Recap / Castle S 7 E 23 Hollanders Woods

• And the Adventure Continues: In keeping with the Series Fauxnale nature of the episode, it ends with the gang's night out at Castle's reception being interrupted with a call about yet another murder.
• Call-Back: The events in Hollanders Woods that inspired Castle to obsess over murder is not a million miles away from the fake story he teased Beckett with all the way back in Vampire Weekend half a dozen seasons ago.
• Continuity Nod: The episode with the Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane time travelers said that Beckett would become a Senator.
• Don't Go in the Woods: The killer murders his victims in wooded areas.
• Hollywood Law: Appropriately for the fauxnale, Castle gets evidence that would absolutely be inadmissible in court. It doesn't matter that he's not a cop; he's working on behalf of the department and therefore has to follow all the same constitutional and legal requirements for gathering evidence and getting warrants.
• Malevolent Masked Men: The serial killer that terrorised the child Castle and has reappeared now wears a ghastly mask.
• No Party Given: Two men from an unnamed political party encourage Beckett to run for the New York State Senate.
• Secret Test of Character: Beckett’s performance review.
• Series Fauxnale: The episode is clearly intended to wrap up the series, with Castle resolving the childhood incident that inspired his obsession with murder and winning a writing award and Beckett being tapped to become a senator. The Beckett's mother arc had been wrapped up the previous season and 3XK was killed this season. It even has Beckett declare her pride at all she's done with Castle and ends with Castle himself giving a speech summing up how far the series has taken up after being introduced with the same words he was introduced with in first appearance in the first episode. And then the series went on...