- Title: Castle – Backstabber
- wiki: link
The recent news that Stana Katic will be leaving the show at the end of the season means should Castle be renewed for another year it’s likely future episodes will look more like “Backstabber” in which Hayley (Toks Olagundoye) gets herself into a jam and relies on the help of Castle (Nathan Fillion), Alexis (Molly C. Quinn), and their friends at the NYPD. After being used by a former friend and colleague for a less-than-legal break-in, Hayley finds herself in the middle of a murder as her past as a spy catches up with her.
Given how little we know about Hayley, in one respect “Backstabber” seems largely overdue. On the other hand the structure of the episode again gives us little of Beckett and Castle working together (an all too frequent occurrence this season). This is now highlighted knowing we only have a handful of chances left to see the pair on-screen together. With Katic’s departure I’d be more in favor of Alexis becoming Castle’s new sleuthing buddy with Hayley as support. In either scenario, however, the show is likely to struggle following the exit (and I’m presuming death) of such a critical piece of its success over eight seasons on the air.
