Spoilers, Speculation & All Things Media!

[madmaverick]

They went on a date to the Emmys (?) but I don't know if they dated dated.  How would their paths have crossed?  Cancelled pilot?  Nathan also attended some events with Dana Delany but I assume they just played a couple on television and not real life.

 

Connie Britton was brilliant in American Crime Story, btw.

 

Ha, I knew it was too much to expect there really be a Lanie centric episode even after 8 years. ;)  But at least maybe she will have marginally more to do than 'lividity'.  Is she the character who's going to go through something and have a possible life change as per earlier spoiler?

 

Wonder whom they'll cast to play Locksat because they should be casting for the big showdown soon.  Unless twist... it's A.I.! ;)  Whatever they have planned, it'll be anticlimatic to me because just can't get invested at this late stage.

 

Wonder if Hanning will go for the showrunner job next season if there's a next season and if there'll be a vacancy.

[TWP]

They went on a date to the Emmys (?) but I don't know if they dated dated.  How would their paths have crossed?  Cancelled pilot?  Nathan also attended some events with Dana Delany but I assume they just played a couple on television and not real life.

 

Connie Britton was brilliant in American Crime Story, btw.

 

Maybe Nathan and Connie met at an ABC ice cream social or something, ;-). I suspect he's done the rounds.  Maybe they aren't all keepers (or he's not), but I suspect the degrees of separation from Nathan Fillion might be shorter than Kevin Bacon's.

 

I never knew Connie Britton existed until Nashville.  Shows how much of a TV fan I am ;-).  People say "Friday Night Lights!"  I say, "huh?"

[MaryM47]

ABC announced 2 renewals today: Quantico and Once Upon a Time. 

[WendyCR72]

ABC announced 2 renewals today: Quantico and Once Upon a Time. 

 

Three: Fresh Off The Boat was also renewed.

 

ETA: Make it four: The Goldbergs was added in the article, too.

[MaryM47]

And The Goldbergs. The new boss must be settling in.

[KaveDweller]

Wow, ABC never renews this early. I guess the new head wants to change that up.

I would be fine with Castle returning or not, but I only want it renewed if both leads return.

[verdana]

Castle Vital Scenes ‏@BecklebeeCastle  1h1 hour ago

#Castle 8x14 Sneak Peek #1 “The G.D.S." Castle Alexis&Hayley Season 8 Episode 14 tns for retweets #CastleSeason8

 

 

Watching them checking into this swish LA suite simply reminded me of the the old S3 episode and not in a good way.

 

And I still can't get over them taking seriously talking about "The Greatest Detective Society" really? That's seriously the best they could come up with? 

Watch what you love.

‏@Sandraxf

TV Guide Magazine - What's Worth Watching: #Castle (March 7)

https://twitter.com/Sandraxf/status/705421288697778176

 

 

Interview with Toks in TV Guide, it's a scan but hopefully you can make it out if you click on the picture. 

 

I had to laugh as Winter says almost exactly the same thing that was said about the conclusion of their separation in 8.08 that he "hopes" the audience will feel like it was worth it once everything is revealed. The fact he says "hopes" seals the deal that they're on a slippery slope with this story with the fans and have little confidence in its final resolution. I can smell the desperation coming off these writers in waves. 

 

And I still have no idea how Hayley has become a mentor to Alexis. 

Edited March 3, 2016 by verdana

[westwingfan]

Watching them checking into this swish LA suite simply reminded me of the the old S3 episode and not in a good way.

 

That was my feeling too. I had planned to watch this through gritted teeth because I was curious to find out how Hawley would explain the outstanding gaps in Castle's disappearance, but after this SP my resolve is weakening and I don't think my teeth are up to the job, bang goes my "true" fan status. Looks like I might just have to find the relevant bits on Youtube after the event. Hoping that 8x18 sees Hayley written out of the show for good, but not expecting it, a really pointless and irritating addition to the cast for S8.

Hanning has shown the way how to generate interest in an episode with his tweets for 8x19. I wonder if the new boss lady will hand the reins over to him if she is able to get all the important people to re-sign for a S9, unless she's already decided the show's fate.

[WendyCR72]

ABC has renewed a ton more shows; however, Castle was not among them yet. If you want to see the latest, go here.

