Richard Castle

### played by Nathan Fillion

 Described by Beckett as 'a nine year old on a sugar rush', Castle is a best-selling mystery writer with a colourful past, a near-perfect teenage daughter and a wicked sense of fun not always appreciated by Detective Kate Beckett (but gleefully enjoyed by her partners at the 12th).

Having gone to what he describes as every private school in New York, Castle's bad-boy reputation was cemented early on by acts such as riding a stolen police horse naked through Central Park. His friendship with the mayor has not only kept him out of serious trouble, but has helped him snag a perpetual ride-along with Beckett, under the guise of needing inspiration for the leading character in his new series of detective novels.
As a writer, Castle seems to be considered pulp, but extremely good pulp. And extremely popular. His earnings fund a presumably lavish lifestyle, a loft apartment, and pretty much whatever his mother and daughter (who both live with him) want. Castle's frivolous exterior, however, hides a genuinely kind and caring man, quick to ride to the rescue of women, children, and baby eggs.

Go here for the spec.

### Castle BB (Before Beckett)

* Castle's birth name is Richard Alexander Rodgers, which he changed to Richard Edgar (as in Poe) Castle (2x19), because he thought it sounded better (3x02). He was born on April 1st, 1969 (WriterRCastle - see Alexis' Pedigree), so he's turning 41 when his birthday is mentioned in S2 (3x10). Alexis is 15 in S1 (1x01), so she was born in 1994, when Castle was about 25 years old (her exact birthdate is not on the pedigree). Castle never had a father figure (1x01) and never knew who his father was as he grew up. Martha clearly does know, and says they loved more in that one night than most people do in a lifetime (2x15), which seems to be enough for him.
* He was raised by a series of 'alcoholic' nannies, most likely Martha's unemployed friends, and got the plot of his first novel watching *One Life to Live* with them (1x02). He was also frequently dumped at the New York Public Library for hours on end (1x01), which is how he learned to speed read (1x05). Martha even took Castle along on a touring production of *A Chorus Line* when he was about 10, and he almost had to repeat 5th grade (1x06).
* Castle was kicked out of Redding Prep at one point, along with most of the other private schools in Manhattan. At 14 he was sent to Edgewyck Academy, where he was homesick and lonely until Damien Westlake befriended him. Damien was the editor of the literary magazine; he published a story of Castle's and told Castle that he had a real talent for writing (3x15). He went to Italy with his class in high school, when he was a freshman or sophomore, so probably the same school (2x24). Remembering this trip is why he doesn't want Alexis to go. He would have graduated from Faircroft Preparatory Academy had it not been for a prank whereby he and some other students managed to get a cow up 12 flights of stairs to the roof (6x15). Castle was the only student expelled, since he was a scholarship student and his friends had parents with more pull. As a result, he never went to the prom, thus missing his date with Audra Dobson.
* While at Faircroft Prep, Castle took an Advanced Placement Chemistry course, in which his classmate Eva Hendricks "cheated off" him (7x13). He also won a prize in a debate competition, with conflicting evidence as to whether he shared the title with anyone (7x20).
* Castle was never a boy scout (1x01), but he has been going to Drake's Magic Shop since he was thirteen years old (3x12).
* He tried out for his school hockey team because the 'cool' guys were doing it, but he smashed two teeth during the first practice and never made the team (2x16).
* Castle's first apartment was so run down, they used to have cockroach races (3x21).
* He once stole ("borrowed") a police horse while naked (ouch, chafing!) (1x01).
* When Castle was 11 years old, something happened in a place called "Hollander's Woods" that seems to have significance for Castle; it's mentioned in 7x02 as a kind of code to establish someone's credibility, as Castle says he never told anyone about the incident. (The incident is revealed in 7x22, "Hollander's Woods".)

