ABC’s ‘Castle’ season 6, episode 6 review: Did Stana Katic, Nathan Fillion crack this code?

“Castle” tonight presented something that was a bizarre dichotomy: You had a murder case of all things that was rather pleasant and fun to watch, and then a situation involving Castle and Alexis that was depressing and very dramatic.

We’re of two minds about Castle’s treatment of Pi, and how his daughter is furious with him over not supporting her when she has been nothing of supportive of Beckett. To an extent, we get what Castle is going through. He is a concerned father, and Pi has been nothing short of annoying, but that has also been the intent of the character: To be shallow and somewhat irritating, so that we could be in the same position that Rick is as a father. We’ve always loved the Castle / Alexis relationship, and it’s important for her to move towards her future.

But, the fatal flaw here is the writers making as believe that Castle has to always be justified. Why not give Pi at least one or two more redeeming qualities, outside of his love for Alexis? It would at least help to paint the situation a little better.

Now, let’s get to the fun part: The “Da Vinci Code” sort of mystery that was basically a fake treasure hunt holding a real treasure hunt on the sly. Sure, the victim was not that surprising, but there were a ton of great Castle / Beckett moments tonight: They were trapped in a tomb at one point, Castle tricked her into thinking that he was getting his arm destroyed, and there were of course conspiracy theories. Plenty of them. This was the perfect follow-up to “Time Will Tell” last week, which remains our favorite “Castle” episode of the season so far.

The cliffhanger at the end of the episode tonight was mostly that Castle and Alexis have work to do on their relationship, and that is going to happen. We just hope that they can do it in a way that suddenly makes Pi interesting, and helps us buy into why Alexis likes him. When the show’s weakest aspect is its emotional core for a week, not even a mystery can save it. Grade: C+.

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Photo: ABC