ABC’s ‘Castle’ season 7, episode 19 review: Was ‘Habeas Corpse’ worth singing, dancing over?

For the first few minutes of Monday night’s new episode of “Castle,” we wondered about whether or not “Habeas Corpse” was destined to fall in line with so many other performances of the past. Namely, we wondered if it was going to be one of those that managed to be mildly entertaining as far as the case and the humor of it goes, but lackluster in being memorable.

If it wasn’t for that sideplot about the police talent show, we may have been in trouble. We didn’t realize just how much we wanted or needed to see Ryan and Esposito shaking their groove things for the sake of winning a trophy, but it was glorious. The same goes for most of the trash-talk that took place throughout. While Beckett’s past caused Castle to rethink the performance, we still got a little tease of their own number at the very end (in classic Castle-and-Beckett fashion, since their romantic side seems to bookend most episodes these dances).

The case itself, a cover-up featuring two prominent injury lawyers and a defunct make and model of car, loses points for being somewhat predictable. Of course one of the lawyers is responsible for killing the other! What else did you really expect at the end of this? There were some fun moments throughout, and most of the credit for those go to the writers for coming up with the most ridiculous personal-injury personas out there.

“Habeas Corpse” was a fun “Castle” episode overall, marked mostly by forcing some characters out of their element. There’s nothing in here that will be important in a month, but that does not always matter. Grade: B.

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