### Daddy Bookbucks

* Castle blew through the money from his first book in about six months (3x14). He’s apparently learned a lot about finance since.
* Castle's address is apparently unlisted - in 2x09 he asks Scarlett how she managed to find him. His apartment is on the lower West Side (1x06, 2x09), and exterior shots of Castle's loft show that it’s located at the intersection of Broome & Crosby. In 3x15, Martha's check is addressed to her at 595 Broome Street (not quite that intersection, but close), in Tribeca. According to *NY Mag*, a loft such as Castle's would go for $3-8 million. He has lived in the loft at least since Alexis was in elementary school, since her childhood friend Gracie has been there before (3x10). The doorman for the building is named Eduardo (1x06). Castle also has a house in the Hamptons (2x24). It's a beachfront property with a lovely deck where Castle likes to write (and where he was hoping Beckett would come and sun herself, but alas...).
* Meredith was doing community theatre when Alexis was a toddler, so childcare fell to Castle (1x02). He loves the Museum of Natural History and used to go there with Alexis every Sunday -- dinosaurs for her, possible dates for him (2x19).
* When Alexis was 4 she and Castle went Christmas shopping at a mall in White Plains, and she got bored while he was trying on a fedora. She crawled under a clothing rack and went to sleep, causing Castle to call mall security in a panic and search for an hour before they found her (3x08).
* When Alexis was nine, Meredith decided to take her for dinner. In Paris (1x06). The only person who seemed to enjoy that was Meredith.
* Castle has only beat Alexis at laser tag once. She was ten at the time. (1x05, WriteRCastle twitter)
* He’s more than a little protective of his daughter. Castle hid in the bushes outside the school the first day Alexis started (2x10). Castle gets so suspicious when Alexis lies about where she's going to be that he uses a GPS tracking app to track the location of her phone (3x19).
* He has a business manager who calls him with opportunities like investing in movies, which he has done to get Meredith to go back to LA (1x06). He’s also impulse-purchased The Old Haunt and some land on the moon (3x14). He’s mentioned wanting to reserve a seat on the space shuttle, but Martha soundly disapproves (2x16).
* Castle owns a cherry red Ferrari (3x10). Other big-boy toys include top-of-the-line laser tag gear (1x05), Star Wars lightsabers (technically bought for Alexis, 3x03) , some real fencing gear (1x07), night-vision goggles (7x03) and...onion goggles (1x04).
* He and Alexis once made a baking soda volcano for a school project, and a farting robot (2x10).
* When they were married, Castle got upset with Gina for buying Alexis a doll that he had wanted to give her for Christmas. A similar fight ensues when Gina gives Alexis a pair of tickets (with better seats and backstage passes, even) to the Taylor Swift concert -- after Castle had just spent some ridiculous amount of money getting her a pair from his broker (3x05).
* He dragged out a (fake!) severed head to greet Alexis’ first prom date, Owen (1x09), and scared Ashley, her present boyfriend, half to death with an antique pistol (3x04). When Ashley's parents meet Castle for the first time, he thinks they're boring, but they love him and want to go camping all together (3x09).
* He throws parties for Halloween every year, and has twice dressed up like a space cowboy (2x06). Dr Barry Frank, the veneer specialist, also makes his Halloween costumes by special order (2x06).
* Alexis gave Castle a chocolate badge for his (probably 40th) birthday (3x13).
* Castle is apparently fond of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, a wine from the Rhône region of southeastern France. He gives a case of it to a reviewer from the *New York Review of Books* as incentive for a favorable review of a Derrick Storm novel (1x07), and he brings a bottle of it to Beckett's apartment when he comes to protect her with his vast arsenal of rapier wit (2x17). A bottle of 2012 Domaine de Marcoux Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes is priced at 100,00 euro (about USD 115.00) as of February 13, 2015**,** while a bottle of 2011 Cuvée du Chêne Vert Châteauneuf-du-Pape is priced at 16,20 euro (about USD 19.00).

