Castle Season 8 Report Card

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It was the final season of Castle. 

Under normal circumstances, that alone would evoke a certain amount of sorrow, but it was the very existence of Castle Season 8 that caused us misery. 

From the first installment, Castle Season 8 Episode 1, all the way through to the series finale, Castle Season 8 Episode 22, it was obvious that the very heart of the show had been altered. 

A show that had once made Mondays the happiest day of the week had taken a fatal turn in the hands of new show runners who never seemed to understand why fans tuned in. 

Still, we’ve decided to take a look back and see where the magic was lost, if it ever sparked back to life, and what grade Castle Season 8 deserves. 

If you're already missing the best of the series, you can always watch Castle online here at TV Fanatic and check out our 29 Most Memorable Caskett Moments now. 

1. We Knew Something Was Off…

Right from the very beginning, I knew something was off with Season 8. I normally get my Castle premiere screener and watch it the first time just for pure pleasure. Then I watch a second time and take notes for my review. (I may have been known to watch it a third time before the live airing, just for fun.)

But I knew something was off when I had little desire to rewatch “XY” even a second time. The show had a darker tone and more violence than was the norm on Castle. Worst of all, even the Caskett scenes lacked that spark I'd always loved.

I'd hoped it was a fluke and that the new show runners simply needed time to find their footing. Boy, was I wrong!

2. Worst Plot Twist...

This one is easy. Castle Season 8 Episode 2 had Beckett walking out on her marriage in order to protect her husband as she attempted to stop LokSat. What could be worse? Castle let her go without a fight! All I could think was, What the hell!

Kate Beckett fought her inner demons in order to be a better, healthier person and have a happy relationship. Now some mysterious conspiracy had Beckett throwing that away?

Rick Castle fought for their relationship for years, but he let her walk out the door with virtually no explanation. It didn't make sense from the start and was the beginning of the end for the show.

3. Best Episode...

Castle Season 8 Episode 10 was the first installment of the season that I can honestly say I enjoyed from beginning to end. “Witness For the Prosecution” provided a new twist and the old Castle magic that we always loved.

Caleb Brown cross examining Rick Castle on the stand was one of the best scenes of the season. And in a season where there was little emotion felt between Castle and Beckett, it was satisfying to see how affected Kate was watching that cross examination and not being able to stop it.

Perhaps even better was seeing our fabulous foursome (Castle, Beckett, Esposito, and Ryan) once again working a case over Chinese food at the precinct. We were even reminded that Rick Castle is a best selling author! There was lots to smile about in 8x10. I might even watch this episode again.

4. Worst Episode...

There are just too many to choose from for this category, but we're going to go with Castle Season 8 Episode 3. “PhDead” was the first regular episode after the two-parter, and it was a huge let down.

It had many things we never thought we'd see: Caskett separated, Castle being fine with Alexis parading around like a Victoria's Secret model in front of a bunch of frat boys, Lanie telling Castle that being abducted and kept from his loved ones for two months was the same as Beckett walking out on their marriage.

Castle was partnered with Alexis. Beckett was partnered with Vikram, and Happy Castle Mondays suddenly needed a Castle Depression Rescue Kit.

5. Happiest Moment...

The birth of Nicholas Javier Ryan – Castle has always been at its best when Castle, Beckett, Esposito, Ryan, and Lanie band together, and the best thing about Castle Season 8 Episode 17 was watching this team rallying around Ryan as they awaited news about Jenny and their new baby.

Even better, Ryan and Jenny named the baby Nicholas Javier Ryan, a nod to Ryan's desire to name his child Javier in “Under Fire.” The moment was like a giant group hug for our favorite characters and their fans.

6. Most Horrendous Lie...

Castle Season 8 Episode 9 had our favorite couple lying about cheating on one another. As if the Caskett separation wasn't bad enough, their secret reconciliation and desire to keep it hidden from their friends and family made it all the worse.

Rick Castle was cheated on by his first wife. It ended their marriage and left him to raise his daughter alone. But in “Tone Death,” we were supposed to believe that Castle was fine letting his closest friends believe he'd cheated on the love of his life? I didn't find that funny; it actually made me cringe.

Even worse was that Beckett had no problem allowing her husband's reputation to be trashed. Beckett was always a character with such integrity. How was it okay to let the world believe that the husband who adored her was off screwing some Russian model on the side? The writers claimed they wanted to add some fun into the story by having Caskett sneak around to be together, but nothing about this was fun. It only made us sad and angry.

7. Most Underused Character...

Dr. Lanie Parish – Lanie was the team's Chief Medical Examiner and Kate Beckett's best friend, so how was it that we barely saw her all season?

