She. Said... Recap: Castle - "Valkyrie" - Your Entertainment Corner

Season 6, Episode 01
Airdate: Monday, September 23, 2013 at 10/9c on ABC.
Rating: ★★★★★

“Are you gonna water board me because that would seriously affect our relationship.” – Richard Castle

Castle: Season 6, Episode 1 – “Valkyrie”

When Castle ended last season, I was one of the few viewers (maybe more, I’m not sure) who weren’t too happy with the outcome and “delightful” cliffhanger. Let’s get to the nitty, gritty! Building up to the season five finale, in true Castle fashion, Beckett (Stana Katic) held back crucial information from Castle (Nathan Fillion) about a job interview with the Attorney General’s office. A fight ensued, tension built, and – you called it – Castle gave Beckett the silent treatment. UNTIL HE RANDOMLY PROPOSED! Out of the blue much?? I think so, and frankly it pissed me off! Castle didn’t even make eye contact with Beckett until the last second. I don’t know about you, but I was hoping for something a bit more grandiose, or romantic, or maybe even happy! I was not a happy camper.

After all that contemplation and a summer full of waiting, I got over it. Seriously. Because let me tell you, this new season premiere is pretty darn AWESOME! Albeit, not as exciting as the season five premiere, but there was definitely excitement and suspense by the end of the episode.

“Valkyrie” picks up right where “Watershed” left off Castle down on one knee, proposing to Beckett, the love of his life. Disclaimer: This is the only part of the episode I do not like. I won’t go into too much detail, but basically we have Beckett doubting Castle’s feelings (AGAIN) and spouting off weird and super out-of-character sounds. ‘Uh’, ‘Eh’, ‘Ey’, ‘Ya’ are not in Kate Beckett’s vocabulary. Needless to say, I wasn’t too thrilled with the way the scene was handled. I can’t be too upset though because SHE SAID YES! That’s right, ladies and gents; we have another future Mrs. Richard Castle on our hands!

Beckett (Stana Katic) and McCord (Lisa Edelstein)

Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) and Rachel McCord (Lisa Edelstein)

Fast forward two months. Beckett tries to make her own way in Washington, D.C. while Castle is on a book tour on the west coast. It’s been nearly six weeks since this newly engaged couple has seen each other.

Now for some spoiler corrections. About a month ago, it was stated that a main character would get shot multiple times. I’m sorry to burst your bubble—that was a half lie. Beckett was shot with a customized paintball gun during a training module that went wrong. I completely saw that coming, but I thought she might have a little PTSD reaction, not just jump up and brush it off. It is during this training module that we meet the lovely Lisa Edelstein, errr, I mean Rachel McCord, Beckett’s new partner in crime[solving]. She’s an interesting addition to the cast. For the life of me I’m trying to figure out her personality and main agenda. So far, I’ve got nada. She’s definitely not my type, but I’ll deal.

Onto the case! Before Beckett can leave for the weekend to visit Castle, their FBI/AGO/What-is-it team catches a case involving National Security. Obviously, Castle is bummed about their cancelled rendezvous and decides to surprise Beckett in D.C. instead! Cue sexy times and an “Oh, God” exclamation. (I was secretly hoping for more. I think you were too!) And for the record, I lived in D.C. for six months last year. There is absolutely no way Beckett, a government employee, would be able to afford the townhouse/condo she currently calls home! It’s really nice, like millionaire nice.

I deviated from the case pretty quickly…

The morning after sexy times, Castle tries to pry his way into Beckett’s newest classified case. There is a moment I thought he would let it go, but come on, it’s Castle! He accidentally finds a loose picture of a serial number and enlists Ryan and Esposito’s help to find out more. The B Team learns the serial number is from a recently blown-up transformer box in Arlington, VA that happened to cause a major blackout. Cybertech Transnational was the target. The A Team believes the perpetrators were trying to gain access to a satellite in order to shut down military forces.

Richard Castle escapes the perils of death once again.

Speeding thing up: Beckett and McCord are also hot on the Cybertech break-in trail and hilariously catch Castle privately investigating at a golf course. McCord promises to keep their run-in under wraps while Beckett makes Castle promise he’ll stop fiddling with the investigation. Except, an unknown person takes surveillance pictures of Castle and go figure, that unknown person (Jack Bronson) goes on to abduct Castle, spouts off keywords like Valkyrie and Dream World, and then spontaneously dies. These events leave Castle in a crashed car, looking an awful lot like a co-conspirator to the FBI.

Later at Union Station, the FBI finds Bronson’s girlfriend with the encryption system. The girlfriend swears up and down that Jack is being set-up. Beckett, being our lovable, pursuing-justice-for-all BAMF, takes that information and figures out the plot twist. The stolen encryption system is a diversion! Something of greater value is on level eight of Cybertech Transnational! BOOM!

The FBI/AGO/I-just-don’t-know-anymore (help!) figure out what was actually stolen and it’s life threatening. An airborne toxin taken from level eight is released into Jack Bronson’s car. And who is in that car? Castle’s who!
Our premiere ends on a depressing note. Castle is again taken into federal custody and greeted by a very solemn Kate Beckett. All I can say is, it must hurt to be the one to inform your partner that he has less than a day to live.

We are left with our first premiere two-parter. SAY WHAAAATTT?!?!

Hits:

Beckett sporting a shiny new badge!
Ryan swaddling a fake baby.
I love hearing Castle say the word fiancé!
Beckett calls Castle “babe.”

Misses:

I sincerely disliked Alexis’ new boyfriend, Pi. He’s a weirdo.
Definitely not enough RySposito! I want the old team back together!

Tune in to Castle, Mondays at 10/9c only on ABC. For more on the show, go to http://abc.go.com/shows/castle

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Emily Reynolds

Hi, you've reached Emily, your TV Goddess. She has an addiction to TV shows, especially crime dramedies and is always available to fangirl with you! She also loves coffee, sleeping, and tweeting. Read her random but awesome musings on Twitter: @tvgoddess47!!!