Castle

Not so much of the usual "Castle" fun element in this episode but but on the other hand, there was the suitable serious treatment of the senseless death of a promising young singer to take its place.



Somehow, that just adds more depth to the series.



As it turns out, there is much more than just this young lady's death to be disgusted about. Sexual assault was also a dark part of this troubled life we only came to know via her music, and that music was hauntingly sad in that it was her only mode of communication about a betrayal more profound than her death actually was. Compounded by the bittersweet fact that her beloved sister would fulfill her wishes to clean up only after her death, and this episode required almost a full dish of left over Hallowe'en chocolates! Damn you, Castle! I'm glad to see this new depth in "Castle" not only for the sake of the show, but for the performers it must also be as nicer stretch.



More to love with each passing week...

I really enjoyed this episode. The storyline is interesting, touching and tragic. Some great music is just the cherry on top.



Loved how Hailey left the clues to the rape and her future murderer in her last song. The song itself is so sad and Sky's performance of it is even better than Hailey's. I liked how the realisation that Hailey stayed clean made Sky try to do the same because Hailey wanted it. The real tragedy is the very people – or at least, one of them - who got Hailey clean and changed her life was the very person who destroyed her. Really lovely but tragic story.



Loved that Alexis helped solve the case. It's helpful having a teenager around, they couldn't have solved this case without Alexis' interest in Hailey's music and her knowledge of her. Hailey's murder might never have been solved and the truth would never have been known.

As the previous reviews pointed out, this wasn't the usual humorous episode of Castle. It seems the writers are trying their hand in dramatic, in-depth cases and by the looks of this episode they are succeeding.



A young and famous singer, Hayley Blue, is murdered and her body is set up after one of her videos. The team investigates a list of potential suspects such as her producers, her ex-producer, her ex-bandmates, her sister, her sister's dealer, her stalker. The number of suspects present and the back-and-forth between all of them is what makes this a very good riddle, as the viewer is kept guessing about who did it until the very end. The real criminal is kept fairly inconspicuous so the revelation is a shock to us as it is to the team and everyone else involved in the case. The plot touches on quite a few sensitive subjects, such as producers hooking young artists into drugs so they can perform more impressively, sexual abuse in relation to the father role model, family, the downsides of being famous, betrayal... For me the most moving part was Hayley's song, which described in its lyrics how she had been abused and violated by the person she had looked up to as a father. That must be an extremely painful experience. Hayley was left with noone to trust, as her shelter turned into a torture chamber, and her only means of expression was her music. She was trying to clean up and make a fresh start and the people she depended on to help her with that turned out to be the cause of her death.



I liked the scene where Castle and Beckett pay a visit to Hayley's drug addict sister, Skye, and help her out with her withdrawal symptoms. Beckett is clearly starting to notice Castle's more sensitive side and she seems to be impressed. Also, Alexis taking a somewhat active part in the case was a nice change, and if it hadn't been for her listening to the song all the time, Castle wouldn't have ended up solving the case. Sometimes the truth is hiding in plain sight.



Great epi as always, would love to see more of this type in the future.

Another well written and performed episode of Castle. This one was especially good as they kept the actual murderer a little bit out of the limelight without dismissing them completely.



There is a whole gaggle of possible suspects. Haley's sister Sky, her new producers, her old producer, her band mates who she had just dumped to go solo, and then the old standby stalker fan who has a restraining order against him. It seemed that almost all of them turned out to have some kind of motivation as well.



In a lot of ways you had to wonder about the physicality of the murder. Haley's neck was broken and she was left hanging from a fire escape tied to it with some kind of wrapping. It was suppose to point the police toward the stalker. It didn't seem that any of the women involved would have had the strength to do it by themselves.



In the end there were a number of twists and turns and a few shots at arresting people before the actual killer was revealed by Haley herself as Castle finally interpreted her final songs meaning.



In the end both Castle and Beckett got credit for bringing the killer to justice and Beckett actually seemed proud instead of annoyed when they were both congratulated by the Captain. An entertaining episode with some good twists and turns to it. Very well done and certainly worth seeing again. Thanks for reading...

By far, "Famous Last Words" is the season's best episode to date. First of all, I liked that Castle exhibits more feeling for the victim in this case than he does in many others. Of course, Alexis's connection to the deceased singer facilitates this sensitivity, but it was a nice change nonetheless for the normally sarcastic Castle. Also, I liked that this episode had a clever red herring. There's no denying that "Castle" cases often appear to be nearly solved about halfway through the episode but then endure at least one if not more twists or false clues in order to make the case last a full hour. Using a misinterpretation of the lyrics in this episode was a more clever and natural way to prolong the case than many of the false clues the show has offered before.



Finally, I also enjoyed Alexis's character development in the episode. Rarely does she seem like a typical teenager, but in this episode, her deep connection to her favorite musical artist rings true of the teenage experience. I like that Alexis goes beyond the stereotyped teen girl most of the time, but I also like the choice to give her some "typical" qualities, as this keeps her character grounded.