At a tedious meeting with his bank manager to secure a loan to renovate Martha's acting school, Castle excuses himself to call Beckett in order to distract himself — only to end up directly reporting the bank heist that kicks off moments after to her. While Castle, who ends up held hostage in the bank along with everyone else, tries to figure out precisely what the robbers are after, Beckett ends up being roped into the role of hostage negotiator after the lead robber, having interrupted Castle's call to her, takes a shine to her. It soon becomes apparent that the robbers are more interested in the contents of a particular safety deposit box than anything else — which is complicated by the fact that its owner has just been murdered...
Tropes:
- Aroused by Their Voice: Trapper John has this opinion of Beckett's "bedroom voice".
- Bank Robbery: The episode is framed around one which Castle and Martha are caught up in.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: One of the hostages may seem like a frightened man who is just trying to see his family again. In reality, not only is he an abusive husband bent on tracking down his terrified wife and child, to the point of killing his former mother-in-law, he's also the ruthless mastermind behind this whole scheme (and then bombed his co-conspirators when he didn't need them anymore).
- Call-Back:
- The Old Haunt, the bar Castle bought in "Last Call", is mentioned again.
- Castle alludes to several of the times he has saved Beckett's life over the course of the series.
- Casual Danger Dialogue: At one point during the hostage situation, Castle says to Martha, "Mother, I find I'm no longer satisfied with the customer service at this establishment. I think we should take our business elsewhere."
- Caught Up in a Robbery: Castle and Martha are at a bank negotiating for a loan for Martha's acting school. He takes a break to call Beckett and is on the phone with her when a gang of bank robbers storms in.
- Closest Thing We Got: Beckett is forced to basically act as a hostage negotiator despite her lack of experience in this field due to "Trapper John" specifically requesting to speak to her after their initial talk.
- Continuity Nod: Castle is apparently keeping score of precisely how many times he and Beckett have saved each other's lives. By his count, he's ahead. Beckett is less-than-impressed either way.
- Everyone Can See It: Trapper John is quick to sense something between Beckett and Castle, and often refers to Beckett as Castle's "girlfriend". In a curious inversion of how the series normally plays this, it's Castle who denies the relationship, while Beckett does nothing to dissuade this belief.
- Everyone Knows Morse: Castle uses a mirror to communicate with the police outside the bank in Morse code.
- Faking the Dead: The murderer's family staged their deaths in a boating accident over a year prior.
- Genre Savvy: Relax, Castle knows what to do in a hostage situation. He's seen Die Hard.
- Irony: Castle calms down a fellow hostage by reminding him he has a son he'll see again, soon. The man is the mastermind behind the robbery and he's looking for his abused wife and son who faked their deaths to get away from him.
- It's Personal:
- Ryan and Esposito are slow to react to the report of the bank robbery... until they learn Castle's inside the bank in question, at which point they immediately kick into action.
- Beckett herself is clearly not going to be very happy with Trapper John should any harm befall Castle:Trapper John: Now you got one minute, Kate!
Kate: No, I've got twenty. You hear me? Twenty. Because if you pull that trigger I will personally walk through those doors and put a bullet through your skull. - Trapper John demands to speak with Beckett specifically because he knows she has a personal connection inside the bank, Castle, meaning she'll be less professional than the typical negotiator.
- Jurisdiction Friction: The S.W.A.T team leader is quick to shoot down any idea that Kate might have of getting involved in proceedings... until it turns out that Kate is the only one Trapper John will talk to. This creates a bit of tension between the two.
- Long-Distance Relationship: This is the episode where Alexis and Ashley's falls apart.
- Longing Look: The instant Beckett gets through those doors and sees that Castle is okay, she has eyes for no one but him, and he for her. Cue the Martha Moment Killer that had everyone cursing. Including Castle.
- The Main Characters Do Everything: Despite the presence of a full hostage rescue team with specific training in analyzing hostage situations, Beckett is the cop chosen to pose as a paramedic to assist the epileptic hostage and gather tactical intel. This is after the ringleader has already not only heard her voice, but specifically remarked about it, making her a very dangerous choice.
- Mama Bear: When it looks like one of the bank robbers is going to shoot Castle as an example, Martha has to be held back to prevent her from attacking Trapper John.
- Moment Killer: When the bank is stormed and the hostages released, Beckett and Castle are clearly having a very romantically charged moment... so romantically charged, in fact, that Martha has to remind Beckett that he isn't the only person in the room. Castle, like much of the audience at that point, is clearly thinking "Goddamnit, Martha!"
- Pregnant Hostage: One of the bank tellers is heavily pregnant. Subverted, however, in that she doesn't enter labour or really have that much effect on proceedings; Castle uses getting her a pillow as an reason to try to get to a window and thus try and send a message to the police, and is interrupted before he can, but that's pretty much the most effect she has on the plot.
- Secret-Keeper: The murder victim's priest, who is keeping the location of her daughter and grandson, having been in on the plot to fake their deaths to try and escape their abusive husband/father. The priest arranged for the mother and child's funerals, then helped facilitate communications between them and the victim via the safety deposit box.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Combined with Screw the Rules, I Have Money!. The mastermind's wealth and connections thanks to his military contracting company protected him from being prosecuted for domestic abuse despite the physical evidence. When the legal route failed, his wife became desperate enough to completely abandon her old life in order to go into hiding with their son.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: Castle's response to Trapper John's suggestions about his and Beckett's relationship. Understandable, as he does not want to admit how valuable a hostage he actually is.
- Shout-Out:
- The bank robbers use the names of fictional TV doctors as aliases — Trapper John, Dr. Huxtable, Dr. Howser and Dr. Quinn. Doctors House, Shepard and Phil also get name-checks.
- Castle, being in a hostage situation, naturally takes the opportunity to cite Die Hard. He pulls two gambits directly from the movie: first, bathroom breaks, and secondly, more comfortable seating for Simone, the pregnant teller.
- At one point, the Hostage Negotiator who Kate replaces asks to speak to someone called Roman. Bonus points: The actor playing the negotiator, Dean Norris, also played one of the hostages in said movie.
- Tempting Fate: After kidnapping his son, the mastermind declares to his wife that unlike her, he "know[s] how to hide". As soon as he steps outside, he's apprehended by the police.
- Touché:Castle: Even as a hostage, I help you solve murders. Beckett, I think...I think you have the perfect partner.
Beckett: Yeah, except he doesn't like doing paperwork.
Castle: Touché. - Villain Respect: "Trapper John" is sincerely impressed with Castle's analytical skills.
- Waxing Lyrical: When Alexis is breaking up with Ashley over the phone for not being there for her when she needed him, she says, among other things, she shouldn't have to "wish upon a star" just for him to respond to her.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: The hostage who has a seizure turns out to be the mastermind of the heist, and on top of that an abusive husband trying to find his wife and child.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The bank robbers are done in with rigged C4-explosive which blows them to bits before they can use it to escape.
