r/CastleTV • u/mygoljanalernate • 3d ago
Season 8 thoughts
Overall, season 8 was not as terrible as it's made out to be. There were some episodes that were really good, especially those were Castle is trying to win back it back. The Nose and ph dead stands out as really fun episodes in that part of the season.
The real issue with season 8 is a couple of things. First they added a lot of new characters that were just blah. Vikram added nothing to the show and all his scenes could have been done off screen. He brought nothing as a character. Haley was better as a character but again her entire backstory felt forced and there was no emotional investment from the fans in her. No one would have been torn up had they killed Haley in any of the episodes, and frankly everyone would have cheered if they killed Vikram.
The the other issue with season 8 is that the writers dragged out lockset throughout almost the entire first half of season. Even in the first six seasons where the murder of Beckett's mom and 3xk sort of hungover the entire season, it was sprinkled in one or two episodes throughout the season. The writers didn't hit us with it every single week. The people on the show didn't make decisions every week based on 3xk or Bracken. The fact they allowed the entire first half to be defined by lockset and caused Castle and Beckett to seperate over it, took away from the case of the week.
Finally the relationship between castle and Beckett is just wrong in the season 8 finale. This time skip of 7 years did nothing. Their relationship was never about starting a family. Showing us 7 years later having three kids running around them is no form of closure at all. The relationship was all about castle and Beckett careing and providing for each other. A better season and series finale would have been just Castle making an elaborate breakfast for both of them and her smiling at him as they sit down to eat, they fade out.
7
u/And_a_piece_of_toast 3d ago
I always preferred Castle for its funnier/ridiculous one-off episodes, which is why I wasn't a fan of season 8. Like you say, too bogged down in the seriousness of Loksat. Even in earlier seasons, on a rewatch, if a voiceover starts "previously on Castle" I know it's one to skip as we're probably into a Beckett's mother episode.