Hah! Thank you. 
Yeah. They have had dozens of episodes with Becket beating up bad guys physically. And another dozen showing Castle to be anywhere from untrained to inept at physical combat.
And all of a sudden he can scoop up Becket AGAINST HER WILL and carry her off and all she can do is cry and kick and waver her arms futilely? Hey, she HAS A GUN. Pull it out and shoot him in the leg, if nothing else works.
That was a totally plot-serving lame cliche.
Well, not one of my favorite episodes. I agree that Castle isn’t supposed to be serious. One of the things I like about it is that they seem to be having fun.
But it wasn’t too bad.
I agree the series generally works better on a lighter note. But I can allow a little seriousness on a season finale.
I don’t think the files were sent to Beckett. Montgomery was adamant about not telling her the name of the top guy for her own good.
So my guess is that the revelation of that name will be the fourth season finale.
Castle had blood on him, so Beckett was definitely shot. She probably passed out. She either won’t remember Castle saying “I love you,” or will pretend she doesn’t. Castle won’t say anything about it, hoping Kate will remember.
I think Castle will end up having the documents.
I’m not clear on why the captain had Beckett meet him. Aside from dramatic tension.
Montgomery said he was using her as bait to draw the bad guys out.
And, the Derek Storm graphic novel will be out in September.
But she was already out of sight before they got there. Or did they know she was coming?
For maximum “fuck with everybody-ness,” it should turn out that it’s Castle’s father. 
Well the deal was that he would lure her there so they could kill her… but as you said, she was out of sight when they arrived.. yeah, it didn’t make too much sense. I mean, it seemed like he just wanted to kill as many guys as he could and figured he was going to die in the process… why did he need to get her there? Other than, you know, TV show.
I’m not a fan of graphic novels, but I’ll probably buy it.
He could have just met the killers and hoped that everyone would assume he had died on duty. But he probably realized the truth would come out eventually (and in fact Esposito and Ryan had figured it out). So my guess is that he wanted the chance to explain himself before he died.
Speaking of fathers, when Beckett’s dad came to see Castle, I was convinced that there was going to be a scene later in the episode where Castle brings up the visit and Beckett looks at him with a shocked expression and says, “But my father is (dead / bedridden in a nursing home with dementia / lives in Antarctica / otherwise unavailable).” It wasn’t until we got a quick glimpse of him at the funeral that I realized that he wasn’t some impostor looking to blindside the good guys.
I’m curious how they’ll recast the Captain. Might be interesting to get someone that doesn’t like or support Kate. Create some tension in the office.
Lots of ways they could go. They could even make Kate Captain. 
Too funny - we had similar thoughts, but opposite levels of support for it - I was actually thinking: Christ, I hope they don’t go with that old trope where they get someone who won’t support Kate.
This is actually the fourth episode that Scott Paulin has appeared in as Jim Beckett.
Well, there’s an easy explanation for the oversight. I am a bit of a latecomer to the series, so of his previous three appearances, I had only seen, uh … two.
As for the ending - yeah, it’s a Mozzie - I don’t think it was ‘planned’ (as in a ruse) but no way the char doesn’t survive - I’d say Castle is the recipient of the package.
+1. I’ve watched only the last seven or eight episodes this season; I’m new to the game. I thought the same thing! *How do we know that’s really her dad? *
The entire premise of the show is Castle following Beckett around. Without those two, you have no show. Montgomery was a great supporting character (as are Esposito, Ryan, and Lanie) but the premise could survive losing one of those four. I can’t survive losing Beckett. Season premiere next year will probably start with her fake funeral, and she’ll show up again after the credit roll.
Also, when Castle and Beckett were arguing in her apartment, Nathan Fillion totally slipped out of Castle and into Mal Reynolds. Facial expressions, mannerisms, everything. I half expected him to say “'less I conjure it does” or something similar.