Kate Beckett will face a new host of challenges when she takes over as captain of the 12th precinct this season on "Castle," including the addition of new member Hayley Shipton (Toks Olagundoye), an independent investigator.
The two women each bring a different approach to solving cases, which will "create some fun tension" between them, co-showrunner Terence Paul Winter told Entertainment Weekly. Shipton may push Beckett's (Stana Katic) buttons on the job, but she will not jeopardize the newly appointed captain's marriage.
"For us, her character was never meant to be competition," co-showrunner Alexi Hawley told EW. "She's a strong, powerful, beautiful, independent woman and she adds a flavor of that into the show, but is not - in any way shape or form - competition for Beckett."
Castle (Nathan Fillion) will work closely with Shipton, who brings some unorthodox (and somewhat illegal) methods to crime solving.
"What's great about her is Castle has been investigating cases police adjacent, so it's always about doing things the way the police would," Hawley told EW. "She doesn't do things that way, so it's that fun dynamic of we break in rather than getting a warrant. There's definitely an energy about her that is a lot of fun."
Having too much fun may cause Castle some problems with the boss wife, who will also see her relationships with detectives Ryan (Seamus Dever) and Esposito (Jon Huertas) change.
"She's still going to be very boots-on-the-ground, but now she has to work with Esposito and Ryan much differently than in the past, and that's going to cause more conflict," Winter told TVGuide.com.
Beckett will depend on the new tech analyst, Vikram Singh (Sunkrish Bala) to act as her "confidant" as she takes charge of the unit. Her new position will also give the writers some new avenues to explore with Katic's character.
Season eight of "Castle" will premiere on Monday, Sept. 21 at 10 p.m. on ABC.
