In Dead Again, the stiff finally gets the opportunity to participate in his own murder investigation.
It helps that Alan didnt die.
And then didnt die.
Credit: Tyler Golden/ABC
And then didnt die some more.
The mans fluctuating status gets Lanie questioning whether shes losing her touch as a medical examiner.
(Thats a nasty little joke to lay on one of the shows outgoing stars, Tamala Jones.)
Heres my diagnosis: dramatic effect.
Alan wasnt on the lookout for any attempts on his life.
Hes no ordinary survivor to Castle, though.
He pesters Alan at his hospital bed with questions about the light and the beyond.
To his disappointment, Alan doesnt remember anything about his brief hour of being dead.
No afterlife revelations to be weaved into the next Nikki Heat novel.
This armchair spiritualist dialogue wont solve Alans attempted murder, unfortunately.
That work is left to the real cops.
Alan doesnt believe hes cultivated any enemies; hes a stand-up guy who does his work and goes home.
But its his Boy Scout sensibilities that create trouble for Alan.
Hes a safety inspector with the responsibility for penalizing businesses that arent up to code.
Corrupt inspectors can make a nice nest egg from accepting bribes to turn the other way.
Alan fires one such opportunist, who leaves a flowery list of threats on his voicemail.
His assessments can make or break them.
He trips the booby trap, and the small explosion flings him across the room.
Forget lucky, Castle jubilantly declares, hes immortal.
Alans averageness feeds right into Castles active animation and his affection for comic book mythos.
Alan came back from the dead twice, as far as Castle is concerned.
That means he received a superhero upgrade.
Alan hopes Gwen wont hold the same grudge her boss did toward him.
No one is that low maintenance for a first date, gender aside.
While the lovebirds fumble, Castle gets a call from the precinct.
Alan had gotten himself on a list with the mob when he fired Dave.
They didnt appreciate the removal of their go-to guy in the office.
Horatio Spate (Careful, Alan, its your arch-nemesis.)
isnt there to kill Alan or even to threaten him.
He offers his organizations guaranteed protection if Alan starts to play ball.
Castle murmurs to Alan that hes obviously in the midst of the foretold test of his superhero resolve.
Horatio offers Alan a gingko tablet and encourages him to make good decisions.
Gwen is so not about this life.
After getting his scolding for chaperoning Alans unsanctioned date, Castle spots a clue on that list.
He recognizes Lucky Dragon Herbologist from the logo on Horatios gingko tin.
Thats a known front for the Triad, who were formerly rivals of Horatios people.
The team speculates that the two factions might be joining together for some larger purpose.
Alan recognizes the shade of the liquid as the color of LAH, or Lithium aluminium hydride.
Thats the inorganic substance that was spilled back at the bio-pharma lab the day Alan handed down their penalty.
He walks into the lab without any backup to do some vigilante-ing and to check that Gwen is safe.
(And I mean lodged.)
The show tends to live in the realm of possibility where Castles fancies hang out.
Whats the real difference between Alan and a superhero anyway?
In practice, theyre one and the same.
But whats Beckett been up to this whole episode?
Well, the season (and possible series) finale is fast approaching.
And with Stana Katics looming exit, anyCastlethat we might see next year will be a reboot of sorts.
So the Loksat mystery is woken up from dormancy.
Its Caleb Brown, public defender gone bad, traveling under the alias of Peter McCaffrey.
Beckett cant move on him with just that, so she pushes Vikram to follow that name.
Beckett stares him dead in the face as he finishes.
I dont get it.
Kate Beckett doesnt respond to intimidation.
She answers Calebs ultimatum with one of her own.
(Heed my warning.
You heed mine.)
Thatll expand the target to include both of their backs.
By working with Beckett and the police, Caleb will be at definite risk.
But without the cops protection, he has even less of a chance.
The deadline comes and goes.
Beckett assumes that Caleb is in the wind.
He cant actively cooperate, but on many levels, hes tired of being Loksats play thing.
Caleb isnt privy to his bosss identity, only to a phone that delivers his regular marching orders.
He worked for Bracken before the senators death; theres no loyalty to Loksat.
Caleb knows that he has nowhere to run and he may have just signed his own death warrant.
But somehow Beckett broke through his walls with her determination and talk of Calebs previous life as a do-gooder.
Remember who I chose to be today, Caleb says before he leaves.
Because nobody else will.
