Castle: Teasing 7×15 “Reckoning” – **SPOILERS**

So, what makes Rick and Kate perfect partners? It’s the way they look at things, right? She sees the facts – the clues that are set in stone, solid, all the parts that she can see and feel and knows to be true. Then there’s Castle. He supplies the flights of fancy. People might think that he’s flaky or irresponsible, but really his mind is working in a way not many of us can see. He sees the big picture.

Last week in the first part of this two-parter, his “big picture” world was made quite small by Jerry Tyson. Things were knocked off their axis, and we (the viewers) know things are going to get bumpy. Rick’s kryptonite is definitely Kate, and the thought of losing her brings out the worst in him. Whether it be anger, despair, or fear – or any combination thereof.

“Reckoning” starts off in mid-stride right where we left off last week, with Kate having just gone off radar. Of course, with ‘Boudreaux’ and Dr. Niemann in custody, they have a pretty good alibi in the bag. It’s not hard to figure out who has her, it’s just logistics at this point – and the guys are gonna figure it out one way or the other.

I mentioned in my teaser article last week that it was a cat-and-mouse / tug-of-war game between the two sides, and it was increasingly more frustrating with each turn of the wheel. It seemed like Tyson had a contingency for every outcome, and Rick was playing right into every single one of them. Well, now that Kate’s been taken and he’s off his game, things were starting to look pretty dire on the outset.

When Kate starts to fall apart, Rick’s there to keep her sane. But when Castle goes off the deep end? He pretty much keeps it all inside unless Beckett’s around to lean on. And this time around there’s equipment that comes with a P.I. License that make him a very dangerous man indeed.

Just when things start to go sideways he talks to a blast from the past, and then gets a wakeup call from a very unlikely source. Someone that reminds him that he needs to play to his strengths in order to see the endgame.

And while you can probably guess where the episode ends up, getting there (for me at least) was a fabulous two-hours of television. It was like knowing you’ll end up back on the ground after riding a roller coaster, but not knowing where every loop and drop was taking you on the way there makes it exciting.

So you’ve only got a couple of days to go, and I promise you, it’s worth the wait!