Castle: A Murder Is Forever

By Michael Seese

Another fine episode from the folks at Beacon Pictures / Milmar Pictures. In a previous review, I opined that some episodes start slowly, and some start fast. This one started tense, and quickly moved to creepy. The frantic phone call, the eyes-wide-open victim, the guy in the front seat who looks at the already dead body and pulls out a blade. (Shivers.)

Like many of the best episodes of Castle, "A Murder Is Forever" took us through a number of twisting, turning plot convolutions before arriving at a plausible (for television, at least) outcome.

As often is the case, SPOILERS!

A lot happened in "A Murder Is Forever." A lot of motives and suspects came flying at us.

- She was killed because she knew too much about a power couple.
- She was killed because she had stolen a diamond, from some rich folks.
- She was killed because she had stolen a diamond, from an eastern African warlord.

- The creepy knife guy was a suspect. Then he wasn't.
- The boyfriend wasn't a suspect. Then he was.
- The power couple were not suspects. And then...
 

For a dark episode, it sure had a lot of humor.

Castle: "So they killed her, then killed her car."

Castle: "Barrett Hawke? The legendary fixer? He's been sweeping the dirt of New York's rich and famous under the rug for over a decade. Not my dirt. I've just heard."

Ryan: "I'm very comfortable with my masculinity."
Esposito: "You do realize you're wearing a sweater vest."

Castle: "She's Ocean's 11, minus 10. She's Ocean's 1."

Edward Peters (the gemologist): "Detective, you are not tall enough to have pockets deep enough."

Esposito: "They let their bullets do the talking."

Beckett: "That is surprisingly plausible."
Castle: "I know. That would explain a lot."

And perhaps the greatest, subtle line ever...

Ryan: "You think it's the diamond industry who sent in the clowns?"

And looks...

Castle's uh-oh look when Beckett said, "If you ever want to be invited into my territory again, you'd better rethink that."

Castle's stumped look when Beckett said, "If you don't like the elephants, I don't like the elephants."

I thought a good, subtle touch was Beckett's slightly devious (in a police detective sort of way) when she asked Matt / Leo (the victim's boyfriend), "Where do you work?"

One nitpick: I thought the van full of clowns tracking Ryan and Esposito was a bit much:

1. How did they even know the two of them had the diamond?
2. How did they know what car they were driving?
3. IF they had staked out the gemologist's lab and tailed them, they drove into Ryan's car broadside. This is Manhattan. The logistics of driving on a parallel street, making all the lights, and cutting across to intersect them are, IMHO, comparable to a mission to Mars. 

OK, one more... When Ryan and Esposito nabbed Hawke, he deleted his files on Alice. Sorry, but deleting them doesn't really delete them.

Next week's episode looks even creepier. Hanging victims, and a dead body which is a dead ringer (SOMEONE had to say it) for Lanie. Clones? Doppelgangers? Inquisitive minds want to know.

Please share your thoughts on "A Murder Is Forever."