Castle Review: Ruggedly Handsome Dad
Christine Orlando
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Some people love babies. They are just instantly attracted to them. Others, though, turn and run in the opposite direction.
On Castle Season 6 Episode 10 we found out into which category our favorite characters fell.
There were a couple of surprises.
We'll start with Castle, the self-proclaimed ruggedly handsome dad. I couldn't really argue with that description.
Did you see how Rick's whole face lit up when he first saw that baby boy? This is a man who absolutely loves kids. but that's no real surprise. We've always seen how much he adores his daughter. Raising her has clearly been one of the highlights of his life.
Castle was in his element the moment he held that child. From bribing the uniformed officer with ice cream so that they could run out and get formula to coming back having bought out half a baby store, I had to agree with Beckett in this Castle quote…
I'm suddenly getting a clear and frightening visual of what my future will look like.
Kate
She wasn't the only one with reservations. Castle was beginning to wonder if he was engaged to a baby hater.
Thankfully, that wasn't the case. Like anyone who hasn't spent much time around infants, Kate found the baby intimidating. Unfortunately, Castle was interpreting that fear as apathy.
I was so relieved when he actually shared his concern with Beckett. Almost from the beginning, Meredith was an absentee mom, leaving Castle to handle the job of raising baby Alexis all alone. Even the "baby whisperer" could find that daunting and he was worried he'd end up in that position once again.
But their night as baby wranglers assuaged those fears. Although no expert, Kate jumped in as best she could and the two tackled spit up, diaper changes and sleepless nights like pros.
The surprise baby lover of the group was Lanie Parish. Watching the good doctor coo and cuddle the infant while relaying forensic details was strangely sweet. It was obvious she loved kids the moment we first saw the little guy in her arms as she introduced him to Castle…
Lanie: A boy. I'm guessing he's about 3 months and he's hungry because he keeps going after the girls.
Castle: Well, who can blame him?
Ryan was exactly what I expected, the eager but nervous dad-to-be. One of the best scenes of the night was when he shared with Esposito that he didn't think he was ready to be a father. Espo's advice was spot on.
Being a dad is like being a cop. No matter what they teach you in the academy you learn on the streets and you did OK with that, right?
Esposito
Uh…sort of. Turns out Ryan rammed the back of a SWAT van on his first day. I'm sure that's a day he'll never forget.
Then Espo got to the heart of the matter. His baby was still a month away from entering the world and Ryan cared about it like crazy. As Javier confessed to him, that already made him 100 times better than the dad he had.
Which was probably why Esposito wasn't so crazy about the little guy: Daddy issues. And considering how much Lanie obviously adores kids, that could be a sticking point to them becoming a full-fledged couple.
Heck, even Captain Gates was seen cuddling the little cutie.
Oh, but wait. There was murder, wasn't there?
Yes and it was a pretty good mystery. As Beckett said, the more of the pieces they found, the less the puzzle seemed to fit. A dead limo driver with a criminal past, a heist where nothing was stolen, burned ping pong balls and a mystery baby?
What tied it all together was Ryan's obsession with the lottery. It was a brilliant twist and I liked that almost all of the characters we'd met over the hour from the head of security to Cameron's boss were involved in the plan.
In the end, Cosmo, aka Benny got to go home to his family as Beckett spent Thanksgiving dinner with hers which left me with a few things to be thankful for...
- I am thankful that I didn't have to see Pi.
- I missed Jim Beckett but was thankful he was invited to Thanksgiving dinner.
- I loved Martha's ever so subtle quip about needing a bigger dinner table in the near future.
- What's better than Kate Beckett looking adorable in a Pocahontas costume? Watching her get back at Castle by having him wear the pilgrim outfit.
My one complaint has become almost a running joke this season. Remember when fans would wait for Castle and Beckett to actually talk about their relationship and they'd constantly be interrupted? Well, Castle season 6 seems destined to be known as the season of the interrupted kiss.
That's going to make having a baby more difficult and a lot less fun.
My most pleasant surprise was that Rick and Kate never questioned whether or not they wanted to have a child together. They were both on the same page from the start.
What do you say Beckett? Want to have a baby?
Castle
Overall, this was a wonderful episode that had me smiling from beginning to end. Let's hope the good vibes can last us all the way to January for our next new episode of Castle.
C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.
