I know the ‘shippers love the idea of Castle and Beckett working out on the show, dating, etc. But it is really starting to overwhelm the episodes. Earlier this season it was their parents meeting; this week’s episode involves Alexis being sick and her mom (i.e., Richard’s ex) coming to stay with her while she’s sick. All at Castle’s apartment, all while Beckett is staying there cuz her place is being fumigated. Most of it is just a waste, except for a scene where you see the ex-wife running around in skimpy clothing, making Beckett all insecure about her intentions.

However, what really annoys me is that the big “change” in the episode (small spoiler alert!) is when Beckett and the ex go out for dinner together, kiss and make up, everything’s great, etc. Except the VIEWER DOESN’T SEE ANY OF IT. It all happens off-stage. So, the writers tell me this relationship and how it impacts on others is super important but then resolves it off-screen? Whose idea was that???? The intern’s????

For the mystery of the week, I have to say it was incredibly weak. Divorce attorney killed, whole situation smacks of revenge, let’s look at the suspects, etc. Yet, and I will throw out a big spoiler alert here, the motive for the murder is almost non-existent. It is painfully obvious in about scene 2 that the wife who went missing-and-presumed-dead years before is still alive and that she will pop up again near the end. It’s a slim thread that gets hammered on three times in about five minutes so the audience doesn’t miss the significance, so the fact that it will be relevant to the resolution is too obvious. Except the wife didn’t do much wrong — she faked her own death, sure, but she didn’t profit by it, she did it to escape an abusive husband. She’s got a new husband, lives in area (really? they would stick around???), but are the legal hassles she’ll have when the truth comes out enough to cause her to switch to murder? After all, this is the woman who had a drunk abusive husband in front of her on a boat in the middle of nowhere and left him alone. But the divorce attorney who might reveal her secret should get murdered. Sorry, that one was way too hard to swallow.

The only two gems in the entire episode were Lainey advising Beckett to “mark her territory” at Castle’s and a final conversation between Castle’s ex-wife and Beckett where the ex says one of the reasons they broke up was that Castle was too private a person, i.e. sharing was too one-way, a point that resonates with Beckett on a deep level.