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It appears that another wonderful series has been successful and then ruined by over thinking it. Also, what's with those first four reviews? They are all lauding the writing and pretty much everything else about the show using much the same verbiage. They also used the term 'show runner' which tells me they were written by industry insiders and probably all written by the same individual. From style and word usage it is much more of an advert than a review in tone and content. And really? Serbia and Turkey? Come on, if you're going to have shill reviews for your show at least put in some effort.

The series began so very well and the chemistry between the characters was wonderful. But each season has lost something compared to the previous season. With the kidnappings and disappearances over the past few years it took a nose dive. The story lines became so arch that it seemed that "jumping the shark" was going to be in the next episode. Apparently we've skipped that and gone to even more preposterous premises.

I'm re-watching Castle and it's been so good up until this point. I really disliked all of the "cool" bad guys, who have catchphrases like "lights out" before they are about to shoot. This storyline just bored me which is funny because they tried to make it so intense and exciting. Disappointed to see that this storyline continues to future episodes.

Loved this episode. The script writing was brilliant.

I especially enjoyed the detail around Ryan & Espo with their version of rock, paper, scissors, Ryan talking about his worries, and the humour of their banter, his hope for overtime - it was a great scene.

Daisy Betts had a Julia Roberts vibe. The intro of Hayley as a new character was well done and the transition of Alexis more into the PI world was good too. The new office is super cool btw.

The twists weren't as great in this episode but overall it was a solid story, decent acting and less quirky / crazy / unbelievable, which I prefer.

Why do they always have to destroy great shows with stories so crazy and unrealistic, that makes you cringe to watch, and upset that a show you looked forward to watching now must be replaced by some other show that more likely will be canceled during or after the first season.

You spend the first few seasons as the main characters flirt and finally get together. Now they are constantly apart and part of some unbelievable mission/enemy/agency and spend half the season trying to get back together (they are hoping the audience can sit thru another year of the same thing) then the end of the season to wrap it up and rinse and repeat for next season (doubt after this season).

I really liked this show, I only have a few. I like Nathan, Firefly what more can I say :) This season is the first time I shut the show off and watched something else. Doubt I will watch the rest of the season. I hope they come back after half-time and fix this or they may lose a lot of viewers.

I have to agree with reviewer #5 that this episode is so completely different that your expectations will be shaken. While the series is not great television (very little is) it has been an enjoyable run. Except, of course, for Season 7.

I would say that this was an excellent episode. On the strong side it turned the show into a more dramatic series. Lots of action & a little bang-bang. The script was a little on the light side. Very little time for "chemistry" but that was lost on account of the marriage. (That is, at least, for the writers. Many other shows have done it with couples. Ironically many of those successes were mentioned in the script.) What was unexpected was the complete turn from earlier fan expectations.

Lots of changes over the Summer that will force you to listen to all of the dialogue. So it looks like the series will go out with a bang as a much more serious title than it was in the beginning. (I would like to have reviewed it like I do books but that would create a "spoiler" situation. So just sit back and enjoy the thorough twist of plot, pretext, and your expectations.)