Castle's Ryan Episode

Last night's Castle shows what a gem we have on the team---Kevin Ryan.  A family man, trying to earn a little extra money for his daughter's college fund when everything goes sideways.

We start off the show with Ryan in a bathroom, pacing back and forth, his shirt obviously bloody. He looks in the mirror and then punches it.  Flash back to six hours before.  The team is in the bullpen and Castle is chiding the boys for telling him that the training session they sat through was going to be interesting when it wasn't.  They all make plans to go to the Old Haunt, but Ryan says he has another security gig and can't go.  They ask him who he's guarding and and he says he can't tell them. (That's a bad sign.) Castle asks if it's One Direction because he likes them and that made me laugh.

Ryan is talking to his brother-in-law Frank, the owner of the security company, while they drive Congressman Lopez to a fundraiser. Frank is chatting up Ryan, saying how security is safer etc. etc. They go over the pictures of protesters and people who might want to crash the party and embarrass the congressman. Ryan is ready for anything.  He gets a little introduction to the Congressman, his wife, and his chief of staff. They head into the event and Ryan actually sees one of the protesters in the crowd that they were supposed to be on the lookout for. Ryan takes away a vial of blood from the guy before he can do anything.  The party heads backstage to get the Congressman ready for his speech.  Before Ryan knows it, shots ring out and the fundraising lady is shot and so is the Congressman. Ryan sees a guy running and gives chase, but NYPD stops Ryan since he's got his gun out and is wearing a bloody shirt. The guy gets away and Ryan is feeling mighty guilty because the fundraising lady (Carolyn) dies.

Beckett calls him to see how he is and Ryan isn't doing great.  He wants to be in on finding the shooter.  He's the only witness and is trying his best to remember any details he can.  He does recall a blue press pass, so that gives them a starting place. They interview the congressman who gives them a description of the guy that Ryan saw running away from the scene.  He was one of the protesters. Espo and Ryan go to his home, and they're waiting for the tac team when the guy appears and recognizes that there's police in a car in front of his house. He runs. Ryan chases him down and they bring him in, but he isn't talking.

Tori the tech pulls up all the pictures from the fundraiser where the protester guy appeared in it. There was a five minute time gap while he was near a storage room.  And there was also a hotel worker near it, so they go to question him. The hotel worker says he hid when the protester came in and was seen talking to a little grey-haired man. A billionaire who hates Congressman Lopez. Caskett try to interview the billionaire for more info or an alibi, but get nowhere.

Espo finds Ryan standing in front of the murder board after everyone has gone home. Ryan says he thinks that something isn't adding up and Espo encourages him to go home and get a good night's sleep.  Next scene is Kate looking at her ringing phone and realizing Castle isn't with her in bed. She goes to the hotel where Ryan has set up a ballistics scenario. Apparently he has a theory and texted Castle about it. Kate says why didn't you text me and Ryan is all, um, you don't call the voice of reason when you have a crazy theory. Haha.

Ryan thinks his test proves the protester guy wasn't the shooter.  Ryan wants to go talk to the shooter in lockup.  He tells the protester (I forgot the guy's name!)  that he knows too much now and whoever set him up is going to take care of the loose end. (Seamus Dever is so good in these scenes. He's deadly and earnest and plain awesome.)  The protester finally cracks and tells Ryan how he got the press pass delivered to his mailbox with the info on how to get backstage. Tori pulls up footage of the mailbox and the guy who delivered the press pass is . . . Frank, Ryan's brother-in-law! Twist!  (I didn't see that one coming!)

Unis try to bring Frank in, but he runs.  Ryan goes to see his sister to get her to tell him where Frank is and she does.  (They had a great brother/sister scene, too.)  He goes to visit Frank near an underpass and Frank says he didn't kill anyone, he just makes extra money getting people backstage. He doesn't want to go to prison and walks away, but Ryan pulls his gun and the police pick him up anyway.

Kate goes through Carolyn's purse and finds some texts revealing that Carolyn and the Congressman were having an affair.  They piece together some fingerprints off the envelope that Frank got with the money in it, and it belongs to congressman's wife. They confront her, but she has an alibi. Who else has access to that account and that stationery? The chief of staff girl.  She was about to be let go from the congressman's staff on Carolyn's recommendation, so she took care of Carolyn, and catapulted the congressman into the national spotlight when he was shot.  Double whammy.  (And I totally called the killer from the beginning. Go me!)  (Also, the guy playing the congressman had the weirdest look on his face while the girl made her confession.  Like he was suddenly at a loss of how his face should be reacting. haha.) They already searched the girl's apartment and found her coat with gunshot residue on it, so Ryan arrests her.

Back at the precinct Kate is putting away the pictures from the murder board and Castle sees the study guide for the captain's exam. She's going to take it and see where that goes.  Cut to Ryan with his brother-in-law outside his apartment. Frank is scared to go in and face his wife, but she opens the door and hugs him.  It's going to be okay, they'll figure it out together. Aww.

A great Ryan episode. I was on the edge of my seat, loved the way he played the suspects, and then we had the bonus of meeting his sister and seeing a bit more of Ryan's background.  So awesome.

Did you watch? What did you think?