ABC’s ‘Castle’ season 8: Confirmation Molly Quinn, Susan Sullivan are returning

While we felt like this news was most likely happening, isn’t it nice to get some official word? Per TVLine, it is now confirmed that both Molly Quinn and Susan Sullivan are each going to be returning for “Castle” season 8 in the roles of Rick’s daughter Alexis, and also his mother Martha.

Ultimately, this is no surprise at all that the show would retain these two. We’ve already lost Penny Johnson Jerald, and there is a certain amount of continuity that the show probably wants to keep. Sometimes we feel like the Alexis and Martha characters are somewhat under-appreciated. While they are never going to be the focus of the show on the level of Castle and Beckett, they help to ground the characters in some sort of reality, and they also have some fun moments here and there. We don’t exactly have many other people we see on a regular basis who are not directly involved with law enforcement. They also get a couple of really good subplots a season. Also, it would be really strange to suddenly write them off without it being somewhat sad, given that they have been a part of the series the entire way through.

So what sort of stories will be told with the characters? We’d want to see something family-oriented work its way into the story, or maybe an episode or two where Castle and Beckett explore a world that is already familiar to Alexis or Martha, similar to what we had in “The Final Frontier” with Alexis’ live of comic conventions (plus Beckett’s fascinating with a certain space show).

The new season premieres on ABC on September 21, and we feel like we’re going to have more news to share in due time.

For now, head over here to read our latest “Castle” debate that is all about Beckett! Also, you can sign up here if you want to get some other TV news on all we cover, courtesy of our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)