Airdate: Monday, September 26, 2011 at 10/9c on ABC

Rating: ★★★★★

Dynamic Duo

In “Heroes and Villains,” a sword-wielding vigilante kills an ex-con and triggers one mad-cap caper of an investigation. Now, this is the Castle I know and love. Most notable for its central character’s light-hearted approach to law enforcement, Castle brings back the comic relief (in more ways than one) after last week’s rather serious season opener.

Standing in a blood-soaked alley, staring down at a body that literally has been cut in two, Rick Castle (Nathan Fillion) is torn between horror and intrigue. “A sword,” he mutters in barely-concealed delight, “that is so Game of Thrones.” (A line with a double-layer of humor for those who follow Fillion on Twitter—the man is obsessed with Game of Thrones.) As Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) works to keep the focus on the serious aspect of this case, Castle is jazzed up by the idea that their killer is…wait for it…a superhero.

The team’s ‘murder board’ leads them to this conclusion with the discovery of the bisected man’s identity, as well as known associates who may or may not have wanted him dead, such as Tony “The Butcher” Valinti (Jamie McShane, from Sons of Anarchy). Valinti, as it turns out, is also a victim of this vigilante, as evidenced by the “L”-shaped scar on his rear. However, in addition to his hieney, he also reveals a video of his attacker leaving.

Imagine Kate’s consternation as she has to report to Captain “Iron” Gates (Penny Johnson Gerald) that they’re searching for a man in red tights carrying a sword. She barely keeps a straight face. (And I half-expected to see Kick Ass when Castle watches the YouTube video for Red Maroon.) His Spidey senses tingling, Castle uncovers a location their superhero-turned-murderer might frequent by piecing together components of the costume, and in doing so (possibly) impresses “Captain Permafrost” herself—contingent upon getting the bad guy, of course.

I love that the trip to the comic book store reveals Kate as a closet comic book fan. Her chosen comic book character? Electra. Due to the character’s “bad-ass ninja skills.” Of course, Castle chooses Batman; I can totally see the billionaire-by-day, crime-fighter-by-night mystic of that character appealing to a writer who moonlights as a detective.

Plus, Batman is my favorite superhero.

'Electra' and 'Batman' discuss comic book superheroes.

Thanks to Castle’s imagination and the team’s detective work, they narrow down their superhero/vigilante to an online character by the name of Lone Vengeance. I don’t know why they didn’t interview the writer first thing—especially after finding out it was a more recent comic. I predicted at that point where the investigation was going to lead—though I admit the twist caught me unaware.  Instead, Castle and Beckett follow a different clue, going after a lost knuckle plate from the costume left behind at the crime scene, where they’re jumped by Lone Vengeance!

In a scene that rivals any in Batman, the un-caped crusader steals the button-like article and escapes on the back of a motorcycle, prompting Castle to exclaim with glee, “How cool was that?!” I adore the moments when Castle’s natural boyish enthusiasm cannot be contained. He keeps Kate from getting too mired in the darkness of her own reality. But he’s never so far off the map that he isn’t incredibly aware of what’s happening around him.

After one mistaken arrest, the team finally listens to me…er, that is, they determine that everything Lone Vengeance has done—with the exception of cutting a man in half—is depicted in the online comic book…afterthe fact. The writer of the comic (finally) becomes their prime suspect. Detective Kevin Ryan (Seamus Dever) channels his inner Castle and spins a few theories that end up panning out…in a way.

Ryan channels his inner 'Castle.'

One of the more clever things about this episode is the very subtle layers revealed as they solve this case. Last week, we saw that Castle has his own murder board, working on Kate’s mom’s murder, as he purposely deflected Kate’s attention from that case to try to protect her. This week, we see Kate appreciate the similarities between this case and her relationship with Castle…and possibly learning from them.

For example, Paul Whittaker (Kenneth Mitchell) created the Lone Vengeance character to give Officer Ann Hastings (Valerie Azlynn) an outlet for her need to take the law into her own hands after her father was killed. (Yep, Lone Vengeance turns out to be not only a woman, but a police officer as well, prompting both me and Castle to utter a surprised, “I did not see that coming.”) Hastings saved Whittaker’s life and in return, Whittaker gave Hastings a way to keep fighting. A (comic book) writer and his (costumed) crime-fighting muse…hmm, why does that sound so familiar?

However, Hastings’ Lone Vengeance isn’t their sword-wielding butcher, either. Fortunately, Detectives Ryan and Esposito (Jon Huertas) have caught the superhero bug and help narrow down their suspects to a list of one—sparing the team and Officer Hastings the wrath of Captain Gates (who really doesn’t want to reveal a cop was living a double life as a costumed vigilante). As she’s releasing Hastings from custody, Kate tells her, “Don’t be so driven by the past that you throw away your future.”

Wise words, Kate. I wonder if she’ll be able to live by them?

Tune in to Castle, Mondays at 10/9c on ABC. For more information on the show, visit http://abc.go.com/shows/castle/.

All photos © 2011 ABC. All rights reserved.

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