OK, after Kate Bennett throws Richard Castle to jail....

Fans of Castle may already know that he'll start season three as a murder suspect. It goes without saying he'll clear his name and will probably figure out who did it before the cops do. Still, the damage will be done: he'll have serious trust issues with Kate Bennett for years. After all, if she's eager to arrest him for anything, it's obvious he thinks he'll never be good enough for her. Any sexual fantasies he's got for her will wind up in his books. She may even arrest him for that, too.

Also, he'll be busy with a movie adaptation, Alexis dating and a serial killer Kate can't catch. They won't have any time for failing to connect romantically.
As a veteran of past romance shows where the male and female leads try to connect, but do a terrible job at it (from Cheers to Moonlighting), I suspect Castle is stuck in this track, It's not like Friends, where Ross did win Rachel after all, The Closer, where Brenda Johnson did marry her beau, or The Office's Jim and Pam.

That being said, what can we expect on Castle for the next five years?
First, I'm guessing when Kate does corner the serial killer that will taunt them all season, the killer may be about to kill her. Then Castle saves her, and she gets mad at him because he never stays in the police car after telling him to. However, Castle gets shot with a serious wound. He recovers, but she's so mad she doesn't visit him at the hospital.

The experience inspires him to write a third book where Nikki (Kate) and Jamison Rook (Castle) battle a serial killer. The only difference: Jamison is also shot, but dies. This would serve two purposes: it means a lonely life for Nikki Heat for another book or two, and it forces Castle to stop living out his sexual fantasies in his books.
The book is well-received, but fans are upset Jamison is dead. They eventually get over it when Castle explains he's just aiming the Nikki Heat series towards a new direction. He does think about a Jamison Rook prequel, but doesn't mention it.
However, a really crazy fan expresses her anger over losing Rook. She kidnaps.....Kate Bennett, thinking that Kate told Castle to kill Jamison because everyone thinks those scenes are really her and Castle. The fan demands that Kate confess this, or at least admit she loves Castle, but just can't tell him because she doesn't think it would work out. Surprisingly, Kate does just that, or just enough. Kate's rescued, and she asks Castle why he killed Jamison. He repeats the "new directions" explanation, and that is that. The fan sees this, and starts to think she kidnapped the wrong person.

So, when will Kate figure out the truth? I am guessing another obsessive fan will approach her, but only to ask Kate if Castle killed Jamison because he doesn't think he's good enough for her. Kate asks this other woman if that means it's her fault, and the other fan backs off. Still, Kate thinks she's got to confess her feelings, but never does because of another case or something.

After that, well, maybe Castle will once again save Kate when she doesn't want him to, and that finally does it. The producers should realize that if you take too long in pairing up Kate and Rick, the fans will get bored, if not upset, about it.
After all, if they want to see a pretty couple exchange banter but never have sex because they don't want to try, they can watch Bones. If Hawaii 5-0 gets much more successful against Castle, Nathan Fillion may have to rethink his comments on G4 about why Kate and Rick should never get together.
Two words, Captain....The Closer. And besides, Wash and Zoe were interesting as a well-armed married couple....

UPDATE: Just had to admit that I was right that someone wound up getting shot at the end of season three...and it was Kate. Not only that, it was Castle who said those magic words. I will not guess about what will happen next until the ComicCon panel on the show. Of course, I'll be 99 percent wrong...but what I speculated could have happened..maybe. Except I'm not part of the show's writing staff, so what do I know?

Captain Hammer becomes Jessica Fletcher..or maybe David Addison

It doesn't make up for its blasphemous treatment of Pushing Daisies, but at least ABC is getting that guy with the tight pants, Nathan Fillion, back on the air.

The Futon Critic announced ABC will put Castle in the old Boston Legal time slot of Mondays at 10 PM next March. If nothing else, it's one way to get people away from CSI: Miami...but might have tough competition from Medium if NBC gets that show back to replace My Own Worst Enemy.

Practically everyone is not aware of this, but I have reviewed the three-minute trailer/summary of the pilot for Whedonopolis. The article includes a link to the three-minute trailer/summary of the pilot. I still say the best change the producers can make for the show is improve the relationship between Castle and the cop who doesn't like it when he helps her...yet everyone else likes the idea. Add some more details about Castle, like maybe a connection with law enforcement in his family or something, and you have something. It's got to be more than a retread of Murder, She Wrote and Moonlighting...especially since it's both.

You know, WonderCon takes place a week before this show begins, and there's that fanatical Browncoat audience who'd like to see Nathan hammer those bad guys. Maybe the organizers should get him back for a third visit.

It's all a matter of priorities

Well, we got some Whedon-releated news today. One of which sounds really bad, and the other less so.
First, the Hollywood reporter has announced that Fox will start Dollhouse just in time for February sweeps. One problem...the premiere date is Friday the 13th. It's safe to say the Whedonistas are NOT happy about this. I had expected Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles to stay on Monday as a lead-in to 24, since it's seen as part of the strategy to revive the Terminator movie franchise. Now, it will be a lead-in to Dollhouse on Fridays. Maybe Fox is hoping the Sci-Fi Channel crowd will head towards Fox with this line-up. Most, though, think this is Fox burying two shows alive, then saying "hey, we thought people would be so excited they'd even watch TV on Fridays." The other way this works is that people tape both shows on TiVo, then watch it on the weekend. This would boost the number of real viewers. If Fox is hoping technology will make both shows more attractive and popular, then it looks like a genius, and finally Joss Whedon's best friend. Otherwise, the only network Joss will trust is his own...and iTunes.

The other bit of news is that ABC has reduced he number of episodes for Nathan Fillion's show Castle from 13 to ten, but that is because it's got a lot of mid-season shows it wants to release. I just hope they improve from the pilot, especially the female detective who's supposed to find him attractive because everyone else does. They just better not put the show on Wednesdays...in Pushing Daisies' time slot.

Murder He Wrote?

People have known about this for a week or so, but this is the trailer for Nathan Fillion's next TV triumph...we hope, called Castle. He plays a mystery novelist who is the unwelcome assistant to a New York PD detective played by Stana Katic, who had been on Heroes and will be in the next James Bond movie.


Now, this trailer is a condensed version of the pilot in less than three minutes. It shows Nathan as a respected author but also a rascal....maybe way too much David Addison in there, too. He does have friends and a daughter to keep him grounded. Smoe have suggested that this is ABC's knock-off of Bones, except Booth isn't always on the make with Dr. Brennan. Here, you get an idea of what happens if he is. Not a good idea.

If this goes to a full season, they should dump the romantic angle between Fillion and Katic because it's just too annoying. He can still "do research", but with different detectives. He should also show he has some background in criminal investigation, despite that "Lord Godiva" episode that's pointed out. Maybe his dad was a cop or attorney, and he couldn't quite cut it in such a job, and that writing books was the next best thing.

Well, we'll see what happens once ABC gives the greenlight to this show. They filmed a pilot, at least.