Tonight on ABC Castle starring Nathan Fillion continues with an all new Monday December 8, season 7 episode 10 called “Bad Santa,” and we have your weekly recap below for you. In tonight’s episode, an ER doctor gets shot in the street, and the investigation unearths the victim’s links to the mob. Meanwhile, the Christmas season sparks a defining moment in Esposito [Jon Huertas] and Lanie’s [Tamala Jones] relationship.
On the last episode, when the star of Castle’s favorite ’80’s action movie was mysteriously murdered, Castle and Beckett delve into the victim’s secret past and pursue his killer with help from a team of aging action heroes. Krista Allen and Ted McGinley guest star. Did you watch the last episode? If you missed it, we have a full and detailed recap right here for you.
On tonight’s episode as per ABC’s synopsis, “when an ER physician is gunned down in the street, Castle and Beckett soon discover that the victim was a mob doctor to a Mafia family run by an old friend of Castle’s. Also, against the backdrop of Christmas, Esposito and Lanie reach a defining moment in their relationship.”
Tonight’s episode is going to be great so be sure to tune in for CASTLE on ABC at 10PM EST. We’ll be blogging all the action, be sure to hit up the comments and tell us what you think of this new season.
Tonight’s episode begins now – Refresh Page for Updates
A guy is chased down and shot by a dude in a Santa Suit – bad Santa! Castle and the ladies are decorating and he tells them he needs their holiday poems in just a few hours. Kate fakes that she’s prepared then tells Martha and Alexis she completely forgot. They tell her it’s a big deal, very competitive and they started working on them months ago. They tell her the criteria as she gets a call.
At the crime scene, Kate complains about the poetry event and he tells her to get him a first draft soon. Javi says at about 10:30 pm, Santa capped the guy in the head. Javi says three witnesses ID’d him. Castle says Santa has finally cracked. Javi says maybe the victim was naughty not nice. The victim is Eric Mercer who’s an ER doctor.
Mercer had a blue backpack according to a barista and it’s now missing. Ryan says 10 minutes before he was shot, he called the hospital. A woman says she talked to him and said he seemed rushed. She says his uncle has cancer and is alone. She says his uncle is Edward Mercer and may know something. Javi goes to Lanie who shows him some tiny mineral crystals found on the victim.
Javi asks why she called him down before she has results. She asks a favor. She says her parents will be in town for a short layover and want to meet him. He looks nervous but tries to play it cool. He says that’s not a favor, that’s him stepping up. She says that’s not the favor. The favor is that she thinks they’re engaged. He asks why they think that.
She says her parents were hassling her and she just said it to get them to lay off. He doesn’t like lying to her parents the first time he meets them. She asks if she can just bring them to the precinct to say hello and says she’ll make it worth his while. She kisses him and he agrees. Kate says Eric has no uncle at all. Ryan says he caught a ride to a place in Queens before he died.
Ryan says he took a lot of rides to that location. It’s an office building owned by a sanitation company known as a front for organized crime. Kate and Castle head to Queens and find the building has no signage. A custodian runs off to avoid them and they stumble across a surgical suite. Castle says Eric was a mob doctor.
They bring Detective McBride – who works organized crimes – he says it’s likely the Carlucci family – specifically Dino Scarpella. He doesn’t recognize Eric’s photo and says he didn’t know the Carlucci’s had a doctor on the payroll. Castle knows Dino – he helped him do some research on mafia for a book. He says he was mid-level. He says the way Eric was killed sounds like a message.
He tells them Dino works out of the Chica Chica Boom Room – a strip club he uses as his office. They head to the strip club. Castle watches the ladies dance a sexy Christmas number. Kate tells him to quit drooling. He insists Dino is a nice guy. Dino comes over and compliments him on his latest book. Castle introduces Kate as his wife. He tells Dino he consults with the police.
Dino says they’re happy to help. He introduces Rocco and Christopher Carlucci. They tell him about Dr Mercer and show him the pics. Dino says he doesn’t know that person. Kate says they found the surgical suite. Dino says he has no help to offer but says they should stay and enjoy the show on the house. Kate gets a call from Javi who says while she and Castle were getting lap dances they did some real police work.
Javi says they tied the Carluccis to the murder. He says Christopher owns a black Mustang and they found a bloody Santa suit inside it. Kate takes Christopher in but he says he didn’t kill Mercer. She asks for an alibi if he didn’t do it. He says nothing. Kate says she knows that kind of order comes from above and asks if Dino gave the order. He tells her he wants a lawyer.
