ABC’s ‘Castle’ season 8, episode 21 review: Castle, Beckett versus the ‘Antichrist’

It’s certainly sad to think that there is only one episode of “Castle” remains, especially now that we’ve gotten through the last one that feels like a typical episode of the show. If this had been more of the entire season for the show, we feel like we’d probably feel a little bit better about where we are moving into the finale.

Unfortunately, there really hasn’t been enough of ones like “Hell to Pay” or “Much Ado About Murder,” last week’s super-fun installment. Our preference is probably still the latter, mostly because tonight went a little over-the-top with the Castle conspiracy corner that he does like to have every now and then. This time around, the focus was on whether or not he had been marked for death, and if the Antichrist was really out killing people. Of course, neither turned out to be true.

What this did open the door to see was some of the best Playful Beckett moments we’ve seen this season, where that side of the character has been a little buried. Her scaring Rick was classic; meanwhile, she and Castle scaring Alexis and Hayley at the end was doubly great. These little strokes are what makes this character engaging and fun to us as a viewer; she’s a tough Captain capable of taking down any bad guy, but she knows at times how to have a laugh.

We wouldn’t say that the big conclusion to this case was that big at all; were it not Stana Katic’s penultimate episode, we may not even remember it. With circumstances being what they are, though, we’re almost sure to. “Hell to Pay” is another reminder of what we’re missing, and it’s still hard to review it in a vacuum given the news that is beating down on the show externally. Grade: B+.