Castle “Recoil”: Beckett’s Dilemma 

Photo Credit: Colleen Hayes/ABC

Well, Beckett had quite the dilemma in the latest episode. Should she let the man who murdered her mother die? Or should she protect him from someone trying to kill him?

Believe it or not, Kate’s thirst for vengeance almost led her to make the wrong decision. Almost. It’s a testament to Beckett’s character that she was able to make the right move. She prevented innocent lives from possibly being taken; she found the real killer who tried to frame a man who had more than enough motive to do the deed himself; and she, ultimately, worked through her issues to save Senator Bracken, even though the guy deserved to bite it for everything he’s ever done. And what sucks is that the smarmy politician came out of this whole thing smelling like a rose.

But along the way, Kate had ample chance to let the guy fry. When she and Rick looked through the senator’s threat file, she found McManus’ letter accusing Bracken of killing his son. I have no doubt that Bracken actually did kill the 24-year-old. Beckett wrestled with what to do with this damning evidence. She almost set fire to it. Instead, she went to go see her shrink (played by the awesome Michael Dorn of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). It was great that she was able to turn to him for help and guidance.

While Kate didn’t burn the letter, she didn’t exactly broadcast its presence, either. Another lead popped up that sent the team to McManus’ apartment. While Kate was on her own, she ran into McManus. She let him get away and only fired a couple of shots after he was out of reach. She came clean to Castle later at the precinct. She told him about the threat letter and how she had McManus but she saw the pain in his eyes. She understood him. Even though he may have killed Melanie Rogers, the girl who was helping Bracken with his speech, Kate let McManus get away.

But Beckett struggled with that fact because the cops found traces of C4 in McManus’ apartment. He could very well cause a serious amount of collateral damage at the hotel where the senator was set to make the most important speech of his political career thus far. For a time, it looked like Beckett was going to let the chips fall. If someone wanted to take out Bracken, then they’d be doing her work for her. But she’s someone who does the right thing. She has a true sense of justice. She couldn’t let the victim of the week’s death go unresolved.

Despite loathing Bracken, the detective stepped up and did the right thing. Even though McManus was in custody, she had a hunch that she was missing something. It felt like things had been wrapped up in too neat and tidy of a bow. The guy was framed. And she deduced the real killer was going to try blow up Bracken while he was giving his speech.

She was right…for the most part. It turned out Bracken’s driver was the culprit. Kate got Bracken out of the way just as the driver blew up the senator’s limo. It turned out the driver worked for one of the senator’s super Pac-powered enemies. Beckett saved Bracken’s life. Case closed.

Every scene between Bracken and Beckett was laced with tension, suspicion and hatred. Kate finding herself in this predicament had to be so hard for her. By the end of the episode, she reluctantly saved his life, when all she did was want to see him dead. Kate’s one of the good guys. She’s going to have to come up with another way to bring her enemy down. A more satisfying way. The saga is to be continued. When will that happen? Will it be before the series ends? Or will justice be served when Castle airs its last episode? This is a storyline that has been around since the beginning. Hopefully, Bracken goes down sooner rather than later.

Some random thoughts
-Bracken was having an affair with the victim, right? I couldn’t quite tell.
-Beckett and Castle had a couple cute moments but I so wanted more.
-No Alexis or Martha and not enough Lanie.
–Jack Coleman is so good as Bracken. He really makes me hate the character.
-I thought this conversation was pretty interesting. It shows that even though Espo and Ryan’s bromance is one of my favorite things about Castle, sometimes we get to see how different these two really are:

Espo: “I’ll tell you something. If I’m her, I sit in there shuffling papers till whoever it is puts a bullet in Bracken’s head.”
Ryan: “No, you wouldn’t. ‘Cause that would make you no better than he is.”
Espo: “The guy murdered Beckett’s mother, Captain Montgomery, who knows who else. Bracken’s got it coming to him, so I say let it come.”

Would you come down on the side of Ryan or Espo here? I have a bad (or some would say good) conscience. I want to think the same way Espo does, but I’d probably think like Kevin and want Bracken’s comeuppance to be clean.

Castle airs Mondays at 10/9c on ABC. Can’t wait for next week’s Firefly reunion between Nathan Fillion and Gina Torres.