[This is a review of Castle Season 6, Episode 10. There will be SPOILERS.]

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Taking a step back from your normal dose of fast-paced, white-knuckle tension, Castle delivers a big helping of warm, fuzzy goodness to kick off the holiday season in, "The Good, The Bad & The Baby."

As far as "the good" goes, there are plenty of great moments to go around. Castle (Nathan Fillion) has his usual one-liners, like boasting about being a Baby Whisperer and an RHD [Ruggedly Handsome Dad]. There is also a very vulnerable moment where you can sense he wants kids with Beckett (Stana Katic), but he doesn't want to have to go it alone like he did with Alexis (Molly Quinn). Meanwhile, Beckett predictably takes a bit to warm up to the little one but once she finally holds him, she melts just like all of the rest and takes on an almost domestic demeanor. The changing scene at Castle's place followed by the two of them clutching their coffee cups the next morning is pure gold.

Castle and Beckett aren't the only two brought under the spell of baby "Cosmo." With only a month between him and impending fatherhood, poor Ryan (Seamus Deaver) is desperate to prove he's ready to be a dad. Meanwhile, Espo (Jon Huertas) is less interested in the baby than Beckett is and more interested in giving Ryan a hard time about wasting money on the lotto tickets, but gives just the right encouragement needed when push comes to shove. Hands down the best expositional dialogue given while talking to the baby goes to Lanie (Tamala Jones), who is utterly enamored.

Meanwhile, the bad guys were out in full force too. Aside from the victim, Cameron, who used to be a getaway car driver before getting his life turned around, we also meet his ex-partner, Jimmy Wolfinsky (Matt Gerald); his boss, Roman Valanciaga (Anthony Mangalo) and dirty-cop-turned-security-chief, Walter Dennis (John Allen Nelson). As it turns out, Cameron is a hero who gives his life to save the baby. Wolfinsky is on the up and up to, while the others are responsible for Cam's death and the baby's kidnapping.

As expected, this episode also gives some great insights into what family life could look like in the future Castle-Beckett household. They have been and always shall be a very good team and while Beckett has a bit of a "deer in the headlights" moment she adapts and is quick to reassure Castle that when the time comes, she's up for raising their kid together. They've also got a good support system in place with Alexis and Martha (Susan Sullivan). Though let's wait until Ryan's little one comes along to see how the show mixes domesticity with the mystery/drama procedural genre.

What do you think? Is it a nice break from the norm? How glad are we all that Alexis was a girl? Would you like to see Castle and Alexis raising kids at the same time? Do you think Beckett will make a good mom some day? And how much would you pay to see pictures of them together in their Thanksgiving costumes?

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Castle airs Mondays @10pm on ABC.