ABC’s ‘Castle’ season 8: ‘The Following’ showrunner Alexi Hawley comes back

Who knew that we were going to have so many headlines about “Castle” season 8 and their changes behind the scenes? First, we heard that David Amann was stepping down as showrunner; then, there were all sorts of rumors that eventually lead to the announcement that longtime writer Terence Paul Winter was going to be taking the reigns.

Now, there is yet another permutation coming for this when it comes to Alexi Hawley. As confirmed earlier by TVLine, Hawley is returning to the show after spending this past season as the showrunner for “The Following” over on Fox. He has definitely proven himself to be a good storyteller, and his seasons on “Castle” in the past (which started with season 2 and ended with season 4) are arguably some of the finest that the show has experienced to date.

With “The Following” now canceled, he and Winter can serve as the co-showrunners here, which gives up hope that a great creative team will be around for at least thirteen more episodes.

Now, the biggest thing to take care of is Stana Katic, Seamus Dever, Jon Huertas, and the rest of the cast. We’ve heard rumors that Stana is close to signing a new deal, but we’ve said all along that both parties are interested in making a deal happening. It’s just an issue of agreeing to all of the various principles and then signing on the dotted line. We’re still confident that something will happen, but patience is sometimes what you really need in such situations.

For now, head over here to watch one of the first sneak peeks for the “Castle” finale! Also, you can sign up here to book some other TV updates on everything we cover right away, courtesy of our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)