Castle: Limelight review

Ah, a classic Castle episode with all of the trinkets for dedicated Castle-ites that made the show what it is and should always be. When the Lindsay Lohan-like Mandy Sutton shows up dead in a hotel alley, all is not what it seems. The girl that was seemed ready for super-stardom was tossed aside like yesterday’s New York Post. Like they say in news, “if it leads, it bleeds.” I have to say that these pulled-from-the-headlines stories do really really well on Castle and they are at their best selves in their home dynamic of New York City and the 12th. When a smartphone pic surfaces of Mandy making out with her old boyfriend Jesse, the world seems to stop.

Although this seems to be just a simple and straight-up death of a tween idol, something is definitely off. When it is realized that the dead Mandy Sutton is not the Mandy Sutton red flags go up all over NYC. As it turns out. Mandy’s mother’s overbearing stage-mom presence had taken it upon herself to run decoys of Mandy and doppelgangers around town in order to throw off the press. What struck me is how the real and outstanding young actress that plays Sutton (Alexandra Chando) acts. Although she is just 22 years old, this is a little girl lost who is starved for the wrong kind of attention. The more that these young celebrities feel entitled to the world,the worse it seems to get. The day of overnight celebrity is no more…now all it takes is a minute.

When Mandy and Alexis have a run-in at the 12th where they switch smart-phones, Castle’s little girl may be in big trouble. They hit all of the marks this type of chapter deserves and the writing on the wall proves to be stellar. As the mystery deepens, it was cool to see Alexis sleuthing just like dear old dad. Maybe a spinoff is in the works? Its a long shot but it could get a lot of miles out of the franchise. When a hooded Mandy and a properly dressed Alexis get recognized after a quick talk with her boyfriend Sam the bartender. The crowd begins to swarm until the bouncers let the two girls go their way. That’s when a gun-toting thug and former boyfriend scoops the girl up into his pickup. While the three of them hash it over gunpoint, Castle and Co. raid the street and save the girls. However it isn’t Jesse they should have been worried about.

Like any great mystery-thriller, it’s about who can benefit, the why, who, and how…with the rest just as scenery. In the end, murder is murder whether it’s for love, passion, fame, or money. “Limelight” has all of those qualifications and I loved every last minute of it. This is a definite must for devoted Castle-fans. While I am not giving away any endings I will say that its a doozy!

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