Kevin asks Castle why they would kill their own doctor and Castle says maybe someone died on his table or he saw something. Dino calls Castle to come down and meet him at the strip club. Castle says he’s in no danger and has to go. She wants to go along but Castle says he has to go alone and tells her to trust him and says he trust Dino. She says that’s what Eric thought too.
Castle shows up and finds Dino comforting his daughter Jane. She’s crying and he tells her to go buy something nice and not to tell her mother. He gives her a wad of cash. She thanks her dad and leaves. Dino tells him his daughter was close to Eric. Castle says he’s admitting he knows Eric. Dino says they used to have a good relationship and Castle says they still do.
Dino asks if he can speak freely without him repeating it and Castle tells him to trust him. Dino says Eric was family – he was related to them. He says he sent Eric to school and didn’t want him to work for the family. He says a few years ago one of his guys got shot and Eric stepped up. He says Eric got a taste for the life and stayed with it.
Dino says Christopher was framed because he was with him. He says he can’t alibi him though because they were doing something “sensitive” at the time. Dino says the cops need to be looking for Eric’s killer but aren’t. He asks Castle to prove Chris’ innocence and find Eric’s killer. Dino says he can vouch for Castle so everyone with info will talk to him.
Castle says if he does this, Dino has to let him arrest the killer instead of taking him out. Dino cuts his hand, then Castle, then slaps their hands together. He tells Rick he’s blood now – family – and to not let him down. Castle goes to tell Kate he has to investigate the murder on behalf of Dino. He tells her that Chris was with Dino and says they need to find the real killer.
Castle says there’s more to it than this and says he made the blood oath. He tells her if the info leads back to Christopher, so be it. She agrees and says he has to keep it on the down low from Gates and keep her looped in. He agrees and says he’s going to start with Christopher. Ryan and Javi wonder what Castle and Dino talked about.
Lanie shows up with her parents and introduces them. Her dad Walter hugs Javi and tells him to call him dad. Her mom wants to hear the proposal story. Lanie asks Javi to tell it. He says she tells it better. Kevin comes over and then makes up a story about him rowing her out to the center of the Central Park pond. He introduces himself and says he was the proposal planner.
Her mom wants to hear about the courtship but Lanie says they have to make their flight. Walter says the flight was delayed so they have time. Javi is not pleased and then has to call him dad. Christopher tells Castle that none of the guys he knows would frame him. He says Eric had some concerns recently that word got out about his secret doctor activities.
Christopher says Eric thought he was being watched and wanted a phone tap. He says he hooked him up with Cyber Rita. Castle goes to see her and she says Eric asked her for something different. She says she won’t say another word unless Rocco says it’s okay. She says he wanted hot credit cards. She says she gave him a dozen – each worth about $2k.
She says he asked if he could use the cards for a swipe and go car rental. He asks for the numbers. Kate says it sounds like Eric was about to run. Ryan says the card numbers were a bust and they never turned up the cards on them or in his place. Javi says they all thought Christopher was guilty and then they hassle Castle about the blood oath.
Javi says Castle is moonlighting for the mob then says he has a lead – the lab ID’d the crystals on Eric’s sleeve – it’s road salt but it hasn’t snowed in weeks. They think Eric hid his backpack at the nearby salt depot. Castle makes up a little poem to inspire Kate but she says it wasn’t working. They find a bent fence and then see the backpack strap.
Kate pulls it out and they wonder what he was trying to hide. They pull out bloody clothes with bullet holes. Lanie describes the height and size of the guy that wore the clothes and says he probably died. Lanie says the guy likely died a couple of days ago – one of the days Eric missed his regular job. They wonder if it was someone not associated with the Carluccis and maybe it was from another family.
Lanie will run the blood to see if it matches anyone. Javi hangs back to talk to Lanie about how they are going to deal with her parents. She says she can’t let go of the lie and says he can skip dinner and blame it on work. He says he can’t be a fiancee who bails on his woman. He says they’re engaged and he has to go. She says they’re not and he says they could be one day and he can’t make her parents mad.
McBride says he thinks he found who was in the clothes they found – it’s likely Luca Tessaro. They are sworn enemies of the Carluccis and McBride says you never cross family lines. Tessaro has been missing for days. Kate asks why Eric would treat a rival and Castle says he’ll go ask Dino. Kate is concerned but Castle says it’ll be fine and goes to see Dino.
