Poof! You're Dead

**Writer**: Terri Edda Miller

**Director**: Millicent Shelton

#### DUSTJACKETS BLURB

When a magician turns up dead, Beckett and Castle must decide if it was suicide, murder, or a magic trick gone awry. A good magician never reveals his secrets, but as the team investigates it becomes clear that Zalman's secrets may be more murderous than magical. Meanwhile, Lanie and Esposito are keeping a secret of their own, and Castle's fight with Gina is definitely not a secret.

### Guest cast

* Chadwick Boseman - CHUCK RUSSELL
* Brett Cullen - CHRISTIAN DAHL
* Carrie Genzel - NAOMI DAHL
* Jeff Hephner - EDMUND/ZALMAN DRAKE
* Vanessa Lengies - ELIZA WINTER
* Gilles Marini - TOBIAS STRANGE
* Lenny Schmidt - JEROME ASPENALL
* Adrian Sparks - THADDEUS MAGNUS
* Natalie Cohen - MAGICIAN'S ASSISTANT

### Literary and other references

* The Fortress of Solitude is a place where Superman goes when he wants to be alone, and Clark Kent is Superman's alter ego.
* The "gumball" is a slang term for the portable flashing light used by unmarked police cars. Using it allows the driver to ignore traffic laws, reaching their destination more quickly.
* *Dead Ringer* is a 1964 movie that involves a twin taking over the other twin's identity.
* Professor X is a nickname (and superhero identity) for Professor Charles Xavier, the wheelchair-bound leader of the X-Men in the comic books and movies.
* Timothy (Tim) McVeigh was the terrorist responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.
* The names of the guest characters are suitably meaningful. In addition to Winter and Strange, "Drake" can be used as a synonym for "dragon", and "Magnus" means "great."

### Memorable moments

* Lanie and Esposito trying to be stealthy.
* Castle who can't stop fiddling with things in Thaddeus' apartment.
* Castle opening up to Martha about Gina.
* The ending.

### Quotable quotes

* LANIE: Javier Esposito. When we get to this crime scene, do not wink at me, do not smile at me, and don't even look at me with those puppy dog eyes. Got it?
* CASTLE: When he read your mind, did it take him very long?
JEROME: No, he - no.
CASTLE: Didn't think so.
* CASTLE: You had your hand in my pocket and I didn't even feel it? Do it again!
* BECKETT: Alakazam, jackass.
* CASTLE: It's probably Edmund who's dead, and that dweeb in the next room is Zalman. I bet he killed his brother to take over his life.
BECKETT: As an accountant. In Poughkeepsie?
* BECKETT: What am I supposed to charge him with, being a twin?
* CASTLE: So he was killed by a rabbit who didn't want to be pulled out of a hat.
* CASTLE: Connection...
BECKETT: Conjecture...
* CASTLE: Dummy. (*Beckett gives him a 'did-you-really-just-say-that' look*) Not you...on the...in the cockpit.
* BECKETT: I do this one thing...with ice cubes.
* CASTLE: Hey, X-ray specs. Got them at the magic store. I can see you naked.
BECKETT: Really? How do you like my navel ring?
* BECKETT: What?
CASTLE: Nothing...so what do we do now?

### Just the facts

* Lanie and Esposito are dating, and trying to hide it from the rest of the team, but everyone already knows.
* We see the inside of Lanie's apartment for the first time (briefly).
* Castle has been going to Drake's Magic Shop since he was thirteen years old.
* Beckett's grandfather was an amateur magician. She visited Drake's Magic Shop with him every Sunday when she was about thirteen years old.
* It is 10am when they get to the crime scene.
* Beckett knows a lot of magic tricks, including the ability to pick pockets.
* Castle's back to his iPhone, after his unfortunate stint with product placement for the Windows phone in "Anatomy of a Murder".
* Castle and Gina have been fighting a lot, and he confesses to Martha that they aren't really in love. Their latest fight has been splashed all over Page 6, and by the end of the episode they break up.
* The newspaper article about Castle and Gina's fight shows her full name as "Gina Griffin."

### Oops

* Wet footprints dry pretty quickly, so why weren't Castle and Beckett expecting someone to be inside Zalman's workshop?
* During the scene where Beckett and Castle are spinning theory about Dahl's disappearance Beckett has what looks like a hair elastic on her left wrist, above her dad's watch. It disappears and reappears between shots.
* The confession should probably be thrown out of court, because the suspect asked for his lawyer right before they scared him into confessing. Also the method that they use to get him confess is probably either entrapment or coercion.
* When Beckett gets a soda she doesn't actually put any money in the machine.

### Branch libraries

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* Reviews
	+ CliqueClack - Castle--Alakazam, Jackass (11 Jan 11)
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