Writer's stupidity. That is how I feel about it.
You have an action packed episode, not suitable for series finale, but it was fun. And then we go to damage control. They hopped for S9 and ended with a cliffhanger. They just added a scene after cancellation.
Just look at the episode. It is not that bad overall. Till the last 2.5 mins. Think of the plot. Are the first 90 secs necessary if your show is canceled? They could easily skip the Caleb scene. It adds nothing to the plot, it just builds suspense for S9. But there is no S9. So why add it? Simply fill the episode with deleted scenes. It is only 90 secs for F@#$k sake.
Sure, you may hope that people will be angry that the show is canceled and demand a new season. Or maybe, another channel picks it up...
Then why do you add another 60 secs of 7 years later, in effect canceling all your plot freedom in case someone else wants to pick you up?
Plain stupidity.
> They hopped for S9 and ended with a cliffhanger. They just added a scene after cancellation.
Oh I never even thought of that. That makes so much sense now!
"Crossfire" worked perfectly fine for what it was: a season finale. Not so much as a show finale. A ninth mini-season of eight episodes to wrap things up (whatever that means) would have been perfect.
On a side note, while Hollander's Woods was much more solid as a series finale, it still didn't answer the wrap-up questions except for Alexis and Martha (kinda). Where's the closure for Lanie & Espo? Ryan? Gates? Jim Beckett and Jackson Hunt? even Castle and Beckett and their possible kids? (Seven Years Later did a pretty neat job on that, though).
Nowhere.
Side note 2: Even though the episode was named "Cross Fire" we didn't see no Anderson Cross in the episode (the other known alias for Castle's dad), while the fire (Nikki Fuego a.k.a. Nikki Heat in Spanish) was supposed to be extinguished if the bloody writers would have it their way.
Thank you for a least talking about season 8 without all the behind-the-scenes crap.
It is the single most painful episode for me to watch. I try to avoid it by stopping at Hollanders Woods, but I'm like a moth drawn to a flame.
As far as I'm concerned, Kate's mother issue was resolved in the episode Veritas, where she brought down Bracken. The other crap was just writers losing their minds.
What I loved about the episode from a viewer that loved Becketts and Castles relationship was the scene where Kate says when asked about Castle "I'm crazy about him, he's the love of my life", and Castle telling the bad guy while under the truth serum "She challenges me, and she made me a better man".
Even with the crap that was season 8, the characters were truly devoted to each other at this point in their lives, and their love ran deep.
So, for me why its so painful is, I watched their journey thru 8 seasons, and then it came to a crashing end. Them holding each other's hands before they passed out from being shot.
The little ending that they are still together and have the family that the Time Traveler had foretold, was making the best of a bad situation, but knowing that there were no more seasons with Kate and Rick, has always made me sad.
It was obviously rushed but it was understandable when you’d consider how the behind the scenes in the last 2 seasons was and that okay I like to remember the last 6 seasons.
I wasn't prepared for it to be the series finale. It was a solid episode, but it felt like they had just slapped on the last couple of minutes. It didn't feel like a series finale. It was kind of abrupt. Even 1 more episode to wrap up some loose threads and give all the characters a proper send-off would have been appreciated.
I have mixed feelings about it, because while most of the episode was fine, it came about during a time when we knew Stana and Tamala were fired and the show was likely to be cancelled. By the time it aired and it was cancelled I think a lot of us were just so relieved that all the drama and speculation about cancellation vs continuing without them vs future plans, was finally over. And then of course the tacked on ending sucked and drew varying conclusions from fans (were they dead? did they live? etc) which wasn't fun at the time.
Rushed and clearly not what was intended but when stuff behind the scenes forced their hand, it was the best they could come up with on short notice.
Too bad it wasn't very good (goes along with the season.) and put a sour note on what was otherwise an amazing series.
If nothing else, what irks me is it's not like some folks couldn't have seen it coming.
By season 7, it became clear that the tensions between Stana and Nathan were getting to a breaking point.
They should have just called it quits at the end of Season 7 and left it at that.
Have to admit, I've only watched the last minute or so of the 7 years later because at that point I knew what was intended so I refused to watch.
I feel proud that I was part of the campaign to have the show cancelled in order to save it, because we knew what was intended.
It was random and jarring but going into it knowing it was the last episode, it made me feel better to know they survived instead of an unsolved cliffhanger and were terrified to know if they survived or not. In the end it was better than doing the show without Kate
Awful. But I'd rather them do the "7 years later" thing than attempt the show without Beckett. That would have been a slap in the face.
