This week’s Castle was pretty disturbing given its twists and turns and how easily this could actually happen in real life. Maybe it’s not as realistic but it definitely felt that way. Let’s dive in!

The episode begins with a murderer using technology to create panic before killing his victim. We shift to Castle taping soon to be amazing webmercial with the help of Martha. It goes great until he accidentally knocks over his stack of books. He tells Kate that it’s going to be great and that he has decided to let “technology wrap him in its warm embrace.” That might change, buddy!

Our victim appears to be killed by someone with knowledge of anatomy since her death was so technical. I’m surprised Castle didn’t immediately suspect vampires, but they have already been down that road. The team interrogates the boyfriend who is pretty innocent and lets our detectives know that Abby was a celebrity of sorts. Her pictures on Snappomatic led her to half a million followers, and enemies who didn’t like her reviews.

Edward Han is way too easy of a suspect; an acupuncturist who got a false bad review from Abby and confronted her on the day of her murder. He claims he’s innocent and leads Kate to an ex-cop who worked cyber-crimes. Meanwhile, pictures of the murder end up on Snappomatic under the profile of someone named Netslayer.

Neyslayer is posting photos of the murder on the photo sharing website. At the headquarters we find that the company is owned by two tech savvy guys who can’t tell Kate and Rick who the account belongs to. The guys are surprisingly helpful and are able to lead Kate to the site of where the pictures where uploaded.

This leads the team to Bill Garrett, the ex-cop. It’s wrapped up in a bow for the team until Netslayer posts more pictures; this time of clues to his next victim. He/she also calls out the cops for not being on the right track. The pictures include a picture of body parts (not cut up), a grill with a bratwurst, and an expiration date of 11-12-13.

It’s surprising how long it takes the team to figure out the clues but finally Castle does: spoiled brats. The gang is really out of it so thank goodness for Castle being up on current reading. They finally figure out who the Netslayer is targeting, Tatiana Fisher, only to discover that her boy Cam Migani has already been murdered in his car.

Following a report on the news about the case and a picture of Castle and Kate seemingly acting nonchalant about the killings posted by Netslayer, Kate gets a mild talking to from Gates. She and Castle go home and we have the conversation about whether social media is good or bad. Castle has the bright idea that Netslayer might have been a victim of a cyber-crime that Garrett worked on.

We get two breaks in the case: Ryan figures out that the killer used a 3-D printer to create a key and Tory finally gets a picture of the Netslayer. The downside? Garrett does recognize the face, Adam Lane, who was bullied in school by people who videotaped him naked in his school’s locker room and he couldn’t get the case prosecuted. The team figures out where he is hiding and arrests him.

The only problem is that he is waiting for them. Why? He has the two heads of Snappomatic and in an hour, whoever has the most likes will live while the other dies. Now here is the where the show loses its originality. We have Castle assuring Garrett that Kate will get the confession from Adam. How does Kate get the confession? By bullying him. It’s sad that that’s the tactic the show uses to get the info out of him. Where are the two Snappomatic heads? Well in the old high school locker room where the first crime occurred years ago. It’s a shame that this wasn’t a better reveal after being a strong episode until the last 15 minutes.

Case solved but we have one more thing to get to: Castle goes viral. In a surprise (not really) twist, Castle’s webmercial is a supercut video of Castle’s “bloopers” from filming. It’s funny and goes viral as planned.

Side Notes and Quotes:

– Castle’s aversion to stairs

– Who desperately wants to read the “Ryan Report”?

– What kind of person ignores police protection when they are told they are the next potential victim?

– Kate’s speech about the killer after the news seemed like the most on the nose exposition this show has ever done. Not a fan.

– It’s sad that the use of bullying is used to get Adam’s confession especially in an age where that is such a sensitive issue. I don’t know where else the writers could have gone with it but it feels false to me.

– Adam’s case about who is really sick is also disturbing because it is very true.

What did you think of ‘Castle’ season 7, episode 5?

It looks like we are finally getting our wedding, but we have to wait until November 10th! Have a great week off and look for news on episode 6 of Castle later in the week!