TV Recap: Castle 6-13 - Limelight

I knew it was time for a lighter episode of Castle, and they delivered last night.  Yet there were some story arc developments and the mystery itself had some great twists to it.

When we first join Castle and Beckett, they are just getting a start on their day.  Beckett is reading the paper and is shocked to learn that Castle is getting back together with his ex-wife.  At least that’s what she read in the paper.  Castle assures her it was just a business lunch since this ex-wife is his publisher.  And Beckett believes him – she was just teasing him.

But that comes into play since the murder victim in this case is a star.  She grew to fame by playing a teen who was a regular student by day but a mystery solving pop star by night.  Alexis had been a huge fan of the show, in fact.  These days, she more known for her partying and time in rehab.

They start the investigation with the usual suspects, her manager (aka her mom), her assistant, and her current boyfriend.  However, she had broken up with that boyfriend because of a picture that surfaced that showed her kissing an ex-boyfriend.

That’s when the first twist of the episode comes.  The mom goes down to identify the body only to say it isn’t her daughter.  It’s a woman who is hired to fool the paparazzi when the pop star wants to get away.  So now the questions start.  Who was the real intended victim?  Where is the pop star?  Is she safe?

This fact is confirmed when they find a suspect – the pop star had a stalker.  He was even at the scene that night, but he knew it was the double and not the star herself.  He did see a customized motorcycle show up, one belonging to the ex-boyfriend the star had been seen kissing.

They find the star in a hotel under one of her aliases.  Castle and Beckett arrive to find that she is passed out with a bottle of wine next to her, but otherwise she is okay.

Down at the station, she isn’t much help as she is fighting a hangover.  They do finally get through to her that she might be in danger, and she agrees to go back to her hotel room and hide out.

Before she can leave, Alexis comes in.  She’s arrived to get a letter of recommendation that Castle is supposed to be writing for Pi for a fellowship he wants to get.  Castle keeps putting it off even with the deadline being today.  Anyway, Alexis starts to talk to her dad about the case, not knowing the pop star is listening as Alexis besmirches her character.  Alexis is properly embarrassed when she learns the truth and takes off…

…with the pop stars cell phone.  She then goes to the hotel to trade back and winds up unloading on the pop star.  Turns out, she is not as happy with Pi as she thought she would be.  But she is trapped by the lease and her pride (not wanting to admit to her dad the truth).

But that gets put on the back burner when the pop star gets a text from a friend at a bar who thinks he might know what is happening.  Despite Alexis’s warnings, the pop star heads down there, and Alexis tags along.

At the bar, they learn that her double had been in the night before trying to get in touch with the star.  When they didn’t happen, she tried to get in touch with the ex-boyfriend from the picture.  Before they can leave, the pop star is recognized and the ex-boyfriend shows up and kidnaps her and Alexis.

He takes them to an ally and a story starts to unfold.  He was hired to stage that picture with the double.  And the pop star?  She has no memory of that night, so she assumed it was true.  The double and the ex were still waiting for the second half of their payment, but the double was having second thoughts and wanted to come clean to the star.  That’s they the ex had shown up at the crime scene – to try to talk the double into keeping her mouth shut.  But she was already dead.

At this point, the police show up and arrest the ex.  However, they do investigate his story and learn it was the truth.  So they backtrack to the person paying for those pictures.  The photographer was tipped off by a gossip rag that was tipped off by…a burner phone.

However, the person who bought that phone still had it and they are able to track it’s location.  It was at the crime scene.  And they track down the owner to the killer.

The pop stars mom.

She saw the new boyfriend as a threat to her daughter’s career (and her income stream) since, while she was staying sober, she was also talking about retiring from her music career.  She did all this to break them up, and when the double grew a conscious, she had to kill her.

As the pop star is getting ready to leave the precinct, Alexis shows up with the boyfriend.  She’s tracked him down and explained what happened.  The two look like they are working to reconciliation as they walk about the door.  Meanwhile, Castle finally has the letter for Pi, which Alexis takes.  However, she is talking like she might go break up with him.

Which leaves us with Castle and Beckett.  She’s been the reason their engagement has not been announced in the papers.  She doesn’t want to deal with being linked to someone famous.  But she’s put it in the paper by the end of the episode.  She’s ready to face it.

I really did enjoy the episode.  The twists were good and kept me entertained.  The banter was back, which I enjoyed.  My favorite moment was when Beckett was looking for Castle and Ryan and Esposito told her he’d gone out to lunch with his other ex-wife.  “He didn’t want her to feel left out.”  Great teasing.

And I wonder if this is the last we’ll see of Pi.  Is Alexis really going to break up with him?  If so, I won’t be heartbroken, but I know many people will be rejoicing over that.

So, what did you think?