| Kate Beckett | |||||||||||
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| Stana Katic as Det. Kate Beckett. | |||||||||||
| Castle | |||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Stana Katic | ||||||||||
| First appearance | "Flowers for Your Grave" (1.01) | ||||||||||
| Created by | Andrew W. Marlowe | ||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||
| Aliases | Katie (nickname by her mother and father) Becks (nicknamed by Madison, her friend from high school) |
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| Occupation | NYPD Detective (homicide department) | ||||||||||
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Katherine "Kate" Beckett is a fictional character portrayed by Stana Katic in the ABC crime series Castle.
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Beckett is a detective with the Twelfth Precinct Homicide Squad of the New York City Police Department, where she worked with fellow detectives Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan and medical examiner Lanie Parish under Captain Roy Montgomery until he was killed at the end of season 3. In season 4, Montgomery is replaced by Victoria "Iron" Gates. In the pilot episode,[1] Beckett leads the investigation into the murder of Allison Tisdale, which is staged in the style of a death scene described in the Richard Castle novel Flowers For Your Grave, along with other murders based on Castle's fiction.
Beckett is forced to have Castle consult on the case, and though she tries to contain his access, he repeatedly violates police protocol. Although the killer is apparently caught when he leaves his fingerprints on a note he allegedly sent to Castle, Castle convinces Beckett to continue the investigation based on a hunch, the two discovering that the killer was actually Allison's brother, setting up a mentally ill client of his sister—a social worker—so that he could claim the majority of their father's estate due to his father suffering from terminal cancer. By the end of the pilot, Castle uses his friendship with the Mayor to get partnered with Beckett under the pretense of conducting research for a new series of novels starring a detective based on Beckett. Toward the end of the fourth episode,[2] Beckett's literary alter-ego is revealed to be named "Nikki Heat.",[3] much to Beckett's annoyance.
During the pilot, Castle speculated that Beckett had joined the police force due to an unsolved trauma suffered by someone close to her, and Beckett implied that he was correct. Castle also confirmed that Beckett "does have a history with (an) unsolved crime" which inspires her to build "case[s] that would never fall apart in court."[4] In the second episode, Beckett plied suspect Chloe Richardson by admitting that someone close to her had been killed. By the fifth episode,[5] Beckett tells Castle that it had been her mother, Johanna Beckett, who had been violently murdered, and that Beckett became a cop because she wanted to be a detective who did not commit what she felt was the investigating detective's mistake of "pigeon-holing" crimes (she explained to Castle that she believes that her mother's killer was never caught because the investigating detectives simply assumed that she was killed in a botched robbery and ignored all evidence to the contrary, such as the fact that her mother still had her purse and keys when she was found). She explained that she now wears her mother's wedding ring on a necklace for "the life [she] lost" and her father's watch for "the life [she] saved" when she helped him recover from his alcoholism. She also reads mystery fiction as a result, hoping to gain insight into murderers' motives, and is not so secretly one of Castle's fans, although her main strength as a detective lies in her ability to empathize with the relatives of violent crimes, which she does "better than anyone [Montgomery] knows".
