There Is No Castle Without Beckett

Yesterday's news that Stana Katic (Beckett) and Tamala Jones (Laney) won't be asked back for Castle's Season 9 was puzzling.  What could the network be thinking to let two amazing actresses that have been there from the beginning (not to mention one of the leads) go for budget cuts? Was this a joke?

Sadly, it was confirmed. No more Beckett. No more Caskett. Unbelievable.

The reason I started watching Castle was because I'm a writer. I loved the idea of a writer shadowing a cop, but it became so much more than that. The chemistry between this sassy, kick-butt detective and a writer looking for a muse was undeniable. The witty dialogue, the twisty cases, made for appointment television for me. There were so many funny quotes between them. "Do I look like a murderer to you? Yes, you kill my patience," is still probably my favorite. I loved that Espo and Ryan, along with Laney made up the little precinct family with all their spats and laughter. It was riveting to watch. Of course, watching Castle and Beckett fall in love was the highlight of every episode.

If you've followed my Castle reviews, you could see that this season has been awful for the most part. A silly storyline of LokSat to keep them apart fell flat, the focus on Castle's PI business just didn't have the team feel of the precinct, and the new characters of Hayley and Vikram weren't compelling at all. I've hung on for old time's sake, but yesterday made me question my loyalty. Do the powers that be not value the female lead? The show may be named Castle, but Beckett and Castle together are the heart of the show. How can they believe the show can go on without her? It doesn't make any sense at all.

Looking back, last season should have been it's last. The finale with all of them around that table, after Castle's speech, fit perfectly. I think I'll make that my own personal series finale, actually. This season has been painful to watch and without Beckett, there really is no Castle. She is the muse, the inspiration. Without that, we have a writer trying to be a PI and not doing a very good job of it. They need each other to make it work and the network can't seem to see it.

I'm sad that it's ending this way. I'm sad for the actresses who put their heart and souls into something and were let go due to "budget cuts." From the things I'm seeing on twitter, cast members Jon Huertas and Seamus Dever found out from social media which only underscores how badly this has been handled. As for me, I'm not sure I can even finish out watching the show this season. The joy is sucked out of it, that's for sure.  Maybe the best thing to do is watch my favorite reruns and remember how much I loved the show in past seasons and how fun it used to be.

I've missed that. I will miss that.

Always.