Just a little turbulence? Not on Castle Season 7 Episode 21 where a bumpy flight quickly turned to murder as the flight’s Air Marshal was found stuffed into a baggage compartment on the plane. So much for a quiet trip to London for Castle and Alexis. 

There was a lot to like about this episode. From the silly Castle quote…

Rick Castle: There's a snake on the mother flying plane!

To the tip of the hat to Indiana Jones (I hate snakes.), to the MacGyver reference, this hour was a lot of fun, but it had it’s serious side, too. 

Surprisingly, it was Castle who took things seriously. First off, he was more or less on his own at 39,000 feet with his only connection to Beckett being over WiFi. When their suspected terrorist hid in the bathroom, Rick didn’t hesitate to break that door in. However, he did balk at interrogating the man on his own. 

Beckett assured him that he could do this and she sincerely had faith in her husband. He’s been by her side for hundreds of interrogations. This was essentially Beckett’s turn to tell Castle, you’ve got this.

Not only was Castle responsible for the 200 passengers aboard that plane, one of them was his only daughter. It was really nice to see Castle and Alexis working together. She’s not a child anymore and having her check out the body for Lanie was a great nod to her work as an intern at the morgue. I was even okay with her talking down the killer as they'd had a personal conversation earlier, but we’ll get back to the killer in a minute.

There were plenty of twists and turns during this investigation. A possible terrorist, then a jilted girlfriend and finally a heist, the team at the 12th managed to work together even as they were thousands of miles apart. 

But the fact that I enjoyed the episode didn’t mean it was perfect. If Castle and Alexis wanted to keep their investigation a secret from the other passengers, perhaps they shouldn’t have spent so much time talking over speaker phone in earshot of everyone!

11 Top Moments from Castle Season 7

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And as much as I understood the frustration of Debbie, the fight attendant, over losing her pension and that loss leading to her plan to steal the watch, the jump to bludgeoning a man to death felt like a giant leap to me. Perhaps I’ll have to let that one fall under the fact that desperate people rarely make rational decisions. 

In the end, Beckett’s relief was palpable as she watched their flight finally land in London. I only wish we could have known a little more about what she was thinking in that moment. I also really missed the final scene being of her and Castle back at the loft. That’s been one of my favorite trends this season. 

Check back mid-week for our Castle round table and if you missed a minute of this episode or any other, you can always watch Castle online any time here at TV Fanatic. 

C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.