[turnitwayup]

TV Line has what ABC is currently renewing and so far Castle is one of 8 shows are in limbo. I'm more rooting for Agent Carter to be renewed of the ones in limbo.

 

Yeah that suite reminded me of TLADILA and I guess it isn't the same hotel cause it would've been nice to see Maurice again. So Castle brings Alexis on, but puts his foot down on not having her go with him and Haley cause it's dangerous. That'll probably change halfway thru the ep lol.

[TWP]

I'm excited about 8x14 and hope Stana had a nice vacation that week, did something fun and/or challenging. That said I burned my Toks True Fan card even before there was a Haley. I care as much about these actors' futures as they do about mine. I stay while I'm enjoying it, not a second longer. Nuff said.

But , please bring the show back for a Season 9. Honestly, I don't care if both leads sign as long as they keep some semblance of the formula they've had for a few weeks now. Broken record me says it's watchable TV, a rarity these days. The new shows are just more barren wasteland.

Let's have an early renewal announcement for Castle.

[WendyCR72]

TWP, if there is a renewal, I don't see an early one if just by virtue of the fact that Katic and Fillion only seem to be renewing year-to-year now, which I don't think was the case with the shows already picked up.

 

Negotiations have to take place for salaries, etc.

[TWP]

TWP, if there is a renewal, I don't see an early one if just by virtue of the fact that Katic and Fillion only seem to be renewing year-to-year now, which I don't think was the case with the shows already picked up.

 

Negotiations have to take place for salaries, etc.

 

Deadline says Castle renewal is contingent on Nathan and they'd already started negotiations.  Negotiations were halted with the leadership change and are resuming.  It's all here.  (h/t Castle Vital Scenes).

Edited March 4, 2016 by TWP

[WendyCR72]

Time will tell, I guess! But it depends on if Lee had just started or not, too. With Dungey aboard, it's hard to tell if things have to start from scratch or not.

[CastleSeason8]

So negotiations with just NF? What about our other co-star?

[TWP]

So negotiations with just NF? What about our other co-star?

Maybe she's already on board.  Or maybe she's already said she isn't interested and they're going to do it without her.

 

Nathan has been putting efforts into tweeting Castle and such, while Stana is talking about her under development cable show.  I suspect some tea leaves can be read from this.

Edited March 4, 2016 by TWP

[WendyCR72]

So negotiations with just NF? What about our other co-star?

 

Just because she was not mentioned doesn't mean Katic won't negotiate. But NF, for good or bad, is the "headliner" in terms of recognizability, so Deadline probably singled him out is all.

[BellyLaughter]

I just can't get excited about a renewal that doesn't include both LEADS. I am jealous of those who can....

[CastleSeason8]

Just because she was not mentioned doesn't mean Katic won't negotiate. But NF, for good or bad, is the "headliner" in terms of recognizability, so Deadline probably singled him out is all.

Hope ur right, but last year they mentioned both leads

[WendyCR72]

Hope ur right, but last year they mentioned both leads

 

Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. ABC will do what it wants to. I know many won't like it, but maybe the network thinks the show can survive with just NF. (As there is precedence of it happening, albeit ages ago, as discussed before.) But I'm sure Stana Katic will do what she deems best for her career.

 

As I always seem to say, time will tell how this shakes out, if at all.

[TWP]

I just can't get excited about a renewal that doesn't include both LEADS. I am jealous of those who can....

For me, it's a lesser evil situation. Having a show with only one of the leads, say, is better than having nothing on television that I even want to watch.  The Castle writers come up with stories that I'm interested in watching.

 

I want both leads to come back....

 

unless....

 

it remains as awkward as it feels to me now.  If it's awkward, I hope they find a really positive way to write one of them out.  No deaths, though.

[WendyCR72]

it remains as awkward as it feels to me now.  If it's awkward, I hope they find a really positive way to write one of them out.  No deaths, though.

 

If the show returns with just Castle, I think death or divorce are the only options, so as to free his character up. Neither sound all that positive, but what will be, will be!

