Before Nathan Fillion first went on the hunt for criminals as a rookie in the crime hit The Rookie, the actor solved crime cases in the genre series Castle. In the eighth season of the hit series by Alexi Hawley and Terence Paul Winter, however, the story took a turn that initially shocked Fillion – and even made him doubt the sanity of the showrunners and writers.
The Rookie star Nathan Fillion was shocked by romantic breakup in Castle
Similar to what is currently the case in The Rookie with Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) and Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil), Castle also featured an absolute dream couple that fans were looking forward to week after week: Fillions Rick Castle and his colleague Kate Beckett (Stana Katic). In season 7, the long-awaited wedding of the two characters took place.
However, in season 8, a twist followed that even Nathan Fillion had not expected. He learned from the series creators that they were planning to separate Rick and Kate again – and at first he couldn’t believe it, as he explained in an interview with TV Line: “First I asked them if they were high.”
ABC
Stana Katic and Nathan Fillion in Castle
However, after a clarifying conversation, Fillion was able to understand the meaning behind the controversial decision:
Then they assured me that they wanted to go back to a time when people were looking forward to the couple and wished them to come together.
By initially turning away from Castle, Kate could try to win her back. At the same time, according to the series creators, the relaxed tone of previous seasons are restored by the separation. Fillion could only admire this logic:
People wanted to fight for something. I think [die beiden] did a really good job there.
Hawley and Winter are also producers on The Rookie. Did they recycle their Castle philosophy and use it to break up Chenford in The Rookie? The parallels are certainly extremely suspicious. What should be crucial for The Rookie fans, however, is that Castle and Kate end up back together.
You can currently find all 8 seasons of Castle in the streaming subscription at Disney+. You can stream 6 seasons of The Rookie on the flat rate at WOW.
Podcast for crime fans: Why is The Rookie so popular?
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The series with Nathan Fillion as a police career changer in Los Angeles is already in its 6th season and is achieving top ratings. In this episode of Streamgestöber we explain why this is the case. What makes The Rookie so original compared to the NCIS’, FBIs and SWATs of this TV world?