Castle: For Better Or Worse Review, Season Finale

The big finale to Season 6 of Castle goes out with a bang—or should I say a raging fireball? Caskett’s big wedding is just 72 hours away, so what could go wrong? A heck of a lot. Sure, the Castle-faithful have been waiting for tonight’s episode since our favorite crime-fighting duo became an official couple. However, this season finale is not what you would expect. While everything hangs in the balance, and we expect a well-orchestrated NYC wedding, things get real bad real fast for Castle and Beckett.

The episode starts out with a sense of urgency as Caskett tries to get everything done before the big day. It all seems to be moving along at a brisk pace, but when the couple applies for a marriage license, it is not the former playboy who is still married, but Kate that apparently has been betrothed for 15 years. Did not see that coming but it’s true: Beckett is still married. The next question is, what?? It seems that while a Stanford undergrad, Kate had a little too much to drink and on a spur of the moment jaunt to Las Vegas, and she married her college boyfriend by the name of Rogan O’Leary. Stuck, Castle calls in his attorney to give counsel on the sticky situation. If she can’t get Mr. O’Leary’s signature on a marriage dissolution document, she cannot legally marry Castle. All she needs is a signature, but it is not going to be easy.

With the help of Esposito and Ryan, O’Leary is found in upstate New York with a rap sheet bigger than the rock Castle put on Beckett’s finger. Determined, Becks drives up to the tiny hamlet of Willow Creek on a simple assignment to get a singular signature so that she can have her day. Upon arrival, Kate sees that this is not going to be easy, especially since Rogan is pretty much the same degenerate he always was. In fact, he is well aware that he is still married to Beckett and uses stories that his wife has been in a coma as ways to con people. All that time, and the guy knew that one day this would come back to bite him. Kate is all business, but old Rogan sees an opportunity in Beckett’s proposition. He will sign the document but first he wants a favor.

The favor turns out to be one that sets in motion a series of events that is truly Castle-worthy. Before long, Rogan is being kidnapped by two assailants in ski masks. No signature. Now what? Clearly needing assistance, Castle makes the drive up to the boonies to help solve this little mystery. It is funny to see Kate so out of her element in upstate New York. She will always be a city mouse and looks and acts lost up the heavily wooded area. When Caskett find where Rogan is being held captive, they still have time to make their own wedding, which has now been moved to the Hamptons after their original venue burns down in Manhattan. From there on, the mystery presents itself in kind of a silly way that includes a gun toting biker gang, a fugitive Mafioso, and a stripper loving Pastor that wants to keep damning photos of him buried. It is all fun, but you cannot help but wonder how much time they will devote to the long gestating nuptials. Oh, and Kate’s one of a kind wedding gown was ruined in a freak pipe bursting accident.

Rogan’s signature is finally attained, and I give the show a pass for ending the whole caper with a newspaper headline of what transpired. When it is all said and done, good appears to triumph over evil. Kate wears her mother’s dress, all 300 guests are routed to the Hamptons for the affair, and Castle is on his way. But in the homestretch to his vacation home, Castle is being tailed by an ominous SUV with tinted windows. I thought this cannot be good, and the next thing we see is Kate frantic after an hour of unanswered phone calls to Rick. When Beckett’s phone rings you just know it’s not gonna’ be good news. It isn’t. In her wedding dress, Kate looks and sees Castle’s Mercedes completely ablaze with no body in sight—fade to black.

While it was a more somber ending than I had expected considering this whole season has been leading up to the wedding, the fiery wreck is easy to dismiss, because we all know that Castle returns this fall. Still, it was a fun episode that showed that Caskett are great pair even outside of the big city. Now, the waiting starts, and September cannot get here soon enough for the Castle faithful. Myself included.

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