castle season 3 finale

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!!!

OMG!!! great finale! the tone of the final episode was different from the usual fun and light murder mystery theme of the whole series since it's about the continuing storyline of who killed beckett's mom. i've read the spoiler ahead that there's someone who will die in the finale. i have already guessed that it's montgomery, though i didnt know that it's because he was the third cop all along. i think while him being the 3rd cop seems to make sense after a few reasoning, it was also totally where-did-that-come-from because he has always been showing up in and out of the series like a mentor or guide but actually realising he plays a very important character was a surprise. i like that even though he was supposed to be bad, beckett was able to forgive him since she respected him and she knew that in the end he saved her life. still, beckett's murder storyline is not yet finished and i feel like they're back to ground zero, looking for new leads in the case.

the bigger shock in the finale though was kate being assassinated during montgomery's funeral. well obviously with castle being renewed for the fourth season, im sure that kate will make it. im just curious how they will do it and how her attempted assassination changes the tone of the show next season. i did find all the not-so-subtle clues of castle being kate's savior and him finally saying i love you to kate a bit cheesy, though i think it was also needed to propel their relationship forward next season. as castle said, they never talk about it. an alternate fantasy for me is that castle was able to push kate away and he ends up being shot, with kate finally saying i love you to castle -- castle has always put his heart out on his sleeve and is always following kate so i thought it would have been a good change if it was kate who finally opened up and spoke about her feelings for castle -- though i think they did it since castle is supposed to be the man and he has to be able to help kate get over her emotional baggage.

on the side note, i also loved the emotional scene between ryan and esposito when they found out who the third cop was. and castle and his mom's scene was also beautiful.

that said, i have to wait for 4 more months before we find out what's inside the envelope that montgomery mailed before he died.. a long slow wait but in the meantime, im all set to watch an even thrilling finale from the mentalist (!!!!)