[verdana]

Watch what you love. ‏@Sandraxf  1 hr1 hour ago

#Castle Season 8 Schedule - Update #28 (what we know so far):

https://twitter.com/Sandraxf/status/705555520896286720

 

Meh, looks like I'll be skipping 8.20 too, it's written by Christine Roum, I thought the dialogue in 8.08 was very poor and it bought the worst out the actors too, especially the final scene. I've never liked any of her episodes and S8 seems to have made them even worse.

[TWP]

If the show returns with just Castle, I think death or divorce are the only options, so as to free his character up. Neither sound all that positive, but what will be, will be!

Other possibilities:

It was all a dream.

One of the leads had been kidnapped for years and replaced by an imposter, via 3xk and his plastic surgeon friend. Castle or Beckett is back now, but has a different face.

I know these are shark jumpey. It's TV. Anything can happen.

[verdana]

So negotiations with just NF? What about our other co-star?

He's No 1 on the call sheet for a reason, if they don't get Fillion on board no one is going to be doing anything Castle related, that's just the way it is, he's the main man. It was the same last year, they announced him as signed up and a new season was going ahead which I thought was significant, then Katic and the rest followed suit.

I don't expect it to be any different this year, they'll negotiate with Fillion first, if he says yes then Castle (in some form) will get a S9 and then the ball is in Katic's court, as for the rest of the cast it may depend on her decision because the network could very likely want to make changes if she doesn't want to participate.

Then again with this new boss I guess that further confuses things.

Edited March 4, 2016 by verdana

[westwingfan]

ABC has renewed a ton more shows; however, Castle was not among them yet. If you want to see the latest, go here.

I saw someone speculating that "Conviction" might be a show that could get the 10pm Monday slot, and according to that article about the pilots Channing Dungey's sister, Merrin, has been cast for the show.

 

OOps I quoted the wrong link, sorry. Here's a link to the ABC Pilots

 

http://deadline.com/2016-abc-pilots/

Edited March 4, 2016 by westwingfan

[WendyCR72]

Funny how ABC has a potential series named Conviction...especially since NBC had a series about young lawyers in the Law & Order universe back in 2006 also called Conviction! (It only lasted one season and Stephanie March's Alex Cabot character from SVU headlined it.)

[westwingfan]

Funny how ABC has a potential series named Conviction...especially since NBC had a series about young lawyers in the Law & Order universe back in 2006 also called Conviction! (It only lasted one season and Stephanie March's Alex Cabot character from SVU headlined it.)

Nobody claimed Hollywood was original. LOL

 

I wonder if this pilot has implications for S9 becoming Castle P.I. The showrunners did say in a recent interview that if there was a next season it would be a return to the COTW after Loksnore had been eradicated. Perhaps if this pilot is picked up we will see Castle sell off his P.I. office and return to the precinct as their consultant, Alexis will have to get a proper job, maybe in LA with the toy boy she hooks up with in 8x14, and Beckett writes a commendation for Hayley after all her stellar work with the 12th so that the Met reinstates her and she returns to England as their Geordie liaison officer. What are those pink things revving up on the runway? LOL

 

PRESENCE

STUDIO: ABC Studios

TEAM: John Ridley (w, d, ep), Michael McDonald (ep)

LOGLINE: Army veteran Presence Foster finds herself interacting with a widely divergent and highly colorful cross-section of Los Angeles as she unintentionally begins a career as an unlicensed private investigator.

CAST: Stephanie Sigman, Marcus Anderson, Rick Gonzalez, Colin Woodell

[westwingfan]

Watching them checking into this swish LA suite simply reminded me of the the old S3 episode and not in a good way.

 

And don't forget the promo shows that he visits a film studio as well. All it needs is for Alexis to emerge from a swimming pool wearing a skimpy costume and this episode will definitely become my favourite of the whole series¿

[MVP8]

"the upcoming episode of "Castle" season 8 will see Kate Beckett contemplating on telling their friends and family that they are officially back together.

Previous episodes showed the captain of the 12th precinct splitting from her husband.

Kate made it clear that the "breakup" was temporary, but she decided to leave Rick in the dark regarding what was really going on in her life.

A few weeks passed and Kate told Rick that she split from him because she wants to make sure that she will not be involved in the LokSat investigation.

