Follow Zap2it:
Z-Cap
'Castle' finale kills one, maybe two cops and exposes a dark secret
They are dropping like flies.
Season 3 of "Castle" promised to end with death, but we may have just gotten more than we bargained for.
The first big departure came somewhat predictably in the last act -- after a game-changing revelation, naturally -- but the real shocker was reserved for the final moments, when another series regular was seemingly felled.
But how did we get there? We start, as we do with most noteworthy "Castle" outings, with looming mystery of Beckett's (Stana Katic) murdered mom. She goes to meet the mystery killer's imprisoned associate Hal Lockwood --as she so often does -- only to find that he's been transferred to less secure facility where another accessory the conspiracy/murder, Gary McAllister, awaits his silencing execution.
Since even people in prison for murder can still be tried for another murder, Lockwood has a late-night hearing where something looks suspicious.
Now, did we accidentally stumble into a cold war thriller, or did the season finale of "Castle" actually include a helicopter breaking a gangster out of a New York City court room? It sure did. And with the closest known associate to Johanna Beckett's murderer on the lamb, the hunt pushes Beckett back into the danger zone.
This does not sit well with Castle (Nathan Fillion). He tries to get his partner to back off, but she snaps. They fight, he even brings up the cuddles and unspoken-of kiss and then they appear to sever their partnership -- but it can't possibly last. They did that last finale.
While all of this is going down, Montgomery (Ruben Santiago-Hudson) makes all sorts of foreboding comments, fatherly references and general red flag type statements that lead to the correct conclusion that he's going to die. What it did not prepare us for was the revelation that he's been part of the Johanna Beckett conspiracy from the beginning.
Oh yeah. That's right. We'll wait for you to affix your jaw to the rest of your face.
Turns out Montgomery was an unwilling accessory to the evil-doing. He accidentally shot another cop, made the wrong friends and ended up employing the woman who's mother he was tangentially involved in murdering. He promised the still-unnamed villain he'd keep an eye on her, in exchange for her safety.
But he's been doing a bad job, so a freed Lockwood pays him a visit and makes the situation clear: either Beckett goes down or the entire Montgomery clan gets murdered.
He arranges to meet with Beckett -- while Esposito (Jon Huertas) and Ryan (Seamus Dever) do some sleuthing of their own, turning up evidence that puts Montgomery in the middle of the crimey web. Ryan is the first to point out the damning info. Esposito gets real mad at him for questioning the chief. The world's shortest bro fight ensues, and Esposito concedes that they need to tell Beckett.
But she's too busy having her world turned upside down by a confession from Montgomery, who hasn't sold her out at all. He's drawn Lockwood to the hanger to kill him and spare Beckett and his family. Only he makes two very big mistakes in the process.
1.) He does not tell Beckett who killed her mother, saying she won't be able to control or protect herself in possession of the information, so she can't have it. Lame.
2.) He dies.
He did get forgiven before he went though. It's sweet, but we bet she would have really forgiven him if he'd told her who the killer was. Beckett, Castle, Esposito and Ryan agree that the truth about Montgomery never come out. He'll die a hero.
And at his hero's funeral, Beckett even delivers a eulogy... for two!
We see her in the cross-hairs, just as Castle spots a laser sight, and though he dives to save her, she takes a bullet to the chest. There's blood everywhere, and her eyes roll back into her head, leaving her presumably dead and us extremely anxious until some unknown date in September when the show returns.
Could Beckett really be dead, though? Of course not. Unless there are some plans to kill off most of the remaining cast and reboot the series as a multi-generational "Cagney and Lacey" starring Susan Sullivan and Molly Quinn, she'll be just fine.
Season 3 of "Castle" promised to end with death, but we may have just gotten more than we bargained for.
The first big departure came somewhat predictably in the last act -- after a game-changing revelation, naturally -- but the real shocker was reserved for the final moments, when another series regular was seemingly felled.
But how did we get there? We start, as we do with most noteworthy "Castle" outings, with looming mystery of Beckett's (Stana Katic) murdered mom. She goes to meet the mystery killer's imprisoned associate Hal Lockwood --as she so often does -- only to find that he's been transferred to less secure facility where another accessory the conspiracy/murder, Gary McAllister, awaits his silencing execution.
