Castle: “Once Upon a Crime” recap – or – Ryan had ‘Chucky’; I had ‘Magic’

It was like a fantasy come true. I’m not just talking about Nathan Fillion in a robe either. Let’s jump right in and talk about this week’s Castle, “Once Upon a Crime”.

Two murders, three deaths, one blackmailer, and one wicked witch. There’s even a crazy doll lady. For once, I didn’t predict the murderer until near the very end. Mind you, I wasn’t confused, I just made the same mistake they did. When they arrested the decoy murderer, I looked at the clock. There was too much time left in the hour for him to be the actual killer. (I know, that’s cheating)

There wasn’t a lot of intrigue in this one, it was light and fluffy – just as it was promoted to be. Even the deaths were kind of sweet looking in a twisted and psychopathic way. The killer was thought to be a serial murderer at first, until the team finally digs up enough information to link the three women together with an old hit-and-run case. They were all sent copies of a picture from the night of the hit-and-run, which identifies them as the last people to see the victim of that crime. All three women pay the blackmailer $50,605, which corresponds to the date printed on the photo. The only part of the show that got convoluted was where the manslaughter victim’s brother was married to the sister of the first murder victim – and they were friends in high school. I told you, convoluted.

The blackmailer was identified as that man, the husband of the first murder victim – and brother of the original dead guy. He was arrested for the murders, since the evidence seemed to be overwhelmingly against him. But, in a characteristic Castle epiphany™, he remembers seeing the bows on all three of the women’s costumes, and that the third bow was tied differently. The girl that survived (played by Meghan Markle from “Suits“), thanks to a low dosage of Ketamine and Oxycodone, had tied all three of the bows – which left her own bow tied sideways.

The already arrested blackmailer stays in jail (and most likely in divorce court), and the real murderer (Sleeping Beauty) is arrested for the murder portion of our program.

I felt a strong connection with Detective Ryan when he and Esposito enter the doll lady’s apartment. While he became afraid of dolls because of “[easyazon-link asin=”B000FWHW86″]Chucky[/easyazon-link]”, I had a similar affliction after I watched “[easyazon-link asin=”B000CR76U8″]Magic[/easyazon-link]”.

The secondary story focused on Martha and a one-woman play she was co-writing with a young playright. Her memoirs, which featured Castle heavily. To say she embellished the truth would probably be an understatement. She is the protagonist in her own ‘Fairytale’. It’s the tale of Martha overcoming great adversity and being successful as a single mother and a famous actress.

Martha garners Alexis’ favor by appointing her stage manager, and she plays matchmaker by inviting Kate to the intimate reading. Because Castle figures out the whole bow thing while tying his mother’s apron just before stage time, they miss the first showing. Martha is magnanimous and decides upon an encore showing, so they gather in an even smaller show the following night. As usual, there were a few cute moments between Kate and Rick throughout the episode, but Kate comforts Rick with a hand-squeeze as he squirms over his mother’s words.

In a moment of overt foreshadowing, Beckett and Castle have a short conversation about secrets, and how – like time bombs – have a tendency to explode. They both have a fleeting look of culpability and guilt before moving on to another topic.

I want to take a moment before finishing up my recap to say how amazing Susan Sullivan looks. I’ve been a fan ever since “The Incredible Hulk” days, and my admiration is even greater now. She ages so gracefully, and her acting chops are better now than they’ve ever been.

Favorite Quotes:

Kate: “So then why was she wearing it in the middle of the woods at night?”
Rick: “On her way to Grandmother’s house?”

Martha: “Honey, you know I’ve always liked younger men. They have so much energy, enough to keep up with me… most of the time.”
Rick: “I’m gonna  erase that image from my mind with a bottle of scotch.”

Kate: “Oh, so you don’t like it when someone writes their own version of your life. Interesting.”
Rick: “Okay, are you referring to the Nikki Heat books? Because this is completely different.”
Kate: “How is it different?”
Rick: “Well, for one thing, I’m not claiming that what I write is actually true.”

Rick: “You’d use your gun on my mother? I’m touched.”

Castle starts a brief hiatus, but will return Monday, March 19th with a brand new episode. See you then!