Castle – Recap & Review- Nikki Heat

photo: nbc

Castle
Nikki Heat

Original Air Date – Jan 3, 2011

Alexis P – Reviewer
Alexis@thetwocentscorp.com

In this week’s episode Beckett and Castle team up to solve the murder of a matchmaker. But there is a new addition to the duo. Beckett and Castle meet Natalie Rhodes aka Nikki Heat for the upcoming movie adaptation of Heat Wave. But when Natalie shadows the duo on the case will it be too much for Beckett? And will Castle be able to handle Nikki Heat in the flesh?

In the episode’s opening Castle stands in his apartment scowling at his TV as a blonde actress delivers a line while holding a bad guy at gunpoint. He pauses it in disgust. He can’t take it anymore. This is who the studio wants to play Nikki Heat on the silver screen. Alexis comes in and comments that the actress Natalie Rhodes, famous from slasher films and dead teenager movies, none of which she has seen of course, is actually quite good. Castle is skeptical and is saved from further viewing by a call from Beckett.

The victim is Stacy Collins, a professional matchmaker, found dead in an alley shoved against spiked iron fencing. Ouch. A limo pulls up and out steps none other than Natalie Rhodes. Castle can’t believe it. Ryan and Esposito are star struck. Turns out Natalie is to shadow Beckett for character research. Castle is very put out that Natalie doesn’t recognize his name.

Back at the precinct everyone is buzzing about Natalie and it is eating Castle up. This is even more so the case when he finds Beckett likes her. But he doesn’t think Nat has it in her to play Nikki. Nikki is classy, complicated, the thinking man’s cop. “Aren’t you afraid she is going to mess up the case by getting in the way?” Castle asks. “You’re kidding right?” Beckett replies.

The detectives Ryan and Esposito go to look at the victim’s office space which has been tossed and someone was definitely looking for something. A co-worker arrives and states that the business was losing money. Stacy had started to reject clients, but she had put together sixty happy couples. The assistant did notice Stacy fighting with her ex-boyfriend. They drag the boyfriend in for questioning but he ends up having an alibi. Castle is so annoyed by Natalie’s presence his teeth are practically gnashing. This only gets worse when she tells Castle that she didn’t read Heat Wave the novel, just the script and that the screenwriter had made a lot of changes. Castle seems alarmed. I always wondered how I would take a screenwriter taking my writing and changing it for the big screen. Sure, it has to happen but how would I feel? Probably like Castle seems to. Not that well.

They find that Stacy Collins was paying a guy named Duke Johnson $5,000 a week. When they meet him in his offices he said he is a private investigator who ran background checks on clients for Stacy. His assistant Chloe scampers out pretty fast. A key they found opens a jukebox in Stacy’s office. Inside is a designer bag full of cash. The bag is registered to a Tanya Wellington, one of Stacy’s former clients.

Castle begins to reconsider his original thoughts on Natalie when she tells him she just wants to get the character right. But when he shows up with coffee for Beckett the next day she swoops in and carries it off. Beckett looks stunned. “She took my coffee. What’s next? My soul?” Seems Beckett compares Natalie to a brain sucking parasite all up in her head. Nice.

The team looks into Mr. Wellington and finds he has a history of divorcing his wives before the pre-nups expire leaving them penniless. But Wellington got caught being unfaithful and Tanya got one hundred million dollars. Seems like enough motive to kill. Seems Stacy felt guilty about getting the Wellingtons together so she wanted to level the field and had the pictures taken. . They discover that the woman Wellington was with was Duke’s assistant Chloe. The plot thickens. They find Duke’s assistant Chloe missing in action and discover that she is really Greta Morgan a former exotic dancer. They were honey trapping clients!

Back at the precinct they all get a shock! Natalie comes out dressed head to toe exactly like Beckett! She even talks like her, moves like her. “It’s just like I dreamed it.” Castle whispers. “Did I just say that out loud?” He is stunned and really turned on.
Beckett protests as she watches Natalie. “This isn’t normal.”
“You should be flattered,” he says.
“Yeah until she steals my boyfriend and kills me in my sleep.” Beckett replies.
Natalie then comes on to Castle in the elevator. “I know you based Jameson Rook on yourself.” She says they should be together since isn’t she his fantasy come to life? She kisses him as the doors close. But not before Beckett sees.

Beckett finds out that Stacy was the one who paid for the hotel rooms that Greta was using to trap the husbands. Next day Natalie reveals that her and Castle didn’t hook up the night before and asks Beckett to give Castle permission or something cause it would be important character research for her. Beckett doesn’t know how to respond to that!

They finally get a break in the case. Seems Stacy wanted to provide a way out for some of the couples that she regrets fixing up. So they would trap the husbands, allowing the wives to file for divorce. So now they are down to a final suspect. Scott Domer, one of the matched up husbands. After the party they threw for Stacy he came back to confront her and she fell accidentally and died on the railing. Beckett, Castle and Natalie confront him but he pulls a gun, distraught and holds it to his head. Then Natalie steps up and delivers the Nikki line from her audition and convinces Scott to put the gun down.

So the case is closed and Natalie must be on her way and promises to do the character of Nikki Heat justice, even if she didn’t get to do all the character research she wanted. “Visit me on set Castle.” She says.

All in all one of my favorite episodes of the season just for the interaction between Castle, Beckett and her doppelgänger. What did you think of tonight’s episode? Do you think Natalie will make a good Nikki?