Castle: "In Plane Sight"

by Michael Seese

CLAUSTROPHOBIC.

That's the mood you get when you put 200+ passengers, one killer, and a snake** on a transatlantic flight.

** Perhaps *I* read too much into it, but the previews made it look as though the snake had some relevance. NOT!

I definitely enjoyed "In Plane Sight," and appreciated the out-of-the-box thinking on the part of the writers. As I've said in the past (too many times to cite here) I consider the show's setting -- New York City -- as a character in its own right. (Of course, I like New York City.) So I often feel something is missing when a given episode takes place elsewhere. But not this time. Probably due to the aforementioned

CLAUSTROPHOBIA!

And SPOILER on the way!

Bragging aside: I nearly called it. I suspected it was one of the flight crew, though my attention turned to Farrah when she was able to understand what suspect #1 (Aiman) was saying after he locked himself in the bathroom. So I was close.

I really liked the playful banter between Castle and Alexis at the beginning.

Castle: "Air, by nature, should not be bumpy."
Alexis: "You should really focus on something else, or it will seem longer. For both of us."

Castle: "You don't want to miss the home of Sherlock Holmes."
Alexis: "You do know he's fictional, right?"
Castle: "Yes, but his address is real."

That pretty much sums up the humor, other than Castle's look when one of the flight attendants said they even searched the overhead bins for the missing air marshal.

Oh, one more:

Castle: "I saw this on MacGyver. You know, I actually got to meet Richard Dean Anderson once..."

A few other notes:

You gotta love the shout-out to "Lost," vis-à-vis the name of the airline. (But alas... the wrong flight.)

Early on, the captain came out to consult with the flight crew. Then she announced she would go back to the cockpit and stay in lockdown mode. I'm not up on airline regulations, but I would suspect that if the air marshal turned up missing, lockdown mode would start immediately, and the captain wouldn't set foot outside the cockpit.

It was a nice touch to have Alexis diffuse the situation, accompanied by heraldic music.

And finally, I chuckled at Castle's booze grab at the end.

Next week's installment, "Dead From New York," looks hilarious.

Let me know what you thought of "In Plane Sight."