Season 2
He's famous. He's gorgeous. He's smart as hell. He is mystery novelist Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion), and he's hot on the trail of real world criminals.
"Why", you ask? Because he's got nothing better to do.
When we first met Richard Castle - a famous mystery novelist and divorced father raising his teenage daughter (Molly Quinn as Alexis), while being kept grounded by his Broadway diva mother (Susan Sullivan as Martha Rodgers) - he was bored with his own success.
He then found out that a real-world killer was staging murder scenes depicted in his novels.
Castle was questioned by NYPD Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), a bright and aggressive detective who kept her investigations under tight reins, especially the years-old unsolved murder of her own mother.
Though they instantly clashed, sparks of another sort began to fly, leading both to danger and a hint of romance as Castle stepped in to help find the copycat killer.
Once that initial case was solved, together Castle and Beckett built on their new relationship investigating more strange homicides in New York - as much fun as one could have with death and murder.
In the season finale, Castle, against Beckett's direct order to stay out of her mom's case, unearthed information in that homicide which may end his relationship with her forever.
In the Season 2 premiere, "Deep in Death": When the new season begins, Castle is wrestling with how to repair his relationship with Beckett, while struggling to finish his soon-to-be-published bestseller, Heat Wave.
But circumstances force the pair back together to investigate the mysterious murder of a man found dead, tangled in the limbs of a tree.
Also starring in the series are Ruben Santiago-Hudson as NYPD captain Roy Montgomery, Tamala Jones as medical examiner Lanie Parish, Jon Huertas as NYPD detective Javier Esposito and Seamus Dever as NYPD detective Kevin Ryan.
Castle is produced by ABC Studios. Andrew Marlowe (creator/writer) serves as Executive producer, along with Rob Bowman (who also directed the Pilot), Rene Echevarria, Laurie Zaks and Armyan Bernstein.