In an effort to avoid the so-called ‘Moonlighting Curse,’ those behind ABC’s Castle, have led me to believe that there is far less ‘curse’ behind poorly received storylines, but rather self-fulfilling prophecy.

During its original publicity bliz, Castle’s creator, and thus the two lead actors, were quick to state theirs was not a ‘will they or won’t they,’ show. ‘They will,’ was the popular soundbite. ‘It just won’t happen right away.’ Because the sexual tension was palpable and the exchanges were hot, the majority of viewers were happy to sit back and enjoy the ride.

So what happened? First, they never developed their supporting cast. I firmly believe this was key in giving viewers something beyond the central relationship in which to invest. In doing so early on, people would not have come to rely so much on the romantic relationship between the two leads.  While they’ve made a half-hearted attempt to give the b-cast more screen time this season, it’s really too little, too late. Viewers can’t be expected to care about a secondary relationship between two characters, when they’ve been provided with next to zero information about either of them, or at the very least, the ongoing nature of their involvement. Let’s face it, people may enjoy the cases, but the characters have always been the hook. This show has never  been a serious procedural. They’ve done some serious episodes, but the cases not their bread and butter.

Secondly, I’ve come to believe that the first major mistake was killing Captain Montgomery, as well nearly killing Kate. While it certainly provided the intended shock value in the short term, and paid off in attracting strong ratings in the season four premier, it failed to deliver what should have been a continued story arc. Not only did it come with no ongoing for shadowing, it was too over the top. A decorated and respected member of the NYPD turns out to have been a dirty cop, he gets himself killed over a decades-old conspiracy, 3.5 members of the team cover it up, one nearly dies, and yet the wrap up upon return from hiatus takes all of one episode for life to go back to being reasonably normal? Really.

Next, enter Captain Gates. She has not only the problem of remaining undeveloped, but more importantly, there’s been little that tells us a thing about her as a character and her motivations. There is one scene I can recall in 14 episodes that did its job in giving us a tiny bit of insight.

Now, I understand that Castle is a procedural. I understand that this typically means producing standalone episodes that will be popular in syndication. It does not change the fact that many procedurals have done mini-arcs. Even 3-4 episodes with strong continuity would have improved the story tremendously. As it stands, viewers were treated to an episode featuring the sudden return of Kate’s PTSD. PTSD is certainly complicated, but there should have been some build up to that strong a fallout.

Finally, here are a couple of comments regarding so-called main ‘ship. Those in charge have never been shy in proclaiming that they want the show, as well as the central pairing, to naturally or ‘organically’ develop a romantic relationship. It sounds fantastic on paper. They’d managed to pull it off reasonably well until they came out with ‘Countdown’ during season three. While it was the first red flag I was unable to ignore, I was willing to extend goodwill and offer the benefit of the doubt that things would turn around.

The final nail in the coffin (no pun intended) was Cops & Robbers. Here you have a man and a woman who are presumably attracted to one another, love one another, have nearly died both separately as well as together, and yet neither of them is willing to put themselves on the line? More than that, if after everything these two have endured together over the past several seasons isn’t enough to push them to take the leap that they both apparently long to take, well, you’re right. They shouldn’t be in a relationship, but rather a psych ward to work out the contrived issues known to television. So much for diving in together, huh?  

In the end, I can only conclude that in an effort to avoid the so-called ‘curse,’ they’ve created a situation where the only seemingly ‘organic’ way out involves the one card they don’t wish to play. Viewers began losing interest long before a hook up. Should the show continue its downward spiral, the lack of investment is not due to any curse, greater power, or Supreme Being, but rather a mess of the showrunner and/or executives’ own creation.