Castle: Crossfire

May 16, 2016 8:10 PM - Season 8, Episode 22

Castle and Beckett have their lead and are ready to face LokSat, but an unexpected twist puts everything in danger. (Series finale)

‘Castle’ Showrunners Alexi Hawley & Terence Paul Winter Thank Fans; Still “Processing” Emotions

posted by oh yeah! (19 comments total)

Did anyone else make it to the end?

Well, it was fun while it lasted. I'm thankful that ABC didn't go through trying to do a ninth season of angsty widower private-eye Castle, just knowing that they were exploring that option cheapens the finale's happy-family epilogue, but whatever.

Though many of the seasonal arcs have been a drag, overall Castle was an entertaining series that had fun with using the 'Cop/Not A Cop' formula to dip into other genres. I can't think of any non-sci-fi show that managed to find a way to do a 'Groundhog Day' episode. Farewell, show.
posted by oh yeah! at 8:56 PM on May 16, 2016

So I have never watched this show. The remote was too far away and I half watched it while playing a video game. I had seen online that the female lead's contract was not renewed for the next season, and then a couple of weeks later the show was cancelled. So I assume the show was originally shot as the season finale, to end with her dying, and then when the series was cancelled they tacked on the 'seven years later but no one has aged a day' part as the series finale? That part felt so rushed and hobbled together.
posted by the webmistress at 10:05 PM on May 16, 2016

The series had its charms . .. but the whole LokSat thing was never compelling and frequently confusing. I think Castle P.I. would be a fine spinoff with occasional visits from Kevin and Espo .
posted by davidmsc at 11:28 PM on May 16, 2016

I dropped out when Castle and Kate finally got together. I tried a few eps and it just didn't work for me. I came here to see what people think now that the series is finished and if the finale was decent. Seems like I may just walk away having enjoyed what I saw and leaving it at that.
posted by miss-lapin at 3:03 AM on May 17, 2016

I think Castle P.I. would be a fine spinoff with occasional visits from Kevin and Espo.

The only cast members confirmed for the potential S9 had been Castle & Kevin, Espo was probably going to be retooled away same as Lanie. If they wanted a spin-off, they could have made one with Toks Olagundoye's Hayley. But treating Beckett as expendable would have been egregious to me. Not as bad as Fox's treatment of Abbie Mills on Sleepy Hollow, since it doesn't have all the racism, but, still very WTF. As if she's a Bond girl and not the co-lead.

I thought the show did a decent job at making Beckett & Castle a couple - when they actually let them be together. They were always throwing up unnecessary roadblocks, the dumbest of which was this last LokSat arc. I enjoyed those stretches of time when they were a happy crime-solving duo.
posted by oh yeah! at 4:29 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

That was a perfect ending to the dumpster fire Castle turned into. While I welcome any chance to have more Nathan Fillion on my screen, I've been begging for 3 seasons that they would put a bullet in what remains of the show I used to love. The episode made no sense. The entire Loksat plot made no sense. We got absolutely no explanation for his motives or his connection with Bracken. We got some crazy half assed time jump to a happy ending for Castle and Beckett. Right after they both get gunned down in his apartment.

It was everything I could have hoped for.
posted by 2ht at 7:51 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

An Alternative Ending to Castle
posted by kmz at 10:00 AM on May 17, 2016 [2 favorites]

Yes- by "Castle PI" I meant to include Hayley as part of that team. She is an intriguing character.
posted by davidmsc at 10:23 AM on May 17, 2016

Ha. That alternate ending was good. Castle walls indeed.
posted by davidmsc at 10:26 AM on May 17, 2016

"However, if you are, say, me, and you spent a year of your life writing a thesis in which you argued that Beckett’s storyline has always been steamrolled by the overarching theme of “It Doesn’t Matter What You Want, Beckett, Because Castle Wants To Fuck You,” you would not have been surprised at all.
Think about it, people. This is the show that opened with “Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but I’m a millionaire who wants to exploit your life for profit and I’m gonna use my connections with the local government to force myself into your work life against your will.”

I liked the show but uh....yeah, GOOD POINT.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:24 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

I was so in love with this show early on, and just fell away after maybe...four seasons? Three? There was something special about the early ones where I felt like they would counteract expectations and things tended to play out in interesting ways, and then all of a sudden it fell headfirst into conventionality. I watched a few of the episodes after they got together and it was fine but it seemed like a lot of effort was put in to keep things tense instead of them being a Nick-and-Nora type fun detecting couple, which is what I was hoping for.

(Nate and Sophie from Leverage were fun in this vein as well, but they only did one episode of that. Is there a wittily bickering detective couple out there??

Anyway, I can't say I'll miss the show because it was kind of zombified, but I'll miss the fun of the early seasons. And somehow it got me to write Buffy/Esposito, so there's that.
posted by PussKillian at 1:50 PM on May 17, 2016

Gah, it's a shame. I can't even get through this episode.

NathanF used to be my favorite, but the weird few weeks (aka "The Hammer is My Producer Credit") between Stana's dismissal and cancellation of the whole thing really turned me away. Too ugly.

I felt the showrunners were completely out of touch: Of course it's not Castle without Beckett and Lainie, and after solving Joanna's murder I didn't care at all about LokSat. Could have gone on for seasons more had they actually continued the fun, flirty Nick & Nora crime solving / playing with tropes /mystery of the week angle, with extra diversions from Ryan and Esposito & Hailey and Alexis.

Boooooo.
posted by mochapickle at 2:26 PM on May 17, 2016

It would have been useful if the Castle production could have sorted out the contracts mid-season rather than leave it til the last moment. That finale was appalling. "Seven years later", what bullshit.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 2:59 PM on May 17, 2016

Hollywood Reporter: So let's count the things wrong with this painful tacked on ending.
posted by mochapickle at 3:14 PM on May 17, 2016 [2 favorites]

I technically haven't seen this episode yet because I'm a few weeks behind (and also dreading it), but it sounds like this was put together kinda like the ending of Pushing Daisies was.

Much as I hate the idea of Caskett having three kids, I figured they went with that because of that future episode where that guy said they had 3 kids, Beckett was a politician, etc.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:45 PM on May 17, 2016

Thankfully, in the universe of that alternative ending the FBI - as a federal operation, not state - won't have to follow those rules.
posted by phearlez at 11:05 AM on May 18, 2016

I am actually angry about this ending after years of being intermittently charmed and aggravated by the show. They solved it just in time! No, they're inexplicably dead! No, they're inexplicably happily alive with three kids!

I hadn't even been aware of any behind the scenes stuff beyond Stana Katic and Lainey not returning, but to the extent that what I've heard is true and Nathan Fillion's ego is to blame, I am even retroactively soured on Firefly.
posted by Jeanne at 1:38 PM on May 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

Ack, phhtpt, what a disappointing ending. I had some hopes when the second half of the season returned to one-off episodes, but those were quickly dashed. I don't mind Gerald McRaney turning out to be the Big Bad, he's always fun, but they took care of him way too quickly. And Castle's revelation at the end while looking at the flame didn't make any sense.

And why leave the shooting in place if they new they weren't coming back? Cut it out, put in a montage and voice over, and then the final scene. That would have been way better.

Fillion has bad luck ending series.
posted by beowulf573 at 7:47 AM on May 26, 2016

"I technically haven't seen this episode yet because I'm a few weeks behind (and also dreading it), but it sounds like this was put together kinda like the ending of Pushing Daisies was."

Finally just watched it and yup, that was!
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:36 PM on June 10, 2016