After the glee-fest of the last episode, I didn't really expect anything to match it this week… and really, this doesn't, but it is an enjoyable episode in its own right and the more I think about it, the more it actually makes me smile.

Firstly, I *love* that they don't have Castle rabidly wanting to hunt down the identity of his father as would happen on just about any drama on television… and I also love Castle's rationale for not wanting to know… it appeals to the part of him that loves the story, loves the fantasy… which is, as Greeny has already suggested, so very Castle.

Although, one thing I kept pondering after his frequently references to the hucksters and the cons in his family tree, if that isn't a bit of the insecure Castle showing… he seemed to shoot down Montgomery's suggestion that he could have some "cop blood" in him awfully fast… does he believe that's far too noble a profession for someone of Castle's questionable character/genetic makeup? I don't know… it just occurred to me at the end of the ep that I wonder if you ever sat Castle down and asked him if he thought he was really a "good guy", what would he say?

Also loved that, unlike many shows that would've gone for the obvious story of a rich baseball player who gets into something dark or gets into trouble with his girl on the side… that we actually had an unexpectedly tender tale about a father–yes, we probably should've seen it coming with all the talk about fathers this ep… but, in any case, a good father who just wants to do right for his daughter.

abc123, I agree with a lot of what you said. My initial reaction to the episode was a little disappointment, but it's hard not to have high expectations where Beckett and Castle are concerned after the last 3 episodes each moved their relationship forward in a significant way. This one seemed to me to slow it a little, which I suppose you need to do if there aren't plans to hook them up in the near future! But all Castle episodes also delight me in some way, (and I did rewatch once) so here's what I liked:

-Stuff relating to Beckett in the episode: her hair, her in blue, those sexy high heeled boots she was wearing, the banter about her "big words", her fangirl moment, the way she caught the ball Esposito and Ryan tossed around, the talk of her dad, her use of Spanish (Esposito too)…

-Castle's musings about his father…the "creative" reason he says he's ok with not knowing him seems consistent with his writer creativity (although there's probably something more emotional below the surface). The father stuff had a nice tie-in with the crime.

-Castle missing the toss and his bad throw made me laugh, and some of the moments with Alexis were sweet.

-The discussion of athletes and politicians cheating with Ryan, Esposito, and Beckett…she was very matter-of-fact about it being an exposure thing, and this would seem to play into insecurity about a relationship with a famous writer like Castle

But I was surprised or confused by the following:
-Beckett's comment about Castle being "famously fatherless"…seemed a little mean…and maybe not like something she'd say at this point
-Martha's lack of involvement in discussions about Castle's father…but I suppose there will be time for this later on
-No one-on-one time between Castle and Beckett outside of them being together for interrogations…especially as it related to discussions of fathers.

There was a lot going into the crime story in this episode, so perhaps the fast pace required some things to be cut like abc123 said…

The other thing that kind of stood out for me is that Beckett said that she and her dad used to go out to Shea. Hmm.. OK. But Shea is -er- was the home of the NY Mets, not the Yankees. Joe Torre is the greatest Yankee's manager they've ever had (so far). 

Now I'm not a big baseball fan but I've lived in NYC a long time and I've never met a fan of both teams. You're going to be a fan of one OR the other….  Highly unlikely, both. At least I've never met any one who was.

Now, as a person, J.T. is terrific because he's a stand up guy who conducted himself very professionally when his bosses, er… did not.

Just saying… that kinda bugged me.

Oh and in case you're wondering I'm a Mets fan, or used to be…

Elizah…I caught the stuff about the freshman year sweetheart Allison too…but it did seem odd to me that he would think about someone he knew for 6 hours every week…would she have been pre-Kyra?

The writers don't seem to like to do the same concepts over and over…would they do another "lost love"?

With 3 tweets from Richard Castle about a new neighbor this week, I thought that might be in the episode, but maybe a future one?

I think I would have felt a little more satisfied with the episode with just a little more follow-through with interactions between Castle and Beckett…she starts the Cuba/swimsuit flirt, and then shuts down his reaction quickly…there aren't even any of the usual glances/knowing looks between them. Even one emotional discussion of fathers would have been nice…I agree with abc…there just wasn't character advancement in this one.

The back and forth between Castle and Esposito was cute this episode, though…Esposito teasing Castle about Mama Mia/his mother being wild, and Castle teasing Esposito about Ryan still loving him even though he's on the phone all the time with his girlfriend.

I'll say it: I was flat out disappointed in this episode. My expectations were low going in so it wasn't even that I hyped it up. The "Who is my daddy?" storyline felt really random and out of place within this episode… almost like an afterthought and somewhat contrived. If they want to go there, IMHO, it kind of needed more finesse. I thought as it stood, it was rushed.

All of the baseball stuff just bored me to tears. I'm still not sure why Joe Torre is someone to really geek out over. I know who he is now (thank you Google!) but nonetheless, I can't even imagine Beckett going all fan girl. Don't get me wrong, Stana sold it and it was cute, but I'm just not sure I believe it given everything we've seen about KB. In a non-professional setting I could buy it, but while working on a case? Not so much.

Ultimately, this was the type of episode that made Castle feel more like typical procedural to me and seemed like more of a filler episode than anything. There were moments, but frankly, most of those I already saw in the promos. Probably won't buy this one from iTunes. : (

ETA: I just saw the previous post and I have to say, I will be ridiculously unhappy if Castle finds out he has some long lost love child. So cliche. So stupid. So not what I want to watch.