“Castle” has been on air for quite a while now, and the show has established a very loyal following of fans. That’s partly because its producers know when it’s time to spice things up a bit and introduce a new character – or change the cast in another way. Season 8 is approaching fast, and among the various revelations that we’ve heard about the plot of its episodes, it’s been confirmed that Toks Olagundoye is going to join the cast as Hayley Vargas, a security specialist.
Fans have been speculating that she will have a very specific role in the new season, helping Kate Beckett advance in her career and make the right decision for where she wants to advance. Some fans of the show might recognize Olagundoye from “The Neighbor”, and it’s been reported that there were some minor internal conflicts related to hiring her for the role of this particular character, but in the end the producers decided to go for it.
The issue was apparently that she was slightly older than what they were ideally looking for, but she is still going to fit the role quite nicely from what we can tell. She has been described as fast-thinking, a free spirit, and with the habit of crossing some lines when that’s what it takes to get the job done. She will be working together with Rick, which has prompted fans to question if Hayley will be stepping in the middle of Castle and Beckett’s relationship.
But the main theory right now is that she will be looking to help Kate, as we said above – and she might give her the final push that she needs to run for Senate. This will be an interesting development in the plot of the show which hasn’t been that political until now, but season 7 started to introduce some serious changes to its plot and overall structure.
It’s not a coincidence either, as Terence Paul Winter and Alexi Hawley are now running the production, and they have been making changes left and right ever since they took over. Some fans have been on the fence about the new changes, but most seem hopeful that this is just a transitional period and things are going to settle down soon – with the arrival of season 8, perhaps.
Nathan Fillion acknowledged the major changes in an interview, and claimed that they were necessary for the overall benefit of the show, especially between his own character and that of Stana Katic. We don’t know what exactly he could be referring to in terms of benefits, but as someone with a more direct look at the production behind the scenes, we trust that he knows what he’s talking about.
Stana Katic will not be in the premiere episode of the new season, and we don’t know which episode will be the first to feature her, but fans have been hopeful that they won’t have to wait too long. According to the actress on her own Twitter account, fans should at least see Richard Castle and most of the other characters during that first episode.
She also wished good luck to all of her co-stars for her first day of shooting, and said that she would be joining them shortly. And while fans have been wondering if there could be any special meaning behind her messages, it should be noted that it’s not rare at all for the actress to be surrounded by speculation with regards to her role on the show.