Castle Season 7 Episode 7 - Once Upon a Time in the West

Overall, I have been very happy with season seven of Castle, especially with episode six.  I really enjoyed Once Upon a Time in the West, the seventh episode of the season.  It is another fun, entertaining episode.

Like usual, there are spoilers ahead for people who haven’t seen the episode yet.  Read at your own risk.

Rick and Kate have Lanie, Esposito, and Ryan over the loft and tell them they got married.  The three are a bit upset, especially when Martha goes on about how perfect it was, even saying you should have been there.  Lanie goes off on Kate briefly, talking about not eating carbs for months so she would fit in her dress, and then she hugs Kate in happiness while pushing Rick away.  The guys hold on to their disappoint, saying they had plans for the wedding, including a song, and now there is no song for Rick, not even at the reception/party that will be coming up.  Kate gets a call about a new murder, and Ryan and Esposito refuse to go, saying that is another call they didn’t get.

At the hospital, they discover that the victim got sick on the subway, was taken to the hospital, said diamondback just before she died and she had been poisoned.  At the precinct, Ryan and Esposito discover that the woman had just been at Diamondback Dude Ranch.  Kate contacts the local sheriff who says he can’t do anything with any concrete proof and he’s unwilling to go to the ranch to ask questions since the ranch brings in a lot of tourists to the area.  Kate is aggravated, but thinks there is nothing else she can do.  Then Rick comes up with the idea that he and Kate should go to the ranch and honeymooners to investigate.  Surprisingly, Gates agrees with Rick, so the two head off to the ranch.  Rick thinks they might as well try to have some fun too since they won’t be able to take an actual honeymoon for a while because Kate used her vacation days looking for him when he was missing. 

Rick is having fun from the moment they get to the ranch while Kate is trying to focus on finding out what happened to the victim.  They do some shopping, getting some western clothes and Rick wants to get guns, but Kate says they need to head to their room - she managed to talk their way into them getting the same room as the victim.  They talk to the guy in the room next door who also shares the bathroom and learn some things about the victim, including that she may have been involved with a married ranch staff member.  Rick comes up with a way for them to try to figure out which staff member by them doing various activities around the ranch.  He of course goes for the poker game in the saloon while signing Kate up for something like calf or hog roping.  They learn that the victim had been asking a lot of questions and they keep hearing about lost gold. 

Back in New York, the guys are working on the case as well, while continuing to whine about not being at the wedding.  Rick and Kate go looking for the lost gold, with Rick tracking trash through a field instead of tracks.  They find what Rick thinks is the treasure, only to discover a dead body instead.  There is a suspect in New York, though he turns out not to be the killer.  When Rick is drinking with the owner of the ranch, he gets a call from the guys.  They figured out that the owner of the ranch is the killer and Kate isn’t answering her phone.  Rick and the guy almost get into a shoot out, but Kate arrives to deal with the situation just in time.  At the precinct, the guys are still complaining about not being at the wedding when Gates decides that she has had enough of that.  She points out that real friends would just be happy for their friends, especially when they have been through as much as Rick and Kate have.  The important thing is that Rick and Kate are happy and married.  The guys see the light and follow through on an idea from Gates and each give a few of their vacation days to Kate so she and Rick can have a short honeymoon.  They are staying at the ranch for those days, but Kate gets a promise of a real honeymoon for sometime later.

This is another fun, entertaining episode that I really enjoyed.  Yes it does get a little silly a few times, but it works for the episode and makes it more entertaining in my opinion.  The case is interesting and it serves as a way to give Rick and Kate at least a short honeymoon, which is nice.  I’m not the biggest fan of westerns, but the western theme works well here.  The episode does use some of the cliches of the genre, like shootouts and someone shooting a gun out of someone else’s hand.  Those things all worked to make the episode more fun and entertaining.  Castle has done other episodes sort of like this and those episodes also did the same thing.  I tend to like these type of theme episodes.

Once Upon a Time in the West is very closely tied to the last episode, well, at least the ending of the last episode.  It isn’t said for sure, but I don’t think much time has passed since Rick and Kate got married and the beginning of this one when they are telling Lanie, Esposito, and Ryan.  I got the impression that Rick and Kate weren’t home that long before getting them to the loft to tell them.  It is clear that they are happy to share their news.  I get why the three were disappointed or even upset at first.  I think Lanie was the best, with how she sort of told Kate off, and then was hugging her and happy for her friend in less than a minute.  The guys held on to their issues longer, and while some of that was amusing at first, like when Rick just hands his wallet over to them when they say he owes them for the tux rentals, but it got old for me when they wouldn’t drop it.  Even when calling Kate about the case, they brought it up again.  They were being childish and it got old for me fast.  I was very glad when Gates decided to have a talk with them and I agree with everything she said.

Overall, I really enjoyed Once Upon a Time in the West and think it is one of the more entertaining episodes for this season of Castle.  The next episode looks like it will be one of the more serious episodes.

Once Upon a Time in the West is available to watch on the ABC website and other streaming services.  I think it is also available through ABC On Demand.

Castle Season 7 Recaps/Reviews
Driven ~ Montreal ~ Clear and Present Danger ~ Child's Play ~ Meme is Murder ~ The Time of Our Lives ~