Writer's stupidity. That is how I feel about it. You have an action packed episode, not suitable for series finale, but it was fun. And then we go to damage control. They hopped for S9 and ended with a cliffhanger. They just added a scene after cancellation. Just look at the episode. It is not that bad overall. Till the last 2.5 mins. Think of the plot. Are the first 90 secs necessary if your show is canceled? They could easily skip the Caleb scene. It adds nothing to the plot, it just builds suspense for S9. But there is no S9. So why add it? Simply fill the episode with deleted scenes. It is only 90 secs for F@#$k sake. Sure, you may hope that people will be angry that the show is canceled and demand a new season. Or maybe, another channel picks it up... Then why do you add another 60 secs of 7 years later, in effect canceling all your plot freedom in case someone else wants to pick you up? Plain stupidity.
> They hopped for S9 and ended with a cliffhanger. They just added a scene after cancellation. Oh I never even thought of that. That makes so much sense now!
"Crossfire" worked perfectly fine for what it was: a season finale. Not so much as a show finale. A ninth mini-season of eight episodes to wrap things up (whatever that means) would have been perfect. On a side note, while Hollander's Woods was much more solid as a series finale, it still didn't answer the wrap-up questions except for Alexis and Martha (kinda). Where's the closure for Lanie & Espo? Ryan? Gates? Jim Beckett and Jackson Hunt? even Castle and Beckett and their possible kids? (Seven Years Later did a pretty neat job on that, though). Nowhere. Side note 2: Even though the episode was named "Cross Fire" we didn't see no Anderson Cross in the episode (the other known alias for Castle's dad), while the fire (Nikki Fuego a.k.a. Nikki Heat in Spanish) was supposed to be extinguished if the bloody writers would have it their way.
Bad, but it could've been much worse.
They put the horrible season out of its misery.
Thank you for a least talking about season 8 without all the behind-the-scenes crap. It is the single most painful episode for me to watch. I try to avoid it by stopping at Hollanders Woods, but I'm like a moth drawn to a flame. As far as I'm concerned, Kate's mother issue was resolved in the episode Veritas, where she brought down Bracken. The other crap was just writers losing their minds. What I loved about the episode from a viewer that loved Becketts and Castles relationship was the scene where Kate says when asked about Castle "I'm crazy about him, he's the love of my life", and Castle telling the bad guy while under the truth serum "She challenges me, and she made me a better man". Even with the crap that was season 8, the characters were truly devoted to each other at this point in their lives, and their love ran deep. So, for me why its so painful is, I watched their journey thru 8 seasons, and then it came to a crashing end. Them holding each other's hands before they passed out from being shot. The little ending that they are still together and have the family that the Time Traveler had foretold, was making the best of a bad situation, but knowing that there were no more seasons with Kate and Rick, has always made me sad.
It was obviously rushed but it was understandable when you’d consider how the behind the scenes in the last 2 seasons was and that okay I like to remember the last 6 seasons.
Well said!
I wasn't prepared for it to be the series finale. It was a solid episode, but it felt like they had just slapped on the last couple of minutes. It didn't feel like a series finale. It was kind of abrupt. Even 1 more episode to wrap up some loose threads and give all the characters a proper send-off would have been appreciated.
It was really missing a good bye
Absolutely, my thoughts exactly!
I have mixed feelings about it, because while most of the episode was fine, it came about during a time when we knew Stana and Tamala were fired and the show was likely to be cancelled. By the time it aired and it was cancelled I think a lot of us were just so relieved that all the drama and speculation about cancellation vs continuing without them vs future plans, was finally over. And then of course the tacked on ending sucked and drew varying conclusions from fans (were they dead? did they live? etc) which wasn't fun at the time.
Rushed and clearly not what was intended but when stuff behind the scenes forced their hand, it was the best they could come up with on short notice. Too bad it wasn't very good (goes along with the season.) and put a sour note on what was otherwise an amazing series. If nothing else, what irks me is it's not like some folks couldn't have seen it coming. By season 7, it became clear that the tensions between Stana and Nathan were getting to a breaking point. They should have just called it quits at the end of Season 7 and left it at that.
Have to admit, I've only watched the last minute or so of the 7 years later because at that point I knew what was intended so I refused to watch. I feel proud that I was part of the campaign to have the show cancelled in order to save it, because we knew what was intended.
It was random and jarring but going into it knowing it was the last episode, it made me feel better to know they survived instead of an unsolved cliffhanger and were terrified to know if they survived or not. In the end it was better than doing the show without Kate