Kate, Javi and Ryan go to where shots were fired and Luca went missing. Javi gets a text saying Lanie confirmed the blood on the clothes is Luca. Kate turns up a slug in concrete and Ryan sees some blood. Castle asks Rocco how well he knew Eric. He doesn’t answer. Castle asks if Eric had a history with Luca. Rocco says Luca is a stain upon the family and says they all hated Luca for what he did to Jane.
Rocco says Jane was at a club and Luca was there and tried to force himself on her. Rocco says Dino wanted to put him down but Jane wouldn’t let him. Castle calls Kate and she says they found Luca’s blood on a bracelet that belong to Jane Scarpella. Kate says she doesn’t know what Jane’s motive would be and Castle says he does but then ends the call so he can talk to Dino.
Castle goes in and tells Dino that he thinks Jane may have killed Luca and Eric. Dino isn’t happy and then he gets out a gun. Dino loads the gun and says he can’t tolerate liars. Castle says he’s telling the truth. Jane comes in and Dino tells her to step out. Castle tells Dino to ask her. Castle tells Jane the police found her bracelet where Luca was shot.
She says she was there but didn’t kill him. She says she was trying to save him. She says she and Luca were in love. Dino says she made up the story about Luca coming on to her was made up to cover for her dating Luca. Dino isn’t happy. Castle asks Jane what happened. She says Luca called her after he’d been shot and when she got there he was unconscious. She dragged him into her car and called Eric.
She says she met Eric at the surgery room but he couldn’t save him. Dino says the Tessaros likely killed Eric for being involved with Luca’s death. Castle asks if Luca told her who wanted him dead. She says no but there was a power grab going on with the Tessaros. Dino says if the Tessaros killed his Eric, they’re going to war.
Castle fills Kate in and she says it sounds like Romeo and Juliet. They confirm Jane’s story is true. Ryan says they got a hit on one of the credit cards – a pizza for delivery to a Tessaro tile import business. Dante is the new heir apparent now that Luca is gone. They head over there and find Luca alive and well. Kate tells Luca to put his gun down and Castle says they thought he was already did. Castle says he can ask Jane and calls out for her. She’s there and tells Luca they can help.
Luca says he and Jane were going to disappear. The credit cards Eric got were to help them leave. Luca says he doesn’t know who was trying to kill him. He says the guy showed up a couple of months ago and is a new player that was hitting up store owners on their turf for protection money. Luca says he was told to shut him down. The guy goes by Il Penumbra (loosely translated – The Shadow)
Javi says the bank account that the guy was using to collect protection payments is a dead end. Castle goes to see Rita and she says it was Michael M Ouse. (Mickey Mouse) She traces the IP address. Kate says the account was opened at a library. They pull security footage from across the street. They found their bad Santa. McBride comes in to talk to them.
Kate tells McBride that Luca is alive and well. They tell him the person who shot Luca also killed Eric so the shooter knew they were in contact. They say Il Penumbra also framed Christopher by planting evidence. Kate says they know he borrowed his neighbor’s black Mustang. Kate says they are accusing him of murder and felony extortion.
Ryan says he’s been watching bad guys get rich for years and decide to get a little. He says this won’t fly in court and she says there’s one way to find out and tosses him some cuffs. Dino, Christopher and Rocco come in and thank Castle for his help. Dino has agreed to unite with the Tessaros and let Jane have her honey. Dino says he owes him and tells him to call him when the time comes.
Castle says he hopes he never has to make that call. Rocco double kisses Castle and freaks him out. Lanie’s parents are leaving and say they hope they can plan the wedding next time. They hug Lanie and leave and she thanks Javi. He says it was much easier than he thought and said it made him think seriously about them. Lanie tries to get him to stop.
Javi says being fake engaged to her made him realize they’re great together but not like her parents are or Kate and Castle. They agree they’re crazy about each other, but not in that way. They kiss and it’s a breakup kiss goodbye. She says she’s going to tell her parents the truth after the holidays. Ryan is asking Castle all about the blood oath when Gates snags Castle.
She says McBride was shot and killed while he was transferring. She says the DA heard he was cooperating with organized crime and tells him the DA spoke to the Mayor and he can’t work with them anymore. Castle is stunned. Kate comes over with her poem draft for the family Christmas card. She reads it. It’s pretty good and ends with the line that “as partners they are here to stay.”
She asks if something is good but he says no. They light the precinct Christmas tree and Kate dances with her friends. Castle looks at the tree sadly and adjusts an ornament.
THE END!