Since even people in prison for murder can still be tried for another murder, Lockwood has a late-night hearing where something looks suspicious.
Now, did we accidentally stumble into a cold war thriller, or did the season finale of "Castle" actually include a helicopter breaking a gangster out of a New York City court room? It sure did. And with the closest known associate to Johanna Beckett's murderer on the lamb, the hunt pushes Beckett back into the danger zone.
This does not sit well with Castle (Nathan Fillion). He tries to get his partner to back off, but she snaps. They fight, he even brings up the cuddles and unspoken-of kiss and then they appear to sever their partnership -- but it can't possibly last. They did that last finale.
While all of this is going down, Montgomery (Ruben Santiago-Hudson) makes all sorts of foreboding comments, fatherly references and general red flag type statements that lead to the correct conclusion that he's going to die. What it did not prepare us for was the revelation that he's been part of the Johanna Beckett conspiracy from the beginning.
Oh yeah. That's right. We'll wait for you to affix your jaw to the rest of your face.
Turns out Montgomery was an unwilling accessory to the evil-doing. He accidentally shot another cop, made the wrong friends and ended up employing the woman who's mother he was tangentially involved in murdering. He promised the still-unnamed villain he'd keep an eye on her, in exchange for her safety.
But he's been doing a bad job, so a freed Lockwood pays him a visit and makes the situation clear: either Beckett goes down or the entire Montgomery clan gets murdered.
He arranges to meet with Beckett -- while Esposito (Jon Huertas) and Ryan (Seamus Dever) do some sleuthing of their own, turning up evidence that puts Montgomery in the middle of the crimey web. Ryan is the first to point out the damning info. Esposito gets real mad at him for questioning the chief. The world's shortest bro fight ensues, and Esposito concedes that they need to tell Beckett.
But she's too busy having her world turned upside down by a confession from Montgomery, who hasn't sold her out at all. He's drawn Lockwood to the hanger to kill him and spare Beckett and his family. Only he makes two very big mistakes in the process.
1.) He does not tell Beckett who killed her mother, saying she won't be able to control or protect herself in possession of the information, so she can't have it. Lame.
2.) He dies.
He did get forgiven before he went though. It's sweet, but we bet she would have really forgiven him if he'd told her who the killer was. Beckett, Castle, Esposito and Ryan agree that the truth about Montgomery never come out. He'll die a hero.
And at his hero's funeral, Beckett even delivers a eulogy... for two!
We see her in the cross-hairs, just as Castle spots a laser sight, and though he dives to save her, she takes a bullet to the chest. There's blood everywhere, and her eyes roll back into her head, leaving her presumably dead and us extremely anxious until some unknown date in September when the show returns.
Could Beckett really be dead, though? Of course not. Unless there are some plans to kill off most of the remaining cast and reboot the series as a multi-generational "Cagney and Lacey" starring Susan Sullivan and Molly Quinn, she'll be just fine.
Follow Zap2it on Twitter and Zap2it on Facebook for the latest news and buzz
Photo/Video credit: ABC
Related pics
Zap2it Elite Sheet Must Reads from the Web's In-Crowd
Our Partners
best castle episode ever!!!!! I bet Beckett won't remember what Castle said to her...until a very dramatic scene some time in mid season. Man, this is the best show on television. I LOVE CASTLE!!!!
I hate that Captain Montgomery died. He was one of my favorite characters, not only because Ruben Santiago-Hudson did such a great job of portraying him, but because he was a great captain and role model who inspired such loyalty in his officers. Why did they have to destroy that?
Yes, it was dramatic to have Captain Montgomery be in on the plot the whole time, but it just crushed me to find that out, that his whole life and everything I have believed about him as a character for the last two years was a lie. And why was one of the most positive and admirable African American characters on TV sullied and taken down? Would it be too much to let just one black character be a truly good guy? Captain Montgomery's death leaves the Castle cast pretty white bread. Yes, I know Esposito is Latino, but now there is no major black character on the show.
