When the detective who investigated Beckett's mother's murder is shot before her eyes before he can give her new evidence in the case, Beckett's old wounds are reopened.
This episode shows examples of...
- Anger Born of Worry: Martha lays into Castle because she's terrified he'll get hurt.Martha: You think about how much you love Alexis and that is exactly how I feel about you! "Where is this coming from?"
- Bait-and-Switch: Esposito seems to start talking after being Forced to Watch Ryan subjected to enough Water Torture...Esposito: Listen to me. You're too late. The cops already know all about... me and Your Mom.
- Dirty Cop: John Raglan and Gary McCallister were these, along with others, who kidnapped mobsters then ransom their release, ending when a botched attempt ended in the death of an undercover FBI agent.
- Death Glare:
- Castle throws the king of all these at Vulcan Simmons when the latter riles up Beckett.
- When Beckett visits him in prison, Lockwood just stares at her.
- Genre Savvy: Montgomery is well-aware that Castle and Beckett are gonna work the case regardless of being taken off it and gives them the files they need. Also Castle sucks at stealth when he attempted to get the files at the precinct.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Ryan and Esposito try to refuse to take the case after Montgomery sends Beckett and Castle home. He doesn't yell at them; just pulls out his badge and tells them to solve the case before Beckett gets herself killed.
- Relationship Upgrade: A professional and platonic one (for the moment): when Castle convinces Beckett to continue their investigation despite being benched, he calls himself her Plucky Sidekick. When Beckett points out that those characters tend to die, Castle responds "Partner, then" which she agrees to.
- Shout-Out:
- Detective Raglan talks about Jacob Marley and the chains he wore in the afterlife representing his life of sins.
- Montgomery sends Castle home, telling him he doesn't want the writer to be playing Nancy Drew.
- When talking about Hal Lockword's skills as a sniper, Montgomery tells Beckett he's not some "nut with a deer rifle and a copy of The Catcher in the Rye."
- Wham Episode: Beckett learns several key details about her mother's death. Johanna Beckett was investigating the conviction of a mobster who had murdered an undercover FBI agent unknowingly stumbling onto a conspiracy between a group of cops. The agent was accidentally killed during a botched attempt to kidnap the mobster, intending to ransom his release as they had done several times before. John Raglan, who was assigned to the case, along with his Academy classmate Gary McCallister were part of the conspiracy and whoever they worked for is the person that hired Dick Coonan to kill Beckett's mother and her colleagues.
- Castle is also convinced by his mother to admit, at least to her, that he's long since stopped working with Beckett for the sake of research.
- Your Mom: Ladies, gentlemen, and all points in between, as you can see in Bait-and-Switch, Esposito gives the greatest one of these lines in the history of media, if not the world.