In "The G.D.S.," Rick will head to Los Angeles to gather information about his previous disappearance.

While there, he will be recruited by the Greatest Detective Society to help solve a murder case.

Kate will be left behind in New York City with Esposito (Jon Huertas) and Ryan (Seamus Dever), and the three may talk about their personal lives."

 

http://www.designntrend.com/articles/71400/20160304/castle-star-nathan-fillion-to-appear-in-spectrum-stana-katic-stars-in-rendezvous.htm

[verdana]

"the upcoming episode of "Castle" season 8 will see Kate Beckett contemplating on telling their friends and family that they are officially back together.

If she goes ahead and tells them I'd like them to all turn around and said "yeah we knew..." at least then it would avoid having everyone (including supposedly two highly experienced detectives) being tarnished by the stupidity of this separation saga. 

Edited March 4, 2016 by verdana

[CastleSeason8]

I hope she does tell them and not just contemplates it. Its gone on long enough.

[madmaverick]

I think that spoilery article may be clickbait.  Didn't click on it but have my doubts about articles on a TV programme coming out of a website called "design trend"...

 

Re sneak peek: First thing I thought was that they recycled the layout of the symmetrical S3 L.A. hotel room and I wish they hadn't.  I suppose there are only so many ways to design a hotel suite with two separate bedrooms but still... and the shot of Castle opening the doors wide was a complete copy of the L.A. episode.  The only improvement, and I can't believe I'm saying this, is that his wardrobe may look better than the one he wore then which I remember was very multi-layered in an unflattering way, and I was puzzled because it was L.A.  And this is not actually a compliment to Luke ;), but Castle's clothes may have been the best out of the 3 with a lightweight blue suit and shirt.  Not a fan of what the ladies were wearing, but then again, I don't recall Luke doing a good job with Beckett's L.A. wardrobe either...and that was before that atrocious swimsuit.  

 

Despite being a Sherlock nerd, I have no idea if Conan Doyle was actually a member of any G.D.S.  If so, that could explain the name.  If not, it's a very lame name!  Reminds me of Castle's made up Secret Santa Society (thankfully it's triple S ;))  Santas get more of a pass from me than detectives though.

 

The "hot" bellboy didn't do anything for me.  Same problem as that puppy saving fireman all the way back in S2 who was on a calendar or something, but the guy they cast just wasn't hot enough.

 

Re the new batch of ABC pilots.  Hm... they seem to be going in quite a heavy lawyerly direction.  Quite a few law procedurals.  Which I'll probably check out but which will probably require a lot of handwaving of legal inaccuracies.  A P.I. procedural...hm.. but it's from the EP of American Crime, which is a quality show on ABC.  Think they should definitely change the name to something other than 'Presence' though.  None of the pilots sound that intriguing to me, but I note that they have quite a few big, experienced names on board in terms of EPs and talent.  That may mean they are more likely to go ahead if ABC wants to stay in business with those EPs?  How many pilots does ABC have room to fit onto their schedule?   And whoa, for any Alias fans here, almost missed Lena Olin being in one of the pilots!  Although the premise does not sound like an instant draw. ;)  The plot for that Kiefer Sutherland vehicle sounds copied out of some Tom Clancy novel. ;)

 

So ABC has a number of law and order type procedurals to choose from, but it doesn't appear to have another light hearted dramedy like Castle in the wings.  This could be to Castle's advantage, but I don't know if the experienced EPs being involved with the pilots will mean there's less room to fit in an old show like Castle.

 

I note that Marlowe doesn't seem to have anything on the cards for this pilot season.  Don't know if whatever they are developing didn't make it to pilot or what, or if they still have a developing deal with ABC.  Good thing he's making millions off Castle otherwise that's a year without generating a product. 

[westwingfan]

Latest from Entertainment Weekly

 

When will Castle tell us more about LokSat? — Murphy
The show will “touch on it again a couple of times driving toward what’s going to be the finale,” says EP Alexi Hawley, who promises both a reveal and some frustration in the season-ender — especially if the show doesn’t get renewed. “Our hope is to get to a place where they do get to confront LokSat and get something satisfying,” he adds. “It would be great to have something of a cliffhanger.”

