Wow, so much to comment on here. First, am I the only one who was NOT a fan of Beckett's dress? It seemed to me to be more "Stana" than "Beckett". The color was OK, and the style definitely a no-no. Still, she looked great, but not nearly as good as in the blue Herve Leger dress. And Nathan looked FABULOUS in that suit.

Ok, now to my favorite moments. I agree totally with the below post from an earlier poster:

'when castle went to take Beckett's dress (made sure I spelled right this time Tongue), I swear I thought he was going to take her hand instead, and my heart must've stopped for a second. It turned out to be the dress, but hey, the arm holding is good enough for me anyway.'

While it wasn't what I had hoped for, it was still very sweet. And her hair twirl was the perfect cake-topper. Here are my other favorite moments:
1. Esposito in the polo shirt. As Castle himself said: "Gorgeous"
2. This exchange: Beckett: I have no life. Lanie: No, Mr. Bishop has no life that's why he's on my table.
3. Castle & Beckett getting on the exact same train of thought while on separate dates and finishing each other's sentences.
4. Alexis's description of her day: the Vice Principal, the German teacher, her friend saying Castle is "So choice", etc.
5. Beckett's face changing instantly from amusement to shock when the young woman asks her if she was "the detective girlfriend." "Don't. Show me. Show me now."
6. Castle's high-pitched "I'm on your side!"
7. Beckett listening in on his cell phone call (Castle should have tried to twist HER ear. then again, she probably would have just found a way to break his arm)
8. Esposito: "I'm telling ya, bro, puppies. Gets 'em everytime." Ryan (nods): "Puppies."
9. Castle and Beckett's back and forth in the house: "You are such a metro-sexual." "Better than a poster-boy." "Man, poster-man." etc.
10. And finally, Castle's offering Beckett his arm and her "Oh, what the heck." response. Priceless.

I didn't think the cast and crew could top "Sucker Punch", but they did! I laughed and (yes, I'll admit) shrieked throughout this episode. Castle and Beckett are really gelling as partners and becoming friends without the other knowing it. Really ratcheted up the jealousy in this episode too. Can't wait to see what happens next!

I wonder if Beckett thought the portions were too small because her date was eating her food and she didn't even notice.

mig991 said: Like most my favorite scene, of the series so far actually, was the last one, it was just perfectly done. Especially them joking about how to act on a first date. That we are in on the joke that this is in fact their 'first date', and they are so into what they were/are doing they don't even realise how they screwed up the night for those two innocent people was hilarious.

I love the pace of this series so to the creators of Castle keep doing what you are doing! You guys are awesome. I would buy the s2 dvd's just for this episode.

Absolutely! You are so right!
As they walk into the elevator:
C: Some people just don't know how to behave on a date.
B: Especially a first date!
C: Exactly!
And there they are, so oblivious that they are walking out on their 'first date.'

I loved, loved, LOVED this episode. All of it. Best. Ever!

One thing bugged me, though. Did anyone else think Castle's tie changed color? When he put it on while talking with Alexis it looked maroon, but later at the restaurant, I could have sworn it was purple. Or maybe it was just my eyes acting funny because I was so excited. lol

Was a bit too busy celebrating poet Robert Burns' birthday with all of my Scottish friends last night after the ep (read: drinking scotch, ahem) and busy entertaining clients all day at work, so I couldn't post before now! Of course, everything has already been covered. LOL The bullet point highlights for me…

-The Snakes on a Plane reference – I wonder if that was written in the script or was improvised? Hilarious! My friends and I have watched this film a billion times and shed tears and tears of laughter over it.
-Hose jockey. Hahaha! Hmmm…perhaps a slight lateral to "hoser," and thus a Canadian homage? ;)
-I thought Stana looked stunning in that dress – loved that color on her! But agree that it was more of a Stana dress than a Beckett one. Although Beckett wore Herve Leger, so who knows?
-The Castle holding the purse thing, metrosexual reference, building on the whole "try to butch up a bit" thing. Another reason that Beckett's dad was played as such a sensitive (somewhat similar?) soul, perhaps?? Hinting at the kind of man Beckett grew up with? (<—yeah ok, total stretch, but as I was pondering it, I think there are elements of our parents in our partners, no matter how much we want to deny it).
-The last scene – I mean, come on. Brilliant. "Oh, why not?" when Beckett took Castle's arm – double entendre much? :) The hair twisting was classic. And the totally fake banter about the first date business…right on. :) I totally got all girly and giggly watching that scene. Hee!

Beckett2.0 said:

Let's be honest, I think we all know that Beckett and Castle will get together eventually. But for me, the fun is in the fact that finally–finally—we have a television show who is developing a relationship in real time. It is the most believable relationship for me on television that I've seen in a long time. Because, for once, a show isn't playing into the Hollywood romance, love at first sight, married by episode two stereotype that we see all the time.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS. Perfectly said! There are two things that can happen in a relationship that is developing like this, in my experience. You can get together at the height of the flirtation and it's initially incredibly intense and amazing, but it burns out quickly. Or, you can play the game until it's played out, till you're past that kind of "if I touch you I'm going to explode" thing and you are comfortable with one another to the point that you just eventually fall into each others' arms without giving it a second thought. THAT is how I see Castle and Beckett coming together. I don't want them to get together yet! That said, I don't want it to be in the VERY last episode of the series (which will be 12 years from now, right? ;)) either, because the whole shipper-torture thing is played out.

