ABC’s ‘Castle’ series finale review: Who is LokSat, and did Castle and Beckett have their happy ending?
Fans of “Castle,” we hope you had your hankies ready for this one. The series finale arrived at our door Monday night, and it for the most part revolved around one simple question: Could Castle and Beckett finally destroy LokSat once and for all?
First, we have to reveal who was behind that moniker: Mason Wood! It turns out that he is so much more than just a guy at the Greatest Detective Society; he’s also been conducting dangerous and secret undercover missions. Personally, we knew Gerald McRaney was bad news ever since Barlow went after Branch in “Longmire.” Sure, it was a somewhat-predictable reveal, but when you’ve got a great guest star like this, you might as well use them in every way that you can.
At around the 52-minute mark, it became clear to us just how much danger Beckett was precisely in courtesy of Rick’s interrogation of Mason’s cohort. This quickly became a race against time to save her, while Beckett at the same time was told by Mason that her husband was dead. Fat chance! Castle (who eventually found his way to her) and Beckett teamed up one more time, and they took him down! LokSat is over, and the couple has a chance to be happy … or were they? Caleb Brown mounted a last-minute attack, but they survived, and from here, we learned that they had a happy future with kids and much more in a brief flash-forward to many years down the road.
There were a few character updates along the way, whether it be a Lanie sighting to seeing Castle’s family all together happy. It’s a shame that the ending felt so completely tacked-on, as it was obvious it was a “just in case’ situation that didn’t really fit. Was it still nice? Absolutely, but we wish there was more time to get us there since the rushed nature of things took some of the air out of the tires.
In the end, it was impossible for this finale to really measure up to eight seasons of television, mystery, humor, romance, everything and then some. It would have been nice if we’d had several weeks to prepare for the finale, but at least we received the ending almost everyone wanted. The love story is at an end, and we now imagine that Castle – Beckett fans can always be happy. Finale Grade: B.
John T M Herres
May 17, 2016 @ 4:12 pm
I’m trying to find out; What the heck is LokSat???????
Microgrey
May 18, 2016 @ 2:08 pm
“Loksat” was the name that was handwritten into the margin of a redacted memo from Senator Bracken. This memo was flagged by a query Beckett had initiated when she was at the AG’s Office (trying to dig up dirt on Bracken). Vikram was the IT guy who received the memo and brought it to Beckett’s attention. Presumably, this is the name (in whole or in part) of the money laudering system Bracken was using to fund his presidential campaign. I don’t know that they ever told us definitively what the acronym stood for.
John T M Herres
May 18, 2016 @ 2:26 pm
Thanks for responding! I didn’t get into the series because of my dislike of commercials. I had the same issue with NCIS, though I did watch many episodes before I ended my addiction to Team Gibbs.
I prefer movies. Indeed, I have over 500 store-bought and over 200 computer files.
Microgrey
May 17, 2016 @ 2:47 pm
After watching last night’s series finale, I’m also glad they canceled the show. Not because I didn’t want another season (or more) of Castle, but because I didn’t want endure another iteration of Castle that the showrunners were giving us. They promised fans a “Fun” and “Dynamic” season but delivered one that was nothing short of “contrived” and “tedious”. After enduring 22 episodes of the Loksat conspiracy, a pointless Castle-Beckett separation and juvenile frat boy humor, fans deserved a better conclusion to this once great show than a 10 second glimpse of the future tacked on as an afterthought. Given the season-long duration of the Loksat investigation, I thought a 2-part wrap up to end the season was warranted. I realise that the showrunners may not have known how to end things, because they didn’t know if they were being renewed, but this final episode could have easily been told over a 2-episode arc. As it was, the ending seemed rushed and unsatisfying.
In their latest press release, the showrunners referred to Castle as “A love story for the ages” (http://cartermatt.com/206827/abcs-castle-series-finale-show-bosses-alexi-hawley-terence-paul-winter-release-statement/). Seriously? For the past 2 seasons, this “Love story for the ages” has been anything but. In fact, it has been quite the contrary. The Castle-Beckett relationship was deliberately sabotaged by the showrunners in season’s 7 & 8. They spent more time thinking of creative ways to keep Castle and Beckett apart than they did keeping them together and evolving them as a happliy married couple.
