Castle Episode 9 Review

Little Girl Lost

May 6, 2009 Felix Kemp

A two year old girl is stolen from her own home, and an old friend of Beckett's wants her to help him in the investigation, but he's not too fond of Richard Castle

Unlike previous episodes, where a gruesome murder has been the focus of the ensuing investigation, the ninth episode of Castle saw Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) and rockstar author Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) struggling to solve the case of a two year old, Angela, who’d been abducted from her own home.

The nature of the investigation may have raised a few eyebrows amongst the audience, considering Beckett is a homicide detective and Castle a murder-mystery author, but the arrival of F.B.I. Agent Will Sorensen (Bailey Chase), an old flame of Beckett’s whom he had worked a similar case with, prompted their inclusion.

Two Year Old Girl Stolen from her Home

The parents of the abducted girl, Theresa (Judy Reyes) and Alfred (Julian Acosta) Candela, soon received a ransom call from the kidnapper, replete with Saw-style voice, who demanded 750, 000 dollars for their daughter’s return. The ransom suggested the kidnapper may have intimate knowledge of the Candela’s finances.

Although the kidnapping case was the obvious focus of the episode, another notable plot-point was the mismatched relationship between Castle, Beckett and Sorensen. Whereas Beckett has treated Castle with some leniency, albeit tempered with an innocuous rivalry, Sorensen has no qualms with barring Castle from the case when his presence became unnecessary.

It posed an interesting dilemma for Beckett, caught between her desire to solve the case, for both she and Sorensen had failed to recover an abducted child on a similar kidnapping, and to mitigate encounters between Castle and Sorensen.

Richard Castle and Will Sorensen Clash on Castle

The clashes between Castle and Sorensen were a highlight of the episode, ranging from hilarious to almost touching. Castle’s nonchalance vanishes when Sorensen revokes his involvement in the case, though when the eponymous author stumbles upon Beckett and Sorensen’s imminent kiss, he feigns disinterest. As a result of Castle being shunned by Sorensen, Beckett and her unofficial partner grew closer.

Sorensen’s presence also developed Beckett as a character, too, introducing their past relationship, their former cases, and Sorensen’s knowledge of how big a Castle fan Beckett really is.

Another amusing point in the episode concerned Beckett's fictional alter-ego, Nikki Heat. Cover-art for Castle's new book, starring Nikki Heat, had been shown to members of his online fanbase, and portrayed the femme fatale in little to no clothing. Beckett was outraged, although Castle quickly realised she must be a member of his fanbase, or how else had she seen the cover-art?