This week, on the Thanksgiving episode of Castle, Rick and Detetive Kate have a baby (Yaaay!).

****SPOILERS BELOW****

After a bleeding man makes his way into a snowy NYC church, Beckett and Castle are left to care for and figure out how this bundled up baby (which the man hands to the priest just before dying) has to do with the man’s murder. They find out the baby and the man aren’t related, making unraveling what is going on only that much more difficult. All the man had on him was his wallet and a ticket for the “Five State Lotto” to be drawn for $270 Million, a jackpot so big even Det. Ryan has been collecting tickets for himself.

Lucky for the New York’s finest and the baby, Castle has an “RH.D.” in childcare (Ruggedly Handsome Dad). He whisks the baby away to buy all the necessities as the crew start to talk to the man’s wife and chase up any leads they have so far. The man has a bit of history as a driver involved with a possible heist gone wrong seven years ago. A heist who’s perpetrator on the inside went to jail and just got paroled two weeks ago. He might hold Cameron Ducane (the dead man) responsible.

Works out that Ducane was forced into a new heist. This time for that aforementioned lotto. The crime: to fix the ping pong balls to choose the criminal’s numbers. To do that, they kidnapped the baby and the husband of the woman who picks which set of balls are used in the lotto of the nine sealed briefcases possible. The night before the lotto picks are pulled, the criminals break into the building where all the sets of lotto balls are kept and place a doctored set of balls in the lotto offices. Ducane found out that the criminals said they were going to free the man and the baby after they’d fled with the winnings, but were actually lying, intending to kill the woman, the husband and the baby after they got their money. Doing the right thing, Ducane tries to at least save the baby, running and escaping in his car, only to be shot before fully getting away. But he still made it to the church to hand off the baby somewhere safe.

I enjoyed this episode because of how they introduced the element of the baby really early for Beckett and Castle to show how they would react (also scaring Det. Ryan a bit as his character has a bundle of joy nearly on the way). Introducing a kid on a show can sometimes be a bit cliche, but with all the mystery of the murder, it made for some good lines and character revelations for the audience from Beckett, Castle, Ryan and even Dr. Lanie and Det.Esposito.

Seeing Castle take care of the baby so well, really turned Beckett’s head. Nothing sexier than a good dad Taking Care of Business [T.C.B.] (Umm, so I’ve been told). I believe the writers and the actors are doing an excellent job with Caskett, making it fun to see them together while keeping all the action, humor and mystery of the original procedural.

We even get a treat at the end as Castle has been setting up Becket with a trick that, “It’s family tradition to dress up for Thanksgiving.” Having Beckett walk in in a Pocahontas costume (which she wears pretty well), only to have Castle say, “You do know I was kidding about that (smiling ear to ear)?!?!” The prank though, is turned on him when Beckett has a “John Smith” pilgrim costume waiting just in case Castle had been putting her on. A stiff, silly costume that Castle must wear for their family dinner (including Beckett’s father, soon to arrive).

Best Lines of the Episode:

Dr. Lanie Parish: A boy, I’m guessing he’s about 3 months, and he’s hungry because he keeps going after the girls.
Castle: Who can blame him.

Castle: I don’t know if you know this about me… babies love me. I am the “Baby-Whisperer.”

Beckett: [Turning down an offer to hold the baby] Ah, no I’d rather figure out where he came from.
Castle: Well, when a woman…”
Beckett: Stop! Stop! I know where babies come from Castle, JUST not this one.

Next Episode: Castle and Becket get in the spotlight next episode, back after the 1st of the year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMB26Pl6Djk

To catch this episode and/or the earlier episodes for this season, check out ABC’s website or app: http://abc.go.com/shows/castle

What did you think of the this episode? Did you think it was going another way? What did you like most? Let us know in the comments section below.