Wow! Veritas is now my favorite Castle episode. It was fantastic!
My favorite quotes:
Castle: "You know what that means? I'm coming home."
Beckett: (Yawn)
Castle: "Try to contain your excitement."
Beckett: "I love you."
Castle: "Yeah, well, you better. It's two weeks to the wedding. It's too late to return the tux."
Beckett: "I'm not going to stand by while my mother's murderer becomes president of the United States."
Vulcan Simmons: "Get a girl's hair wet and they never let it go."
Castle: "Guys, she wouldn't want you involved."
Esposito: "We're already involved. We're family, bro."
Beckett: "I found the tape. I found it. It's over. Senator Bracken, you are under arrest for conspiracy, fraud and the murder of my mother, Johanna Beckett."
Castle "She's proud of you. Wherever she is, she's proud."
loved:
that the investigation was their project, not just Kate's.
loved the scene at the swings.
And wow did Tamala Jones sell how scared and upset Lanie was at discovering the bullet from Beckett's gun in Simmons' body.
loved Kate's response to the thugs trying to make it look like she committed suicide. Wow.
I knew Bracken was in the room when Kate heard the creak, but my goodness he is one creepy dude. Loved how she challenged him - "I want you. Do you have the (whatevers) to do it yourself?" Woah. Thru that whole scene, I was yelling stuff at the TV. And when he touched her cheek? Gross.
The Montgomery flashback. I was crying so hard, the first time I missed him saying "cassette recording".
I knew Smith wouldn't help them.
I was hopeful Gates could, but she couldn't. I think she was sorry she couldn't.
The 4 of them being led in to the precinct in handcuffs just about broke my heart.
And the scene between Rick & Kate ending with the kiss.
And Kate working out where the tape was.
And the guys & Rick & Gates trying to protect Kate as she found the tape.
And the fact that the tape didn't start with the confessions right away. There were footsteps, a door, etc. before the real stuff started.
The scene of Kate walking into Bracken's office, upsetting him so he couldn't continue the interview, and her telling him "I found the tape. I found it. It's over" was amazing. Stana Katic's face, voice, eyes were perfect, especially when she said "and the murder of my mother, Johanna Beckett". I've watched that scene many times and get blown away every single time. And Robert Duncan's music sealed the deal.
And the handoff to Ryan & Espo (let's not forgot their actions thru all this. Ryan got waterboarded himself in season 3.)
And the love & pride just pouring out of Rick when he watched her walk with Bracken in handcuffs & then the last lines between Rick & Kate - "She's proud of you. Wherever she is, she's proud of you." and "I could never have done this without you." and then their hug. They even wore matching blue shirts.
Rob Bowman did a fantastic job of directing the episode. Rob Hanning and Terence Paul Winter wrote it. Rob was tweeting about the episode after it aired, and mentioned a few scenes they wanted to include but couldn't: a scene where Kate's dad is told everything and a scene where Kate puts her mother's ring away for good. I would have loved to have seen either of them. And as I mentioned before, Robert Duncan's score made the episode.
This time, ABC appears to have learned their lesson: neither Geoff Pierson (Mr. Smith) or Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Montgomery) were in the credits (either opening or closing). I do think a lot of people thought Smith was still alive, so that wasn't a shock.
I never want to see Bracken again unless it's at his sentencing or his funeral.
I've been reading Twitter and Tumblr and other websites a lot over the last few days, and it's been interesting. There were quite a few people who didn't realize that they went to DC to arrest Bracken. (I guess the shot of the US Capitol wasn't obvious enough) I understand the people who got confused by who killed which victim (according to Rob Hanning, Simmons did kill Jason, the first victim. The thugs who tried to kill Kate stole her gun from her apartment & killed Simmons with it, leaving that one bullet behind) but it really wasn't that hard to figure out. Some people thought Kate did kill Simmons but I knew she wouldn't. He was her only link to Bracken & the drug money.
Others are bothered by the tape being in the elephants. One mentioned 'why didn't she turn that over right away?" well, she got it the day she was murdered, she didn't have a chance. Others have mentioned that Kate was probably upset that she had the proof she needed all along. But I think she sees it now as her mother helping her solve her own murder. And now we know why she had them all along - they were her mother's and they were special to her.
Fantastic episode all around. To me, it is now the best Castle episode, beating out Cops & Robbers and Lives of Others.