Same. It really made me miss Castle, though. Like I finished the episode and went “WHEN ARE WE GETTING A REUNION SEASON?” (The answer is not anytime soon, alas.) But it was cool to see the three of them back together, and I really enjoyed Jon’s storyline.

I haven’t, Anon. I only found out about the most recent Nikki Heat because I still had Amazon alerts set up for Richard Castle and I got an email when they put the book on the website for preorder.

This is totally speculation on my part, but I’d guess there is at least one more Nikki Heat coming because my understanding is that they signed a new contract with a ghostwriter to write it and I can’t imagine that contract would have been for just one book when the easier (and cheaper) option would be to let the series go. However, I don’t think Crashing Heat sold particularly well, and due to the poor editing/storyline discrepancies (don’t get me started, it makes me rage), the reviews have been pretty bad, so it’s possible that Disney has just decided to let the last book serve as the final one.

I wouldn’t expect there will be any more Derrick Storm, unless he appeared in a subsequent Nikki Heat book. But who knows. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Oh honey, you need to sit down and take a breath. I get that it’s exciting to point fingers, but the post you are looking at is over a week old, which means it was posted well before Afton said anything about her choice to leave The Rookie.

Now, if we want to have a mature discussion about her allegations, I’m down for that. Come back and ask a question, and we’ll chat. But otherwise:

Speculation doesn’t do anyone any favors, so how about we don’t start? I don’t know why Afton has left and I purposefully haven’t gotten involved in any behind the scenes stuff for The Rookie so that if people ask me, I can legitimately shrug my shoulders because I don’t know.

And, honestly, there could be a million reasons. She’s primarily been based on the East Coast till she took this show. Maybe she wanted to leave because it was hard to be away from her family. Maybe she got another opportunity that she wanted to take. Maybe there’s movement on the show for season two that led everyone to believe they didn’t need her character, or maybe there’s something else going on. I don’t know and until there’s more information put out there I’m not going to speculate.

However, I do think it’s important to note that they set this up at the end of last season for Talia to be dismissed from the LAPD, so I wouldn’t exactly call this a surprise. That door has been open since the episode with her foster brother.

Well, obviously this is up for debate (and I think it caused some drama last week when the interview showed up), but I would think she used curate in the sense that she looked after the show and wanted it to do well while she was a part of it.

That assumption is in part due to a tweet she responded to where she tried to clear up what she meant, and basically said she wanted to protect the show’s legacy.

“I’m not certain I communicated this very well.Ultimately I was aiming to say that I feel it is my responsibility to protect the legacy of a project that touched so many, that offered me so much,& on which I & many of my compatriots worked very hard.I hope that clarifies.“ (Tumblr doesn’t let you embed tweets, or I would have, but that quote above is Stana’s.)

Sorry, anon! You sent this to me weeks ago and I was busy at the time and couldn’t reply and then I forgot about it!

But, honestly, it’s a pretty mixed bag. On paper, it looks good because the competition isn’t as steep as the show is only up against Madam Secretary (CBS) for scripted content, but when you factor in the fact that NBC will be showing NFL football from September to December, then it gets less exciting. However, ABC definitely isn’t putting The Rookie on Sunday with the idea that it will go toe-to-toe with the NFL, they’re banking on people who don’t particularly care about football (women) will love Nathan Fillion more than Téa Leoni and be inspired to watch the show live.

That basically means that if The Rookie can match or beat Madam Secretary (which is often delayed because of Sunday afternoon football overruns) then ABC will be pleased.

But I’ve got some reservations, namely because Shark Tank isn’t going to be any better of a lead-in for The Rookie than Breaking Up Together was last season. Shark Tank performs reasonably well wherever ABC puts it, and it actually has higher ratings than The Rookie, but I’m not so sure that the audience for a reality show about entrepreneurs will necessarily stick around to watch a bunch of cops patrol Los Angeles. But I’m happy to be proven wrong.

The other concern I have is that come 2020 there are going to be a bunch of interruptions in the broadcast schedule. I don’t remember everything they have contracts for, but I know that the Grammys and the Oscars both will be on ABC next year, so that’s two weeks where the show will be pre-empted. And I’m sure there are at least two more awards shows that I’ve forgotten about. You’ll also have some sporting events (like the College Football National Championship) that will get in there and muck things up, too.

If ABC creates a schedule that doesn’t equal to a new episode, three weeks off, a rerun, a new episode, a week off, etc. then it’ll probably be okay. But my worry is that the ratings are going to take a pretty big hit with all the changes.

I do like the show, anon. And I’ll be honest and tell you that it sucks that ABC canceled it.

But, that said, it wasn’t exactly unexpected. When the show starting performing at a 0.4 live rating, I knew there was trouble coming, but I had hoped that ABC would have enough faith in the show to give in another shot. But I do understand why they didn’t.

Whiskey Cavalier shoots in Europe, which does save money in production costs, but the travel and housing costs of moving around cast, crew, guest stars, etc. is going to offset that, if not eclipse any of the money they save by avoiding some of the massive expenses that you rack up by shooting in the United States and even in Canada.

