Castle Episode 6.03 Need to Know

Castle and Beckett are borderline giddy as they lay across from each other in bed. Sadly, they aren't in the same bed. They aren't even in the same city. No, Castle and Beckett are staring longingly into each other's eyes through their smart phones. The electronic cuddle-fest ends abruptly. Beckett gets a call from her partner while Castle can't go back to sleep thanks to the blender noise Pi makes creating a kale smoothie. If only he had a way to escape the loft. Thankfully, there's been a murder. Unfortunately, Castle no longer works for the NYPD. Think that'll stop him from taking the case? Nah.

Ex-child star Charlie Reynolds is found dead at a construction site after a jogger sees his lifeless body impaled on a crane hook. The victim played a loveable nerd on a sitcom called 2 Cool for School. Castle is turned away from the crime scene by Detective Grant “Sully” Sullivan, who now works with Ryan and Esposito. Castle convinces his former colleagues to bring him into the loop. The victim's agent says her client recently made a big bank deposit. The team barely has time to investigate before they are approached by the Justice Department. Two of their finest are taking over the case-Agent Rachel McCord and Agent Kate Beckett.

Esposito and Ryan wonder where Castle's loyalty is now that Beckett is back in town. Perlmutter lets the boys known that he found an abnormally large amount of fresh chicken poop on the bottom of the victim's shoes. Sully discovers that Charlie had an argument with his former co-star, Ramon Russo (guest star Antonio Sabato, Jr.), who says a 2 Cool for School reunion movie was in the works. This makes Ryan very happy. He was a big fan of the show and felt Charlie Reynolds was an underrated thespian. Ramon alibis out, but claims his pal was definitely acting weird lately.

The team believes that perhaps Charlie learned that the reunion movie's producer, Hank Harper, was skimming money from the film's budget. They visit the set where a beautiful actress named Svetlana is already helping with auditions to recast Charlie. As for the sketchy producer, he says the film is being financed by the Russians. Perhaps that's why the feds are involved. Ryan and Esposito want Castle to use his inside access to Beckett to find out what the Justice Department knows. An attempt to sweet talk the story over a latte goes south fast. Castle gets nothing. Esposito can't even look at him he's so disgusted by his utter failure.

The team realizes that Charlie visited a warehouse that was across from a chicken processing plant. They find a box that was shipped from Russia that's filled with camera equipment for the movie. A hidden compartment reveals smuggled guns in the case as well. Beckett and McCord also arrive at the warehouse during their investigation. A CIA agent named Ethan Wright also shows up. He claims that Charlie Reynolds was working with them to infiltrate the gang of a notorious Russian mobster named Anton Renkov who supplies terrorist groups with weapons. The evil gangster is also a big fan of 2 Cool for School. This made Charlie the ideal spy.

Anton was using the movie to smuggle guns into the U.S. It was Charlie's job to find them, which he did. The CIA now has the weapons. They want everyone to walk away from the case so it doesn't jeopardize their undercover operation. That doesn't sit well with Ryan and Esposito. They still want to solve Charlie's murder. Beckett does, too. That's why she slips Castle a flash drive with satellite footage showing Charlie entering the warehouse. He was followed into the place by someone wearing a 2 Cool for School hat just like the one Ryan swiped from the set. Another video shows that the person following Charlie was his sultry co-star, Svetlana.

Svetlana is the niece of Anton Renkov. Beckett convinces McCord to question the actress, who reveals that she was in love with Charlie. She was trying to get him to give up the spy game for his own safety so the two of them could get out of her family's life. But Charlie needed to finish this one last mission before they left forever. He was giving his apartment to a friend and former co-star, Ramon Russo, who knew his acting career would tank if Charlie bailed on the reunion movie. The two of them argued and things got out of hand. Case closed.

Captain Gates encourages Beckett to not be a stranger. As for Svetlana, the CIA wants to force her to spy on her family or they'll reveal her as a traitor to them. Beckett knows this is a suicide mission. That's why she leaks a story that will get Svetlana political asylum to keep her safe. Castle is very proud of her. He also knows that the long distance thing isn't really working. That's why he got an apartment for them to share in DC. Beckett's joy at this news is short-lived once Agent McCord reveals that the Justice Department knows she's the leak regarding Svetlana. That's why she's just been fired.