Necessary Roughness:
Season:     3     / Episode:     9    
Sucker Punch

Set in the 1950s in the vivid imagination of a young girl placed at a mental institution by her step-father some time after her mother died, with only her dreams providing the ultimate escape from her darker reality. Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her, and her incredible adventures blur the lines between what's real and what is imaginary.

The case of the murder of an enforcer for an Irish gang takes a terribly personal turn when Lanie and a forensic expert friend of Castle's uncover an undeniable connection between the case and Beckett's mother's unsolved murder. As the investigation plays out, Beckett comes to terms not only with her grief for her mother, but with feelings that will impact her relationship with Castle.

The pending lawsuit against the firm sees Harvey turning to Zoe Lawford, an old colleague with whom he has a past, for assistance in proving Pearson Hardman's case. Zoe has the team prepare a mock trial as a warm-up for the real thing, and Louis is asked to take the role of Travis Tanner. Harvey asks Donna to testify that she destroyed the Coastal Motors memo, but she has retained a lawyer of her own and plans to plead the Fifth.