But the bigger issue is that the show was an out of studio production. I’ve explained the importance of that at length before on this blog, so I’ll just give you a reader’s digest version in case you are new. Basically, there are production studios tied to each major network and, if at all possible, those networks prefer to greenlight shows within their production studios so that the studio and the network get to keep all the profits generated by a show. 

In the case of Whiskey Cavalier, the show is owned and produced by Warner Brothers Television and that fact meant that WBTV and ABC had to go back and forth about what the future of the show would look like and basically couldn’t come to an agreement for both sides. It’s not a surprise, nor is it a new situation; there have been many shows that get canceled because of this exact reason, especially when ratings aren’t great and it looks to be a struggle to make money.

WBTV is attempting to shop the show to other networks and streaming services, so who knows if anything will come of that. I hope so, but I also know that it’s a long shot. 

I’m replying to this having watched the season finale, though I’m not going to spoil the episode, so don’t worry about that.

But to be honest, Anon, I can’t really answer your question. I don’t know what all the show wanted to accomplish with killing Zoe and even when Alexi Hawley talked about it in his TV Line interview and on Twitter, he was very vague about the reasoning beyond that it was going to force Nolan to confront policing in a different way.

I think, on that front, the show has created a marked difference in how he handles things. He’s not as naive or as happy-go-lucky as I think he was prior to her death, and I think seeing Zoe die (and feeling responsible that he was unable to protect her or to save her after she was hit) simultaneously knocked some sense into him and some of the shine off of him. There’s a real part of Nolan that approached the job change with the concepts of making a difference and being a hero, and Zoe’s death taught him the tragic lesson that all heroes learn: you can’t save everyone, even the people you care about.

But even so, Nolan is always going to be the Boy Scout. He’s inherently a good guy, he’s lived four decades and seems to have always had a very strong moral center, and I don’t know that you’ll ever punch that out of him. He’s very Richard Castle in that sense; always an optimist and always looking for the best in people. But I do think he’s obtained a certain level of seriousness and purpose from seeing his Captain go down in the line of duty. It obviously still weighs on him (just look at his face whenever she is mentioned) and he’s said a couple of times on the show that his goal is to make her proud of the cop he becomes, which echos back to Hawley’s comments on Twitter after the episode aired.

I admit that I do like the idea of Zoe serving as some kind of example and a gentle (but painful) reminder to Nolan of the cost of his new career, and I think her words to him about doing the job no matter the cost will be some that continually ring through the show.

However, do I think her death was worth it? I’m not sure. I can see the impact that it had on Nolan, but I also think there were other ways to send home the same message without sacrificing a strong female character with a very interesting backstory. As of the close of season one, it feels like we traded Zoe for Jessica, and while I like Jessica, I think The Rookie needs a Captain at the helm. In a small way, I think the show has suffered without having one in the past three episodes.

I will say that the choice to kill Zoe was impactful and, aside from Talia, there’s no other character whose death would have rattled the fanbase, the other characters, and Nolan as hers did. In that vein, it’s a good choice, but I think for the show to really sell to me that it was necessary it needs to commit to referencing Zoe every so often (not every episode, a few times a season will suffice) and to use season two to show how Nolan continues to wrestle with his guilt while also finding another strong female (assuming Jessica doesn’t become a series regular) to fit into the crew. The last thing I want to see is the show pulling something like what Castle did and barely reference Montgomery for an entire year. I know the Castle fandom loves Gates, but for the first half of season four it’s kind of a bull in a china shop and it seems a disservice to a character who did so much for one of the show’s main players.

Well, considering that the worst thing Colin did was ask Beckett out for a drink......I’m gonna go with no.

I honestly don’t know, anon. Fanfic is kind of a weird thing for me in that I have to be drawn to the characters and feel I have a story to tell. There are loads of other fandoms that I love, other characters that I adore, but I’ve never felt like I wanted to write fic about them. In fact, I’ve only ever written fic about two fandoms: Harry Potter (a long time ago. They’re no longer on the internet, nor do I have copies) and Castle.

It’s always possible, though. I wasn’t that inspired to write Castle fic until I watched a particular episode and an idea popped in my head. Then I wrote that story and a bigger idea came, and on and on it goes. If that happens with Whiskey Cavalier, I’ll write it. :)

I don’t know about that, Anon. I could see a situation a few years down the road where there’s an incentive to come back to make a tv movie (I expect those will eventually be popular again as network shows stop with the 20+ episode cycle for a season) or a short order revival.

But it’d have to pick up years later. For one thing, five or ten years from now, everyone will have aged enough that it’d be hard to pass it off as immediately after the shooting. But beyond that, it really won’t be that important anymore. Beckett and Castle survived, they had kids, etc. There’s not much more which we need to know regarding the immediate aftermath and if there is something important for the audience, you can address it with dialogue.

No idea. Nathan seems to mostly keep his private life private, for which I can’t blame him. You typically don’t even know when he’s dating someone, much less how serious the relationship is.

Could he get married one day? Sure. People said for years that George Clooney was never going to marry (despite the fact he previously had been) and then at 52 he got married and now has a couple of kids. You just never know until you know.