I agree the scene in the hangar was lame. The captain had the jump on Lockwood. He could have hidden and taken him out the second he stepped out of the car. Instead, he just stood there and let Lockwood shoot him. The scene was so confusing that at first I thought that after falling, Montgomery raised his gun and shot Lockwood from a prone position during the final confrontation. I also thought he hit Lockwood with his first shot. The editing of the scene was very hard to follow.
They never actually showed Kate's wound. She could have had on a Kevlar vest and still gone down and lost consciousness simply from the impact of the bullet (I'm a medical reporter; I can't help analyzing stuff like that.) It's a big inconsistency for them to allow her to appear in public in such a wide open space so quickly, especially considering her wannabe killers are out there. Did no one think Kate might still be in danger and in need of protection?
So, I m mad and disappointed, and thought the whole Castle finale was a pretty lame five-humped camel and a big cheat for the viewers. I truly hate the whole idea of finale cliffhangers, and having to wait so long to see what happens. If I didn't love this series so much, I just might lose interest. I might lose interest anyway; it's too long a wait.
In contrast, I watched the Chuck finale tonight and while it teased to a big new development with the potential for tons of new story-telling next season, it cared enough about the viewers to wrap up all the story lines from this season. Now that's the way to do a finale.
I agree that Castle season finale left a lot to be desired. Many cliches and what-not that just aren't believable.
There was blood on Kate's hands at the last scene. She was clearly shot and wounded (if not fatally). I like a show that takes risks. It would be something to have the next (last?) season be Rick-centric. It wouldn't have to be episodic anymore. Fingers crossed.
I disagree with your last comment though. Castle finale did tie up some loose ends. We now know all the players involved with the mob-napping, at least the low-level ones and they're all dead. We also found out that there's an even bigger player who's been pulling all the strings. Chuck finale didn't do anything better.
IF Stana Katic is off the show, I will personally picket ABC wherever their offices are
Patricia, Montgomery is still one of the most positive and admirable African American characters on TV. Sure he messed up in his youth and got stuck in an impossible situation, but he's spent every moment of his life since then trying to make up for it the best he can -- to be the best cop, father, and chief he can. That was the gist of his own words to Kate and I haven't seen evidence over the last three seasons that this wasn't the case. He went out a hero and made the only choice he could that protected his family and gave Kate a fighting chance, choosing to end things with Lockwood with his life. Also, don't forget that he postmarked a thick envelope before he died, so it's doubtful that who the Big Bad really is died with him.
As for the other stuff, you can look at it in other ways. In the hangar scene, if Montgomery wasn't out in the open, Lockwood and the rest would never have gotten out of the car -- that's basic bad guy meet-and-greet 101. And, in the last scene, while they didn't show Kate's wound, I thought I saw that there was blood. In any case, Lockwood was the known threat to her life and he died with Montgomery, so, yeah, a vest would have been smart, but it's not inconceivable she wouldn't be wearing one.
Don't forget about the package of files from the safe...
Not-so-plausible plot-lines?
(1) Beckett dies from the rifle round, meaning the cliffhanger finale isn't a fake-out (Kevlar; recovery), and season four begins with a mourning period for Castle and the gang.
(2) Meanwhile, the series adds two regulars, with the intro of a captain and a detective, and continues to be a procedural, just with new, possibly strained, relationships.
(3) Key details that Montgomery mailed to Castle, Esposito, Ryan, etc. will then surface sometime in early-mid season four.
(4) Castle, Esposito & Ryan will then try and close the case(s), but will undoubtedly meet some snags along the way, and then the newbies/guest-stars will help to push the case forward.
(5) All the while, Castle brings his Nikki Heat series to a conclusion by writing one last book, as he is haunted by Beckett's loss and struggles with her case.
(6) Then there's the all-important break in the case, and it's finally closed. Castle's book is then published, in Beckett's memory of course, and that spells the end of the series, unless Castle develops a new muse.
What happened to the lighthearted series that kept me coming back for the witty banter with the detectives and warm moments between Castle and his family? If I want this kind of drama, I'll watch Law and Order or NCIS.
What happened to the lighthearted series that kept me coming back for the witty banter with the detectives and warm moments between Castle and his family? If I want this kind of drama, I'll watch Law and Order or NCIS.