Castle: "The Blue Butterfly"

We finally got around to watching the 1940s film noire episode of "Castle." What wasn't there to like about this one?

I must admit, when I saw the previews, I had a teeny bit of fear that it would be some hokey time travel story. So I was glad to see that it wasn't. The fact that Castle put himself and the people he knows into the tale as he was reading it made perfect sense to me. As I writer, I basically do the same thing. When I create a character, he or she at least looks like someone: someone I know, someone I see in the halls at work, an actor, or just a made-up face. The point is, it's easier to create and build a character if that character has a face.

The way they chose to introduce the flashback was clever. Richard Castle pours himself a stiff drink, and Joe Flynn picks it up and downs it. They used the same effect at the end, as Joe and Vera watching the flames morphs into Castle and Beckett sitting, talking to the older couple.

I thought it was great that the 1940s versions of Joe and Vera had New York accents. It's amazing, though, how the present-day versions lost them.

I found it hilarious that Castle tried to teach Ryan how to properly say an Irish slang term (boyo) that the latter's fictional counterpart could not pronounce.

Speaking of words, I adored all of the 1940s detective-speak:

"A head that was ringing like church bells."
"That songbird's got golden pipes."
"There I was, covered in the discards of the blue plate special."

I laughed out loud when Castle realized what the Blue Butterfly was and said, "That's why Stan Banks was killed? Why am I narrating?"

Until looking it up, I didn't realize that the elder Joe was played by Chad Everett. Boy, he looked like Clint Eastwood.

And the plot? Outstanding. Plus, it was nice to see Beckett get the "a-ha" moment for once. Usually it's Castle who makes the critical connection which cracks the case. But this time it was Beckett who heard the reference to the shoes and tied it to the image in the photo. (Shoes...big surprise there.)

The looks? As always, they were plentiful. My two favorite were:

1. The look on Castle's face when he asked Ryan, "Can I drive?" and Ryan said, "Sure."
2. The look on (again) Castle's face when Beckett caught him referring to Vera as Kate. "No! I said 'fate' " he protested, clearly in vain, based on her look.

What did you think? Feel free to share your thoughts.