Zane Canon, an actor rehearsing Shakespeare is stabbed to death with a giant quill. Someone sneaks into the crime scene with an NYPD jacket and post photos of the body online. 

Zane’s costar, Naomi Fox vandalized his car after he broke up with her but she didn’t kill him. 

Richard, Ryan, and Espo find Martha asleep in Zane’s bed. She was his acting coach and when he didn’t show up last night, she fell asleep waiting for him. She says he had demons he was trying to get rid of but didn’t give her details. She feels guilty that perhaps her advice got him killed.

Zane had a step-brother, Johnny Toro who was in prison. They think that Zane was a part of Johnny’s robbery but got away with it. Johnny says he ordered Zane to keep quiet but then Zane never visited him. Johnny said Zane owed the IRS millions but he said he had a plan for a big pay day. 

The guy who filmed the body at the crime scene had been filming Zane all month. Espo and Ryan get him to show them their footage and they see Zane handing a lot of cash over to a mystery man. That man was part of a gang who was supposed to put Zane in touch for a cartel leader, El Oso.

El Oso kidnaps Castle because he saw Castle on the TV connected to the case. Turns out that Zane wanted the rights to El Oso’s story. El Oso wanted him to prove that he could act and that’s why Zane took the role of Hamlet. Now that Zane’s dead, he wants Castle to write his story. 

Beckett tracks Castle by the RIFD chip in his new high-end credit card. The DEA bursts in and Castle trips El Oso. He is captured but glares at Rick as he’s taken away. 

Zane’s cell phone shows that he was also in touch with El Oso’s brother who has been sleeping with El Oso’s wife. The team thinks that the brother was paying Zane to find El Oso so he could kill him and run the cartel. 

The brother, Hector admits he was looking for El Oso but he didn’t kill Zane, he offered to let him not only star in the biopic about his brother’s life, he said he could direct as well. Zane had already made a deal with Erin Cherloff to direct the film. When he tried to renege on the deal, she killed him.

Beckett forgets to set up date night with Castle. After their hectic day, they have a quiet night in with takeout Chinese until a package arrives. El Oso sent Rick notes for his story. He still wants Castle to write it, then Beckett gets word that El Oso has escaped.

Ryan is so excited about daughter, Sarah Grace’s preschool play that he goes overboard and takes over. Jenny arrives at the precinct to tell Ryan the other parents don’t want him to run the play. Jenny brings the kids to the precinct on the way to the play. Sarah Grace is in her sunflower outfit. She can’t remember the words to her song so Ryan sings it with her while Uncle Javi dances with them.