My final Castle review - 8x22 "Crossfire"

[ProudTVJunkie]

I can't believe this is it...

www.tvfanatic.com/2016/05/castle-season-8-episode-22-review-crossfire/

As always, I look forward to hearing what you think.

[glo1196]

Awesome as always and a great summary of my feelings as well! Thank you for everything!

[angie1379]

"When Caleb shot Castle, I yelled at the screen. When he shot Beckett, I damn near turned it off. The fact that the writers had planned on this type of cliffhanger to lead us into a Beckettless season 9 made me ill… and incredibly thankful that ABC decided to cancel my favorite series.

"Although I’m grateful to have the last 30 seconds of Castle and Beckett happily together seven years later with their three children, it felt like a tacked on piece of fluff to placate fans. "

Yep, that's almost exactly what I came away feeling as well. It was an emotional episode, for certain, with some truly beautiful moments, but the rushed feel of it and the glaring leaps of logic are making it hard to accept that this is the best ending we will ever get.

[tycho657]

When Castle was shot I yelled and thought how come Twitter didn't go crazy and the people on the live viewing party didn't tell me. I wouldn't have watched if I knew this was going to happen. ThenKate gets shot and I was really upset. Thank God they gave us an ending we can live with and have fanfiction writers finish the tail for years to come. Better yet Andrew Marlowe can write a book series continuing the story for the next 7years that we missed.

[kman]

Thanks for telling the truth about this flawed diamond. You did us proud Christine and for that I am thankful. You know, it's because of this honest and to the point review that I am going to write ABC and voice my displeasure with their choice of show runners and how they destroyed a show in just 8 short weeks. I hope ABC realizes now that the fans can make or break a show, so they better be more in touch with their demographic fan base. If the show had gotten better, it would have started going head to head with NCIS LA. What a waste, but what a nice way to send them on their way. Thanks again for the great work Christine. I appreciate all the hard work and struggling you went through this year. I know how hard it can be to be objective about a floundering show. You rose above it all and told us how it really looked.  Thanks........I mean it....Thanks.

[CastleFanGran]

Fine job in difficult circumstances, Christine!!!

[lindy]

Once again, I agree with everything you wrote. When it ended, I was speechless....didn't know what to make of the last scene as it didn't seem to fit with the everyone on the floor shot...and i agree, why didn't Caleb just disappear?  I guess he wanted to kill Castle and Kate once and for all.  I would've killed LocSat so he's not a threat anymore.  I'll miss your reviews of this show.  

[marschg]

i have always agree with your reviews and you were spot on for this one, everything you said has been correct with this whole season, I do agree the acting from the whole cast was superb, everyone was great when he cried I cried, when he said Alexis's knew about locsat and the tears flowed. I still don't get the whole idea of locsat, but anyway your review, the last if the series was perfect, Thanks for sharing a terrific series that after all had a happy ending.

[Fjordmom]

ProudTVJunkie, thank you for fulfilling your job as a CRITIC...and I mean that in the best way.  This episode did truly have many gaping holes, odd behavior and decisions, as well as information overload to compensate for everything that wasn't done earlier this season.  I am TRULY sorry to see Castle (read: CASKETT) go, and sad that we have to take solace in the last 30 seconds of the show.  But I'll go to my happy place with that 30 seconds!!!!!!

You've done an excellent job!  

[geezer2008]

Thanks, Christine. You've been wonderful with the truth all season. You were able to express with words all the things that so many of us felt but did not have the skillset to say. A tip of the hat to you, dear lady, and a huge THANK YOU!!!

The last 30 seconds made me incredibly happy and sad. I was happy that Caskett got their always and sad that we never got to see all the incredible stories that could of been told to get them to that 7 years. I hope that made sense!!

[castle1174]

Thank you Christine for a job well done ALWAYS. Your reviews helped me to see the story in a different light. Things that were cloudy became clear after reading your point of view so again, my heartfelt thanks for doing such a great job.

[ProudTVJunkie]

- Thank you glo1196 for being here and reading. I don’t know how I would have gotten through this season alone!

-angie1379 “the rushed feel of it and the glaring leaps of logic are making it hard to accept that this is the best ending we will ever get.” - Oh, you’re not kidding. The more I think about this episode the more disturbed I am by the dark turn and ridiculous plot holes. Maybe Andrew and Terri will one day give us an ending we deserve.

-tycho657, I think we were all just in shock when the shootings occurred. I know I was. I hate that it happened at all, happy ending or no. Like you, I’m holding out hope that Andrew and Terri are one day allowed to play with these characters again and make things right.

-Thank you so much kman. Your feedback and encouragement have really meant a lot to me. I have a great job but some days it’s a bit more challenging. That was Castle season 8.
I too, will never watch anything that these show runners are involved in again. They really never got why fans loved the show and it only took the first two episodes for them to ruin it. Call me stubborn but I’ll never accept their vision as the real Castle finale.

-Thanks CastleFanGran. Thanks for going through it with me. I couldn't have done it without you here.

-lindy. Thanks so much and yes, it took me a bit to find my words to write this review. As for Caleb, the man must be some maniacal demon from Castle’s imagination because he knows no logic and can apparently walk through walls like magic. I have no other explanation for why he came back or how he could so easily break into Castle’s loft twice!

-Thanks marschg. The cast, as always, was wonderful. It was the writing that was lame. Nathan was great in that very powerful scene. It’s why I’ll follow him and the rest of the cast long after this show. As for LokSat, I just hope I never have to hear that silly made up word again!

-Thank you Fjordmom. Yes, fans deserved more than a tacked on 30 seconds but given the circumstances, I suppose we need to be grateful we even got that. I’ll hold onto it with both hands while still hoping for better in the future!

-geezer2008 - “The last 30 seconds made me incredibly happy and sad. I was happy that Caskett got their always and sad that we never got to see all the incredible stories that could of been told to get them to that 7 years. I hope that made sense!!” - Perfect sense and I couldn’t agree more! Imagine how much fun that story could have been? Maybe Andrew and Terri will be able to give it to us one day.

Thanks again for reading and being here. I’m not sure how I would have survived this last season without my Castle family to vent to and share it with.

-castle1174, So happy I could help! I think we could all use a little therapy after Castle season 8! But thank you for being here. It means a lot.

[nathanfan1]

Christine, you and several others have made many good points about the plot holes and the rushed nature of the finale. It's always interesting for me to read what others get out of an episode. My husband is one of those people who really concentrates on the case and looks for inconsistencies so he and I are forever reacting to the show in different ways. I watch for the emotion and rarely pay much attention to the case. I concentrate on facial expressions and subtext and the feelings that characters are experiencing.

I think that's the reason why I felt much more positively about last night's finale. Every one of the actors portrayed their emotions so well and I was bombarded with feels so it worked for me. In a perfect world, of course I'd have loved a more carefully crafted ending, but given the alternative, I'm happy for what we got.

[motowncf]

As I mentioned in another thread yesterday, your review was once again spot on, finding the good while pointing out the flaws.

Agree with all that you, and everyone else here, has said about Crossfire.

[arky]

Honesty and integrity have been the hallmarks of your Castle reviews and the way you have conducted yourself on this fan site.

I salute you.

So sad the series we all loved ended with such a convoluted and contrived story line.No one will ever care what happened to LokSat. They will only remember the quickly added on final scene to placate the fans.