The Blue Butterfly

Episode aired Feb 6, 2012
TV-PG
44m

IMDb RATING

8.8/10

2.2K

YOUR RATING

Comedy Crime Drama Mystery Romance

Castle senses a diary of a P.I from the 1940s found in the effects of a murdered modern-day treasure hunter is the key to finding the Blue Butterfly, a blue-diamond necklace. The team works ... Read allCastle senses a diary of a P.I from the 1940s found in the effects of a murdered modern-day treasure hunter is the key to finding the Blue Butterfly, a blue-diamond necklace. The team works out the story situated in 1947 in the same, now derelict, music club, involving murder, ga... Read allCastle senses a diary of a P.I from the 1940s found in the effects of a murdered modern-day treasure hunter is the key to finding the Blue Butterfly, a blue-diamond necklace. The team works out the story situated in 1947 in the same, now derelict, music club, involving murder, gangsters, and theft; they work out the true parts and identities of culprits and victims.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.8/10

2.2K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
After one of his fantasies, Castle asks Ryan to say "boyo" with an Irish brogue. The scene was written that Ryan only said it once; the back and forth volley of "boyo"s between Castle and Ryan was ad-libbed by Nathan Fillion and Seamus Dever.

Goofs
The song "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" that is playing is from 1953, and was not around in 1947 when the episode was set.

Quotes
[while reading the journal of a private investigator from the '40s, Castle find information]
Richard Castle: The Blue Butterfly. It's a necklace! That's why Stan Banks was killed... Why am I narrating?

Crazy credits
Due to the nature of the episode, the usual music in the title sequence has been replaced with a jazz theme.

Connections
References The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Soundtracks
Castle Theme
Written by Robert Duncan

User reviews12

Featured review

7/10

Castle keeps following the footsteps of Moonlighting

This episode is almost exactly the same with how Maddie Hayes and David Addison found themselves in an unsolved mystery of the 1940s.

Heck, I'm pretty sure the executive team literally talked among themselves how they could recreate the same taste with Castle and Beckett.

For those who have no idea what I'm saying here: Moonlighting was the top series of the late 1980s. It starred Sybill Shepherd and the then-unknown Bruce Willis. It remains the greatest ever detective duo show of all time and at the peak of its well-deserved height they delivered many whacky stories, coming up with the most fun moments in TV history.

Their agency was called Blue Moon and that particular episode was soaked in the classical song The Blue Moon.

I applaud the creators of Castle for taking the example of such a great show, and I suspect the name of the jewelry, The Blue Butterfly, may even be a semi-veiled homage to that Moonlighting episode.

In comparison to said source, I'd say this one is, though quite entertaining and equal in spirit, still a step back. And that's because they have made even this story a li'l bit too complicated to let us enjoy the ambiance. Moonlighting was great because its stories were written in a fashion to place the adventures and the unspoken love affair of our duo in the first place, using the mystery merely as tool. For Castle has a much more strict (and IMO, at times unnecessary) whodunnit structure to fall back to, they are overcomplicating even such very special episodes.

Yeah... Dig a bit deep into a quarter of a century back and watch that Moonlighting episode... You'll get what I mean.