Set two months after the end of "Watershed" (except for the beginning, where Beckett says yes, after he tells Castle she took the Task Force job). Beckett is learning the ropes in DC, while Castle is heartsick for her. So he visits her there, and half-unwittingly gets caught up in here case about a break-in at a highly classified tech facility. The case involves kidnapping, car crashes, a daring chase, and a shocking Cliffhanger revelation for Castle.
Tropes In Use:
- Batman Cold Open/Hidden Purpose Test: After the cut to DC two months later, Beckett is shown chasing a bad guy into an alleyway. A hostage situation ensues, where Beckett gets the upper hand and saves the hostage... except she's not a hostage, and shoots Beckett. End training exercise.
- Put Down Your Gun and Step Away: Beckett does this at the beginning, putting down her gun and kicking it to the perp...except she's attached a small flash bomb to it to gain the upper hand.
- Significant Name Shift: Beckett refers to her new fiancé as "babe" for the first time.
- Smokescreen Crime: Beckett and the other federal agents are initially investigating the theft of a military encryption device from a government contractor. When they later recover the device intact and untampered with, they soon realize that its theft was just a distraction for the real target of that heist: a deadly chemical weapon stored in a secret lab on the top floor of the same building.
- The Thing That Would Not Leave: Alexis' new boyfriend Pi moved into Castle's loft, much to the latter's dismay.
- Wham Line: Beckett to Castle at the end: "You've got about twenty-four hours to live."