In "Little Girl Lost" (1x09), Beckett's past is further revealed when a former love interest, FBI Agent Will Sorenson, returns to New York and requests Beckett's assistance on a kidnapping case. It is revealed in the episode by Sorenson that Beckett once waited in line for an hour just to get one of Castle's books signed, and also how his novels helped her through her mother's death. In the first season finale, Beckett angrily refuses Castle's help in reopening her mother's murder investigation—having concluded after conducting her own investigations after joining the force that focusing on her mother's death would destroy her life—stating that if Castle interferes, it will end his police collaboration with her. Despite this, Castle confronts Beckett at the end of the episode with evidence that her mother was targeted for murder. At the beginning of season 2 she forgives Castle for his indiscretion about her mother's murder after he delivers a heartfelt apology. During this period it was also revealed that Beckett speaks Russian after a semester in Kiev between her junior and senior year, as well as spending a brief period modeling when she was seventeen on the grounds that it seemed easier than waitressing (although the only shown photograph of her modeling period is her in tennis gear). Her partnership with Castle is later extended after Castle receives a three-book publishing deal after the success of the debut Nikki Heat novel.[6]
Beckett's mother's case is again brought up at "Sucker Punch" (2x13) when Lanie contacts a specialist, Dr. Murray, after realizing the wound similarities between the victim and Beckett's mother. Dr. Murray then reveals to Beckett that there is no doubt in his mind, that the victim is killed by the same man that murdered her mother. At first she is informed by a corrupt politician Dick Coonan that it is a contract killer named "Rathborne" that killed her mother and the four other victims. They then set up an exchange—Castle actually donating $100,000 of his own money to cover the fee to fake a hit—so Beckett can finally catch the killer but he never shows. After the exchange goes bust she realizes that Coonan himself is the killer—given that he implied awareness of her connection to "Rathborne" without Beckett having made any reference to her mother's death—and as she goes to arrest and confront him, he takes Castle hostage. Castle manages to free himself but Coonan comes charging after him, only to have Beckett shoot him in the chest, killing him instantly. Though she gains some closure on her mother's death she still must figure out who now ordered the hit on her mother. In the same episode, Castle states that he will stop shadowing her and feels guilty that Beckett had to kill in order to save his life. However, Beckett tells him to stay, admitting that she has grown accustomed to Castle "pulling on [her] pigtails"—although she threatens to shoot him if he mentions that to anyone else—that he makes her hard job more fun, and that she wants him to be there when she finally finds whoever ordered her mother's murder.
In "Under the Gun", Beckett tells Castle that she has a '94 Harley softail motorbike, which she worked through high school to pay for. When he asks why she will not show him a picture of the bike, she says it is because she does not think he could handle the sight of her "straddling it in tight black leather".
Beckett's training officer after leaving the academy was Mike Royce; who according to Beckett was "the only one who understood the obsession that drove [her]". One of their cases involved a karaoke bar; another involved a monkey. She also says that she was in love with Royce, and claims that she was lying by saying it in order to keep him talking on the phone long enough to get a trace. However, after telling Castle that she lied, she walks off with tears clearly visible in her eyes.
In "Last Call", Beckett revealed that she has a tattoo. She also displayed her singing talents with the rest of her team.
She admits, after being questioned by Castle, that she attended NYU and took a semester of economics. In the season 3 finale, Beckett was giving a eulogy at Captain Montgomery's funeral when a sniper hiding behind a nearby tombstone shot her in the chest. Castle attempted to tackle her so that she could dodge the bullet, but he was too late. Just before she lost consciousness, Castle told Beckett he loved her.
She manages to survive her injury after going through surgery and flatlining. When Castle visits her, she claims to have lost her memory of everything that happened, and asks him to give her some time to process everything that has happened. She takes three months to recover, but she doesn't call Castle during that time, in a mirror situation to that of the previous year, when Castle didn't call Beckett for the whole summer. When she comes back to her work, she meets her new boss, former Internal Affairs member Victoria Gates, with whom she immediately has a confrontation after she learns that the investigation on the attack on her, as well as Montgomery's death, have been closed. She also learns that, while she was away, Ryan, Esposito and Castle got some information, and that a storage that could have important information burned down, apparently in an accident. She meets with Castle - who has left the precinct since Beckett isn't there - and tells him that she broke up with Josh during the summer, and that she feels that she can't have an actual relationship while the people that had her mother killed are still free. She tries to continue the investigation of her mother's death, but Castle convinces her of trying to give it some time, so that things may become clearer.
In "Heroes & Villains", she is shown to be a client of a famous comic book store, and that she has bought a copy of the graphic novel based on Castle's character Derrick Storm, which she tries to hide as an attempt to help with the sales. When she interrogates Officer Hastings, who has been fighting crime as a vigilante called Lone Vengeance and is suspected of killing a man that knew her double identity, it turns out that the two of them are very similar in that they lost one of their parents when someone murdered them and have allowed that to drive their careers towards the police force in order to make justice. It also turns out that she has a boyfriend who works as a journalist and writes a comic about what Lone Vengeance does. Beckett tells her to stop letting her past define her life. When it is found that Officer Hastings is innocent, the officer and the journalist leave the precinct and kiss passionately as the lift door closes. Castle comments on the similarity between the couple the officer and the journalist make and the relationship between himself and Beckett.