To be honest, we never got to see enough of Lanie. Every other long-term character had episodes dedicated to telling more of their story, but Lanie's was never more than a footnote.

Even newcomer Hayley got more screen time. That was just all kinds of wrong!

8. Most Overused Character ...

Hayley Shipton – She was a character with potential, but her immediate abundance of screen time rubbed fans the wrong way. All of a sudden it felt like Hayley was everywhere. She partnered with Rick at the P.I. firm. She was Alexis' new best friend. She even went undercover with Beckett at the 12th!

The absolute worst was when Castle traveled back to Los Angeles with Hayley instead of Beckett. After Caskett’s pivotal moment in LA in Castle Season 3 Episode 22, “To Love and Die in L.A.,” fans were furious to see Rick return to the same hotel with anyone but Kate. Hayley even got her own full episode dedicated to her backstory, something Dr. Lanie Parish never got even though she'd been with the show since the pilot.

In short, it was overkill and a scenario that practically set up Hayley for fans to hate her.

9. Best Character Talent...

Esposito Singing! – We may not have liked the cheating plotline in “Tone Death” but Castle Season 8 Episode 9 did have an upside: Esposito getting to sing! The best part of the a cappella story was that it gave Jon Huertas the opportunity to show off his vocal talents. Not only is the man handsome, but he's got a great voice, too. Hearing it was a highlight we're glad we didn't miss.

10. Worst Character Twist...

Alexis Castle – Alexis was always smart and insightful with a bright future ahead of her. We were thrilled when she decided to attend Columbia University. We loved it when she took on an internship working side by side with Dr. Parish in the morgue and when she dove into a law review that tried to save a man on death row, it made perfect sense.

What made no sense was watching her throw all of that potential away to become a private investigator and work with her dad. Seriously? Who came up with this? Yes, Alexis could be a bit of an annoying know-it-all, but Castle Season 8 opened with her working behind her father's back, suddenly being a technical surveillance expert, spending daddy's money on incredibly expensive Scotch and palling around with new BFF Hayley. Not even her relationship with Pi made us dislike her this much.

11. Least Fun Plot Device...

The Captain and the P.I. – Remember when Castle was about a writer and his muse? Back in Castle Season 7, Rick's turn as a P.I. was kind of fun…for three episodes. As a long term gig it was silly and tedious. Worse yet, compared to badass Detective Beckett, Captain Kate Beckett was downright boring.

Fans quickly called out this new story twist for what it was – a way to keep Castle and Beckett apart. We hated every minute of it.

12. Moment For Which We’re Most Grateful...

The Happy Family Flash Forward – With the news that Kate Beckett and Lanie Parish would not be back if the show had been renewed for a Season 9, we were actually grateful when Castle was canceled. (As a diehard Castle fan, that's a sentence I'd never thought I'd write.)

But the moment we were most grateful to see was the flash forward at the end of the Castle Season 8 Episode 22. Yes, it was a tacked on 30 second clip and fans deserved much better, but given the dark tone and bloodshed that infused the rest of that last episode, we'll take whatever scraps of happiness we can get for our favorite couple and hold onto it with both hands.

Maybe, someday, show creator Andrew Marlowe and executive producer Terri Edda Miller will fill in that time gap and write a better story. In the meantime, we have no doubt that fan fiction writers will write fans the happy ending they desire.

13. Final Grade…

We're giving Castle Season 8 a D. As much as we love the actors, this season felt as though everyone was just going through the motions with the final product being a hollow version of its former magical self.

Sadly, that special, intangible something had all but disappeared in Castle Season 8, where Rick was frequently made to look like a bumbling fool for laughs, and Kate came off as a cold-hearted liar who no longer trusted her closest friends.

What the new show runners never seemed to understand was that as much as we enjoyed the occasionally dark episodes, it was because of how they were used to move the character's emotional story forward. We never watched for the darkness, we tuned in to see the light. We tuned in for the Caskett romance, not just for the couple but for the way their love story bonded their friends and family together.

Adding new characters and violent conspiracy theories didn't make this show fun or dynamic. It had always been both of those things. Unfortunately the end result of Castle Season 8 was a depressing debacle. A show that brought so many people so much joy deserved a much better send off.

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Castle Season 8 Episode 22: "Crossfire"
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Castle Season 8 Episode 22 Quotes

The Big Bad Wolf. The person behind Senator Bracken, Allison Hyde, the hit squads and every terrible thing that's happened to me and Beckett in the past nine months.

Vikram

Oh my God, could my ex-wife be LokSat? Because in a lot of ways that could make a lot of sense.

Castle