7x02 - "Montreal" Review

‘Castle’: Finding Solid Ground

By Lisa Caputo

2014-10-07

Castle struggles to find out the truth about his disappearance and discovers a bombshell that forces him to question whether he is better off not knowing at all.

Last week’s season premiere brilliantly and stunningly introduced the series’ newest and most puzzling mystery, one revolving around Castle’s disappearance just prior to his and Beckett’s wedding. It was an hour filled with intrigue, drama, and intensity that outdid anything fans of the long-running series had ever experienced, yet it also left us with many more questions than answers. Monday’s follow-up episode revealed more pieces of the puzzle, pieces that would force Castle and Beckett to question whether or not they were better off not knowing the truth at all.

Written by series creator, Andrew Marlowe, and directed by Alrick Riley, “Montreal” found Castle and Beckett attempting to get back to their usual routine, investigating a perplexing murder alongside of Ryan and Esposito while Castle continued to look for answers regarding his own puzzling disappearance. After an interview to promote his latest novels went sideways, the reporter ambushing him with accusations about his ordeal being nothing more than a publicity stunt or a case of cold feet, Castle boldly offered a $250,000 reward to anyone with information regarding his disappearance. Though this brought forth more dead ends and false claims than actual clues, it did bring about one very major piece of evidence that revealed to Castle that he spent some time during his two-month ordeal in Montreal.

With Beckett investigating their case back in New York, Castle and Alexis headed to Canada to follow their latest lead. With the key that Lanie found sewn into Castle’s pants when he was discovered on the dingy seemingly being a key to a safe deposit box at a Montreal bank, Castle and Alexis pulled off a rather brilliant ploy to investigate what secrets that box could be hiding. And while the shady bank manager seemed to know more than he was letting on, Castle was so focused on opening that safe deposit box to notice, eventually discovering that it contained memory cards addressed to Beckett, Alexis, and Martha. Each of the memory cards held a video message that Castle had recorded for them during his time away, in case he was never found. The evidence only heightened Castle’s fears that he had been involved in something he should never have been involved in, and when a clue within these videos led him back to Montreal once again, he came face to face with the man they now refer to as “fake Jenkins”. But when Jenkins revealed to Castle that it was he, himself, who requested to have his memory erased, wanting to never know the truth about where he was or what he did during his disappearance, Castle was forced to wrestle with the reality that he may be better off never knowing the truth.

Monday’s episode was certainly intriguing, one that not only delivered the same stunning and mind-blowing intensity at times as last week’s epic season premiere, but also managed to bring so much of the classic Castle elements into the episode as well. There were some hilarious moments of clever comedy, including Castle’s inability to focus on the murder investigation while in the midst of a toy factory, as well as some truly heartwarming Caskett moments that reminded us that despite everything these two have been through lately, they were still as strong as ever and as committed as ever to their relationship. And while things were not quite back to normal yet, there were certainly enough signs that they were headed in the right direction.

Of course, part of what has already made this season so intriguing has been the mystery surrounding Castle’s disappearance and Monday’s episode brilliantly forced both Castle and Beckett to question whether or not this could be the one mystery that was best left unsolved. For two people who have spent their lives searching for the truth and for the story, it is a truly thought-provoking idea that finding the truth, in this instance, could be their greatest error. At its core, this is the heart and soul of the season so far, a deeply compelling dilemma for Castle and Beckett as they now wrestle with whether or not they really want or need to know the truth or whether moving on and putting this behind them is what is best for them at this point. While they seem committed to moving on, it seems clear that it will be only a matter of time before their innate drive for truth and justice will find them digging deeper and deeper into this mystery later on in the season.

Monday’s episode also brought back many of the familiar Castle elements, with the case mirroring Castle’s own struggles, Lanie offering Beckett words of wisdom, Alexis and Castle finding a way to bond together, Beckett and Castle sharing moments of classic banter as well as a hilarious interruption during a romantic moment, and some clever throwbacks to past episodes and past themes of the show itself, including a very interesting revelation that Castle’s story of why he became a mystery writer may not have been a tall tale after all. There was a familiarity about it all, yet there were also some of this season’s great new elements at play as well, leading the audience to feel just as torn as Castle and Beckett were by the end of the episode. Do we want to know the truth about what happened to Castle or would we rather just move on and get back to the usual routine? Of course, we need to know the truth just as much as Castle and Beckett do, and I am certain the journey there will be well worth it, as always.

In the end, Castle and Beckett shared a quiet moment together, still wrestling with the thought that their questions may be better left unanswered. Knowing the pain that his disappearance had caused for his loved ones, Castle seemed unable and unwilling to let it all go and move on without any answers. Meanwhile, Beckett reminded him that whatever had happened to him, it was his choice to forget it all and that choice, as difficult as it was for him to accept now, was made because he felt it was the best thing to do. Castle pondered whether he had made that choice because it would allow him to come back home to Beckett, prompting him to propose that they move on with their life together and not waste any time getting married. And in a moment of absolute sweetness and sincerity, Beckett told Castle that while she wanted nothing more than to be his wife, she did not want their marriage to be a solution to what they were both going through. As it always is with these two, timing is everything, and their time is not right now.

Instead, Beckett offered that they take a month to get back to being themselves, to put this behind them properly and be at peace with it before they move on to the next chapter of their lives together. In a brilliant throwback to the beautiful speech Alexis gave at her graduation, a speech that built the ending of season four’s finale, “Always”, to its romantic conclusion that brought Castle and Beckett together for good, Beckett told Castle that they needed to find their “solid ground” together. With that, the two agreed to give it another month to find their way back to who they are and who they want to be when they exchange their vows and begin their marriage together. Though as much as Castle tried to hide it, telling Beckett what she wanted to hear, the look on his face in the closing seconds of the episode told us all how he really felt; he needs to know the truth.

Thus, just as Beckett felt that she needed closure in regards to her mother’s death before she could move on and give her heart completely to Castle, so too does Castle now feel that he needs closure in regards to whatever happened during his disappearance. While he may feel the weight of the world on his shoulders right now, something some of the fans may be feeling as well, we need only recall how fulfilling it was to see Beckett finally arrest her mother’s killer last season to realize that the payoff to Castle gaining closure to his own mystery will be well worth the wait. Then again, isn’t it always?