‘Castle’ Season 8: ‘Firefly’ Nathan Fillion Gets New Partner, Stana Katic Becomes Capt Beckett

Spoiler Alert: The Season 8 premiere of ABC crime drama, Castle is almost here. The hit series, starring Firefly’s Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic will see some major changes this year. This year we will see Beckett ascend to the rank of captain and Castle team with a new partner, Hayley Shipton (Toks Olagundoye). Recently, the show’s bosses, Alexi Hawley and Terence Paul Winter are opening up about just how the show will change and how it will stay the same.

Recently, Castle co-showrunner and executive producer Alexi Hawley spoke to Entertainment Weekly about Castle’s new partner Hayley Shipton, played by Toks Olagundoye:

“[Toks] plays a really dynamic, fun character. It’s a voice that the show doesn’t have. What’s great about her is Castle [Nathan Fillion] has been investigating cases police-adjacent, so it’s always about doing things the way police would. She doesn’t do things that way, so that fun dynamic of, ‘No, we break in rather than get a warrant,’ is kind of fun.”

Castle’s other co-showrunner and executive producer,Terence Paul Winter, recently spoke to TV Guide about Beckett’s accession to captain:

"At the end of the day, what we were trying to do was shake up relationships]. She's not going to be a captain like Montgomery or Gates. She's still going to be very boots-on-the-ground, but now she has to work with Esposito and Ryan much differently than in the past, and that's going to cause more conflict. And it's much different when your wife is the captain, the boss, versus when your wife is the detective."

.
However, Alexi Hawley went on to add that the heart of the show will stay the same:

"It's always been about the Castle-Beckett love story."

Are you excited about the new season of Castle? What do you think about the show changes?

What are your thoughts on the new season? Are you excited about all the shakeups? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

Season 8 of Castle will premiere on September 21, 2015 on ABC.