### Love me do

* In his freshman year of college, Castle fell in love with a girl named Allison, but she was gone the next morning. He never got her last name, so he could never find her again (2x15).
* Castle met Kyra Blaine in college, just after his first best seller was published, so he was at least a sophomore, possibly a junior. He dedicated his second book, *A Rose for Everafter*, to her. They dated for three years, until she told him she needed space and moved to London (2x12). Castle was born in April, so he would have graduated at 22, and Alexis was born when he was about 25, so he'd have met Meredith by at least 24, which means he had to have met Kyra before he was 21.
* Castle has been married twice (1x02): to Alexis' mother, an actress named Meredith (1x06), and much later to his publisher, Gina Griffin (1x01). Meredith left him for the director of a low-budget film she was shooting in LA when Alexis was a toddler (1x06). Their divorce was amicable enough that they still sometimes have "deep fried Twinkie" sex when she’s in NY (1x06), but Castle’s not crazy enough to guarantee a million dollar loan for her to buy an apartment there. (Alexis loves her mother, but also loves her better on the West Coast.) He divorced Gina not long before the pilot (1x01), but they’ve gone on working together.
* In the eighth grade a girl named Sherry Ort broke Castle's heart - and stole his lunch money. She then laughed about it with her friends. (2x04)
* In eleventh grade Castle was dating a 'darling' girl named Lizzie and dumped her - that was when Martha stopped being emotionally invested in his girlfriends (3x05).
* In his freshman year of college, Castle fell in love with a girl named Allison, but she was gone the next morning. He never got her last name, so he could never find her again (2x15).
* Castle was living with his girlfriend when he was 19 (6x05).
* Castle met Kyra Blaine in college, just after his first best seller was published, so he was at least a sophomore, possibly a junior. He dedicated his second book, *A Rose for Everafter*, to her. They dated for three years, until she told him she needed space and moved to London (2x12). Castle was born in April, so he would have graduated at 22, and Alexis was born when he was about 25, so he'd have met Meredith by at least 24, which means he had to have met Kyra before he was 21.
* Castle has been married twice (1x02): to Alexis' mother, an actress named Meredith (1x06), and much later to his publisher, Gina Griffin (1x01). Meredith left him for the director of a low-budget film she was shooting in LA when Alexis was a toddler (1x06). Their divorce was amicable enough that they still sometimes have "deep fried twinkie" sex when she’s in NY (1x06), but Castle’s not crazy enough to guarantee a million dollar loan for her to buy an apartment there. (Alexis loves her mother, but also loves her better on the West Coast.) He divorced Gina not long before the pilot (1x01), but they’ve gone on working together, and got back together again briefly (or for too long depending upon your POV) between 2x24 and 3x12.
* According to Castle, his marriage to his ex-wife/publisher Gina didn't involve much sex (2x17). But that didn't stop him from getting back together with her in 2x24. In 3x02 he insists the ‘thrill is back’, but they’re fighting about Gina buying concert tickets for Alexis in 3x05. By 3x12, it’s splashed across Page 6 that they've been arguing in public, and by the end of the episode Castle admits that he and Gina aren’t in love. They’re ordinary and he wants magic, so he ends it ... by phone.
* One of his marriages was a set up by Martha (4x05) but it's not clear if it was Gina or Meredith. Martha remembers the event positively so that suggests Gina, since they appear to have remained friendly -- in the pilot, Martha has told Gina that Castle's been sitting around in his underwear rather than writing.
* Castle likes grand romantic gestures (or just hot-air balloons) - he apparently proposed to Gina on a hot-air balloon ride, in February (2x22) and had 'Top Ten' sex with Meredith in a hot-air balloon (1x06). Among their top tens, Castle and Meredith also list Paris, Hawaii, Yankee Stadium, 'that place in the Poconos', Mykonos, Coney Island, Staten Island, Westminster Dog Show and the night they made Alexis (1x06).
* Castle is #9 on the New York *Ledger*'s (January) 2010 list of most eligible bachelors in S2. He was #7 the year before (2x14), and seems not to have appeared at all in S3. The women on the social register call him the 'White Whale' because he's unlandable (1x07).
* In 2x20, Castle sleeps with an actress he meets on a chat show, Ellie Monroe, but she was just using him to get the part of Nikki Heat in the Heat Wave movie. During the course of the episode, Castle discovers that she's also sleeping with a TV producer to get a part on a show, thus ending their fling. This may or may not be the actress who he is unwilling to name. She was famous to the point that made him uncomfortable, so he walked away (RichardCastle.net). He also has a real susceptibility to damsels-in-distress (2x09).
* He once drank every meal 'for a week' because a girlfriend dumped him, despite the fact that he didn't like her (1x02). God knows what he'd do if he ever got with Beckett and she dumped him.
* He was "smitten" with an insurance investigator met on a case, Serena Kaye, and took her out for dinner (a plan partly devised and approved by Beckett so she and Esposito could check Serena's room). He kissed Serena to distract her, but pulled away the moment he saw Kate come out of the room. He may have had the intention of seeing her again, but Serena "doesn't take something that belongs to someone else" so their relationship never went any further (4x05).
* Eleven and a half years ago (so in about 2000), Castle had a year long affair with CIA agent Sophia Conrad while doing "research" for the character of Clara Strike (4x15/4x16). She got nine books. Paula got a scene for a one-night stand in Ibiza (2x05).

