Let's say that there had been a S9 ordered, with the entire cast intact, that had already been announced as the final season (like, say, how S8 should have gone). I know you've talked about a series finale given the circumstances that actually looked to be happening, but how would you have written an actual final season instead (with all elements of S8, minus the last 30 seconds, intact?)
I’d have simplified practically everything. The entire season would have one through line, which would be about change.
Castle would begin to feel drawn to writing a new series, Alexis would figure out what she wants to do with her life and graduate from Columbia to go on that path, Esposito would be tapped at the end of the season for his promotion to Sergeant and Ryan would also be promoted into another role inside the 12th. Maybe Martha would win a Tony for originating another role on Broadway, Lanie would finally find the guy that she really connects with and be in a serious relationship. Beckett would settle in to her command as captain and spend the season preparing herself for the next step in her life: becoming a mother.
That would be the b-plot: every single character would have a starting point and an ending point, and even if it was just a couple of lines every couple episodes, every discussion would add to that story and send it towards its culmination.
And it wouldn’t be standalone stuff, either. Alexis would talk to Kate about her career choices, Beckett would confide in Martha her fear about being a terrible mother, Castle would stress to Ryan and Esposito that he doesn’t know what to do with this new story idea, Ryan and Esposito would mourn having to give up their partnership to advance their careers etc.
Case wise, I’d have used the P.I. office more. If you’re gonna have one, you might as well make it an asset and contract out investigation tidbits or get roped into a case they are hired for that becomes something far bigger. I’d have written a girls/boys night out case, and something that places individual focus on Alexis, Martha and Lanie in turn, and the holiday episode would be at Halloween and Clue themed because I am still annoyed that never happened.
Sweeps would be a lockdown at the precinct, either via an active shooter or a bomb, and it would shove together some unlikely pairings (ala Beckett and Alexis, Espo and Castle, Ryan and Hayley, etc) to force communication and working together that 1) was touched upon in earlier episodes and 2) would allow the pairs to move forward in a different/better (or even worse) place than they began.
And then the show would end with the culmination of all the b-plots. Esposito would be tapped for his promotion at another precinct, Alexis would graduate from Columbia, Ryan would move up and maybe out of homicide, Hayley would take over the P.I. business outright from Castle so he can dabble in investigations/focus on writing/being at home with his newborn daughter. Martha would be nominated for her Tony and offered a juicy movie role in California that she’d accept, and Beckett would find her peace and her closure in becoming a mother and closing the gap on a life she never thought she would get to have.
And what would the last scene be? Castle and Beckett standing in the same room where they met, talking about the last nine years and everything that has happened/all the things still yet to come during the final book release for the Nikki Heat series.
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