The Allure Of Castle: And What's Been Happening Lately?

The second season of ABC's Castle sees the cast maturing into their roles even as the meta-story grew darker. While the first season had its share of lighter and more frivolous moments, the second season shows a more sentimental and emotionally honest Richard Castle, played by fan favorite Nathan Fillion, and his growing romantic interest in Detective Kate Beckett, played by the beautiful Stana Katic.

The season begins with Beckett still upset with Castle for investigating her mother's murder against her wishes, a tension that is quickly overcome by the necessity of solving a particularly a grisly killing. The team quickly comes together, and as the first few episodes develop, Beckett and Castle rekindle the chemistry that makes the show so appealing. In addition, the Kevin Ryan (Seamus Dever) and Javier Esposito (Jon Huertas) characters, who are more marginal in the shorten first season, are given significant screen time in season 2, and for good reason: the duo are hilarious, both together, and as Castle's de facto boy's club.

A number of significant developments shape the rest of the season. If the first season established the major characters and developed the relationships between them, the second season places Castle and Beckett's potentially romantic relationship front and center. Early in the season, Castle's publishes Heat Wave, his first book starring Nikki Heat, the character inspired by Kate Beckett. The book meets with wild success and critical success. The book includes a rather steamy love scene that provides a series of very funny exchanges between many of the major characters. It also results in Castle being offered the writing opportunity of a lifetime, which he turns down in order to stay working with Beckett. The book is eventually optioned, meaning a Heat Wave movie is in the works, and Castle is eventually linked to Beckett romantically via the New York tabloids.

A major two-parter finds Beckett and Castle up against a serial killer who has become obsessed with Beckett because of the Nikki Heat book, and Castle and Beckett have to team up with FBI Agent Jordan Shaw (played by Dana Delany) to hunt the killer.

As close as Castle and Beckett get through these experiences, everything goes awry with the introduction of Detective Tom Demming (Michael Trucco), who quickly becomes a romantic interest for Beckett. Not until the very end of the season does Beckett realize that Castle's feelings for her are real, and that they match her own. By then, alas, it is too late, as Castle resumes a romantic relationship with one of his ex-wives.

If the second season is all about Castle and Beckett's relationship, the third season focuses primarily on why Kate Beckett is who she is, as she learns more disturbing details about the circumstances surrounding her mother's murder. Viewers will find themselves encountering would-be terrorist plots, the quirkiness of actors and the L.A. scene, and some extremely surprising revelations about major characters. The search for her mother's killer will lead Beckett into some dark places with darker characters, and it will risk her own life, and the lives of those on her team, but it will also offer viewers the same quirky, humorous interactions that give Castle its distinctive flavor, and that makes it one of the must-watch procedurals on television.