### Write it, baby

* Castle has written 26 bestsellers by the start of the show (1x09, but 3x13 says 22). The first half-dozen were before Derrick Storm (1x01). He wrote Derrick Storm for longer than both his marriages combined (Pilot Script). Further information on Castle’s books can be found here.
* Castle claims to have written his first novel, *In a Hail of Bullets*, at The Old Haunt (3x10), and all the real world publicity for *Heat Wave* says it was published while he was still in college. (NY changed its drinking age from 18 to 21 in 1985, so this is not possible, as Castle would not have been 21 until 1992.Of course, NYC being NYC, it’s just as likely nobody cared.) He got the plot watching *One Life to Live* (1x02). For this, he won the Tom Straw Award for Mystery Literature, given by the Nom de Plume Society. Neither the award nor the society actually exist. Tom Straw, however, is real and is a crime fiction writer - and he's the real-world author of the Nikki Heat books.
* The dedication to Castle’s second book, *A Rose for Everafter*, reads ‘For Kyra Blaine, you make the stars shine’. They met at college just after his first novel was published and dated for three years, breaking up the September after graduation (2x12). This means he most likely wrote *In a Hail of Bullets* his freshman year, and published it by the time he was 19 years old.
* Listening to Jefferson Starship helped him through 2 weeks of writer's block when he was writing *Storm Watch* (3x09). He claims to have been in a bad place emotionally when he wrote *When It Comes to Slaughter* (2x07) so this may have been just after Meredith left.
* *Heat Wave* is dedicated ‘To the extraordinary KB and all my friends at the 12th’ (2x05), and *Naked Heat* ‘To the real Nikki Heat, with gratitude’ (book). *Heat Rises* is dedicated 'To Captain Roy Montgomery, NYPD. He made a stand and taught me all I need to know about bravery and character' (book). According to Kyra, he only dedicates his books to people he really cares about (2x12). All together, now: *awwww*.
* He wrote drafts of his early novels in longhand (2x12) and credits a 'certain British spy' as the reason he became a writer (2x05). He’s also written plays but they’ve never been produced (2x01).
* Castle says he's written 20 bestsellers in his office (out of 26 he's written), suggesting that this is how long ago he bought the loft (4x17).
* His publicist is named Paula Haas. He slept with her once ("one night in Ibiza"), and used that experience as the basis for a ‘really hot’ chapter in *Storm Fall* (2x05). She was working on a deal for him to write three books involving that same 'famous British spy', but that was dropped when the Nikki Heat series was picked up for three more novels at an undisclosed, but apparently huge, sum (2x05).
* Castle’s novels give him the opportunity to do many interesting things in the name of ‘research’, shadowing Beckett is only the most recent. In the past he has: interviewed serial killers, hitmen and CIA agents (2x04), tried to figure out if it was possible to throw someone off the Empire state building (1x02), researched coffins (2x08) and asked his pathologist friend Dr. Murray unusual questions -- like what happens if you put a head in a microwave (1x10). When he was writing *Storm Rising* he worked with one of the best safe crackers 'in the biz' (4x10). He also shadowed Sophia Turner for about a year as the inspiration for CIA agent Clara Strike, who appears in all the Storm novels. Unlike Kate Beckett, Sophia was apparently happy to research the sex scenes as well (4x16).
* He once had Alexis duct-tape him to a chair to see if he could get out because he had written Nikki Heat into the exact situation. (2x12)
* Castle didn't appear to do any writing after the release of *Heat Wave* (2x05) and by 2x24 the second manuscript was desperately overdue. In S3 we only see him writing once (3x10), but we do see the artwork for the Derrick Storm graphic novel and the *Heat Rises* cover in 3x24. In 4x17 he tries to throw Martha out of his office to get some writing done, but is called away by Beckett.
* In all of the dedications, "Castle" thanks the actors of the show and all but admits his love to Kate in *Heat Rises*: "...not to mention how to make sense of songs" (book).
* In the dedications, it is written that Gina's last name is Cowell, but in 3x12, the newspaper shows that her last name is Griffin.
* Castle was rejected 21 times before *In a Hail of Bullets* was published. He keeps the first rejection letter framed in his office because it 'drives' him by reminding him what he has overcome (4x03).
* As of 4x12, Castle is working on the next (and presumably last in the three-book deal he got in 2x05) Nikki Heat book, *Frozen Heat*. Gee, wonder if a refrigerated boxcar will feature prominently.
* Castle started researching 'Derrick Storm' 11 and a half years ago (4x15), somehow wangling a year long ride-along with a gorgeous CIA agent, Sophia Turner. The character based on her is Storm's on-again-off-again CIA love, Clara Strike, though in the end Clara Strike ended up as more of a fantasy. Unlike Nikki Heat, Castle apparently got to research the sex scenes too.
* Though he hasn't mentioned them, Castle has a side project writing add-ons to the Derrick Storm series. A press release from ABC and "Castle" explain that he was inspired to reexamine the circumstances about the death of Derrick Storm in light of the events of 4x15/4x16. The first of three new e-book novellas, *A Brewing Storm*, was released in May 2012, with two sequels to follow: *A Raging Storm* in July 2012 and *A Bloody Storm* in August 2012. All three are available on Amazon.
* At the start of season 7, Castle is promoting his latest novels, *Raging Heat* and *Wild Storm* (7x02).
* The man who shows up to warn Castle away from investigating his amnesia (7x02) says Castle told him that whatever happened in Hollander Woods when Castle was 11 is "the real reason" Castle became a writer.
* At one point Castle did research for a novel set during the Civil War but never wrote it (4x22). He also started a novel called *Tropical Heat*, but abandoned that because "it was terrible"; its legacy is that he has an "irrational fear of tsunamis" (7x01).

