Season 8 of the American crime drama TV series “Castle” will premiere on ABC on September 21 and it will open on a positive note as Kate Beckett, played by Stana Katic, will get promoted as Captain of the 12th Precinct, replacing Captain Victoria Gates, played by Penny Johnson, who left the show after the Season 7 finale.
Before she got promoted, Kate Beckett was told that she had been vetted to run for the New York State Senate and viewers were wondering if she would take the offer of becoming a politician or continue working on cases with her novelist husband Rick Castle, played by Nathan Fillion, for the 12th Precinct.
However, teasers released early this month have strongly indicated that Beckett will turn down the offer to run for office and will instead settle for her promotion as Captain.
Although her promotion would be most welcome to many of the members of the police force of the 12th Precinct, speculations also indicate that it will drive a wedge between Beckett and the two detectives who have been her and Castle’s rivals in the past in solving some crime cases for the force – Kevin Ryan and played by Seamus Dever, and Javier Esposito, played by Jon Huertas, reports the International Business Times.
New baby for Ryan
The envy and pressure for Ryan on Beckett would further be heightened with the birth of another baby with wife Jenny Ryan, played by Juliana Dever.
Co-showrunner Terence Paul Winter confirmed the youngest member coming to the Ryan family and also teased that the new baby will contribute in further shaking things up in the precinct.
According to Winter, Ryan’s new baby will make the detective even more paranoid and excited about trying to make more money. And when he sees that Beckett is already up in the ranks, he will realize that it is time for him to start looking into the future of his family and make more money, which will certainly create some tension and conflict between them.
Ryan, as every viewer knows, also share the same insecurities and envy over Beckett with Detective Javier Esposito and it would be exciting how these particular plotline unravels in Season 8 of the hit show.
Drawing inspiration to become a woman
Meanwhile, Enstarz has reported that Alexis Castle, played by Molly C. Quinn, the daughter of Rick Castle, will blossom into a young woman in the upcoming season of “Castle.” Apparently, she will draw inspiration from new security specialist Hayley Shipton, played by Toks Olagundoye.
Winter disclosed that Hayley is going to help Alexis find herself because their relationship and unique bonding will usher a different kind of energy compared with her previous interning with Lanie Parish, played by Tamala Jones.
Fellow co-showrunner Alexi Hawley also confirmed the special relationship that shall take shape between Alexis and Hayley. She said that Hayley will play mentor to Alexis the way that Kate has previously been as the wife of Castle, ultimately serving as her big sister.
Hawley said that Season 8 of “Castle” is really about Alexis growing up after playing as a child for the past seven seasons of the show. The co-showrunner said that Molly is now 21 years old and she is all grown up so her character has to evolve as well and evolve to become a young woman from the precocious little girl that she was during the past seasons.
With the promotions of Kate as Captain of the 12th Precinct, it looks like the Rick and Kate crime investigating team is now over.
I think that “Castle” has reached it’s “sell by” date. The show has been going downhill since the middle of season 7.
The shabby treatment of Penny Johnson just added insult to injury. What were the writers and show runner thinking?
You do wonder sometimes what they are thinking. The latest comment from show writer Winter, was some of the fans want a Castle baby, the survey they did in June told them that 77% wanted that. He is one of the good showrunners, maybe not so good at listening to the fans.