Well, that was certainly one hell of a ride last night, wasn't it?
Contrary to the high speculation amongst the media and fanbase about secrets being exposed, the only one that was specifically touched upon was Castle's murder board, though nothing resulted from that discovery by Sophia. Personally, I feel that there was so much going on in this episode that being able to flesh out one of their confessions in a decent manner would have been impossible to do. The revelation and fallout from their secrets needs to be given plenty of air time and focus, not to mention dealt with under proper circumstances, even if not ideal ones for the characters. That said, I'm looking forward to what the writers have in store for us with the big reveals in future episodes since we’re nearly to the end of the season already. I know, right? It’s just flying by!
'Linchpin' starts directly where 'Pandora' left off, with Beckett's Crown Victoria taking the plunge into the Hudson with her and Castle trapped inside. Literally trapped, too, because Kate's seat belt jams, keeping her tethered to her seat. It's an intense moment watching Kate grip onto the steering wheel helplessly while Castle tries to fish out her gun as the water continues rising. Then Castle stops moving underwater and doesn't reply when Kate calls to him twice (the second time in a desperate scream!) and this, of course, leads to the detective starting a vicious struggle to get out of her seat until she, too, stops moving when the water completely engulfs the interior of the car.
Now, we all knew they weren’t going to die. I figured with them both incapacitated (or seemingly so) the CIA would be their saviors again in a time of need. Imagine my surprise when the car lit up with gunfire! How many shots did Castle let out of that Glock in quick sucession? Five? Six? Certainly can't blame the guy for getting trigger happy when he and the love of his life are about to drown!
Short as the opening scene was, and despite lacking any 'confess-our-feelings-before-we-die' dialogue (which I'm actually thankful for since we've been there, done that already--twice), I felt that both the scene in the car and on the pier afterward were extremely powerful moments between the two characters. It was only a prelude for the high stakes situations that were to come as the plot thickened in this CIA conspiracy.
One thing I love about the episodes that Andrew Marlowe writes is that he knows how to create the perfect blend of romance, comedy and drama. Episodes he writes are fast paced, engaging and quite frankly heart-pounding at times. Honestly, in the last ten minutes of the ‘Linchpin’, my heart was racing in my chest. I didn't know what to expect next and it was positively thrilling.
Straight out of the intensity of the opening scene, we jump back into the much needed comedy. We get not only one, but two hilarious JealousBeckett rants; the first one with her so flustered that she forgets where her desk is, and the second results in an awkward interruption by Alexis. Talk about mortifying! We also see more of Ryan and Esposito miffed that they're still not being let in on what's really going on while "Writer Boy" is, and Ryan even teases Esposito at the end pretending that he knows. I was quite fond of the “Don’t make me shoot you” exchange between Castle and Beckett, and “I gotta borrow your car”. Poor Beckett and her sunken cruiser. Perfect example of a linchpin, indeed.
The laughs come to an end when it's time to go back to work on finding Gage, only to find that not everything is what it seems on the case (really, did we expect any less?). Operation Pandora seeks to unleash World War III. A little girl from China is the linchpin; the catalyst to bringing it all to fruition. Oh, and Gage isn't the real bad guy. Agent Tran is. No, Agent Danberg is! Wait, what? SOPHIA IS?!
Sophia Turner turning out to be the mastermind behind unleashing Pandora was a plot twist I never saw coming. Our guest stars in the two-parters always end up as Castle/Beckett shippers that help save the day. I was expecting the same of Sophia and was blown away (too soon?) to find out otherwise. I had my suspicions that Gage was a scapegoat from the beginning because he could have easily killed Castle and Beckett last week instead of locking them in the trunk of the GTO. There was no point in keeping them alive if he was truly the one behind everything. I had pegged Danberg as the one who would turn out to be a traitor, and when they pointed the finger in his direction, it was an "Aha!" moment for me. Only it wasn't. You had me fooled, Marlowe! Well played!
A huge bombshell is dropped by Sophia just before Danberg drops her with a shot to the head: Castle's father is in the CIA, and pulled some strings to get him in with her so that he could do research for the Derek Storm books. This begs the question now of if we'll ever find out who this man is, and if he's been pulling any other strings since then? Or if he will in the future? All this time, Castle has had a fascination with CIA conspiracies and it turns out his father is an agent? On some level you know he's got to think it's cool (this is Castle, after all) but if Sophia was actually telling the truth, obviously his father knows who he is and yet, for whatever reason, has never revealed himself to his son, never attempted to be a part of his life. No matter how you look at it, that's going to be a painful knowledge to bear, regardless of who you are or how you previously felt about not knowing. Will this be touched upon again before the end of the season? I certainly hope so.
Lastly, this recap wouldn't be complete without some ending thoughts on the Castle/Beckett dynamic and where we seem to stand from here, but there’s so much I have to say on that particular subject that I’m just going to file it under another article entirely.
All in all, the 'Pandora/Linchpin' two-parter was highly entertaining and is definitely going down as one of my favorites of the season, joining the ranks of 'Cops and Robbers' and 'Kill Shot'. Looks like we'll be heading back to the realm of light-heartedness next week with 'Once Upon a Crime', which is to be expected after such a dramatic conclusion to this story arc.
Will we finally see the light shed on Castle and Beckett's secrets sometime in the near future, or will we have to wait until the very end of the season? Only seven episodes left, and they’re coming fast!
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