On Castle, many of the victims have a troubled past life that, like many things behind us, cannot fully disappear no matter how badly we may want them to. This week, a professional skateboarder, Logan Moore, on his way to being the next Tony Hawk is murdered, and it seems like someone in his spotty past is to blame. But in the end we discover that a decision he once made haunted him, and he was killed trying to right a six year-old wrong.
When Caskett shows up at the crime scene—with Beckett rocking the most fabulous high ponytail ever—she and Dr. Parrish jump up and down in glee as they discuss the maid of honor dress, which Parrish will be proudly wearing. Naturally, that sends Esposito and Ryan into a tizzy over who will be Castle’s best man. They spend the entire episode sucking up, only to discover that Castle has already chosen his daughter to stand by him in the ceremony. Meanwhile, they go through a couple of suspects in Logan’s murder (including a rival skater, and Ross a super rich kid who’s been hanging with the skater crowd), and learn that the CEO of the big fancy skater movement had his gun stolen from his office (presumably by Logan). At first, they think it’s all connected to the big bad, AKA the Albanian mob (dun, dun, duuun). Logan had helped put his mother’s boyfriend, Enver Kotta, behind bars years ago (along with his mother), but Kotta had since been released. Although he was one of the last people to see Logan alive, he insists they met up in a moment of reconciliation. Kotta is, apparently, one of few men to have actually been rehabilitated in prison and went to Logan seeking forgiveness for getting his mother involved in his drug/murder/mob-related shenanigans. Logan, however, wanted three thousand dollars. Learning this, Castle and Beckett know something’s up—it’s pretty much always a bad sign when someone puts an actual dollar amount on the price of forgiveness.
For a moment, it seems like Logan might have been stealing things. They find his duffle bag full of magic, thievery tools (glass cutters and such), but then they discover a connection to the gang of super rich kids that Logan had been hanging out with. The three thousand dollars was to pay off one of the fellas, Carter Wexland, to help him break into a law office. Logan had said that he was planning to avenge a friend’s death. Things get even more interesting when Castle and Beckett show up at the law office and get shut down and shut out by the lawyer who was the victim of Logan’s breaking and entering job.
Castle and Beckett finally make the one stop they should have made early on in the case—they go visit Logan’s mother. She’s been behind bars for a few years, but she knows her son well and tells them about Logan’s childhood friend who was murdered (RIP Jay). They finally are able to make sense of the old video camera receipt they’d found in Logan’s belongings, when old camera footage found near the scene of the crime shows the CEO (who claimed his gun was stolen) threatening Logan. Logan and the CEO, Tommy Fulton, had been witnesses to Jay’s murder. They’d struck a deal with D.K., Ross De Konig, the original super rich kid from earlier on in the episode who’d murdered Jay out of skater-jealousy rage, and then killed Logan when he threatened to reveal the truth.
Last week’s brilliant disco episode was a tough act to follow, and “Law & Boarder” was a bit of a letdown. Throw in the fact that next week’s sneak preview shows Beckett getting framed for murder while attempting to take down the presidential candidate, and we have what felt like a filler episode. Alas, it happens to the best of ’em.
Now, for the real tragedy of the episode: how many of you were able to identify with the devastating losses Castle suffered via Beckett’s unmatchable Scrabble skills? “Quixotic”? With a triple-word score? Crushing. But at least they switched to strip poker at the end of the episode; Castle really needed to catch a break.
Favorite Quote of the Episode: “Maybe Logan Moore is like Erin Brockovich, but with a skateboard instead of… other assets.” (Castle)
Shannon M. Houston is a New York-based freelance writer, regular contributor to Paste, ande occasional contributor to the human race via little squishy babies. You can follow her on Twitter.