The one and only kind of weird thing for me was that there was absolutely no transition whatsoever from the previous episode, which was so serious and so important to the overall development of these characters. This is an episodic show, so, right, you just assume that time has passed and things are a bit more jovial. It was really kind of a jolt to me, however. I thought it was great that this episode was so much lighter, but I felt like there needed to be some even subtle allusion to the stuff that went down in last week's ep. The fact that there wasn't ever so slightly devalued it for me somehow. When I queried this in chat no one agreed with me, but I still wanted to voice it here.

As I have ANOTHER 7:30 am meeting tomorrow and have to fly to Atlanta for another meeting tomorrow afternoon, that's all I got. Oh, to have a few more spare brain cells, because this was a great ep!

Widget said: I loved, loved, LOVED this episode. All of it. Best. Ever!

One thing bugged me, though. Did anyone else think Castle's tie changed color? When he put it on while talking with Alexis it looked maroon, but later at the restaurant, I could have sworn it was purple. Or maybe it was just my eyes acting funny because I was so excited. lol

Yeah, that's what I thought too! Although, I only noticed it while watching the second time. The maroon one would have complemented the red of Beckett's dress. It must be some kind of goof. Like in "When the Bough Breaks," when Beckett arrived at the crime scene, she didn't have a cup of coffee with her. Then after a commercial break, when they returned to the same scene,she's got one in her hands.

What made the tie goof stand out more is that Alexis just said no to the purple one he was holding and picked the maroon one specifically.

Noticed a few other small  things on subsequent viewings, when Esposito and Ryan are teasing Castle about the newspaper when Beckett walks up to talk to them, Castle is very uncomfortable, but Ryan has got a huge grin/smirk on his face while looking directly at Castle.

Alexis stalking off and taking her food with her when Castle says "she (meaning Beckett) might be flattered" and grumbling "flattered" as she walks off.  I took it as she is not only annoyed that people were trying to meet up with her dad through her, but also maybe she's feeling a little bit protective of Det. Beckett.

Subsequent viewings brought just as many chuckles.  And loved Ryan and Esposito even more in this episode after each new viewing.

more observations

Martha in the morning – checking what she has in her hands, which goes where… like she is so tired she forgot what she ws doing. It's all in the details.

"Pray for murder." LOL.

I love the scenes where Kate discovers that something's going on, but can't pinpoint what. Reminds me of the Double Down episode.
The What – What what, the double take "kid's … school" when Ryan and Esposito had just teased Castle and he's looking at her all too innocent (a little hair-tucking then, too), and at "do you even know what game I'm talking about".

Consistency…
The guy in greens, following the relatives in for the identification of the victims, is the same as in episode 210 (episode with wife/fiancee).

Another set of good guest roles. Miss Langford was nicely written and played: vacation/sick leave, leaky faucet, are you the detecitve girlfriend? And Mickey Carlson, the squatter – great character, and the story he tells…

I love their fights. Just like in "When the bough breaks", they get angry and loud… and as soon as they get another lead on the case the quarrel is forgotten and they're the dynamic duo again.

Nobody does angry like Stana. "Romanticly involved?" If looks could kill…

"You're not mad about number nine, are you?"
"No, no, it's not that. I don't care about that. …much." He does have some insight to his own vanity.

"Beckett said the funniest this… She's the best that…" He does NOT have insight into his own feelings. So fun that he talks (and talks) about Beckett without even realizing.

"So who's your friend at the paper" – why does she ask? Jealous much?

When she asks Castle about the restaurant, first I thought it was just to tell him that she has a date too. But then I see she's sitting with the Food section of the newspaper, so then it's more natural that she asked. But I still think part of it was bragging about the date.

When Beckett tells Montgomery about the possible bank heist, she's looking at Castle, like she is checking with him that he agrees, or whether he has any new ideas. She really considers him being a work partner now.

Alexis: Find happiness with a kind of person who's a number on a list
- Castle is also a number on the same kind of list… so don't judge a person based on that, missy!

At the end, yes she twirls her hair, but then she rests her hand at her throat/upper chest – also a tell tale of longing for a touch.

The talk as they strolled to the elevator arm in arm. How was your date?She was a little boring,didn't talk much.Yours?He seemed self involved!They didn't even register that they hadn't given either date a chance. Beckett missing the "would you like to have sex with me later" comment from Brad!Castle not giving Amanda a chance to direct the conversation away from the talk about the case.Then in the elevator,"people don't know how to act on a date"."Especially a first date". Amazing! Talk about self involved.I laughed.

I especially loved Beckett twirling her hair as she and Castle strolled to the evevator. So telling.

wynnara – I hadn't thought of it that way, but I think you have a point. Thanks for that!