 

So despite being quoted in earlier interviews that the Loksnore mystery would be resolved by the end of the season that doesn't seem to be the case now, Hawley was also quoted as saying that if they got a S9 it would return to the COTW format as the long running plots would have been dealt with, but now it sounds like Loksnore could continue into S9. I'm assuming the "they" who "get to confront Loksat and get something satisfying" are Castle and Beckett and suggests that Beckett isn't killed off, or otherwise written out of the show, at least during S8, but maybe I'm reading too much into that.

 

Sounds as though Hawley's finale isn't going to be as satisfying as Marlowe's 7x23 would have been as a series finale if the show doesn't get renewed.

[madmaverick]

NO to a cliffhanger!  Loksat is like the Lochness monster now.  It's already impossible honestly to confront Locksat and for it to be satisfying for me at this point no matter what they do.  I've had it with Castle, and this goes for Marlowe & Hawley, dropping a story point in the first episode of the season and then not genuinely addressing it till 20+ episodes later!!  Anything in between re the arc is just unsatisfying filler.  That's no way to do a genuine arc.  Either do an arc properly with serialised storytelling or not at all.  How can any mythology or threat be compelling if it's essentially dropped throughout the season?  How can an audience be expected to care?  In an age with so much serialised storytelling, there's no excuse not to do it properly if you want to go there.  My personal preference is for serialised shows over procedurals and when you see so many shows doing it so well, it's just all the more frustrating to see Castle's version of an "arc".

 

I really hope they don't plan to have Beckett "vanish" or something like that in the finale as a cliffhanger if the contract with Stana remains unresolved, as a way to leave it open for her to come back next season as a regular or a guest.  

 

Hawley really has foot in mouth disease as bad as Marlowe.  Time for TPW or someone else to have a turn at the mike if they don't want to turn off people.

Edited March 4, 2016 by madmaverick

[TWP]

Hawley's words along with the notion that Nathan's deal is in the works (and the fact that Nathan is putting energy into the show, meaning that he's interested in making a deal) is telling me that Castle is coming back next season.   A 1.1 rated show owned by ABC and doing fine in syndication is a no-brainer in a climate of poor-performing pilots.  Whether it will keep its Monday time slot is another question.

 

Only one or two of the shows on the pilot list is shown as going straight to series.  The rest are probably trash that isn't going anywhere. 

[westwingfan]

NO to a cliffhanger!  Loksat is like the Lochness monster now.  It's already impossible honestly to confront Locksat and for it to be satisfying for me at this point no matter what they do.  I've had it with Castle, and this goes for Marlowe & Hawley, dropping a story point in the first episode of the season and then not genuinely addressing it till 20+ episodes later!!  Anything in between re the arc is just unsatisfying filler.  That's no way to do a genuine arc.  Either do an arc properly with serialised storytelling or not at all.  How can any mythology or threat be compelling if it's essentially dropped throughout the season?  How can an audience be expected to care?  In an age with so much serialised storytelling, there's no excuse not to do it properly if you want to go there.  My personal preference is for serialised shows over procedurals and when you see so many shows doing it so well, it's just all the more frustrating to see Castle's version of an "arc".

 

I really hope they don't plan to have Beckett "vanish" or something like that in the finale as a cliffhanger if the contract with Stana remains unresolved, as a way to leave it open for her to come back next season as a regular or a guest.  

 

Hawley really has foot in mouth disease as bad as Marlowe.  Time for TPW or someone else to have a turn at the mike if they don't want to turn off people.

This is what they told Deadline as recently as Jan 10

 

Just last spring, Castle was in a similar situation. “Last year (creator) Andrew Marlowe wrote the finale not knowing if they would come back, and this year we knew we could possibly do the same thing — have a nice conclusion and still set up something we can launch into if there is a season 9,” Hawley said. “I think going out with a cliffhanger of sorts always helps you when you come back. When we came back this year, it had a conclusion last year, and I think ultimately it was a little harder for us to get out of the gate because people didn’t have anything driving them back.”

Still, Hawley and Winter will not leave fans hanging. “Everything that has been set up will come to a conclusion this season,” Winter said. That includes the LokSat mystery.

While they have their hands full with Season 8, Hawley and Winter have an idea where they want to go in Season 9, which is return to the show’s roots after a serialized eighth season.

