Castle “Murder Most Fowl” 

What a great case-y episode “Murder Most Fowl” turned out to be. You know me. I’m usually all about the character-driven goodness, the great lines and the wonderful cast chemistry. I’m rarely all giddy over the case and how it plays out over an entire hour. The case of the murdered city worker (and child kidnapping) really kept me glued to the TV and for so many reasons.

-I felt really bad for Leonard Levitt the light bulb guy. His coworker talked about how he was an unsung hero of the city. He replaced the bulbs around Manhattan as they went out. Bad things happen in the darkness and he took it upon himself to try and prevent that as much as possible. He was an inventor and he was just bird-watching when he spied the child being kidnapped. He should never have died. And I loved how that even though he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, he still helped solve the case. I kinda loved Leonard.

I liked how the Manhattan subway played a key part in the investigation. I lived in NYC for almost five years and like Castle said, everyone traveling the subway has a story. And the fact that they found the kid at the crossroads of the ACE lines, it was just awesome. I can’t tell you how many times I rode the A, the C and the E.

-Castle is always a competent investigator. But during this case, he was on his game. He was more than just wildly speculating about a suspect’s motive. Other than Light Bulb Len, he was the biggest asset to this investigation.

• Castle found Len’s camera in the tree which had a picture of the killer kidnapper.
• Castle insisted that they look for the reflection of the kidnapper in the rearview mirror. It didn’t pan out but he was integral in driving the investigation which is key.
• Castle came up with finding the identity of the child from the cleat marks on his socks. The kid played for a soccer league and his team just so happened to be playing in the park that day.
• He figured out Tyler’s clue about not forgetting to feed Ace. ACE = lines on the subway.
• He ended up finding the kidnapped child and got to use Lenny’s invention to help Beckett save Tyler Donegal.

-The guest stars: There were so many guest stars that I really couldn’t guess exactly who the criminal was. I love when this happens. Usually higher-profile guest stars are predictably the ones who did it. But in “Murder Most Fowl” it wasn’t that way. Actually, we never even saw the true culprits except in pictures. How great is that? And speaking of these higher-profile guest stars I recognized a few of them.

• Ever Carradine. She played Tyler’s mother. Ever is a member of Hollywood’s famed Carradine family; her father is Robert Carradine. But she’s been an actress a long time as well. She’s been on 24, Party of Five and Women’s Murder Club but I know her most from Commander-in-Chief as well as a Season 5 episode of Supernatural called “I Believe The Children are our Future.”
• Rick Hearst. He played the doctor husband of the mom as well as Tyler’s stepdad. Rick’s a pretty famous daytime soap actor having starred on Guiding Light, General Hospital, Days of our Lives and Young and the Restless over the years. But currently, he’s “Whip Jones” on CBS’ Bold and the Beautiful. Wish I got to see more of him in this episode of Castle, but loved that he was on a primetime TV show. Hope to see him in primetime more.
• John Pyper-Ferguson. He played Tyler’s janitor dad. What a find this guy’s become. I first noticed him on ABC’s Brothers & Sisters; he played Sarah’s husband. The two eventually divorced and Pyper-Ferguson left the show. He popped up on a great Season 2 episode of USA Network’s White Collar and followed that up with a multi-episode role on Syfy’s recently cancelled Battlestar Galactica pre-quel, Caprica. I am so glad he didn’t just fade away after Brothers and Sisters and now we get to enjoy him on other shows.
• Carmine Argenziano. He was Len’s boss. The one that made money off the old light bulbs. Carmine has done guest spots on some of my all-time favorite shows like The A-Team, Melrose Place and Sisters. But I think I remember him most from his stint on L.A. Law. SciFi fans probably know him best from Stargate SG-1.

-I love how when it’s a bigger case, the Chief steps up and takes charge. It was Beckett’s investigation, but he definitely made for a solid presence. I also loved seeing him in the field drawing his gun on the bad guys.

-Castle took this case personally. Being a father, it’s only natural that the kidnapping would make him think about Alexis. He shared a story about almost losing his daughter when she was little. He said he still thinks about that moment and remembers that awful feeling to this day. When you’re a parent every scary experience like that sticks with you. Didn’t you just want to hug Castle at that moment?

-If I felt bad for Light Bulb Len; I also felt bad for Dean the janitor and Tyler’s dad. His ex-wife left him for a doctor and a better life in the ‘burbs and he’s $40,000 in debt. Plus, the bad guy used him because of his elevator access to every floor of the building where he works. The ex-Wall Street-ers wanted to get their greedy hands on unpublished earning reports they could shop to the highest bidder. But back to Dean Donegal. You could tell he was all about spending time with his boy. I’m so happy they got Tyler back. The reunion between father and son was touching.

There wasn’t a lot of kidding around in this episode, but it didn’t matter. There was enough to satisfy me and we got a great case too. “Murder Most Fowl” was an especially entertaining episode.

Other TV Goodness moments

• Castle helping Alexis find Ashley’s rat she was babysitting. She took the responsibility seriously (of course since Alexis takes most things seriously) and felt bad for losing the rat. What was even better was the way Ashley took the news. He realized how bad Alexis felt but didn’t get angry at her. He knew the lengths she went to in order to get the rat back. In the end, it was found. Poor Martha. I thought she was supposed to check in to The Plaza?
• There was a great shot of Central Park from a higher angle that I really loved to see. Like I said, I used to live there. So any time I see shots like that, I get a little homesick. Not exactly homesick since I didn’t live there until my 20s, but you get my drift.
• Castle and Beckett talking at the same time is something that never gets old.
• How great was it that Tyler left his dad a clue about where he was? Smart kid.

Favorite Lines (courtesy of the writer for “Murder Most Fowl,” Matt Pyken)

“Strangest pet you’ve ever had?” “You.”

“It’s not like 24, Castle. In the real world zoom and enhance can only get us so far.”