Annec

Well said. The biggest sense of entitlement I've seen was the idea that Hawley/TPW and others could make the show whatever they wanted and people would watch. They act like they were entitled to a season 9 and beyond rather than earning it with good, compelling stories.

I don't doubt that the final decision was about money but I do think that the online backlash made ABC seriously consider the impact on future syndication profits. I know as someone who owns previous seasons on dvd, I don't plan on buying 8 and would have to quit re-watching because it would all have been a big joke. I also strongly question that firing Katic was the only way to make the show profitable. There were plenty of other options. For me, it all just fits too nicely with the reported bts issues and the pushing of Castle PI all season long. It seems clear to me that 8 was a thinly veiled effort to move Kate off the show. Stop me if I become repetitive.

I think they really missed an opportunity to delve deeper into why Rick was so fascinated with death. 3XK touched on it briefly in the motel scene when he asked Rick how close he wanted to get to death. If they had started touching on the issue in season 5 or 6 there would have been a natural increase in focus on Rick as well as keeping Martha and Alexis more in the mix than they did. "Hollanders Woods" was a stand-out episode in season 7. Imagine how they could have developed that story if they had touched on the mystery in previous seasons.

I think this is exactly the response that Hawley and TPW wanted from the viewers this year. They really wanted the viewers to turn against Beckett so that there wouldn't be much of an outcry when she was killed off in season 9.

I hope that Castle will be a reminder to showrunners that fans want strong writing consistent with the characters. Castle was essentially over when Caskett was no longer the core of the show. Fans want what they want and they will quit watching if the characters are trashed.

Typical for season 8 there were a lot of plot holes, general nonsense, too much Hayley, and a lack of emotional connection between Beckett and the Castle family. Not a perfect (season OR series) finale by any means but I'm glad that there won't be a Becketless season, grateful for the end scene, and overjoyed that there was no Alexis/Hayley in the last few minutes.

I sincerely hope that, given some distance, both Nathan and Stana realize what magic in a bottle they had and come together for a future collaboration. I haven't seen either of them in much else (I did go find Firefly and For Lovers Only to watch) but I do think they elevated each other's work in a way you don't see very often.

I'm just going by reporting that they were originally going to cast a younger actress but Toks impressed them with her chemistry with Molly. Hawley was very big on the Hayley/Alexis "chemistry" all season. ""The co-showrunner also teased that they have already shot scenes featuring the two characters and added that it was magical. Additionally, Winter said Alexis and Hayley will bring about a different kind of energy to the show." http://www.designntrend.com/articles/59628/20150826/castle-season-8-spoilers-hayley-shipton-inspire-mentor-ricks-daughter.htm Although, I just saw this quote from Hawley so who knows how much you can trust what he said: "However, Alexi Hawley went on to add that the heart of the show will stay the same: "It's always been about the Castle-Beckett love story."

I think the idea behind "maturing" Alexis was that she could leave college behind and be part of the PI office. For me, Alexis has been annoying since she started college and the "uber wizard of everything" aspect of her this season just added to that. Why they couldn't develop a Beckett/Alexis relationship was always strange. They did a good job of setting up Beckett as a mentor in S1 and S2 but then seemed to drop it except of one scene a season. It just seemed so strange how co-dependent her relationship with Castle became. They even touched on it in "Child's Play". It would have been much more believable to me if she'd gone off to med school and became an ME. Don't even get me started on Alexis and Hayley. IIRC, the original casting notice called for someone in her 20's but they went with Toks because of her "amazing" chemistry with Molly. This was another case of the writers telling rather than showing. I just never got the immediate trust between Alexis and Hayley and Castle. It also pointed to the lackluster casting this season. Past seasons were full of memorable guest stars. Aside from "The Nose" I think the casting this season was dismal.

Given what we know about this episode I think we have 57 minutes of Loksat with Becket shot. Then we get about 30 seconds of Castle and Beckett at the park pushing their daughter on the swing. I'm fine with that. I just want them together at the end.

Sorry, the reply above was meant for another posting. Not sure how it got messed up.

I think they are hoping that news of these contract signings might get people excited about a season 9. It looks to me like ABC is hoping that something appears in their new series options that would let them The one thing Hawley and TPW were undoubtedly in control of was the writing and it was very weak this year. They chose the focus on Castle's belief in the supernatural for way too many episodes. They decided that the inclusion of the sexist language this year was acceptable. I don't doubt that their job was made more challenging by the bts drama but they still bear a great deal of responsibility for the worst season of Castle.

I thought Hollanders Woods was beautifully done. It would have been my Castle finale if there was a season 9. But, Hawley and TPW have shown themselves to be consistently able to produce weak material so I'm hoping against hope that they give us something good. The Loksat story will be ridiculously bad but I think the "end cap" will be Caskett with their daughter in a peak years down the road. I'd be happy with that. I won't be buying season 8 on dvd anyways, there's not a single episode I want to re-watch. And I have all the other seasons.

Yep, the show runners seemed to think they could keep it secret, at least past the renewal announcement. Grateful to whoever leaked it.

I hope more than anything else that, regardless of what happened, Nathan and Stana can get to a place where they recognize that each made the other better and they had a great ride as Caskett. It really was a wonderful show.