It’s not about the books anymore.

The latest installment of Castle managed to carry a serious tone for an entire hour and still hit it out of the park. Although the show is primarily known for its wild antics and off-the-wall story lines, “Knockdown” was just what this show needed.

Beckett had a chance to learn more about her mother’s murder and got that much closer to the person who ordered the hit. We saw the main characters showing some real emotion and finally made some headway with Castle and Beckett.

Having the case focus on Joanna Beckett made it personal for all of our favorite detectives. Ryan and Esposito knew they needed to find answers, Captain knew he had to keep Kate at a distance from it, Castle knew he needed to be there for his partner and Beckett knew who to turn to when she needed someone to trust.

Ryan and Esposito were great all around. They swore they were backing up Beckett and they took the ice torturing because they knew they had no choice. I love that these two are getting more screen time every week. I am also looking forward to seeing more of Esposito and Lanie.

Now to the part everyone had been waiting for, including myself: the Castle and Beckett kiss! Sure, it was out of context and used as a distraction, but it still had the emotion behind it we have been waiting for. The looks on both of their faces were priceless.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed the kiss, there are two other parts that made the episode:

1. When they were at the coffee house and Raglan asked who Castle was, Beckett simply replied, “just someone I trust.”
2. When Castle talking with his worried mother, who asked why he was still doing this and he replied with the quote that opened this review.

This episode could have contained just those two small parts and I would have been pleased. The fact that we got some shootouts, torture scenes and stellar performances made “Knockout” all that much better. A solid episode once again.

What did you think, TV Fanatics? Did the kiss live up to expectations or were you disappointed over the way it went down?