The beauty of setting a cop show in New York is the proximity to one of the nation’s largest rings of organized crime. I think we all had to wonder just when Beckett and Castle would be crossing paths with the godfather. Of course, my real hope is that this isn’t a one-time thing. With the new intrigue surrounding Beckett’s mother’s death, the door has been opened to a larger villain, a possibly with a mob connection. This “big bad” would put Castle and Beckett on the defensive as they continuously try and fail to nab these guys for anything other than a parking ticket.

Here’s hoping ABC gives “Castle” another season, so we can see if bloody horse heads might be in Kate’s future.

The episode itself was well paced, giving us the right amount of “aww” to go with the “eww.” Alexis’ prom date, dress donning and good night kiss, gave Castle the chance to once again demonstrate he’s probably the coolest dad around. And how I wish we could have seen her young suitor’s reaction to the severed head and blood-stained lab coat … oh, good times.

The murder itself was grisly, but interesting and kudos to the production team for using the infamous “Cat Lady” as a suspect. While I did think Castle’s apparent fascination with her many surgeries was a bit crass, I suppose that when confronted with such a face, it would be hard not to stare.

Once again, Susan Sullivan nailed it as Castle’s overbearing, yet wise mother, delivering not only some of the episodes funniest lines, but also acting as Castle’s Jiminy Cricket, forcing him to fess up to the big ol’ nose-sticking he did regarding Kate’s mother’s death.

And then there was the return of the rival for Kate’s affections, the FBI agent, Will Sorenson. While he was put in harm’s way this go ‘round—giving Beckett the chance to really angst over something—I was a little disappointed that Castle wasn’t the one who got shot. I suppose that only ten episodes in, it might have proved a tad melodramatic, but eventually, Castle is going to have to be in grave danger and we, as the audience, are going to have to see how Beckett reacts. In some ways, her reaction to the ex-boyfriend going down gives us a good benchmark: will she be more or less upset when Castle takes the hit?

For a first season, “Castle” did a great job of introducing us to a set of interesting characters, retaining our attention week after week and making it just funny enough not to be too serious. Considered one of ABC’s “bubble” shows, only the upfronts in the next week or so will tell us Castle’s fate. I for one think that, if it isn’t at least a bestseller, it’s definitely worth a place on the “recommended” list.