### He's got (ooh!) personality

* His safe word is apples (1x01), but for someone who jokes about bondage play he seemed pretty surprised by the real bondage dungeon (2x16). Though he is a member of the Varick Club, which seems to be some sort of hotel/gentleman's club where you can rent "playrooms", but he hasn't been there in a while (3x15) so maybe he's just out of practice.
* Castle plays golf with Judge Markway, the judge who signs Beckett's warrants (1x01). He also plays poker with a few different groups. His 'Gotham City' crew: Captain Montgomery, Bob, the Mayor (1x07) and Judge Markway (1x08); other mystery writers: the late Stephen J. Cannell (1x01, 2x01,2x24), Dennis Lehane (3x21), Michael Connelly (1x01, 2x01, 2x24, 3x21), and James Patterson (1x01, 2x01,2x24, 3x21). He definitely likes gambling, dropping $40,000 in a poker game with the Russian mob (2x01) and $100,000 on the possibility of catching the hitman who murdered Beckett's mother (2x13). Neither paid off exactly as planned. Castle does also have a few tells in poker: his nose twitches when he lies (3x19), he blinks when he's bluffing (1x08), and taps his fingers when he has a great hand (1x08).
* He takes his coffee with one cream and two sugars (1x03) and eats his hot dogs with hot mustard (1x01). He also likes chilli cheese dogs from 'Greys Papaya' (4x08) He’s supposedly a good cook, but he once tried to deep fry a turkey and burned his eyebrows off (2x14) and experimented with making chocolate mousse chimichangas and smorletes (3x04). He also likes lollipops that taste like soap (2x05), whipped cream straight out of the can (1x01) and has fondue nights with Alexis (4x12). He generally doesn't drink flavoured lattes but will sometimes drink a seasonal two pump gingerbread latte (WriteRCastle Twitter).
* Castle seems to have had some experience with yoga (1x06) but cannot throw a baseball (2x15).
* In 1x01 Castle said he looks through people's medicine cabinets; in 1x02 he does exactly that.
* He doesn't like the 70's (1x03), which would have been his early childhood. Gee, wonder why.
* In 1x10, Castle is reading *Sweetheart* by Chelsea Cain. His favourite authors include Edgar Allen Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle (RichardCastle.net), Steven King (2x11) and Carolyn Keene (RichardCastle.net and 1x09). He may also be a fan of John Grishham (3x19). He recently finished reading *The Drop* by Michael Connelly which he enjoyed (WriteRCastle Twitter). He’s a fan of the genre but doesn’t always read the books he’s given to review (3x14). Castle is 'mentoring' a young writer named Alex Conrad - really all he did was give Conrad a few notes and send the book to his publisher (3x21). He also knows and enjoys the articles of Gordon Burns, war journalist for the *Ledger* (3x20). But Castle doesn't seem to have much respect for "true crime" novelists (1x08) and doesn't seem to care much for Jane Austen (4x08). He's read *Twilight* (or at least seen the movies, maybe with Alexis?) because she counts himself as "Team Jacob" (WriteRCastle Twitter).
* Castle appears to have a favourite television show: *Grey's Anatomy* (3x05). He also watches *General Hospital* (3x18), *Game of Thrones* (4x02) and has seen at least one episode of *Sex and the City* (2x23). And according to him, "there are no bad episodes of *Miami Vice*" (4x20).