“This season was a little bit of a transition, getting Castle into the PI office and setting that world up for him to give him that drive,” Hawley said. “We wanted to wrap up a lot of the threads of different conspiracies, Beckett’s mother’s murder, Castle’s missing time. We wanted by the end of Season 8 to have gotten through all those — hopefully in a compelling and satisfying way — so Season 9 can be more about the case of the week, going back to the fun of solving the case of the week and not have the luggage of past conspiracies.”

“We feel like the show has a lot of life left in it, and we want it to be with the same cast going forward,” Hawley said.

 

Despite what they said about getting Castle into the P.I.office this season, their ideas for S9 being "more about the case of the week, going back to the fun of solving the case of the week" seems to me that the emphasis would be on the precinct rather than his P.I.role, and he could return as the consultant, which he didn't really need to have given up in the first place just because Beckett had been promoted, but that might require Castle and Beckett to appear in scenes together in an episode for more than the average 7-8 mins they've managed this season so far. Nathan might have had a lot of fun playing Castle this season but some fans don't seem to have taken to the buffoon that he has morphed into that well. In the earlier seasons Castle tapped into his wealth of contacts, knowledge of useful things, and asymetric thinking to help Beckett solve cases, haven't seen too much of that side of him recently and the show has been the poorer for it I think. The fact that he is a writer was very prominent in contributing to the cases in Tick Tick Tick/Boom, Knockout, and Dreamworld which would have left the cops flummoxed otherwise. That was what he brought to the partnership in the earlier seasons and made the sum of their parts so effective.

Edited March 4, 2016 by westwingfan

[KaveDweller]

Maybe the change about the cliffhanger is because they got word it won't be a series finale.

He still uses the word satisfying though, that sort of suggests no one dies. But then, he thinks this season is fun.

[madmaverick]

I really don't see Castle morphing a lot more into a buffoon this season, but YMMV.  Yes, some episodes we get a more serious Castle like with the first episode and the courtroom episode recently.  Others, we get a more lighthearted Castle.  But that's been how it's been for the last few seasons.  Give me a lighthearted Castle over dead serious, dead boring conspiracy investigation anytime.  If anything, i would say this season has allowed Castle to do more with his skills and contacts, and there's been a returned emphasis to his identity as a writer mixed in with the crime solving stuff.

[Cyranetta]

Just the mere suggestion that LokSat might be haunting a potential S9 is enough to make me gag, but if Beckett has to be written out dues to SK's having had enough, there's one possibility besides death or divorce for an S8 finale - Beckett goes too far in her pursuit of That Which Shall No Longer Be Named and winds up in prison, leaving her conveniently offstage and freeing Castle to play PI with Alexis and Hayley in both Cases-of-the-Week and the wisps of the abominable S8 conspiracy that remains in S9. The only catch with any Beckettless S9 is that I can't see how there could be much regular involvement with the 12th or its personnel.

[westwingfan]

Title for 8x19 is Dead Again

 

Robert Hanning ‏@RobHanning 4h4 hours ago

@19_Joanne_87 Fine.

Dead...

Again.

Happy?  #woremedown

[Gant]

Nathan might have had a lot of fun playing Castle this season but some fans don't seem to have taken to the buffoon that he has morphed into that well. In the earlier seasons Castle tapped into his wealth of contacts, knowledge of useful things, and asymetric thinking to help Beckett solve cases, haven't seen too much of that side of him recently and the show has been the poorer for it I think.

Have to agree with madmaverick here. I feel that the talk about Castle getting increasingly more buffoonish has been going since at least season 5. And as for his missing background, contacts and writing experience, it's been a staple of complaints here and back at TwoP since even earlier than that. It's been dead and buried since season 3 IMO. So it's definitely not something introduced this season. And yep, I also feel like this year Castle's background actually was used more and with better variety.

 

There's a lot I don't like this season, IMO it inherited most of the problems from the Marlowe era adding a set of its own. In fact I still barely hold on, watching the episodes in sets of 2-3 and only occasionally looking up fandom news and discussions. But when I do I see surprising amounts of revisionism about previous seasons, as if many people forgot the same discussions and complaints been going for years. Maybe due to my infrequent exposure to Castle lately instead of continuous "fandoming", all that is fresher in my mind, I don't know.

