No Mother on Castle

[Deleted]

Late Breaking News. At the Con in Germany. They have learned that Martha ( Susan Sullivan) will not be returning either. Can you hear me screaming 

[martmar]

I've just talked with a friend of mine who is at the Con and she has told me that she hasn't heard anything about that. Don't scream yet, maybe it's not true

[kiwiocd]

Thanks for sharing.

That's a crying shame if true.
First Gates and now Martha.

Things like this continues to fuel my concern that since Season 4 I personally think that the care for the characters has slowly been eroding.
Hence we get debacles like Beckett's drunken 'joke' marriage totally negating her 'one and done' tenet.
I don't think it is always deliberate - but for fans it hurts either way.

I'll still watch - I'm rusted on until the end, but for me the glory days were second half season 2 through until start of season 5.

[geezer2008]

Now, that upsets me. Susan has been an important part of this show since the beginning and would be a large loss to the fandom. Penny being let go was bad enough but Susan too??? Come on.

[ddcnj]

Could just be that she'll become a recurring character. She was in the process of moving out the end of last season and there are a lot of episodes she doesn't appear in. Plus Susan may want to cut back her working days, she is in her mid-70s.

[ProudTVJunkie]

So far I haven't seen anything official on this so I'm trying hard not to panic.

[tycho657]

If she indeed is gone I would think it is money was a factor. She is listed on every episode even if she didn't appear. I think this was part of her contract. Also the statement that she is in her 70's and may want to not be tied into a series at this point. I am sure she will be seen again, like Jim Beckett, if the story needs her.

[shutterbug5269]

At least we have some story continuity backing up Susan's departure. I would imagine, given that she plays Castle's mother and she does appear a lot more than Gates did, this might be more likely Susan pulling back to recurring status. It wouldn't surprise me if Susan was angling for that as early as when "The Wrong Stuff" was shot. Susan isn't getting any younger and she might want to concentrate on other projects.

Bear in mind they will likely need a new character to fill Beckett's slot in the homicide roation if she's gonna be Captain and they have to make room in the cast for that actor/actress somehow. (speculation)

If Kate is moving up to Captain, Gates' departure actually makes sense as well. Having Gates constantly show up at the precinct would undermine Kate's authority as Captain. But her departure without any prior warning was sort of a dick move.