* He’s a fan of Van Halen (2x07) , AC/DC (3x05), Jim Morrison (WriteRCastle Twitter), Jimi Hendrix (WriteRCastle Twitter), The Beatles (WriteRCastle Twitter) and John Lennon (2x07). When Lennon died, Castle didn't leave his room for a week (2x07). He’s also learning to like popular music acts including Arcade Fire and the Decemberists thanks to Alexis (WriteRCastle Twitter), but doesn't seem to have jumped on the Adele train (4x08). He also credits Jefferson Starship with getting through writer’s block (3x09), and likes to play his Guitar Hero guitar like Tom Cruise in *Risky Business* (2x07). Both Castle and Beckett have dressed up as Gene Simmons for Halloween (3x22).
* Speaking of films, he’s also referenced *Underworld* (2x06), *QuickSilver* (2x08), *Back to the Future* (3x08), *Cape Fear* (2x09), *Time and Away* (3x08), *Jaws* (3x10), *Die Hard* (4x07), *Police Academy* (3x13), *Karate Kid* (3x13), *Ghostbusters* (4x06), *The Godfather* (4x08), *Forbidden Planet* (3x19), *Mad Max* (4x10), *The Conversation* (3x16, 4x12, 5x15), and of course, the Star Wars films, among others. He loves con movies; his favorite is *The Sting* (2x04). He also likes movies by John Hughes (4x08) and John Woo (4x23).
* He's a fan of comic book heroes, including: The Avengers, Daredevil, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Deadpool, Black Panther, and Batman. If he could be a superhero he would be Batman because of the high tech toys (4x02). He thinks *Sin City* is "badass" and knows about the character Elektra so he may be fans of those too (4x02). When he mentions Frank Miller, he's pleasantly surprised to find that Beckett is familiar with Miller's works. (2x06)
* He wears boxers (3x04), has a jealous lip twitch (2x23), and much to Alexis' dismay, constantly forgets to put his dishes in the sink (2x11). He also times himself when doing crossword puzzles (3x09).
* He asked his mother to make him an ET costume for Halloween - when he was 32 (4x02).
* He knows Morse code (4x07).
* Last time he stayed at the Sapphire Hotel in Atlantic City he set a mattress on fire and covered drapes with jelly. It was a "fun night" (4x08). He apparently did quite a bit more damage than mentioned - an itemized bill from the casino totals $31,696.08 (RichardCastle.net - the letter can be seen here).
* He claims the New York City Library as his first love and as such the Mayor is hoping to get a donation for their reading initiative. He also went to the Reading Train Gala last year (4x12).
* Castle believes himself to be "something of an expert" on world geography because of the research he did for Derrick Storm (2x24).
* He knows his cars and is surprised when Beckett suggests (laced with innuendo) that they go to the racetrack to see who laps whom (4x15). In 8x11 he identifies a Lamborghini Huracan by the sound of its engine on a surveillance recording.
* He has a bucket list of 50 items which reveal a lot about his escapades. Among other things, he has learned to juggle chain saws, visited every IKEA, literally lost his pants gambling, and seen all the *Twilight Zone* episodes ... again (RichardCastle.net - see it here).
* Castle has a literal bucketload of edged weapons in his office; in "Get a Clue" (6x06) he browses the items in the blacksmith's shop musing over which swords he has and which he wants.
* He's familiar with video and online games such as TerraQuest (7x03).

