Beckett and Castle’s investigation into the murder of a young college student leads them the abduction of the daughter of a wealthy Egyptian couple and her friend, Alexis Castle.
Recap:
It’s man against car as a gunfight ends in a dark alley.
Meanwhile, at the Castle home, Martha fails at cooking and Castle has finally begun to accept Alexis’s newfound independence.
Jump with me to read more.
Hasim Farouk is found in the alley. He was an undeclared student at Columbia and was carrying some heavy weaponry before he died. Bram Stoker filed an assault charge against him just a day ago. Bram is the TA for one of Hasim’s classes, and Hasim accused him of harassing fellow students.
Hasim’s apartment is pretty telling… He has a small armory and was a commander in the Saudi Special Forces. He was using his surveillance equipment to monitor a bug in an apartment owned by Sara El-Masri. She was one of the students Hasim accused Bram of harassing.
Ryan found the footage of the van, and on it, they see Sara El-Masri being kidnapped. Sara was taking two classes with Hasim, majored in marine biology, and was born into a wealthy Egyptian family.
The driver of the van is a male in his late 30s, but they know of nothing else.
Her parents come into the station. His wife says he’s made many enemies, but only in Egypt. They hired Hasim to watch over her.
Captain Gates introduces Beckett and Castle to Agent Harris, the FBI liaison on the kidnapping.
According to Sara’s roommate, Sara left last night for a science event. They narrow down the list of possible events to Dr. Posner’s lecture on climate change. The event manager says that Sara was here with a young red-haired woman, and Alexis just happens to be on the list of attendees. Castle calls her phone, and it rings behind the bar; it was found on the street.
Now, Castle must meet with the FBI liaison in a more official capacity.
Roger Henson, the man on the video, is a known drug smuggler. El-Masri made powerful enemies in Egypt, and Agent Harris thinks this abduction is motivated by revenge.
The detectives tracked the van to Queens within an area of 20 square blocks.
Castle watches Alexis’s vlog for clues, and in it, Alexis mentions the Posner event she’ll be attending. The kidnappers must’ve watched the video.
He finds out about the van in Greenpoint but hasn’t heard from Beckett. Castle makes his way there and finds a large pool of blood on the floor of the van. Fortunately, it doesn’t belong to Alexis or Sara.
The trail of blood doesn’t go very far; the kidnappers must’ve changed cars.
In an unknown location, Alexis and Sara awaken (both girls’ luxurious locks still intact) inside a locked container. There’s a bathroom stocked with clothes and towels, and food is served prison-style under a latch on the floor.
Lanie finds that the blood came from the driver of the van, Douglas Stevens, and since he lost so much blood, he would’ve needed medical attention. Douglas just so happens to have a nurse for a sister, and she called in sick this morning.
Alexis is wildly optimistic over the perilous situation, while Sara has just about given up. Alexis suggests they try to figure out their location. No traffic sounds could mean that they are in a soundproofed room or that they’re not in New York.
The detectives find Douglas bandaged at his sister’s home, and he’s not up for giving out information. Castle asks for a moment with the injured man, and after some very loud and painful screaming, Douglas gives out the location: a foreclosed farm off Route 301.
Alexis takes Sara’s advice and tries to build a relationship with their captors by introducing herself. The introduction is interrupted by words heard on the walkie-talkie; it’s in Arabic, but Sara understands it to mean that they have visitors.
Agent Harris and company have the house on the farm surrounded and storm in. It’s empty, save for Roger Henson’s tortured, dead body. There are cameras surrounding the house that recorded their approach to the same IP address that accessed Alexis’s vlog.
With the captors distracted, Alexis uses Sara’s bobby pin to unlock the hatch and look for an exit. The girls part ways; Alexis finds an empty room and a cell phone. She is able to reach her dad via Skype, and he urges her to get out while tech tracks her location. She finds an exit to a rooftop and sees the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Just as she cries out for help, she’s grabbed from behind.
To be continued…
Review:
Alexis’s odd optimism aside, I really loved this episode. Ok, maybe some people are perky kidnapees. To watch Castle’s witty demeanor replaced with a Liam Neeson Taken-like persona… WOW. More of that, please. Gates’s offer of any departmental resource to help in finding Alexis was expected but entirely sweet when said.
Till next week!
– Lindsay
Castle airs on ABC (American Broadcast Network). If you don’t have it, call your current service provider or check out these Direct TV deals.