 

I still would say that I enjoy this season more than the last two, at least the percent of the bits I do enjoy is higher, the negative difference is the disjointed feeling I get from this season, that wasn't the case previously. LockSat or whatever it's called is for me on a par with the monstrous Beckett's mother arc, at the state it developed in the later seasons.

Edited March 4, 2016 by Gant

[femmefan1946]

[verdana]

Castle 8x14 Sneak Peek #2 - Castle Season 8 Episode 14 Sneak Peek “The G.D.S.” 

 

Again watching Castle sitting there with Hayley questioning this guy, simply reminds me the entire time that he should be there talking about this with Beckett. 

 

The more I watch of this season unfold the happier I am taking a viewing hiatus.

Edited March 4, 2016 by verdana

[TWP]

Castle 8x14 Sneak Peek #2 - Castle Season 8 Episode 14 Sneak Peek “The G.D.S.” 

 

Again watching Castle sitting there with Hayley questioning this guy, simply reminds me the entire time that he should be there talking about this with Beckett. 

Both Vikram and Hayley are there to replace Castle and Beckett respectively. Honestly, I can't blame anybody but the actors for that change.....wanting shorter days or not wanting to have to coordinate with the other lead on days, or whatever.

The weirdest one for me is Lucy rather than Alexis as Castle's sounding board. I guess that maybe once again, it's to ease the need to coordinate actors. If he's speaking to a recording, Nathan can show up whenever it works for him.

[westwingfan]

Both Vikram and Hayley are there to replace Castle and Beckett respectively. Honestly, I can't blame anybody but the actors for that change.....wanting shorter days or not wanting to have to coordinate with the other lead on days, or whatever.

The weirdest one for me is Lucy rather than Alexis as Castle's sounding board. I guess that maybe once again, it's to ease the need to coordinate actors. If he's speaking to a recording, Nathan can show up whenever it works for him.

I have seen some comments where people expressed the opinion that the show needed to change and that change is good. However the ratings at the end of S5 did not seem to indicate audience pressure for the DC arc and the other deviations from the core premise of the show that have followed. Two of the most successful shows still on the air, NCIS and L&O SVU, have lasted a lot longer Castle, and arguably been more successful than Castle, and neither felt the need to mess with their core premise, other than some cast changes over the years. The ratings started to slide after S5, the last few episodes got 2.0+/11M live audience and now we down to 1.0+/5.5M, and yet there has been little attempt to return to the format that brought the earlier success, in fact the abandonment of the original premise seems to have accelerated this season, so it would seem that the pressure for the changes we have seen has been driven by internal forces. Both leads have given interviews which could be deemed hypocritical, Nathan said he wanted the show to end on a high, well there's little chance of that now and yet he seems willing to soldier on, and Stana gave her "art over money" quote, but you could hardly argue that Captain Beckett is very demanding of her.

[verdana]

Hawley must really hate the fans guts if he intends to extend Loksnore into a possible S9, oh yeah that's going to bring the dwindling audience flocking back in their droves. Yawn.

 

It's a toss up which is more of a nightmare the idea of Trump for President or a Loksnore cliffhanger and the strong possibility of it becoming the replacement to the mombatross, I guess Trump wins out but only because he's far more visible every week and seems much more threatening and scary. 

 

At least I've been given advance warning about a dreaded cliffhanger that will probably be anything but satisfying and it frees up my Monday nights viewing into September 2016 and beyond because I have no intention of watching Castle with this story still actively ruining any good moments they do manage to produce. 

 

​I love the way Hawley refers to the Marlowe legacy as "luggage" but what he said back then made no sense.  The idea they were forced into having to deal with tying up some loose ends before they could get to the really satisfying fun stuff is stupid. Beckett's mother's murder had been wrapped pretty well I thought in Veritas. Castle's missing time should have been left to lie dormant and hadn't they started the PI set up in S7 already? So what was stopping them getting to the good storytelling now?  Beats me but then I don't believe Hawley has a handle on anything as showrunner this season has been a muddled with what seems to be change for changes sake with little cohesive thinking involved. 

