That was summed up beautifully. The facial expressions and body language often speak louder than words.

MnCastleFan said:
"1st: The handshake was an offer of respect to Beckett instead of a hug or kiss. I noticed that Beckett gave one of her happy inside looks. (This will help out Castle in the long run if her keeps her in his sights.)"

Yeah! The handshake reminded me of episode 1, where Beckett tells him she doesn't want to be just another one of his conquests, and initiates a handshake. Full circle.

Regarding the handshake, Castle obviously wanted to hug Beckett but it seemed to me that he thought that would be presumptuous. We as an audience know how Beckett feels about Castle but Castle himself does not. Since he doesn't know, of course he's going to miss just about any sign, like he did during the book party. My favorite scene was the one in the apartment building where Beckett is asking Castle about when he was going to tell her about the next book. She's thinking Nikki Heat, while he's thinking a certain British secret agent. When she realizes that her mistake and that it means he might leave, that's where you can see she's clearly apprehensive. He on the other hand is surprised to see Beckett apprehensive thinking that she would be only too happy to see him go. Beckett recovers just enough to give off the appearance that it means nothing to her, but the look she had when Castle was looking the other way clearly said otherwise.

Hey all,

Sorry, the biggest thing I didn't like about this episode was I thought Beckett was really mean to Castle. To me it came across like her nose was out of joint about something, most likely the book and I had to agree with Rick's comment that he though she'd be relieved their 'deal' was coming to and end, she's done nothing but give him grief about it. That scene where she basically told him to shove off and take those (the Russian dolls) with him was I thought very out of character for Beckett as she never struck me as petty before but that was a mean thing to say.

I liked the rest of the episode though and loved the phone scene at the end. I didn't get the impression that Rick was behind it, I thought he was a bit surprised by it too and loved the PJs :)