Observations while rewatching One Man’s Treasure

When I look over my list of Castle episodes, I tend to overlook this one, although there are numerous memorable moments – between Castle & Beckett, Beckett & Alexis, and between the Wife & the Fiancé of the VotW (Victim-of-the-Week). I vividly remember the first time I saw the previews, especially Rick’s “Dude, you are so busted”.

After the Hottie-in-the Hall scene, we cut to see Rick Castle acting out his boyish side, not just flying a RC chopper, but verbally acting out a fanciful police dialogue “deploying laser-activated radioactive immobilizer”. It’s a fun scene, reminding us of where Rick has grown from. I would like to see a return of this kind of playfulness, without sacrificing the growth in maturity we have seen this last season.

Then there’s Alexis – she displays a curious mix of maturity and youthful irresponsibility: Refusing to forge her dad’s signature on school permission slips, but doing it anyway on credit card charges. This is a cute, but odd wrinkle in this father-daughter relationship. Or is it that she can get away with the one, but not the other?

We get an opportunity to watch more Beckett-Alexis interactions, this time there are some without Castle being in the room. It is evident that Alexis has a growing respect for Kate, and we get to see it. But this was not explored as much in Season 3. I hope to see more of it in Season 4.

There is a brief scene where we see Rick’s indiscriminately flirtatious side, when he says “Is she distraught? I can be very comforting” in answer to Espo’s *cough* “Hottie”. I’m glad that Kate’s influence over Rick has given him incentive to grow out of it.

For me, the only memorable parts of the case itself were the interactions between the Wife and the purported Fiancé. There were so many layers being unwrapped that I couldn’t figure out where it would end until the end. Sam-Jake was planted as a corporate spy? Did he buy “Sarah” the engagement ring to get on her good side? Oh, Sarah was a counter spy? She went along with it, wondering why he wouldn’t sleep with her? Did she buy the ring? Oh, he discovered she was a counter-spy, and kept the ruse going? If she was a counter-spy, why did she keep up the act when Jake-Sam turned up dead? Oh, she broke into Sam’s house to “retrieve her grandfather’s pen”? Why, really? Cat-fight! He had an ulcer? Wait… What I want to know now, was she complicit in covering up New York Recycling’s fraud?

The scenes in the property room were touching. Beckett’s was impressed with Alexis’ ability, enthusiasm, and diligence, and said so. Then there was her (Alexis’) emotional investment in finding the owner of the brag book. She told Rick that she would want his pictures if something happened to him, so that’s what motivated her to return the book to its rightful family. She shares a trait with Kate Beckett: personalizing and identifying with victims’ family members.

There was Rick’s “You know what math doesn’t add up for me? Two wives… Two too many.” Kate says something about the “common denominator – You.” But we know that Rick’s two divorces may not have been his fault. But Kate doesn’t know that yet. But Rick cannot just come out and tell her, because that would sound to her like whining and blaming the woman, which is how Kate would probably hear it. Later, Rick says he can imagine what it’s like carrying on two relationships – “From a literary point of view” he says. But with two failed marriages, even if not his fault, he does have life experience with it. Kate will need to understand his history before she can fully invest herself with Rick.

There was Kate’s snarky “Never underestimate the fragility of the male ego”, followed by Rick’s “She’s baiting us. Just ignore her and she’ll lose her witchy powers” “You wish… Where’s my broom?” She gives as good as she gets. Better, even. It’s lines like these that make this show so enjoyable.

“Sarah” seems to have a fairly low opinion of men in general: “Men think they are smart. The trick is to let them to continue to think it.” This is a common, and humorous, statement in the gender wars, but it may have made her too cocky, blinding her to the possibility that Sam-Jake discovered her true identity, and had turned the tables on her.

One twist was Rick’s unwitting statement that gave Alexis the hint she needed (“you’ll be retired from law enforcement”) to solve her ‘case’. It’s usually the other way around, with Alexis making the offhand comment that gives Rick a key to solving the murder of the week. This was a sweet switch.

The conclusion to the case depended on Rick’s storytelling experience. He was “writing a scene in his mind” in Sam’s office, which gave him the opportunity to get to evidence that was instrumental in solving the case.

In conclusion, the case in this episode served as a vehicle to showcase character interactions, but sometimes took us on a mystery tour trying to figure out how and why it happened.

And now you know the drill: This is your opportunity to share your reactions, too.

Something that doesn't add up for me- In season 1, episode 3 and in this episode Montgomery mentions his son. And yet (I hope this isn't considered a spoiler) in Season 3, ep 24 he only seems to have 2 daughters. Am I missing something or is this a mistake on the part of the writers?