The television series "Castle" is hardly a romance series, but for its eighth season, co-showrunner Terence Paul Winter revealed that they will be putting the spotlight on the relationship shared by Rick Castle and Kate Beckett.
"We really wanted to figure out the next evolution of Castle and Beckett together," Winter told Entertainment Weekly. "How can we tell stories, fun stories, that are still steeped in the DNA of the show and steeped in their love story?"
Even though they are happily married now, co-showrunner Alexi Hawley said that there will still be some complications to their relationship, which was a fun dynamic they explored during the first few seasons of the show.
"What made the audience respond to these two people so strongly at the beginning is that spark between them, and I think we need to infuse the show with a little bit more of that," Hawley said. "So there will be conflict, there will be tears, there will be laughs, there will be everything in order to really do justice to this as a three-dimensional relationship."
One big obstacle that the couple has to face next season is Beckett's decision not to run for Senate, which was offered to her during the season 7 finale.
"Putting her in the world of politics ultimately felt like it would take us too far afield," Hawley explained.
What Beckett decided to do, on the other hand, was take over as the precinct's captain, and this move will surely disrupt Castle's work life.
"Beckett's change in career won't allow Castle that kind of access he's been accustomed to in previous seasons," said Nathan Fillion, the actor who plays Castle. "To get his murder-solving fix, he has to lean more heavily on his private-investigation career."
He will be teaming up with a new character named Hayley Shipton (to be played by Toks Olagundoye), who is a strong-willed former Scotland Yard investigator. Incidentally, Castle's daughter Alexis will be looking up to Shipton as a female role model.
A lot of new changes are certainly set for "Castle," but one thing Terence guarantees that will not change is the show's ability to deal with dark story lines in a lighthearted manner.
"We can have episodes that are very gritty and raw, and then the next week, we can tell something that's fun and frothy and delightful," said Winter.