Beckett's initial relationship with Castle was strained, in part due to the fact that she viewed him as immature and reckless. However, she did see that he was important in solving difficult cases. After "Sucker Punch", however, which featured Castle willingly using $100,000 of his own money simply to fake a contract to catch the man who killed her mother, followed by him volunteering to terminate their partnership after his presence forced her to kill her mother's murderer without learning who hired him, her relationship with him has shown great improvement, as she can be seen getting burgers with him after a case. They also frequently finish each other's sentences.
In "Tick Tick Tick..." (2x17), she is shown to be jealous of Castle's attention of Agent Shaw and her high-tech equipment. In the same episode, he is seen to be worried about her, even staying in her apartment to protect her from a murderer. He even made her pancakes in the morning, which she was teased about by Ryan and Esposito. During the aftermath of her apartment being blown up, Beckett stays at Castle's apartment, where she makes him breakfast.
Her relationship with Castle is further demonstrated by her closeness to Alexis Castle, his daughter. Alexis looks up to Beckett and sees her as a friend and surrogate mother at times, even asking her advice on a foreign exchange program to France; Castle once even asked Beckett to help look after Alexis if he died when he believed that he had been cursed after looking at a Mayan mummy. Beckett also dispenses parenting advice, telling Castle that Alexis is entering her "wild-child phase".
In "A Deadly Game" (2x24), Beckett was on the brink of telling Castle about her feelings for him when his ex-wife (Gina) showed up to go to the Hamptons with him, saying he'll "See [Beckett] in the fall". They do not share any communication whatsoever during the summer.
In "Deadly Affair", Beckett and her team find Castle at a crime scene in the season three premiere and arrest him for murder (which she gladly does because he didn't call her to inform that he was back in town but after he is proved innocent she sets him loose). Beckett "loses" a bet with Castle regarding who would discover evidence leading to the next stage of their investigation first- although they both received the evidence simultaneously-, which then results in him being reinstated as her partner.
In "She's Dead, He's Dead", it is revealed that Beckett has looked at the biography page of Castle's official website, and thus knows his middle name is "Edgar". However, his real middle name is Alexander, Castle having legally changed his name from Richard Alexander Rodgers to Richard Edgar Castle (After Edgar Allan Poe) when he began writing.
In "Nikki Heat" (3x11), Beckett becomes jealous of the actress Natalie Rhodes (Laura Prepon) (dressed as Nikki Heat, the character Castle based on Beckett) when she sees her kissing Castle in the elevator. Unbeknownst to Beckett, Castle turned Rhodes down, because he felt that she was only acting out a fantasy he created (Noting later to Beckett that sleeping with a woman posing as a fictional version of her would be too "meta").
In "Knockdown" (3x13), Castle and Beckett finally kiss, although it is a ploy to distract a guard.
In "Setup" (3x16), Castle and Beckett can be seen in a concealed tarp together after being exposed to high levels of radiation. Castle asks Beckett about her recent trouble with Josh (her current boyfriend) and Kate responds by telling Castle about how Josh has been away a lot, and how she wants him to be there for her. Unfortunately, a man comes and interrupts before Castle can say something to Kate that could probably change their relationship.
In "Countdown" (3x17), Castle and Beckett are trapped inside a giant freezer, where they huddle in an intimate position to keep warm. As Beckett becomes weaker, she turns to Castle and gently touches his face, saying "I want you to know how much I ..." before passing out. Castle begs her to wake up before passing out himself. He also looks extremely miserable when Beckett suggests she and Josh have a chance. They are both very coy with each other during the rest of the episode. As the timer gets lower and lower they grasp hands, and as Castle pulls his heroic feat, Beckett looks at him with a ludicrously happy expression, and jumps on him in happiness. Quickly changing the relationship-changing statement as he spots Josh coming towards them. As Castle walks to the elevator, Beckett and Josh embrace, however, Beckett's eyes follow Castle until she can no longer see him. In the elevator, Castle looks completely heartbroken; considering the circumstances they had been in, and neither of them had managed to express their true feelings.
