‘Shiptober: What should ‘Castle’ season 8 hold for Castle, Beckett?

At the time in which we are writing this particular article in our new ‘Shiptober series, things between our main characters on “Castle” are complicated and confusing. How could they go from trusting each other and realizing that they are “better together” to splitting up because Beckett wants to “protect” him? The reasons for the divide are among the most frequent and maddening that we hear in the TV community.

Still, what needs to be remembered here is that taking time away from one another does not mean a divorce; co-showrunners Terence Paul Winter and Alexi Hawley stated repeatedly before the season that this is a series and specifically a season about their love affair, and those comments may have been a way for them to strap on a helmet and prepare for the deluge of negativity to come after the shocker at the end of Monday’s “XX.” Is there still hope? We’re going to look at that, while at the same time also looking at the merits both for and against keeping Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic’s characters apart.

Why there’s hope – You have invested seven full seasons in this pair already, and for the show to suddenly decide to put them into “seeing other people” mode would be akin to the writers voting all over all of the fans. They’re not doing that now; this twist seems to be there fundamentally to show one of Beckett’s character flaws in that she becomes so committed to a cause that occasionally, she shuts people out. This is in opposition to Castle’s character flaw where he doesn’t always treat matters as seriously as he should. Eventually she will figure that out (or at least we hope), which puts Castle in a better position to help her.

Another reason that you should definitely be hopeful is that there is an upcoming episode entitled “Mr. & Mrs. Castle.” If that’s not evidence that good times are coming, we don’t know what is.

The case for keeping them apart for a while – If Winter and Hawley feel like there are multiple years left in the show, this could be a function of continuing the will-they-or-won’t-they component of a story that had that for much of the first few seasons. There are many mysteries in every episode, and this is another mystery compounded onto them. We don’t necessarily think that it is a mystery as to if they will get back together completely (they surely will); the question is just how it will happen. Maybe the show has plans to make a meal out of this, and if we exercise patience with the story over freaking out, maybe we will be rewarded for it later by giving us something exciting that produces some great romantic moments.

The case for immediate reconciliation – This is not the “Castle” that anyone felt they were expecting after the wedding. With procedural TV, there is a certain element of comfort food most viewers expect. They want to come to the show and see a happy couple solving crimes, and this twist works against that. It also could be labeled unnecessary; if there is some sort of course-correction immediately, those who were so enraged by this twist may be more inclined to forget it ever happened.

Where do you land on this issue: Should “Castle” rush to bring its main characters back together?