CASTLE Recap: Jerkface VS. Frog-Breath

If there were ever an hour that Castle was completely in his element, it was this Monday night in “Child’s Play”. I don’t just mean because he could channel his inner child, but in all seriousness – he’s great with kids, and when he’s talking about his passion for writing. He goes “undercover” in a second-grade classroom in the hopes of drawing out one of the students who’s believed to have witnessed a murder the team is investigating.

Rick not only shows how much he loves kids, he also knows how to talk to them without talking down to them. Things might start off rocky, but it doesn’t take long for him to reach them by talking to them about what he loves. He acquires a nemesis – and the teacher (Ms. Ruiz) might not be 100% pleased with him, but he connects with the other students, including a tea-serving princess and a war hero.

Back at the 12th, Kate works with Rysposito to figure out who killed the original victim along with solving two subsequent related murders. In my opinion I don’t think we’ve seen enough of Kate working with the boys at the precinct – and it was nice to have the trio doing their thing while coordinating with Castle while he went with his strengths.

The three murdered men were working together, and throughout most of the episode the situation was murky. We weren’t sure whether their motives were on the up-and-up or not. There were definite mob ties and a very dire happening at the third crime scene. When they find a ‘dead drop’ used by two of the men, their dealings were even more unclear.

Kate & Espo at a Mob-Linked Crime Scene

Meanwhile, back at the school Rick grabs at a couple of missed cues, but they finally zone in on the kid they need to question – and it turns out to be Castle’s worst nightmare. Luckily, Kate shows up to play ‘good cop’ and they find out that he’s not the actual witness, but his half-sister is. She hid in her boyfriend’s ice cream truck while he was gunned down, and knew the killer’s identity, but was too terrified to come forward.

Turns out it was with good cause. The murderer wasn’t just a regular old NYC bad guy – he’s a Russian war criminal, infamous for never having his face tied to any of his crimes. The murdered men were involved in helping Russian immigrants with forged papers/passports etc., and ended up with a picture of the big bad.

I was pleased to see Elya Baskin (Moscow on the Hudson, The Name of the Rose) appear as the father of the first murdered man, I’ve always found him to turn in incredible performances – even in the smallest of roles. Michael Hyatt (The West Wing, The Wire) was wonderful as Ms. Ruiz, even though I found the character written slightly unevenly. Other great performances were turned in by David Barrera (The Bridge, NYPD Blue), & Bess Rous (Murder in the First).

Quinn Friedman on Cops & Robbers

The children were all charming and talented actors in their own right. Rachel Eggleston (How to Live with Your Parents, Chuck) plays Rick’s protective & precocious co-princess, and playing Frog-Breath, the future Joker to Castle’s Batman – Quinn Friedman (Up All Night, Black-ish). This wasn’t the first time Quinn has appeared on the show – he played the son of killer Ron Brandt in the Season 4 episode, Cops & Robbers.

We also had a very welcome side-story between Rick and Alexis. The writers informed us with a brief Castle family dinner scene that Alexis has been over-attentive towards her father since he’s been home. He’s been blissfully ignorant (most likely deliberately so) to her pampering until Kate prompts him to have a conversation with her about it.

It’s apparent that Alexis is stressed after his disappearance, and rightfully so – and this mirrors his experience after her kidnapping two years ago. They have a touching heart-to-heart at the end of the episode that draws attention to that fact, along with the recurring theme that Alexis is the grown-up in the family. Rick gives her permission to be a child again – probably for the first time in a couple of years – and they ride off on a couple of ‘shiny’ scooters.

I thought this interchange was overdue, as the show had seemingly glossed over Rick’s and Alexis’  respective recovery from their separation anxiety and the lingering trauma due to the brush with each other’s mortality. The discussion and storyline was absolutely appropriate to be separate from any other character’s involvement, and having it pop up during this episode was perfect, since Castle was mostly on his own.

“Child’s Play” was such fun, yet had a poignant dovetailing of several Alexis/Castle storylines – and that made it quite a balanced episode. There wasn’t much in the way of Caskett – but I think that will make things all the more amazing when we get the good stuff between Kate & Rick.

There weren’t huge love scenes no, but they were super playful, and I found that to be realistic in a couple-y way. And that’s coming from someone in a very long-term marriage. Hubs and I act a lot like that in our real life, so I could relate, and that makes a show endearing to me.

I give it 9/10 dashes of fairy dust – I loved this one, and I can’t wait for more shows in this stellar season.