‘Castle’ Season 8 Update: Stana Katic celebrates birthday, first wedding anniversary

‘Castle’ Season 8 returns to ABC this Monday with Episode 20, “Much Ado About Murder.” Meanwhile, Stana Katic returns to Twitter to thank well-wishers, including Castle creator Andrew W. Marlowe. The actress who plays Kate Beckett had at least two huge things to celebrate over the weekend: her 38th birthday and her 1st wedding anniversary.

Spoiler alert: This update contains some “Castle” Season 8 spoilers for those who have not watched the previous episode, “Dead Again,” featuring Caleb Brown (Kristoffer Polaha).

A year ago, while fans were awaiting whether everyone in the “Castle” cast would return for the eighth season, news broke that Stana Katic has married her longtime beau, Kris Brkljac. It was a quiet wedding that coincided with Katic’s 37th birthday. This year, Marlowe went on Twitter to give his Beckett a shout-out. See the tweet exchange below.

Does Beckett die in “Castle” Season 8 finale?

Fans are left with only a few episodes with Stana Katic. It remains to be seen whether Katic’s Beckett would die in the “Castle” Season 8 finale. Fans are bracing themselves, however, since it has been confirmed that Katic is leaving Nathan Fillion and the rest of the “Castle” cast. Tamala Jones, who plays Lanie Parish, is also leaving after this season.

In the previous episode, someone tells Beckett that she is very likely to die in her quest against LokSat. Toward the end, Caleb Brown gives Castle and Beckett a phone that LokSat uses exclusively to connect to him. Did Brown just secure Beckett stays on track in her suicide mission? Or did he really believe Castle and Beckett could bring down LokSat?

Seamus’ wife Juliana Dever guest stars as Jenny Ryan

‘Castle’ Season 9 has yet to be officially confirmed, but the news of Stana Katic leaving Castle only hints that the series will go on. Among the cast members expected to stay are Seamus Dever, who plays NYPD Detective Kevin Ryan, alongside Jon Huertas’ Detective Javier Esposito.

Incidentally, Dever’s real-life wife Juliana Dever is reprising her role as Jenny Ryan in this week’s new episode. (Original ABC air date is May 2, 2016.)

‘Castle’ creator Andrew W. Marlowe gives a shout-out to Stana Katic on her birthday, and she replies with their own GIF hug!