Castle “Linchpin” recap -or- Why my husband hates me today

Most of my favorite Castle episodes are multi-part, ongoing story arc episodes. That’s why my husband and I were so excited at 10pm Monday night. Just after the opening recap, as the car was sinking, I said, “I bet Sophia is a bad guy”. This is why my husband hates me. Oh yeah, he kissed me goodbye when he left for work this morning – but I could see the seething rage in his eyes. Not only did I spoil the episode for him, he says he’ll never be able to watch ‘[easyazon-link asin=”B000RZIGSG”]Flashdance[/easyazon-link]’ again.

That being said, I should really get to my recap of “Linchpin”. Was anybody worried that Beckett wouldn’t make it out of the car? No? Okay, you passed the test. Not exactly tension filled when her seat belt was jammed. I’m not even mentioning the peril Castle was in, as it’s just silly to think they’d kill of the titular character – but if they let anything lethal happen to Kate, there would be hell to pay. So, seeing them up on the dock after the gun shots blew out the back window wasn’t a huge shock. I do like that Rick mentions how Alexis brought dry clothes for him – and that it’s the only thing he’s happy about regarding her internship with Lanie.

They get taken off the case by Sophia, but as most of us know, that doesn’t usually stop them from investigating. As the team gathers more information on Gage, little Ms. Sophia shows up at Castle’s loft. She manages to get a not-so-subtle plug in for the graphic novels (on sale now at a comic shop near you), and then gives him Blakely’s financial information. Just another clue that she mightn’t be playing for the good guys – setting up Gage by hand-delivering information to Castle.

Javi and Kevin chat with chess players in order to find a new connection to Blakely. They’re given the name, Janacek Spivey. He played chess with Blakely, is an Econ professor at the School of International Affairs, and has connections to the IMF; the UN Economics Council; and the Congressional Finance Committee. He comes in for questioning and tells Kate about the man’s interest in the US Economy. Before they’re through, they get him to lead them to Blakely’s apartment.

One of my favorite parts of this episode was when Kate and Rick found Blakely’s research room. Walls plastered with newspaper clippings, thread running from wall to wall, and it all points to the death of a young asian girl – the “Pandora” linchpin. Castle starts to make a call to the CIA when Gage bursts in on them – and in a strange twist, he helps them escape from the bomb thrown into the room.

Gage gets them away from immediate danger and explains that he’s in the same boat as them – hunting down the clues that lead to whatever force is behind knocking down that first domino. If I were Castle and/or Beckett, I probably wouldn’t have trusted him right away, but he did make a convincing argument, and the fact that he had ample opportunity to kill them – but didn’t – helped his cause. He helps them to see that he’s being set up – used as a decoy to keep focus away from the traitor inside the CIA. Their collusion was short-lived as Sophia shows up to escort the three of them back to the CIA base.

Rick, Kate, and Sophia’s partner, Martin Danberg, watch on monitors as Sophia questions Gage about who his partner could be. Gage tells her that there’s a mole inside the CIA. Not the best move when you’re speaking to the actual mole. When Sophia meets the trio outside the holding cell, there’s a noticeable jump in the video stream showing Gage sitting alone in the room. I caught it, and again, my husband glared at me when I mentioned it. After Gage is found dead, one of their hackers traces the terminal from which the video splice was initiated. They trace it to Martin, through a fake IP. He takes a hostage and gets on the elevator, but by the time they’ve gotten control, he’s escaped.

Sophia makes quick work of putting together the pieces that implicate Martin. She explains it to Kate and Rick, which cements further her cover as a squeaky clean agent. As they sit in the conference room discussing how to proceed, Rick notices the mountains in the picture of the Asian girl, and asks if they can compare it to the CIA’s topographical maps. Sophia calls him a genius, gives him a kiss on the cheek, and starts her analysts working on finding a match. Kate’s jealousy towards the agent is shown multiple times in the course of the hour, and this is one of those times. They’re pretty subtle for this show – but I think it fit the mood without detracting from the story.

Castle sees they’re headed for a long night, so he volunteers to get coffee for himself, Kate, and Sophia – leading to a discussion between Beckett and Rick’s former muse. Kate asks her what happened between Rick and the other woman and gets some disheartening news. That Rick thrives on sexual tension, and once it’s gone, he loses interest.

When the computers find terrain that matches the mountains in the picture, they learn that she’s the daughter of a Chinese Businessman with connections to Government officials, and had influence in the decision China made to buy the US debt. If his daughter were to be killed, the international incident caused would start a chain of events that would eventually ruin America’s whole economic system. They learn that the Chinese man is already in the country, and make a move to intercept him before the attempt on his daughter’s life.

Sophia and one of her henchmen escort Rick and Kate to the assumed assassination site, but as they enter a deserted room, she pulls her gun on the pair and inform them of her plan. She directs her ‘associate’ to kill the girl while she takes care of Beckett and Castle. In true bad guy style, she doesn’t just kill them – she takes her time in outlining her plan and how she pulled off setting up Gage. She also lets Rick know that she was never playing for our side by using her native tongue (a Slavic language of some kind, Russian?) that “This was never [her] country.”

Before her ‘sudden yet inevitable’ defeat (see what I did there?), she drops a bomb on ol’ Ricky blue-eyes. The reason he was allowed access to the CIA all those years ago was because of his father. *cue menacing music* So apparently his random conspiracy theories are hereditary. Before he has a chance to digest the info and ask questions, she moves to execute him, but is shot by Danberg at the last second. Martin and Kate intercept the random bad guy shooter and save the little girl, as Rick is left kneeling by the woman who betrayed him and started anew the mystery surrounding his origins.

A few loose ends get tied up, Kate’s car was rescued and made ‘better than new’, Rick questions whether Sophia was honest with him about his father, Kevin teases Javi about being let in on the classified op, and Beckett & Castle have a chat – leaving the conference room with a shoulder nudge by Kate.

Favorite Quotes:

Beckett: “Thanks.”
Castle: “You’d have done the same for me.”
Beckett: “Yeah, probably.”

Castle: “That whole sinking car thing? Much cooler in movies than it is in real life.”

Javier: “I was special forces. I used to eat classified for breakfast – and yet Writer-Boy can know? Okay, I’ll be over there, with harbor patrol, trying to figure out how to get your unit out of the drink.” *pause* “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Castle: “She’s different.”
Sophia: “Is she? Or do you just think she is?”

Castle: “Clara started off like Sophia, but she ended up more like you. You know; smart, fierce, kind. I think that’s one of the reasons I was drawn to you… as a muse.”

Beckett: “So you slept with her?”
Castle: “Yeah, yeah I slept with her.”
Beckett: “Have there been others… Muses?
Castle: “No.”
Beckett: “Just wanted to see how big the club was.”

Beckett: “There is no big deal, sleep with whoever you want… the more the merrier.”

I’ll meet you here again next week, when I’ll be recapping “Once Upon a Crime” – the next episode of Castle.