Castle Season 5 Finale “Watershed” 

The last season finale of Castle ended with what all of the Caskett fans had been waiting for – Beckett (Stana Katic) telling Castle (Nathan Fillion) that she wanted him, which led to a hot and steamy hook-up.  Throughout this season, we have watched these two characters have a great deal of fun in their new-found relationship, but at the same time, have several touching moments that reveal that they truly love and care about each other (the episode “Still” is a very good example of this).  But, do Beckett and Castle have what it takes to make a long-lasting relationship?  Castle has been married multiple times, and Beckett never really has had a serious relationship.  Even with these long odds, can they find a way to make it work?  With the jaw dropping ending to tonight’s finale, we would hope so, but I’m still a little skeptical.

Unlike past finales of Castle, this one actually had a case, and it was an interesting one.  What appears to be a prostitute is found dead in the watershed of a seedy motel, and at first blush, it appears to be a very boring case.  However, when it is discovered that the prostitute is not really a prostitute, but an honor student at Harvard University named Erika Allbrook, it becomes clear that Erika is leading some kind of double life, one that not even her family or close friends are aware of.  The key to cracking the case comes from one of the other residents of the motel, who is fully aware that Erika isn’t a prostitute, and had seen her through his own personal peephole typing on a laptop when supposedly she was servicing her johns.

This information leads the team to the law firm of Banks & Bauer, and the one link between Erika and this firm is Erika’s best friend, Pam Bonner.  Pam had been an intern at Banks & Bauer, and was killed in a DUI accident 6 months ago.  The police concluded that Pam was intoxicated and caused the accident herself, but Erika isn’t convinced but instead, believes that a high-powered client of the law firm was behind the wheel instead.  And, she was completely right.  An up-and-coming Senate hopeful, Colin Rigsdale III, was the one behind the wheel, and when the accident occurred, he fled the scene, and has been covering it up since then.  This included getting his half-brother to clean up his mess and have Erika killed once he learned that she was onto what really happened.  One of the most pivotal quotes of the entire episode is when Beckett is interrogating Rigsdale’s half-brother and trying to get him to give up his brother in the plot:

       How many years of your life are you going to give up for someone else’s future – Beckett

This quote is very important and leads right into the other storyline of the finale – the Beckett and Castle drama.  As you may recall from last week’s penultimate episode, Beckett made a very good impression on the US Attorney General’s office.  The impression was so good that she is invited for an interview for an open position on the AG’s Federal Task Force team.  This is the opening scene, and for most of us, there is no question that by the end of the episode, she will have a job offer in hand.  The big question is what will she do?  There is no doubt that Beckett really wants this job, but it is also obvious that Beckett loves Castle.  The problem is Castle has never really talked about where he sees the relationship going, and even in past episodes, we see him starting to take Beckett for granted.  This all raises enough doubt to lead Beckett into deciding to accept the job.  This also ties back nicely to the above quote: How many years of your life are you going to give up for someone else’s future.  Beckett has been with Castle for nearly a year now, and after all of this time, he has never really told her he wants a future with her.  How many more years of her life is she going to give up, waiting for something that may never happen at all?  Honestly, if I were in Beckett’s position, I probably would have made the same decision.

Up until the final few moments of the episode, I think most of the viewers were certain what both Castle and Beckett were thinking and what each of them was going to do.  Beckett obviously had decided to take the job and was meeting Castle to break the news.  And, after Castle’s heart-to-heart with his mother, it looked like a break-up moment was on the horizon, with Castle telling Beckett that he didn’t think the relationship was going to work and for her to take the job.  But, hey, this is the season finale of Castle for crying out loud.  It couldn’t be that simple, could it? (not to mention that would have been a total buzz-kill until the Season Premiere in the Fall)

Well, I was right – it wasn’t that simple.  Not by a long shot.  At the final moment, Castle did what all Caskett fans out there were hoping he’d do.  Yes, folks, we’ve got ourselves a marriage proposal!  Holy freaking crap! The only question left is will Beckett accept?  And, what about her job offer?  Now that Castle is fully committed to the relationship, will she decide that Castle means more to her than her career?

All in all, I thought this was a very good finale.  The only part I really didn’t like were some of the clichés that the writers threw in.  Come on, Castle sitting on the swing sets?  Yes, I know it ties back to the last season where we saw Beckett sitting on the same swing set as she contemplated her feelings for Castle.  But, it was tacky and yelled “juvenile” on every level.  Even so, this was just a minor distraction.  The acting was fantastic, the main case was compelling, and well, the ending was dramatic and well played.  Now, if only all of the Caskett fans can survive until the Fall…