Castle, 2009-2016
✫ 7/10
Favorite Character: Kate Beckett
Castle, aired from 2009 to 2016 on ABC, follows mystery novelist Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) who becomes bored and plagued with writer’s block. After a serial killer imitates the plot of his novel, he tags along with NYPD detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) to track down the copycat killer. The pair soon realize their unorthodox partnership has its benefits — combining Castle’s writers' intuition, and Beckett’s detective work — they investigate the cases in New York, all while they build a strong, yet rather complicated, relationship with one another.
While each season of Castle had the same general premise — Castle working with Beckett and the NYPD to solve cases — some moments shined brighter than others, with certain storylines that could have been tackled in a better way.
Seasons 3 and 4 of Castle were simply the superior seasons. The audience saw a bit of change to the atmosphere — showing a side of the drama series that’s never been explored before, as well as exploring some new approaches to telling the story — mixing murder investigations with the conspiracies involving Beckett and her mother’s death, as well as solving a case in LA, chasing a serial killer (3XK), and tackling domestic terrorists. The world of Castle has inevitably been altered, going from one murder case per episode to a more serialized approach — it’s refreshing.
The series takes a downward turn from Season 6 onwards, from being a crime drama that audiences had come to know and love, to being a comedy with little to no substantial value. The storyline has maintained consistent plot holes from start to finish. As Beckett had been promoted to captain of the precinct, nothing had changed as she still does the same tasks as since the beginning of the series. On the other side of things, Castle is seen working at his PI office, more than not seeming to have reverted to his egotistical and funny guy behaviors back in Season 1. The new showrunners for Season 8 seem to not have grasped an understanding of the series as the writing was mediocre, and the plots were incredibly weak — at points where some storylines simply didn’t make sense. It also didn’t help that there were weird vibes and tension evident on-screen. It also didn’t help that while Season 8 was on the air there had been news and reports of the premise for Season 9, and series regulars Stana Katic and Tamara Jones were not asked to reprise their roles/renew contracts — further fueling rumors of set friction between Fillion and Katic — leaving a sour taste in fans and audiences alike.
The series will forever be a comfort show, but it’s not something that I will ever actively watch from start to end — there are standout episodes I love rewatching.