But, at the same time, I think it’s important to say that Nathan could be perfectly happy being single and has no desire for marriage or children. Some people do, and there’s nothing wrong with that either. For actors, having the freedom to be a nomad and to spend 60 hours a week on a set or jetting off to a location to shoot for three months is a wonderful thing. It’s harder to do that if you’ve got  a wife and some kids at home.

Well, I’m gonna assume that you follow/visit my blog because you are a Castle fan so it’s a resounding yes to watching Whiskey Cavalier. It’s a lighthearted show that doesn’t take itself very seriously, there are loads of dad jokes in the dialogue, and the story they’re slowly building is actually pretty interesting.

It also doesn’t hurt that this show is beautiful. The entire thing was shot on location in Europe and boy did they make the most of the opportunity. At least once an episode, I pause it to ogle some country house or sweeping city view.

I also have to tell you that the friendships/varying degrees of relationship between the team is also a pretty cool storyline to explore. In so many other shows in this procedural, will they/won’t they television, the crew just bonds immediately and there aren’t many conflicts. Whiskey Cavalier has turned that on its head a bit, with everyone getting along for the most part, but there are dynamics that shift and butt heads. It’s nice (and makes for better plot IMO) because you’re never really sure where the chips are gonna fall when they all invariably come up against a problem.

I will say that Frankie and Will don’t quite have the chemistry that Castle and Beckett have. To me, theirs is more on par with Bones’ Booth and Brennan than the sparks that threatened to burn up the screen in the early seasons of Castle. There’s nothing wrong with that, I’m just warning anyone who might want to start watching it that you shouldn’t necessarily expect fireworks the first time they meet.

However, there’s way more in regard to feelings and emotions (though its obviously all subtext) than Castle or Bones ever displayed in their first few seasons. Hell, these two people had a conversation about how they do have a connection (there are gifs. I’ll reblog them) but need to avoid it because of their working partnership. And, of course, we all know that means it’s about to blow up in their faces and force them to eat those words.

But, yeah, it’s a great show. It’s fun and well plotted, nice banter and interesting characters. I’ve said this before, but it's like if Castle and Alias had a baby. Other people have compared Whiskey Cavalier to Chuck, but since I’ve never watched it, I can’t go with that.

Also not a bad idea. Though a friend said that AO3 now has a section for Whiskey Cavalier fanfiction and some people there are using Friskey which makes me lol. I personally love it, but I think fandom has settled on Firey Whiskey. 

Ooooh, that’s possible. I didn’t think about their code names. But I also feel like they use them so rarely (as of now) that it might be weird? I just dunno if other fandom members, and there seem to be a good few on Tumblr, have leaned towards something or not. Personally, I like meshing their last names because I think it makes sense and flows the best, but that’s me.

It’s my blog, I’ll bitch about whatever the fuck I want. You don’t like it? Go read something else. In fact, I’d prefer it if you did because someone coming on to my blog and actively rooting for people to be killed, be they fictional or otherwise, isn’t necessarily someone I want hanging around. Not to mention all the other sexist bullshit you’ve been throwing around during your various past visits. 

SPOILERS FOR LAST NIGHT’S EPISODE OF THE ROOKIE BELOW.

Honestly? I really don’t know. I’m heartbroken, not just because my ship is never gonna sail (I’ll get over that one pretty quickly) but because Zoe was a favorite character of mine that I constantly hoped we would see more of. Especially after the patrol episode with Chen where she revealed her military background.

For whatever reason, Talia Bishop and Zoe Anderson are two of my favorite characters on The Rookie and it just breaks my heart that we won’t see one of them anymore. And I think it’s that much worse because we had just scratched the surface of Captain Zoe’s backstory.

As far as a duo goes, I always want more back and forth between Bishop and Nolan. Their partnership always manages to amuse me, and I really enjoy that Talia generally pretends she doesn’t like Nolan (she has to, given her job as his TO) but when you get down to it, she actually has a lot of respect for him. I don’t know if the plan will ever be that they become full-time partners, but I’d be okay with that once Nolan finishes his training.

I do wonder if there isn’t an option for Sarah Shahi’s character to maybe have a bigger role if there is a season two. If memory serves, she’s set for a three-episode arc this season, but with only four episodes left, that’s far more significant to story development than if there were five or six; only because you’re getting to the end of the season and that means there’s an overall story arc in place (which I’m sure was kicked off by last night’s episode).

That said, it also wouldn’t surprise me if Nolan just kind of shuts all that stuff out to focus on the job. I said last night on Twitter (to my friend @bunysliper) that I’m interested to see if Zoe’s death knocks some of the rose-colored glasses outlook to policing from Nolan. Alexi Hawley actually answered a question about it from @bunysliper and said, “it definitely has an impact on how he sees and does the job – if anything, he feels a greater responsibility to succeed to honor her memory, and the faith she placed in him.” And while that doesn’t necessarily answer the question, I think it might hint that Nolan is going to end up a very different place from where he started.

Either way, I’m emotional about this whole thing. I literally spent the rest of the episode curled into a ball with my hand over my mouth, hoping that it was some awful reversal scenario from IA to see how the station handled justice under intense pressure.

But alas.