Alexis Castle

### played by Molly Quinn

Alexis is 15 in Season 1. She's Castle's daughter by his first wife, Meredith, an actress who lives in L.A. They split up amicably when Alexis was about two, and her parents decided she would remain with her father. He's raised her alone ever since (a brief second marriage notwithstanding) and the two are exceptionally close.

Though frequently her father's partner or opponent in games, Alexis is definitely more mature than Castle, with a strict moral code she's evidently made up herself (just jumping a turnstile because her card was out of fare was enough to reduce her to tears of guilt, and she grounded herself for a month). She did a summer school program at Princeton between seasons 2 and 3, and in season 4 she broke up with her boyfriend Ashley Linden, with whom she had a long-distance relationship as he was at Stanford; the tipping point came in "Cops and Robbers" (4x07) when Alexis realized Ashley wasn't supporting her emotionally.

At the end of season 4 Alexis is made valedictorian of her high school graduating class, and in season 5 she moves out of the loft and into student housing at Columbia. Halfway through the season, Alexis and her friend Sara al-Masri are kidnapped and used to lure Castle's father out of hiding. Sara is later freed; between the NYPD, Castle, and "Jackson Hunt", Alexis is rescued and returned home. At the end of season 5, Alexis goes on a 6-week study trip to Costa Rica, and in season 6 she returns with a boyfriend in tow, named Pi. She and Pi eventually get an apartment together, much to Castle's disapproval, and after a brief estrangement and solving a case together, she and Castle reconcile. A few episodes later, she and Pi have parted ways and Alexis moves back into the loft.

In season 7, Alexis and her dad have a few adventures together, including trying to track down clues about his disappearance and solving a murder that takes place on their flight to Europe. In season 8, Alexis becomes a de facto manager for Richard Castle Investigations and makes friends with Hayley Shipton, who helps Castle with several cases. When Castle goes to L.A. to investigate a lead about his disappearance, Alexis and Hayley go with him to help. During a case that leads to clues on a university campus, Alexis goes undercover to follow rumors about the case.

### Just the facts

* In season 1, Alexis is studying physics (1x01), calculus (1x06), poetry (1x07), and American lit (1x09) .
* Alexis has a friend named Julie Smith, whose dad is in rehab. She also has friends named Taylor, Kelsey and Paige, who go on a school trip to DC with her (1x03). Taylor later accompanies Alexis to the launch party for *Heat Wave* (2x05), while Paige gets drunk at a Halloween party and has to call Castle to come get them (2x06). She also has a friend named Sloane who's 17 and wants to date Rick next year -- 2011 (2x14).
* Alexis has a female friend named Ashley who has been on the JV cheerleading squad for two years. Alexis considers trying out for the squad (which freaks Castle out) but decides not to because it conflicts with too many of her other activities (2x16).
* She also has a friend named Lacey who has invited her to the Hamptons for the weekend (2x22).
* When Alexis was little, she and Castle would go to the history museum every Sunday (2x19).
* Alexis loves her mother, but face-to-face, a little goes a very long way. We meet Meredith in 1x06.
* When Alexis was 9, Meredith took her for dinner -- in Paris (1x06). Castle has never quite forgiven Meredith for that.
* One of Alexis' grandfathers died six years ago, probably Meredith's father (1x06).
* When she was little, Alexis had a favorite stuffed animal named Monkey Bunkey (1x09).
* Alexis had a babysitter named Katrina who's now a model who goes by Rina. They watched *High School Musical* over and over and over (2x03). Since the movie only came out in 2006, this would mean that Castle was still hiring babysitters for Alexis when she was as old as 13. (According to 1x01 though, this would have been before Martha moved in.)
* Alexis is also a talented violinist and has a cute tutor, Dylan, from Juilliard (2x04).
* She attends Marlowe Prep, which does not appear to be a real school (it's probably named after show creator Andrew Marlowe). The mascot is a bear (2x16).
* Her high school principle is named Mr. Simmonds (1x06).
* Alexis has a college counselor named Ms. Shafer, who thinks Alexis needs to diversify her extra-curriculars (2x16).
* In the second season, Alexis is taking a civics class (2x10), AP Chemistry (2x22), German with Fraulein Sonnenberg (2x14), and probably physics (2x19). She is also in a French club (2x09, 2x16) and is taking fencing lessons (2x19). According to the WriteRCastle tweets she's also taking pre-calc, but since we know she took calculus last year, that would be strange.
* The baby pictures of Alexis in the apartment are actual baby pictures of the actress (Molly Quinn commentary for 2x22).
* Blue Pill is Alexis' favourite band. Castle took her to a Blue Pill concert last year (2x07).
* Alexis gave her dad a chocolate badge for his birthday (3x13).
* In 2x09, Alexis wants to go to Oxford.
* Alexis went to Greendale Elementary, where her best friend was Gracie, who moved to Kansas when they were 10 (3x10). (There really are several schools named Greendale Elementary, but none are in NYC so it's probably safe to assume this is as made up as Marlowe Academy.)
* Alexis spent the summer between sophomore and junior year (2nd and 3rd season) at Princeton in a summer school for gifted students (2x24).
* Alexis had her first date with a boy named Owen (1x10). They attended the Junior/Senior prom, and apparently had a great time as Alexis didn't get home until 4 AM (1x10). The romance lasted the summer, but he had a penchant for pretty girls who pretended to know him, and Alexis broke up with him after he stood her up to play games on his computer and wouldn't apologize (2x01).
* At the start of the third season, Alexis is dating a boy named Carter, whom she met during the summer at Princeton, but she's upset that he didn't call her when he got back from Europe (3x01).
* Alexis' first "true love" is named Ashley. We meet him in 3x04 and his parents in 3x09. His father, Bob Linden, is an economics professor. He is not the boy from Princeton.
* Alexis' school is doing *Grease* and she tries out, and is shortlisted for Sandy. She doesn't get the part but decides to be stage manager instead (3x07).
* 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).
* Alexis is a fan of singer Taylor Swift. She and her boyfriend Ash have a song, Taylor Swift's "Mine" (3x05).
* By late season three, Alexis' in-crowd is causing her a lot of trouble. They go shoplifting in Williamsburg, and even though Alexis doesn't take anything she feels compelled to pay for what her friends stole (3x19). Later, another girl from that crowd posts photos of herself kissing Ashley on her website, and then disinvites Alexis to her party after Castle (unbeknown to Alexis) gets Ryan to have a friend hack in and take them down (3x20).
* Alexis gives Ash a picture frame engraved 'true love' with a picture of his pet rat inside (3x15).
* Alexis' tell is a crinkled nose (3x19).
* Alexis is a junior in season 3, according to tweets from Executive Producer Terri Miller. She was 17 in 3x19.
* Alexis decides to graduate from high school early so she can go Stanford with Ashley starting in January the following year (3x23), but is denied early admission (4x03).
* Alexis' phone number is 212-555-0135 (3x19).
* She played super peewee soccer. She once accidentally scored a goal when the ball bounced off her head, but her team never won a game (4x03).
* She won the Franklin Middle School spelling bee and an award in French at Marlowe Prep (4x03).
* As of 4x04 Alexis is the executive liaison advocate to the administration for the senior class.
* Ashley is unavailable for support while Castle and Martha are held hostage in a bank, and it proves to be the final straw in their long distance relationship and Alexis breaks up with him over the phone (4x07).
* Alexis can drive (WriterRCastle twitter).
* Castle's "fabulous" pasta carbonara is her favorite; she also likes the director's cut of *Saw 4* (4x15).
* At a loss after being rejected for early admission to Stanford, Alexis took on an internship with Lanie in the Coroner's Office to see if she might want to go to medical school (4x15).