In "The Dead Pool" (3x21), she is "courted" by another writer, Castle's protege, for information and characteristics. At the end of the episode, Castle admits openly to being jealous, and she turns the writer down, calling herself a "one writer girl". When Castle thanks her, she replies "always".
In "Knockout" (3x24), Beckett tells Castle he and she are "over" after his unsuccessful attempt to dissuade her from continuing her obsessive pursuit of Hal Lockwood, an assassin connected to her mother's murder. While they fight Castle tells Beckett that he doesn't understand what their relationship is; that they "nearly die frozen in each other's arms", kiss, hold hands, and spend their free time together but they never talk about any of it. He also accuses her of "hiding" in relationships with men she doesn't love. When she is delivering a eulogy at Roy Montgomery's funeral, she is shot, leading Castle to confess his feelings for her.
During the 4th season opener, "Rise" (4x01), Beckett tells Castle that she cannot remember what happened at the time of the shooting. However, she later reveals to her psychologist that she had been lying to everyone and in fact remembered everything, although she has yet to admit it to anyone else. Kate refuses to pursue any relationship (including Castle), until the man behind her mother and Roy Montgomery's deaths has been caught. In "Eye of the Beholder" (4x05), Kate becomes upset when Castle become interested in another woman, Serena Kaye, but refuses to acknowledge her feelings towards Castle, leading her psychologist to question whether she's worried that he will not wait, or worried that Castle will wait.
In "Little Girl Lost" (1x09), FBI agent Will Sorenson (Bailey Chase) turned up and were found to be Beckett's ex-boyfriend who dated her for 6 months, but broke up with her when he decided to go to Boston for his career. He asked Beckett to go back to him in the episode, Beckett answered that she "would consider it", but it was not mentioned again.
In "Death In the Family" (1x10), Sorenson was in the car driving former mobster Jimmy Moran back to the safe house when the killer pulled up next to them and shot both Moran and Sorenson. Beckett later looked genuinely concerned at the news of his injury and waited at the hospital with Sorenson until she had to leave for work purposes. Returning at the closing of the case laughing and enjoying her conversation with her ex-boyfriend.
In "Den of Thieves" (2x21), Beckett meets robbery detective Tom Demming (Michael Trucco), to whom she instantly takes a liking. It is later revealed that the two have started dating, eating together at work, and even sharing a cab. At the end of "Overkill" (2x23), she shares a kiss with him, confirming that they are now in a relationship. However, in the season 2 finale, Beckett breaks off the relationship, claiming that it "isn't what [she's] looking for right now." Demming asks her what she is looking for and she glances at Castle.
In the last scene of "Punked" (3x04), Josh (Victor Webster) comes to the precinct and picks Beckett up to go motorbike riding (shown by her going to get her helmet). Prior to this, Beckett had not told anyone that she had a new boyfriend. In the next episode it is revealed that Josh is a biker and a cardiac surgeon.
In "Last Call" (3x10), Beckett tells Castle that she and Josh had just been tucked up in bed with her laptop when his call came through to meet him at "The Old Haunt".
In "Knockdown" (3x13), Castle arrived at Beckett's apartment and asked for Josh before he handed her flowers. Supposed this may suggest that Kate and Josh are possibly serious.
In "Countdown" (3x17), Josh stays in Manhattan, as opposed to going to Haiti, causing Beckett to think they "have a chance." Josh saves both her and Castle from hypothermia. They embrace at the end of the episode, but Beckett seems distracted and longingly stares after Castle as he leaves.
In "Rise" (4x01), Beckett tells Castle that she broke up with Josh.
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