Following the events of "In the Belly of the Beast", Beckett carries out an off-the-books investigation attempting to connect drug baron Vulcan Simmons to presidential candidate William Bracken. She becomes a fugitive when the man she believes can lead her to Bracken is murdered, forcing the elusive Mr. Smith to come out of hiding and reveal a key piece of evidence that could see Bracken brought to justice — if Beckett can find it before her pursuers find her first. While Beckett is caught, she finally finds the evidence she needs to arrest Bracken: a tape recording Roy Montgomery had left her mother where he confesses to various crimes including planning Johanna Beckett's murder. With the new evidence, Beckett is cleared and she is finally able to close her mother's murder case, arresting Bracken on live TV as he announces his plans to run for president.
- Back for the Dead: Vulcan Simmons returns as a suspect in the murder of a lobbyist, only to be murdered himself by Bracken's goons for the purpose of pinning his death on Beckett.
- Call-Back: At the end of "Sucker Punch", Beckett told Castle that she hoped he would be there when she finally brought her mother's killer to justice. He was.
- Cyanide Pill: It looks like Bracken's men are forcing one on Beckett to fake a suicide. A tranqilizer followed by copious amounts of liquor, then subverted with a gun to her head.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Beckett finally arrests Bracken, avenging Johanna's murder.
- Faking the Dead: Mr. Smith turns out to still be alive after previously appearing to have died in hospital, and reveals the rumoured existence of a secret tape of Bracken confessing to murder.
- Foreshadowing: Beckett dreams of Montgomery meeting her for the first time, advising her to look for her belongings for things like cassette recordings.
- Insane Troll Logic: Bracken thinking he did Beckett some kind of warped favor in having her mother killed.
- Internal Reveal: The team finally fills Gates in on the story of Beckett's murder.
- Memento MacGuffin: The elephant statue on Beckett's desk that belonged to her mother Johanna. Beckett discovered that her mother had stored a microcassette tape in the base of the statue, with the evidence she had collected against Senator Bracken. This tape leads to Beckett finally arresting Bracken for her mother's murder.
- Misery Builds Character: Toyed with a bit. It implies Senator Bracken is even more off-the-rails than he appears, and Beckett doesn't buy it.Bracken: We had an agreement... a truce. Live and let live. I held up my end of the bargain. I even saved your life.Beckett: And that makes up for what you took from me?Bracken: What about what I gave to you? Everything you are, everything you've accomplished is because of me.Beckett: Is that how you justify murder? It builds character?
- Plot Hole: How did Johanna Becket put a tape of Senator Bracken admitting to HER OWN murder inside the elephants? And if she got that tape BEFORE she was murdered, why didn't she take it to the police?
- While the question of how she acquired the tape is valid, it should be worth noting that the tape has Bracken discussing plans to have Johanna murdered but doesn't definitively feature him saying (for example) "Send Coonan to deal with her". Up until this point, Bracken's actions seem to have been based around him taking advantage of others' plans and blackmailing them for a piece of the action, but Johanna may have been unable to find any evidence that Bracken had actually done anything himself, so assumed that he wouldn't actually order her death.
- Villainous Breakdown: Upon seeing Beckett alive, Bracken begins stammering in his interview and sweating in fear.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: We don't learn who killed Vulcan Simmons. Presumably it was one of Bracken's goons, but we don't get confirmation.
