With the gripping and dramatic season three cliffhanger, Castle is going to need time and effort to return to the breezy, charming mystery that fans have come to love. That said, with the fan reactions to the season three finale, it’s clear they are ready to follow the series through the drama.
Season four picks up where season three ended and despite the fact that we know that Beckett (Stana Katic) is going to survive having been shot in the chest during Captain Montgomery’s (Ruben Santiago Hudson) funeral, the opening moments of Castle season four are gripping and dramatic.
As for Castle (Nathan Fillion), he blames himself for getting Beckett to reopen her investigation of her mother’s murder. The guilt leads Castle to continue investigating the murder while Beckett recovers away from the precinct and away from Castle.
Time passes and Beckett returns to active duty to find the precinct different from when she left. The investigation of her shooting and all related investigations have been stopped by the new captain, Victoria ‘Iron’ Gates (Penny Johnson). The new Captain also put an end to Castle, kicking him out of the precinct.
To get the evidence she wants to keep investigating her case, Beckett is forced to seek out Castle who may have a new lead. Where this storyline goes from there I will leave you to discover. I will tell you though that I enjoyed the way the writers have set this storyline up for the season. There is a complex game that Castle will be forced to play to keep Beckett safe.
Meanwhile, the show has a murder of the week to solve. Detectives Esposito (Jon Huertas) and Ryan (Seamus Dever) have caught the case of a murdered socialite who may have been killed by her drummer boyfriend. The case has all of the sexy fun of a usual Castle case minus Castle and Beckett, until they step in at the end for the final twist.
Castle is a tirelessly charming series that tested fans with a bit of deep drama at the end of season three and seems to have come out of it as a stronger and more confident series. Fans have found a deeper emotional connection to these characters and their emotional investment is being paid back with strong writing in the season four premiere and the promise that the rest of this season will find a balance between complex motivations and the kind of breezy good nature that is the series bread and butter.
Castle season four premieres Monday, September 19th on ABC.