Castle – Recap & Review – Killshot

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Castle
Killshot

Original Air Date: Nov 21, 2011

Divina F – TwoCents Reviewer
divina@thetwocentscorp.com

I have to start out by saying that I have very mixed feelings about Stana Katic’s performance in this episode. The way Beckett’s scars – emotional and physical – are presented in order to develop her character are great. I loved that she seemed to have a connection to the sniper. However, I wonder if it was absolutely necessary to keep including acid trip flash backs to last season’s finale? There were a few shots of Stana and I could tell by the look on her face that she was feeling traumatized. It seemed way less cliché than all the dizzied/blurred images.

The episode opens on two women chatting as they walk down the street. One of them is getting married soon. Suddenly, she is dead. Shot cleanly in the heart. All her finace can offer is that she claimed she was being stalked. In Lanie’s lab, she and Esposito double team to dance around the term “sniper”, hoping to protect Beckett. At that point she seems fine, but at home in her apartment she examines the small scar between her breasts.

Too soon they discover another victim, and most frighteningly of all, there is no apparent connection between this one and the first. (Castle has already suggested that the killings are random.) Beckett looks around at the buildings, as though overwhelmed by the lack of cover. And everyone notices when she is startled by the sound of a siren, triggering her body to duck and cover.

At the precinct, Iron Gates runs down all the information they currently have, but Beckett is not paying much attention as she is only able to say that so far all they can use to link the two victims is the fact that they both had established routines that anyone could notice. The way she flees the briefing is exceptional acting.

The good news: The next scene informs us that she has gone to speak to her therapist.
The bad news: When he tells her that medication can help, but “not forever” and suggests she take herself off the case, she goes into complete denial, saying that she is okay. It’s frustrating to see her withdraw and reject the accurate diagnosis that she is suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Castle is noticeably worried about her, which makes the whole episode void of any comic relief. Did anyone like that he was more serious? I was actually glad that his presence was toned down and we got to appreciate him more as Beckett’s partner. It put more focus on her as a developing character.

Ryan views footage of the street where second victim was shot, freezes an image of a man putting up a flag as a sort of guide. This helps them locate the spot where the second victim was shot from. Eerily, they find a cut out paper doll on a window sill in that room.

When Kate gets back from her appointment, it’s obvious that she’s pushing herself to stay on the case. Ryan and Esposito have lifted a fingerprint from a shell casing on the scene that matches a man who owns a shooting range and is recently divorced. However, when Kate interrogates him, she gets angry and seems to be accusing him for her pain, as though he is her shooter. Esposito confronts her about it and goes in to play the good cop, hoping the man can help them out. Unfortunately, he comes up empty-handed and ballistics were unable to pin any of his rifles.

Meanwhile, Castle has identified the paper doll material as being pictures from a coffee table art book. Alexis helps him identify the paintings, and from there they realize that each doll is a clue to the location of his next shooting position.

Kate continues to spiral out of control. She gets drunk at home and cuts herself, displays fear and paranoia when she snatched her gun from the floor and hides in a corner of her apartment. She is in bad shape at her dek the next day, and calls flood in about another shooting, although fortunately the victim is not dead. Kate still panicks upon seeing her, to the point that Castle enlists the help of Esposito to help her sort things out. He takes Beckett into an evidence room and shows her the rifle that shot her. At first she is upset, but she talks her down and helps her see that the rifle is just a tool, and that she can own what she went through rather than let it control her.

It helps, and in the next scene the team scans video surveillance footage and spots him holding a coffee cup from a café that suggests the most plausible connection between all three victims. Beckett has already inferred from precious video footage of the street that he has a leg injury. With that they are able to discover the sniper’s true identity: a man who spent a year in the marines and then lost his leg in a motorcycle accident. He is angry that he has been so cursed in life, so when Castle discovers that all three victims recently experienced success in their lives, it fleshes out the profile even more.

The team contacts the sniper’s sister, and she talks about how bitter he was, but that “You can’t give help if someone won’t take it.” implying that he was too depressed and in denial, artfully mirroring Beckett’s own issues. (That was my “Aha!” moment.)

Castle and Beckett find a clue for the next target using the paper dolls. Only this time it is multiple people. The team moves fast and narrows it down to a bus full of high school kids going to central park via school bus to celebrate their championship victory.

Beckett is the one who catches him in the act, but he disarms her and has her at gunpoint. Katic’s best acting for the episode is probably right here, when she tries to talk him down, mentioning how similar they are, showing him the scar from when she was shot. Brilliant as it is, though, it doesn’t work and Esposito ends up taking the man out with a rifle.

What did you think about Beckett’s conversation with her therapist at the end? Do you think she’s completely past her shooting? I have to admit some disappointment – but understanding – when she mentioned her mother’s murder again. If we ever get to that point I would really love to see her get some closure.

Next Week: Cuffed *Note that this episode will air on Dec 5