Three Clues to Solving Castle’s Season Finale

Nathan Fillion in the finale of Castle
Richard Cartwright/ABC
Castle Finale

How will Castle cap off a season in which the titular mystery novelist (Nathan Fillion) and Det. Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) finally tied the knot, honeymooned at a dude ranch, and solved the confounding case of Castle’s two-month disappearance? Creator Andrew Marlowe and showrunner David Amann give us three major clues.

1. The finale begins with the death of a girl who was chased through the woods, and the ensuing investigation “draws Castle back to an event that happened when he was 11 years old,” Marlowe says. “He came face-to-face with something terrible”–which holds the key to why Castle became a writer of crime fiction. “The case allows him to confront inner demons he’s been wrestling with for a while,” Marlowe continues. “Castle is usually so open about everything in his life, but this is something he’s kept secret for a long time. Now he’s finally able to share it with the people around him.”

2. Mrs. Castle is contending with personal and professional issues of her own. “One of the things we’ve been tracking with Beckett is a general sense of her being at a crossroads in her life,” says Amann. “She’s looking at what the next step is for her.”

3. Don’t expect the season to end as it traditionally does–on a major cliffhanger. That’s because, at press time, Katic had yet to sign on for an eighth season (and ABC had yet to officially renew the series). “We’re assuming everything’s going to work out,” Marlowe says. “But our fans have been incredibly loyal, so if we don’t come back, we wanted to have something that feels like a satisfying conclusion.”

Castle, Monday, May 11, 10/9c, ABC