The Ryan Report -- Episode 224 "A Deadly Game"

Ryan's Bio | Read the episode recap

Don't tell Captain Montgomery, but being a cop was not my first childhood dream. Okay, actually, I had a lot of different dreams back then (most of which involved laser guns and evil alien invasions) but the one that I came to back to again and again was my Secret Agent dream. When you're eleven years old, the coolest guy in the world is clearly the guy who wears the tuxedo, takes down all the bad guys and gets all the pretty girls. Plus, gets to say incredibly witty things as he's doing so.

So, basically be me all grown up.

Of course, the Secret Agent I dreamed of growing up to be had an endless supply of exotic technology, beautiful partners, and brilliant quips. Tragically, despite Espo's attempts to pretty himself up by using deodorant and showering once in a while, I'm still pretty much 1 for 3 – I can clearly deploy a bon mot with the best of 'em.I mean, that's why I like having Castle around – he ups my quipping game!

While all the other kids were running around playing "Cowboys and Indians," "Tag," or "Throw Rocks At The Car", I was watching and practicing my Super-Spy skills. Waiting for the moment when the recruiter from the top-secret organization came and told me that these skills were needed to save the world. Tragically, of course, that recruiter never came.

(Although if that recruiter had come, this is exactly the sort of cover story I'd be telling...)

At the end of the day, that same desire to save the world led me to join the NYPD. So although I didn't end up with a ton of cool gadgets and world-saving missions I imagined back then, I still get to do it in my own way.

Funny thing is, as a result of a recent case, I ended up telling Castle about this childhood dream of mine and it turns out Castle had the exact same dream growing up. That same British spy who inspired me to become a policeman inspired him to become a writer! How cool is that? Castle opined that Mr. Secret Agent may have only saved a fictional world, but he also helped inspire a generation to save the real one.

It's little insights like that I'm going to miss this summer, since that celebrity partner of ours is heading to the Hamptons to finish his latest book. Personally, I figure it's gotta be partially out of fear for how Beckett's going to get him back for calling the book Naked Heat. But either way, he's gone until the fall and as a result this Precinct is going to be a whole lot quieter and a whole lot less fun. Who would have thought we'd all get so used to having Castle around?I guess you only notice these things when they're gone.

Hmm... Maybe Espo and I can use some of our vacation days to drop by the Hamptons. I mean, Castle's going to need to take a writing break sometime, right? And I know just the two guys to help him take advantage of it...