I’m not watching. The fun and repartee is gone…. if they have it it’ll just feel fake in the next ep. You don’t treat a spouse like that and have “fun” repartee. And as for critiquing as a fan of the show from season 1 I’ve got a right to say the plot link stinks and it’s just laziness on the new show runners part because all it’s doing is trying to take the show back to the earlier years where they weren’t together. You can’t go back — years ago Moonlighting proved it. If the characters don’t go forward with their history in mind it’s just crap and that’s pretty much what this is. So no — not watching and yes complaining because if it goes down in flames as I suspect it will hopefully the TPTB will learn something and not do such a contrived unoriginal plot again. ‘Course knowing TPTB they’ll do what they did with Moonlighting and blame it on getting them together in the first place rather than a distinct inability to actually write a good relationship between husbands and wives while still telling a story.

Trust once broken is almost impossible to regain!! S2 Demming, S3 Josh, S4, Her Mothers Case, S5 went from you just you is all I want to some Job, Not blaming actors, but even fiction has to be Somewhat realistic and how can ANYONE trust KB as a wife, the next case comes and she is super cop and forgets she is married? Same old manufactured angst and this time I think they can’t recover

Instead of critiquing, just enjoy the show OR don’t watch.

That’s why your not Richard Castle. Kate is the woman of his dreams. Now they need to do is TRUST.

Have to agree, particularly about grown-up Alexis. Talk about forcing her to somehow be relevant to the story.. would have been far better to just send her off to college.. you know.. like you do when you have a brilliant college age kid. Just because we watched her grow-up doesn’t mean we have to watch her as a grown up. And don’t even get me started on the new girl. Wow.. so she’s going to be what, our surrogate Beckett until this supposed reunion episode? She’s going to be there with Castle, being the hard-hitting actually knows what she’s doing sarcastic female while Rick bumbles and charms his way through things and she rolls her eyes at him? Oh Marlow, you must be grinding your teeth watching what they’ve done to your creation.

The problem is, even if they’re on screen together, how can it be believable? My wife walks out on me and says “maybe I’ll be back, and if I do come back, I hope you’ll still love me…” Yeah, I’m not going to be all plucky and charming and “Well, I’m just going to try and woo her, just like I did before..” I’m going to draw up divorce papers.. that’s what any guy will do. So if they’re somehow not acting married, but being all cutesy and fun around each other, it won’t feel real or authentic, it will feel forced and contrived. They’ve written themselves into an absolutely unbelievable and horrible box.

I don’t get this whole ‘Be Patient’ line of thinking, which the new showrunners keep feeding us. The logic is dumbfounding.. “Listen, I know that for about 8 episodes, we’re going to create a dynamic that totally contradicts everything the show has been about for 7 seasons.. we’re going to essentially break up a couple that you watched come together over 7 years so that…. you can watch them get back together again.. and when they do.. oh boy! You’re just gonna love it then.. ” Well, thanks but no.
What made Castle great was: Excellent Police Procedural stories that were smartly written, with clever dialog, and two central characters that play off each other creating a fun and playful hour of TV. Yes, the occasional episode could hit on some really heavy topics, but through it all, the constant is Rick’s playful persuit of Becket, and Becket’s juxtoposed response of dissing him while still adoring him. Their dynamic evolved over time.. cat and mouse attraction, just missed opportunities, and yes, some long-simmering background stories that were conceived and executed over a many seasons.
But this ‘shake-up’ doesn’t work, You can’t get two people together, in particular married, and then suddenly have one walk out on the other, and just think that it the audience is going to buy a bunch of stories as being that same light-hearted playful fun that puts ‘spark’ in the chemistry. Even though both characters have larger-than-life aspects, what has resonated with fans is an essential realism in them, their reactions to situations and each other were always consistently believable.. but this.. this simply isn’t believable, not in real life, and not in the characters we’ve watched for 7 seasons. I have no desire to suffer through a month and a half of episodes which are contrived BS just to reach a point they claim will be worth it, because the problem is, if they think it’s acceptable to put out a month and a half of uncomfortable, unwatchable episodes to get to the payoff.. I don’t have a lot of confidence that the payoff they have concocted will be enjoyable.. In other words, why would I go along for the ride if I know the ride is going to be in a beat up old car with no A/C, springs pushing through the seats only to get to a place I don’t actually know is going to be worth it?