### Defining episodes

* 1x10 -- Alexis goes to her first prom with her new boyfriend, Owen.
* 2x01 -- Owen and Alexis have their first fight.
* 2x06 -- Alexis and her friend Paige go to a senior's Halloween party, where Paige gets drunk.
* 2x09 -- Alexis has a secret she'll only share with Beckett.
* 2x10 -- Alexis gets to be Baby Beckett, interning at the precinct for three days.
* 3x04 -- The Ashley Alexis invites to the loft is her new boyfriend, not her old friend, and they get caught making out on the couch by a flustered Castle.
* 3x23 -- Motivated by Ashley's acceptance to Stanford, Alexis decides to apply for early admission to be with him.
* 4x01 -- After Beckett's shooting, Alexis questions her dad's involvement with the NYPD.
* 4x03 -- Stanford denies Alexis early admission.
* 4x07 -- Alexis breaks up with her long time boyfriend, Ashley, because he wasn't there for her enough.
* 4x08 -- Alexis plans a post-breakup girls' night at the loft that turns into a nightmare of uninvited hordes.
* 4x15 -- Alexis takes on an internship under ME Lanie Parish and is dismayed when a body disappears from the morgue on her shift.
* 4x21 -- Once she retrieves the college admission letters Castle's been hiding, Alexis finds she's been accepted "everywhere!", i.e. Oxford, Princeton, Sarah Lawrence...and Stanford. In 4x22 it appears she's also in at Columbia, NYU, and Vassar; she eventually decides to go to Columbia.
* 4x22 -- Alexis' and Castle's epic longtime laser tag challenge seems to be over when Alexis tells her dad it's time to end it - then, later in the episode, she ambushes him, eventually proposing "two out of three".
* 4x23 -- As valedictorian, Alexis has to make a speech at graduation; she gets frustrated when she can't figure out what to say until she tells her dad, "Everything is going to change," and he replies, "That feels true. Write about that."
* 5x03 -- Castle tells Alexis (off-camera) about his relationship with Beckett, after his mother tells him she knew about it the moment she walked in unannounced in 5x01.
* 5x03 -- Alexis asks her dad to check under her dorm bed for monsters, like he did when she was little, and of course he does and proclaims her room monster-free.
* 6x01 -- Alexis returns from Costa Rica with a new boyfriend, "Pi", of whom Castle heartily disapproves (probably in part because he doesn't think Pi is good enough for Alexis). Pi stays at the loft until he and Alexis find an apartment and move out in 6x05.
* 6x13 -- Alexis calls off her relationship with Pi at the end of the episode, and in 6x16 she moves back into the loft.
* 7x21 -- Alexis and Castle have to find a killer while on a plane to Europe.
* 7x23 -- Alexis admits to her dad that she has no idea what she wants to do with her life.
* 8x01 -- When Castle has his P.I. office remodeled, Alexis is apparently in charge of overseeing the project.