Dr. Kelly Nieman (Castle)

Dr. Kelly Nieman (Annie Wersching; 1977-2023) was a recurring villainess from Seasons Six and Seven of Castle.

Backstory & Season Six[]

Kelly Nieman's backstory revealed that before she became a prominent cosmetic surgeon, she volunteered as a prison doctor. The prison she worked at held Jerry Tyson, a serial killer known as the Triple Killer (or 3XK for short), and Nieman became fascinated by Tyson to the point where she became his accomplice and lover.

Though Tyson was believed to have been shot to death in Season Five's "Probable Cause," it was revealed in episode 6.09, "Disciple," that Nieman was working on an elaborate scheme to fake his death and cover their tracks. The villainess performed cosmetic surgery on Daniel Santos and Pam Hodges to make them resemble detective Javier Esposito and medical examiner Lanie Parish, respectively (while also paying for Santos' speech therapy to sound like Esposito), under the pretense of giving them new jobs and lives. She sent them into the NYPD to remove any and all evidence connected to 3XK, and afterwards, Nieman had another serial killer, Carl Matthews, kill her co-conspirators.

In Nieman's first encounter with Richard Castle and Kate Beckett, she commented on Beckett's "amazing" facial features, but the episode's progression had the pair figuring out her connection to the events. However, when the team raided Nieman's office, it was found empty, except for a pen and a note that said "Better luck next time." The "pen" was revealed to contain a drive, which only played the song We'll Meet Again as an ominous message to Castle and Beckett.

Season Seven[]

Nieman returned in episode 7.14, "Resurrection," which saw a woman named Susan Watts being murdered. Her name came up when Lanie informed Beckett that Susan had plastic surgery, and it was performed by none other than Nieman, who denied even knowing Susan. She remained smug and arrogant during Beckett's questioning, but when she was shown video of a woman resembling Susan, Nieman revealed her as Amy Barrett, a patient of hers. All the while, a man resembling Tyson--under the name Michael Boudreau--was in custody, with Nieman returning to the precinct to wait for him to be released.

The episode's end revealed that "Boudreau" was actually Tyson, and it also ended with Beckett captured by Barrett, who was revealed as a villainous conspirator of the deranged serial killers. The following episode, "Reckoning," showed the evil Nieman preparing a captive Beckett for surgery, as she was planning to transplant the detective's face onto herself out of both a perverse interest in Beckett's beauty and a desire to use her resemblance to hide out due to the heat Nieman had been receiving. Nieman later received confirmation from Tyson over the phone that Castle had arrived and he had him captured, but Castle's arrival was to lure Tyson into a clear view so police could shoot him.

Sometime after, when Nieman didn't hear from Tyson again, she grew suspicious and planned to flee, but couldn't resist the opportunity to steal Beckett's face. Nieman grabbed a scalpel to cut her, only for Beckett to catch Nieman's wrist, having secretly broken out of her restraints, much to the deranged surgeon's shock. In an offscreen bloody struggle, Beckett overpowered Nieman and killed her with the scalpel, putting an end to her and Tyson's maniacal schemes for good.