Castle Was Amazing Last Night! My Recap & Thoughts

I still can't get over how fantastic last night's Castle was.  Is it next Monday yet? The two-parter thing is killing me! Poor Castle.

We start out the night with a woman running down the alley dressed in her nightgown.  Someone is waiting for her at the end of the alley, though, and it doesn't end well for her.

Cut to the loft where Martha is headed off to a wardrobe fitting and Alexis tells her dad she's joined an escort service and is meeting a client.  Castle is all, whoa, whoa, what? And she laughs and says she was testing him to see if he was listening.  She gives both Castle and Beckett a kiss on the cheek before she leaves.  "When did that start?" Castle asks.  Beckett says just then and how well he did raising her.  Castle tells her well, you weren't here for the beginning and Beckett says, well, I will be next time.

Wow.  Is she thinking about having kids? Can I say how much I love that they're a mostly normal married couple thinking about this?

Beckett is called away to a murder scene of the nightgown lady named Susan Watts.  Lainey seems weirded out by the victim, that she seems familiar somehow.  When she gets her back to the morgue, she notices some eerie similarities to a previous case.  Esposito, Ryan, and Beckett had scrounged up a little information on Susan, but not much.  She'd been in prison, cleaned up her life, got a great job, but then disappeared.  Lainey points out that the women the 3XK killed had similar MOs.  And guess what? Dr. Kelly Nieman, who helped 3XK escape before, is back in town and a major contributor to the place that helps women like Susan who have just been released from prison.  Beckett goes to see her and their toe-to-toe is creepy and full of tension.  She talks about Kate's looks and how she could make her perfect with just a touch up or two.  *shiver* I love Annie Wersching from her 24 days and she hasn't lost an ounce of her mojo.  A great villain for Kate to take on.

Beckett goes to Captain Gates and asks her to let Castle consult since 3XK is involved now.  The team gets a lead when they comb through footage of the hospital entrance and see a woman who looks exactly like Susan Watts exit with Dr. Nieman's swag bag.  Oh, and Jerry Tyson, 3XK himself, is with her.  Dun, dun, dun.

They find out her name is Amy Barrett and Castle is starting to see similarities in the looks of 3XK's "mother," Susan Watts, and Amy Barrett.  Like they're all being made to look like one another so 3XK can act out his rage in their murders.  They up the ante and track down the truck's license plate and go to the apartment where it's registered.  When they breach the door, Jerry Tyson is trying to escape out the window, but they catch him.  He goes to the precinct for questioning by Castle and Beckett, while the rest of the team processes the apartment. And now the cat and mouse game begins.

The man in custody claims his name is Mike Boudreau and he had a little work done to look like 3XK.  They can't prove he is 3XK because all the DNA evidence they had of Tyson from before was stolen.  Castle and Beckett go a few more rounds with him and I was curling my toes with each interview.  3XK is so creepy and you know it's him.  Castle has the idea to track down his mother and see if she has anything of his that might have DNA on it.  They hit the jackpot when the woman who he was left with (his biological mother died) kept a baby tooth of his.

They rush back to the precinct to run the DNA against what they have on the man calling himself Mike Boudreau.  While they're waiting, Beckett gets a phone call from Amy Barrett, who'd been in the truck with 3XK.  She's scared and wants Beckett's help.  Beckett leaves to help her.  After she does, the DNA evidence come back and it's not a match. They have to let 3XK go.

As Dr. Nieman and "Mike Boudreau" are walking to the elevator hand in hand, Castle is starting to piece it all together. He looks over at the murder board where the name of the "homeless guy" that called in the murder is Ed Turner. An anagram for "Returned."  *double shiver* He knows it's all been a set up from the beginning and that Beckett is alone.  He tries to call her, but it goes straight to voice mail. Meanwhile, Beckett answers her phone to the creepy "We'll Meet Again," song from the last time 3XK popped up.  Then she's stabbed with a syringe and taken away in a wheelchair.

Castle watches Dr. Nieman get a phone call while she's in the elevator and 3XK winks at him.  SO CREEPY.  The elevator doors close.

The previews are of Castle trying to frantically track down his wife. It looks SO GOOD. I can't wait for next week.

What did you think? Did you watch?