Castle - Poof, You're Dead

Network: ABC
Time: Mondays, 10:00-11:00pm
Cast: Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic, Jon Huertas, Seamus Dever, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Molly C. Quinn, Susan Sullivan, Tamala Jones

WARNING: The following review contains spoilers for the episode.

Summary: Castle and Beckett interview a top magician after the owner of a magic store drowns in Houdini's legendary water torture tank.  Elsewhere, romance is in the air for Esposito and Lanie. (from tvguide.com)


Review: While not quite as good as last week's episode, Castle certainly continued to prove it's worthy of the full-season pick up it received.  This episode had a little bit of everything: murder, relationship drama, murder, and even magic.

"Poof, You're Dead" focused on the investigation into the death of a magician who supposedly killed himself using a magic trick.  Obviously, this being a crime show and all, the suicide turned out to be a murder, which then turned out to be the first step of what may be Castle's most complex storyline ever.

If I have one complaint about this episode, it was how convoluted it was.  They introduced more red herrings than usual, and they were (almost) all men, so by the time the full story came out, I was having trouble remembering which name belonged to which character, and what that character's relationship was with the dead guy.  To top it off, the dead magician had an identical twin with a similar name, which added another layer of complexity.

That being said, I think it's the first time all season I haven't guessed the killer from the moment he or she entered the room.  I was completely surprised by twist (perhaps because I was still trying to figure out how they leapt from magicians to philanthropist billionaires), and I enjoyed the element of surprise.  Most of the time, the case is not Castle's strong suit, and the show is mostly focused on the characters' interactions as they solve it.  It seemed that was on the back burner, and a significant portion of this episode was focused on actually solving the crime, instead of bantering.  It was a refreshing change made better by the fact that they didn't completely abandon Castle and Beckett's repartee as other shows are wont to do.

That's not to say this episode was completely without a humorous dive into the characters' lives.  In fact, for the first time ever, Lanie was given a prominent place in the plot.  Seems our favorite medical examiner has a new man in her life--Detective Javier Esposito.  Was I the only one who giggled like a schoolgirl at that?  TVGuide.com had it included in their preview, so I wasn't surprised it happened, but I was surprised by how much I like the idea.  I hope they continue to give us glimpses into their relationship, though I would request that they only try to hide it from the team for another episode or so.  Any more than that, and I think it would get boring, especially since we already know the team knows.

Lanie and Esposito weren't the only couple the episode focused on.  Many moments were devoted to the (apparently) increasingly tumultuous relationship between Castle and his girlfriend/publicist Gina, culminating in a breakup that was neither surprising nor (for me) important.  Considering Gina essentially disappeared after she and Castle began dating--only resurfacing that one time to bond with Alexis--I'm completely not invested in her, and I completely don't care that she's gone.  Now Beckett just needs to lose the doctor guy, and they can all live happily ever after.

My only other comment is that I missed Castle's mother and daughter again.  I feel like they used to be in more of the episode, instead of the one or two scenes they had this week and last.  And while I did love the scene where Castle and his mom talked about Gina, just once I'd like to see them actually finish a conversation without the case interrupting. 

What did you think, Castle fans?  Did the case seem unusually complex to you?  Are you excited about Lanie/Esposito?  Do you also think Ryan deserves the award for Best Dressed Detective this week?  Leave me some comments and let me know.


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Rating: 4/5