 

I don't believe any of Hawley's promises for what he wants to do looking forward, he's shown himself to be a poor showrunner and Winter seems almost the silent partner in this but when he has spoken he's sounded just as bad.

 

Actors can say a lot of things that sound good to the fans but I tend to take with a huge pinch of salt.  Nathan seems more than happy these days to milk the cow until there is no more milk to give and whenever an actors spouts forth about art being more important than filthy lucre I laugh because it doesn't pay those bills and fund their often extravagant lifestyles as they would wish. Which is why you see so many of them doing things that surely must insult their artistic sensibilities something chronic.

Edited March 5, 2016 by verdana

[verdana]

I have seen some comments where people expressed the opinion that the show needed to change and that change is good.

 

Change is often inevitable but like you mentioned some shows have proven that not changing your formula is the secret to their longevity and popularity. Change can be good but if implemented badly and with little conviction and sense of strong leadership it can be disastrous and prove costly in many ways. I believe that some of the changes have been forced on the new team by BTS issues to an extent but that doesn't change the fact the showrunners could have worked around those inherent issues much better. But other changes have been made which sully the show and don't make any sense if you believe in respecting the back story of these characters and adhering to decent continuity.  

 

Despite what they said about getting Castle into the P.I.office this season, their ideas for S9 being "more about the case of the week, going back to the fun of solving the case of the week" seems to me that the emphasis would be on the precinct rather than his P.I.role, and he could return as the consultant, which he didn't really need to have given up in the first place just because Beckett had been promoted, but that might require Castle and Beckett to appear in scenes together in an episode for more than the average 7-8 mins they've managed this season so far.

 

 

Stana and Nathan's reduced time spent on set filming together is something that appears set in stone now and any talk from Hawley that appears to tease a return to the show's roots (and the lure of possible more Caskett goodness) is pure PR bullshit, it won't happen. Hawley doesn't seem like a man who wants to protect Castle's original legacy he seems more obsessed with re-doing it in his own image and then unfortunately often tarnishing the original in the process. 

 

“Our hope is to get to a place where they do get to confront LokSat and get something satisfying,” he adds. 

 

Hawley you're the main man, there is no "hope" about it, you can make the characters do anything you want. It's so irritating when showrunners talk as if the characters actions and what they do are out of their control.  Castle and Beckett must confront LokSat as a unified force and they eradicate the threat to them as a couple, now that would surely be satisfying for the vast majority of fans.  All he needs to do is make it happen. 

Edited March 5, 2016 by verdana

[verdana]

Chad Gomez Creasey ‏@chadgcreasey  8h8 hours ago

#Castle fans! Just screened @AlexiHawley's 814 and you're in for a treat. Always a blast when #CastleGoesHollywood.

 

 

I'm betting it would be a better blast if it was #CaskettGoesHollywood

[TWP]

NCIS hasn't changed it's formula, but it had a more workable formula for longevity. One of the things they don't do on NCIS is make 2 characters the be-all end-all of the show like they did early on with Castle. NCIS focuses on a couple of characters for awhile and then moves on to others. I think the success of the NCIS franchise greatly comes from them developing the ensemble cast.

I wasn't saying that every aspect of the change in the show is due to the leads. The point I was making was that installing new cast members to fill roles previously held by the lead actors (e.g. the note-worthy Hayley instead of Beckett at interviews in LA) is probably wholly due to the work arrangement made by the leads. Writers are writing classic Castle/Beckett scenes because those are required for the COTW part of the show, and then inserting other characters to fill the respective roles. That strategy probably would have worked if used from the start, given that other shows (NCIS) rotate cast into and out of those types of scenes. But by previously having Castle-Beckett in every one of those scenes, Marlowe set up an audience expectation that current showrunners are having trouble shaking.

The only way this show will go on is with the leads only doing 5-7 minutes per episode together. I suspect the writers would be as happy as some of the viewers if they could go back to the 29 minutes of Casket per episode that some say the earlier seasons had. Personally, I don't want that back, partly because I find almost all Castle/Beckett scenes these days a little off and awkward, and partly because I think ensemble casting is better. But they need a stronger and more developed ensemble.

Edited March 5, 2016 by TWP