### They go together like WAKKA WAKKA WHOA

* Castle has asked Beckett to watch out for Alexis if anything happens to him (2x19). She’s given him tons of advice on dealing with a teenaged girl, like when Alexis wanted a scooter (3x03), to go on a school trip to Europe (2x09), and to go to college with her boyfriend (3x23). She babysat Alexis’ egg baby, Feggin, when Castle had to go rescue Alexis and her very drunk friend Paige from a seniors party (2x06).
* Beckett also tries to keep him from being Surveillance!Dad. Castle asked Beckett to run a background check on Alexis’ first date, Owen, but she refused (1x10) and she also disapproved quite strongly when he was tracking Alexis via GPS (3x19).
* Beckett has given Alexis a job at the precinct as an intern (2x10), and has given her advice on study-abroad programmes (2x09). Alexis made Beckett a hot chocolate when she stayed over after her apartment was bombed (2x18, deleted scene). Martha has lent Beckett a ruby necklace to go with Castle’s dress (1x07) and given her a heartfelt hug when her mother’s case suddenly reared up again (2x13).

### Defining episodes

* 1x05 - Castle finally finds out Beckett's backstory. And we get to see the Nikki Heat plotboard.
* 1x06 - Meredith, deep-fried twinkie and mother of Alexis, is back in town.
* 1x10 - Castle finally has some information on Beckett's mother's case...and gets roundly slapped down for it.
* 2x05 - Heat Wave is launched, and Castle gets the offer of a lifetime.
* 2x12 - Castle has a 'one that got away'...and it isn't Meredith. Or Gina.
* 2x24 - Oblivious to what's about to be his Big Moment with Beckett, Castle gets back together with Gina.
* 3x06 - A serial killer kidnaps Castle and Ryan...but for some reason does not kill them. He remains uncaught (as of end of mid S4).
* 3x15 - An old friend becomes the main suspect in a murder investigation.
* 3x17 - Castle saves New York City. No, really.
* 3x24 - Beckett and Castle fight over her safety but shows up to save her from Lockwood's gang. When things go horribly wrong at Montgomery's funeral, he tells Beckett, out loud, for the first time, that he loves her.
* 4x01 - He's been kicked out of the precinct by new Captain Gates, but manages to get the Mayor to vouch for him, again.
* 4x01 - Castle gets a call with information pertaining to Beckett's mom's case and her shooting, prompting maybe the biggest secret he's ever had to keep.
* 4x07 - Martha and Castle are held hostage in his bank.
* 4x12 - Castle gets yet another call about his place in the precinct and Beckett's safety.
* 4x15-16 - Castle is reunited with a previous muse, who may or may not still be working for the CIA.
* 4x19 - Unknown to Beckett, Castle hears her admit that she "remembers every minute" of her shooting.
* 4x23 - Castle and Beckett lay their cards on the table about things they've been hiding from each other. They fight, Castle leaves, Beckett nearly dies while chasing her suspect, then resigns from the NYPD. Late that night she comes to Castle's loft to make up, and boy do they make up.
* 5x03 - Alexis moves out of the loft, but only as far as the dorms at Columbia University.