Sonia Ruiz (Angélica Celaya) is the main villainess from "Heartbreaker," episode 8.16 of Castle (airdate April 4, 2016).
Backstory and Events[]
Nine years prior to the events, Sonia Ruiz was involved in a relationship with NYPD detective Javier Esposito, with the couple becoming engaged. However, Sonia was also a criminal involved in the robbery of gold coins from an auction house, and once Esposito found out about his fiancee's involvement, he had Sonia arrested. Sonia spent every day since then in prison, and in the episode's events, she was just three months away from being paroled.
Sonia was visited by Kate Beckett after armored truck driver Michael Kelly was killed during a robbery, though Sonia originally turned down Beckett's request to identify her former cohorts--who were involved in the shooting. She changed her tune but stated that she didn't know her cohorts' real names, only that she herself went by Mako and her partner was Hammerhead, with another person--Great White--being the boss of the group, with Sonia stating that he was deceased. Sonia convinces Beckett to allow her to leave prison to search for Hammerhead, and in the case, she was paired up with Esposito per her request, and despite Beckett's concern after learning about their relationship.
A confrontation with Ronaldo, a bartender, revealed "Hammerhead" as Joey Montez, and their visit to his home saw Joey point a gun at Esposito and Sonia, with the latter of the two running off before she was stopped by Richard Castle and an armed Kevin Ryan. Sonia stated that she ran due to seeing the gun, and that she wasn't going to risk a longer prison sentence (especially with the little time she had left on her current one) by escaping.
Reveal[]
Sonia during her betrayal/reveal
Sonia was set to be taken back to prison, though Esposito decided to take her to his mother's home one more time before she goes behind bars again. During this point, Esposito revealed to Sonia that his mother and the rest of his family had no idea about her criminal activities, as he told them that their breakup was his fault. After dining at the house, Sonia stated that she had to take a shower, only for Ryan to later phone Esposito and tell him that Sonia was in on the armored truck robbery. His entrance to the bathroom revealed that Sonia had disappeared, leaving Esposito upset that she had duped him.
Later on, Esposito learned that Sonia was visiting her father, who was on his deathbed, though he figured out that the visit had nothing to do with family. As it turned out, Sonia's father was the true Great White; he had held Sonia's share of the gold for her when she is released, but after hearing about his health, Sonia planned the robbery to get her out of jail. Esposito detailed this after finding one of the coins inside the room, and in response, the scheming villainess scolded her ex-fiancee for being "too smart for his own good," before he is knocked out by her conspirator/lover, Ronaldo, cementing Sonia's heel turn in the process.
The episode's climax had Ronaldo driving to the warehouse, with Sonia and Esposito in the back of the truck. The villainess stated that robbery was her sole plan, murder wasn't; it occurred when something went wrong. In response, Esposito stated to Sonia that there were consequences for her actions, and it was afterwards that the rest of the gold was retrieved, after which Ronaldo made his move to kill Esposito. Sonia stopped Ronaldo by holding him at gunpoint, and in response to Ronaldo questioning Sonia for sparing the man who arrested her, Sonia stated that she loved Esposito, before Ronaldo was taken down by her ex-fiancee. Despite this, the sinister Sonia pointed a gun at Esposito and stated that she would not be going back to prison, even attempting to coerce him to leave with her and her ill-gotten loot. Esposito revealed to Sonia that when he found out about her criminal activities, he considered doing nothing and leaving with her, but arrested her back then due to his duties as a cop, and he pleaded with Sonia to do the right thing.
Sonia is arrested by Esposito, and in their last exchange, he informed Sonia that she would most likely only receive an additional two years to her previous sentence. Before Sonia is taken into custody, Esposito promised that he would visit her in prison.
Trivia[]
- Angélica Celaya also appeared as the evil Angela Flores on Burn Notice.
Gallery[]
