'Castle' season finale recap: Castle makes a shocking move

Warning: Do not read if you haven’t seen the season finale of Castle.

Over the course of five seasons, we’ve seen Kate Beckett stare down gunmen, detonate bombs, and bring down murderers. But I’d be willing to bet she’s never been more scared than she was in the last minutes of tonight’s season finale of Castle. After spending much of the episode at odds (details in a bit), Castle ended its season finale with a big shock: Castle proposed to Beckett!

But how did we get here? I’m glad you asked…

At the start of the episode, Beckett went to Washington D.C. to interview for a job with the F.B.I. — without telling anyone. Castle, of course, eventually found out and the lie caused a blow-up between the pair. Castle wondered why she didn’t tell him about the interview, and Beckett became defensive and accused Castle of throwing the opportunity in her face.

“You get this job, you move to D.C., I’ll never see you. That’s pretty much the end of our relationship,” he told her. “You knew what this could mean and it didn’t occur to you to include me. Or worse, it did occur to you, and you chose not to. What does that say about us? Not much if you ask me.”

Castle eventually went to Martha for advice, and she asked why he’s always held back in his relationship with Kate. “Is it possible that you’ve held back is because deep down inside you don’t really think this is going to work?” she asked him. At this point, it was hard to read his face — was he being defiant or angry that she was telling him the truth. I was worried.

Beckett too sought some advice from her father. “We’ve been doing this dance for five years, and what happens when the music stops? What if all we were in love with was the dance,” she asked him. She then admitted that she wanted the job, but “he’s going to hate me, dad.”

It all built up to the big moment, which took place in their park, where the pieces came together. Beckett was going to take the job (in fact, she’d already sort of said her goodbyes to her job at the precinct) and Castle, I thought, was going to break it off with Kate.

He didn’t of course. Instead, he came ready to stop holding back.

The question is: What is Kate going to do? We have all summer to think it over, gang. ALL. SUMMER.

Other notes:

+ Loved the scene with Gates and Beckett when they talked about the interview with the F.B.I.

+Castle being protective over Alexis was very realistic. I appreciated them acknowledging the kidnapping — that’s something a family doesn’t just get over.

+ I’m glad Esposito finally knows about Baby Ryan!

+ In my excitement, I forgot to mention the case. But, to be honest, the whole case was deceptively ordinary. I was so wrapped up in the personal drama and Beckett’s possible departure, that I barely noticed anything else. The whole thing threw me off the scent of any impending moment. Clever.

Sandra on Twitter: @EWSandraG

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