Whatever the “behind the scenes” reasons for keeping them apart, the net result was the same. It ruined a once great show. Castle didn’t lose fans…they were driven away. The dimise of the show can be attributed to a series of self-inflicted wounds, beginning with the botched wedding in 6×23. Although the showrunners certainly weren’t blameless, I put the majority of the blame squarely on the network. This show was a fan favorite and a financial juggernaut for ABC for 6 years. To allow an actor, a showrunner or a budget to dictate the evolution of the show is either complacency or just plain poor management. No matter how you slice it, someone at ABC clearly fell asleep at the switch, allowing all the things that made the show great, to simply deteriorate to the point where more than 50% of their audience walked away. I honestly believe that if Andrew Marlowe had been allowed to evolve his creation in the manner he originally intended, this show could have easily eclipsed the 12+ Seasons Bones has enjoyed. No one benefited from this shows demise. Not the cast, not the crew, not the network…and certainly not the fans.
Leo
May 17, 2016 @ 7:31 pm
You realize the ratings under the Winter/Hawley stewardship was more steady than that of Amman. S8 numbers were flat, very little Fluxuation up or down. Where as S 7 showed a dramatic drop from ep 1 to the hiatus. The second part began with three consecutive episodes that hit all time lows.S8 began with terrible numbers and more or less stayed there . 6.23 has to go down as the most catastrophic episode ever written, it literally sank the franchise.
Microgrey
May 17, 2016 @ 8:47 pm
I don’t know about steady, but Hawley/Winter averaged 1-2 million fewer viewers over the whole season. S7 started north of 10M viewers as viewers returned, expecting to see the wedding fiasco corrected in 8×01. When it didn’t happen, frustated viewers began to leave, bringing the average viewers/episode down to 7-8M. Season 8 started low (6.8M) and dropped to a low of 4.2M. It wasn’t until they finally got Castle and Beckett back together again that it started to rise again. The S8 average was closer to 5-6M. Neither of these seasons was stellar. As I mentioned above, if they had let them evolve naturally as a couple, fans would have stuck around. Finding new and more contrived ways of keeping them apart just frustrated viewers and made them lose interest.
Leo
May 17, 2016 @ 9:41 pm
Nawh, the wedding that didn’t happen angered fans who felt MilMar had jerked them around one time to many. It was the most catastrophic episode ever penned it literally sank the Monday golden goose. It was the start of the death spiral from which the series never recovered . The number never stopped dropping till S8 where they languished at all time lows.
Jimmy
May 17, 2016 @ 2:06 pm
Castle was the one reason that I turned on ABC It seems that every time executives get involved in a series more bad decisions result. Not renewing a lead contract in a word typical ineptitude on the part of ABC management. As you look at the success of the network on a downward trend and not because of Castle
Jim45
May 17, 2016 @ 9:57 am
After season 8 I’m just relieved it’s over. Cancellation was the finest artistic decision I’ve seen in awhile.
Michael Goldman
May 17, 2016 @ 4:19 am
The saddest part? That ABC renewed The Catch(with its barely above a 1.0 average) and American Crime(which hasn’t finished above a 1.0 in two seasons.) The show runners ruined Castle this season. Yet it still finished with higher ratings than both of the shows ABC renewed. I’m hoping next season will be Castle’s revenge(like this season was Forever’s revenge) and ABC will bomb horribly, maybe even worse than FOX(which is tough). Good thing Bob Sherwood answers to nobody.
Jimmy
May 17, 2016 @ 2:11 pm
Excellent points but executive decisions in broadcast/ cable often have no basis in fact
Michael Goldman
May 17, 2016 @ 8:07 pm
How fortunate for them.
Leo
May 19, 2016 @ 12:26 am
Look, financially Castle was unsustainable. Both NF and SK were given sizable contract increases for S8. The out look for S 9 would most likely have been more. The fact that Paul Lee had given Sk a contract that was more than ABC had wanted lead to his firing and SK’s as the only way to salvage a S9, that failed.
Michael Goldman
May 19, 2016 @ 6:18 pm
I don’t know how much everyone was getting paid. The show took a big hit in the ratings with the premiere of Blindspot. I am sure that the salaries on The Good Wife were much higher than the salaries on CASTLE. This wasn’t the main reason Paul Lee was fired. Was the money the network was getting from commercials not enough to cover the show? I don’t know. Nobody remembers what a loss leader is? Nobody knows what loyalty is? This is a network making BILLIONS of Dollars. ABC decided to end it, but they kept shows with ratings I consider unacceptable for renewal, just like they did last season. I can deal with the end of Castle. I can’t deal with the lies and the B.S. Thanks for writing.