Published on May 1st, 2012 | by Mackenzie Bronk

Castle Tackles Zombies in “Undead Again”

Castle has had many themed episodes over the past four years, whether they featured fairytale murderers or wannabe vampires, but this episode took the proverbial nerd cake. This week the gang was confronted with a killer, who looked and acted like a zombie, straight out of The Walking Dead. There are a few of these “themed” episodes each season that try to bring in the laughs and usually target some kind of subculture, but I choose to think of them in a different way. Almost always, these episodes are intentionally light-hearted because there are often harder and more emotional times ahead. Next week’s episode is the season finale, which will finally conclude the story of Beckett’s mother’s murder and if the promo tells us anything, its that Beckett and Castle will finally put their walls down and get together. So in that light, I found this episode to be the nerdy calm before the tumultuous storm of next week’s humdinger.

The episode began with Castle trying play laser tag with Alexis, an epic game to a thousand points that they began when she was five. However, she was in crisis mode over college and told her dad that they had to start being grown ups. He took this to heart, but went a completely different direction, telling his mother that this would be his final case with Beckett because he had finally out grown her. This week, the victim, David, was found in a parking lot by his boss, with a huge bite mark taken out of his body. His boss said that David had been in competition with another colleague, Charlie, so naturally they went to him first. When they got to Charlie’s apartment, they discovered that he was spooked out of his mind, because the man who attacked David had also bitten him too. The lab confirmed that they were both bitten by an unknown third party, and security footage from the crime scene showed a “zombie” walking away from the scene.

However, another suspect turns up when they discover that David was having an affair with a engaged woman, Greta, and that her fiancé, Tom, had discovered their tryst. However, his alibi checks out so they try to piece together where the victim was before he died. They find sediment on his shoe that leads them to a very creepy factory in the middle of nowhere. Lo and behold, they happen upon a huge zombie hoard, moaning at them from all sides. Beckett stops all the nonsense and one of the zombies tells her that they are simply play-acting. They put on zombie makeup and chase after “normals” as a way to have fun. Beckett shows some of the “zombies” the picture of the man at the crime scene, who they recognize immediately as Kyle. The gang barges into his apartment and finds Kyle dead…or so they thought. He bursts back to life on the lab table at the morgue, further confirming Castle’s suspicions that he was, in fact, a zombie. They are prepared to accuse Kyle of the murder, but it turns out that he doesn’t remember anything from that night.

They discover that Kyle was drugged with something that makes you extremely compliant and have motion sickness, ironically called the “zombie drug.” And in a twist of fate, Tom is the supplier of this drug. However, he refuses to admit to the murder and his alibi checks out, so they are at a standstill and can’t find enough proof to convict him. However, Castle’s imagination is at work and he decides to dress up as Kyle in his zombie make-up and fake attack Tom. He is completely freaked by Kyle and finally admits to drugging him. The episode ended with yet another metaphorical conversation about the case, when really Castle and Beckett were discussing themselves. She said that after a trauma, it takes a while to become whole again. She told Castle that very soon her walls would be coming down and that she hoped he was there to see it. Although it was unspoken, he seems to have forgiven her, and told her he would be back in the precinct tomorrow. I’m glad that all this emotional healing happened in this episode, so that this crazy couple can actually make moves in the finale next week.

Tags: Castle, undead again, Zombies