I know you've mentioned this issue several times before, but this is the first time it has annoyed me. In the past, this was the kind of nutty thing Castle would go on about just to get a reaction out of Beckett -- and it was amusing to watch. But the fact he was serious about the Bigfoot stuff was ludicrous. They even had Alexis acknowledge that he believes in all these weird & crazy things, so it's not just our perception of the character that has changed -- it is his character that's changed, and not for the better IMO.
I'm surprised you'd react that way to this and not to the knockoff of The Ring they did just a few weeks ago, where Castle was afraid he'd die because he watched a creepy video. At least believing in cryptids isn't totally unrealistic; there have been cases where previously undocumented animal species have been discovered, like the coelacanth. But in that one, not only did he believe in ghosts, but he seriously believed that a danger blatantly copied from the plot of a movie could be genuinely real.
I still don't think he did believe it in that episode especially considering his behavior in the cabin, that it was a very elaborate maintenance of his "character" to fool Beckett. I think this is the first time we've had him outright admit that he believes - genuinely - in all this stuff; and honestly I'm just going to ignore it as part of a mostly-throwaway episode, however sweet the Caskett bedroom scene was.
I took the whole bigfoot thing as Castle believes in more than science can explain right now. I don't think it was really out of character at all, it's just a forgetful episode that means nothing long term. And because of the Bsoton Bombing...
And as a result of the switch we will see the aftermath/deeling of "something" that happened before we see what happens.
Except he was acting just as fearful when Beckett wasn't around, like when he called Wes Craven. I agree that the cabin scene suggested he was playacting, but there was too much earlier in the episode which treated his fear as genuine. (Which is inconsistent character writing within the course of a single episode, another reason that one sucked.)
My wife and I have decided to hold back 2 weeks and watch the episodes in the correct order. Hopefully whoever is in charge of putting the DVD's together is smart enough to put them in the correct order.
Nothing happens. It's Castle, in the 5 years only one event ever actually changed the show for the following week and that was the season 3 finale.
From what I saw in the promo, it seems to me that the episode they've delayed is going to be a clip show, the story just an excuse for a bunch of flashbacks. Now, sometimes clip shows manage to be interesting and have some real substance that moves the story forward, but given the level of writing on this show lately, I wouldn't be surprised if it were completely disposable.
I'll just echo what a few others have said. I really don't like the fact that Castle is basically a conspiracy theory nut now. I much preferred it when he was just doing it to bug Beckett. I really hope they dial back that behavior in future episodes.
I'm just watching the episode now, and going off the "recognizable guest star is the villain" thing, I sure hope Mr. Fantastic isn't it. "Eric, do you know of anyone who would want to kill you?" "Well, there's Victor von Doom... Galactus... the Skrulls... have you got a pen? You'll want to get all of these down."
As well as every slave trader from England to South Africa, Plus Cal Hockley and maybe J. Bruce Ismay