Castle Review: And Justice For All (Season 8 Episode 13)

Any time Richard Castle goes undercover, I know we’re in for a treat.

That’s particularly true in this episode of Castle, “And Justice For All,” where Castle finds himself going undercover as an ESL student. As entertaining as this episode is, it also makes a pretty significant statement about immigration, diversity, and the importance of other cultures.

And it shows the importance of Castle and Beckett’s work relationship, since Castle has lost his inspiration to write!

I appreciate that, after having seen them broken up, and now that they aren’t technically working together, we get a clear reminder of why Castle and Beckett came into each others’ lives in the first place. Beckett is Castle’s muse, and working cases with her inspires his work. To have that taken away just leaves him staring at a blank cursor — that is, until he decides to take matters into his own hands.

After visiting his P.I. office to learn that Alexis and Hayley only have standard, uninteresting cases to work on, he sees a headline on the news that grabs his attention. A dead body has been found in a pit of deadly snakes.

So, obviously, this is something he has to be a part of. Much in the way things were when Castle and Beckett first started out, he wants to be a part of every case, and he’ll do just about anything to find a way in, even if this annoys Beckett. Now, of course, it’s annoying her for a different reason, and I won’t even get into that point right now. I think we’ve beaten that dead horse enough.

Something we learn during the investigation is that the ESL students aren’t willing to talk to Ryan and Esposito because they don’t trust cops. They come from countries where the police corrupt, so they certainly aren’t going to trust the cops here.

I think that’s also a comment on the way we currently view police in our society, and perhaps shows us through the examples of Ryan, Esposito, and Beckett that we should view the police as good, honest, and trustworthy. They also handle the whole thing in a way that’s sensitive to the ESL students. Yes, that’s for their benefit in solving the case, but it’s also because they’re understanding.

That’s where Castle comes in, because who wouldn’t want to talk to Richard Castle? Naturally, Castle jumps at the opportunity to go undercover, and in doing so, he manages to make some pretty good friends.

My absolute favorite part of this episode is Castle’s elaborate scheme to get the judge to confess, where every ESL student helps out in one way or another. It’s so funny and so endearing.

That same group gets to witness justice first hand when their teacher is arrested during class, then they get to celebrate at Castle’s house after the face — with a table full of American cuisine. That American cuisine, of course, is actually a buffet of different kinds of foods from all over the world. America is, after all, supposed to be a melting pot. It’s a nice message, and it comes at a time when I think we really need to hear it.

But something else happens in this episode that’s important — Castle has a memory about his disappearance. This is something I thought we’d gotten our conclusion to (though it wasn’t a satisfying one), but it looks as though that has now been re-opened. Maybe it’s a second chance at giving us a more satisfying conclusion. I don’t know. I do like the fact that it hasn’t been forgotten entirely — this is a still a large chunk of Castle’s life that he basically lost.

Other Thoughts:

• Was it just me, or does Esposito look a lot like Captain Kirk with that yellow shirt in this episode?
• I’m usually pretty harsh on new characters. Maybe it’s because I don’t care much for change. That said, I don’t see the usefulness of Vikram. At all.
• Alexis sure is a busy lady these days, and I can’t imagine when she sleeps. Still, it’s kind of nice that she gets to take on the role of the new ESL teacher.

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