Jeremy asked for my reactions to several crime show season finales as well as my thoughts on where the shows might go from here.
The second season finale for Castle aired May 17. I don’t get to watch Castle as regularly as some shows, but I have watched enough to know that for a chunk of the season, Beckett has been dating fellow cop Tom Demming (Michael Trucco), and in the finale, Castle seemed to realize the relationship was getting serious. Yes, there was a main plot involving a spy game, but I cared more about the Castle/Beckett relationship.
So Castle was past deadline on his book, and his writer friends (Cannell, Connelly, and Patterson) suggested that perhaps Beckett had been more a distraction than a muse. Castle considered backing off his observer role, letting Beckett work more cases without him.
While none of the cops said they would miss Castle. shots of his usual chair sitting empty gave us a sense of what his absence would mean. The cops also told Beckett that, by now, Castle has done enough research to write a dozen books. He’s sticking around because…
So Beckett decided to break up with Demming and was ready to take Castle up on his Memorial weekend invitation to the Hamptons. The problem: By this time, Castle had decided to take his agent/ex-wife with him so he could finish his book. He’ll be gone all summer.
And, significantly, as Castle walked off, Beckett called out hopefully, “See you in the fall?”
The plots and police procedure on Castle don’t hold together that well, but the show has always had chemistry. The finale proved they know what to do with it.
–Gerald So
