guy that Odette was fighting with. He admits that he saw Odette shooting up (presumably heroin), but that he had promised her he would keep it a secret if she stopped. He knew if her drug use was discovered she would get kicked off the show. But, then he caught her again, and when he threatened to expose her she said she would tell the producers he had kept it a secret the first time, and that he would be fired too. Hence, the fight.
Ryan and Esposito search Odette's apartment, and discover syringes. Only problem is, Odette didn't have any drugs in her system when she died. And those syringes? They're filled with insulin. Which is bizarre because A) Odette wasn't diabetic and B) Most people don't hide their insulin in false-bottom boxes.
Anyway, we suddenly find out something big! Odette wasn't really Odette. The real Odette died in the train crash, and the faux-dette (I swear, they call her that, I'm not just stealing ideas from 'Fringe' by myself) is really an ex-foster kid named Barbara. Castle immediately posits a "twins separated at birth" story. As he explains, these stories rarely end happily, except for the 'Parent Trap'. Beckett is buying this explanation, because, seriously, the women look identical. But then, a twist! Their DNA doesn't match!
Eventually, our detectives (with much help from Castle) figure out what really happened: Odette was getting arrested a lot, and she was being assigned community service. Clearly, she didn't want to do it. So, when she saw a stripper who looked a lot like her, she paid for her to have plastic surgery (see, not all those drug-addled purchases were nonsensical!) to look more like her. And then, tada!, Barbara looks just like Odette (I can't imagine it's really that simple, but for the sake of this plot, I'll go with it).
Ah ha! Beckett and Castle discuss their childhood dreams. Or rather, Castle asks Beckett about her childhood dreams. And she tells him that she was studying to be a lawyer before her mother's murder. This completely confused me, because I thought Beckett was planning on being an actress. Then I realized I was mixing up TV 'Castle' with trashy book 'Castle' (yes, I've used "trashy" twice in this synopsis, and it was worth it. And yes, I have just admitted to reading these books).
We of course get swept into a big debate about who the killer was really trying to murder; Odette or Barbara? For a while we get flung a red herring in the shape of Barbara's ex-boyfriend, who was a not very good guy (drug dealer?) who turned out to be kind of a good guy (he actually loved Barbara). Basically, he's irrelevant. Clearly didn't do it.
Immediately we think of the money: did Odette's brother murder Odette (or Barbara, thinking she was Odette, or Barbara knowing she was Barbara)? It gets a bit convoluted for a minute. Or was it the butler (Apparently all rich families now have butlers, and why was this man never interviewed before)?
To cut a long story short (way too late, I know) faux-dette wasn't murdered by any of these people! Turns out several years ago she had an affair with the financial adviser, and he helped her murder her grandfather. She then abandoned him for greener (younger) pastures. But he still loved Odette, and when he realized that Barbara was an impersonator, he got angry and shot her. So, that's that.
This episode also had a storyline involving Alexis in the morgue. Come on, people (Andrew Marlowe, I'm looking at you). No police department would ever, ever let an untrained minor handle evidence that might be used in a court of law! Seriously!
We also dealt briefly with Esposito and Ryan recognizing that Ryan's flirting days were over--women could smell the "happily married" on him. Even when he gave Esposito his wedding band to wear, Esposito still got more women. This was one of the weakest episodes this season for these guys. Honestly, I didn't care much if the ladies still like Ryan. Also, I don't care if Esposito gets Ryan's wedding ring stuck on his finger. This is a scenario we've all seen before, and it works way better in romantic comedies ('My Best Friend's Wedding', 'The Family Stone', etc.). Ryan and Esposito can be fun to watch, but in this particular case they just felt like filler.
Another pointless filler in this episode was the subplot involving Castle's mother. Apparently she got a horrible theater review when she was young, but now she wants the reviewer to write something lovely about her acting school. I'm not sure why we're supposed to care, but you can imagine how that goes if it matters to you.
I am happy about one thing. This episode of 'Castle' was light and fluffy, which is something that the show does particuarly well. Considering the fact that next week's episode looks like (excuse my pun) an actual train wreck for our characters, I'm glad we had something a little mindless this week.
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| Also, did anyone else think dead Odette looked way too much like Beckett? |
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