Castle battles a hot-shot P.I.
Lets handle the more routine investigation first.
(Routine for season 8 ofCastle, not for life.)
Credit: Richard Cartwright/ABC
Its an invitation from the G.D.S.
of the episodes title to a local murder.
(Bing bong, its the welcome wagon.)
Most investigators think on the Greatest Detectives Society as an urban legend.
The victim is Philip Harris, coincidentally another P.I.
Hayleys old pal Det.
Ryan and Esposito interview his sister, Veronica; shes living out a day she prayed would never come.
The Phantom earned his name by being almost impossible to track.
With the information Harris left behind, Lanie is able to identify seven victims.
Shes not surprised that no one else whod looked into those deaths had made any connection between them.
Demographically, they differ across the board.
The killer relieved each victim of a trophy, though each one lost a different body part.
Hes a frequent coast-to-coast traveler, and thats a start.
Kendall Frost (Nathan FillionsFireflyco-star Summer Glau) isnt a uniformed cop but a crack P.I.
and Castles only competition for late member Philip Harriss vacant spot.
The game is afoot, and it doesnt play nice.
Castle and Hayley hit the pavement and put Castles personal mystery on the backburner for the time being.
Austin isnt bothered and figures he now has two casting couch hopefuls in his cart instead of one.
He invites the happy, adventurous couple up to his mansion.
The competitors strike up a tentative truce.
Hes not the only one with the wrong idea.
Castle spots the distinctive knife that Lanie digitally generated from the victims wounds among Austins collection.
Its a prop from his last horror film, and there are four others that are identical.
But Austins alibi checks out; besides, Lanies eighth victim blows apart the working theory.
Two victims were killed on separate coasts at the same time.
Two knives are accounted for in the Zenith props department.
One knife left for each of the two killers.
NEXT: Thats not what they mean by Adapted Screenplay
Jordan Keegan makes one.
He takes a makeup person hostage when the detectives confront him; they tell him not to be stupid.
How can you say that when weve outsmarted you for years?
The cops rarely kill onCastle.
So theyve officially got my attention.
The case wraps up swiftly thanks to aGemini Killersdraft found on Keegans laptop.
The notes match the handwriting of the notes Castle once received on theHeatwavescript.
Trevor Nigel treats his arrest with the same cheerful indifference he exhibited earlier in the episode.
He and Keegan created their own reality; why shouldnt he go on living in it?
Sadly, he could never nail the end, Nigel says to Castle of his collaborator.
Maybe you could do the rewrite.
He suggests Kendall take his place, and hopefully well be seeing her again.
Shes a fun foil, and we never did get a demonstration of her Krav Maga.
For weeks,Castlehas been feeding us crumbs of the major mysteries that envelope both main characters.
Because of that glacial pacing, this episode feels overstuffed.
(Summer Glau is a footnote; thats just wrong.)
Still, the clues and confessions that come out of this Los Angeles field trip are inevitable satisfying.
Who had Hayley knew about the disappearance on their bingo card?
The street smart consultants arrival on the scene always felt insufficiently explained.
And he wouldnt have without Alexiss skills.
Hayley has no choice but to admit her role in the cover-up.
ABC hasnt announced plans forCastleseason 9 yet.
If this is indeed it, then were building to an explosive series finale.
When Castle gave up the watch, Hayley lost her line to him.
She didnt find her charge again until after hed been shot, and she doesnt know by whom.
Hayley practically pleads for Castle to let this fixation go.
He himself had made her promise never to tell him what shed observed.
Hayley is a survivor.
She can cut cords when she needs to: Ignorance is bliss, she tells him.
But Castle is a seeker.
And hes so very close.
He also knows himself very well.
He immediately regrets the decision when his worst fears are realized in a video message from himself.
(If you are seeing this, you are an idiot.)
Their breakup, Becketts dangerous, under-the-radar investigation it all started with Castle.
Ignorance may be hell, but sometimes it beats knowing too much.
