‘Castle’s Mysterious Disappearance Is Finally Solved

Toks Olagundoye didn’t exactly get a warm welcome when she joined ABC’s Castle last fall: The show’s passionate fanbase was too busy worrying that the leggy new series regular would come between beloved couple Castle (Nathan Fillion) and Beckett (Stana Katic). “I got a lot of nasty stuff on Twitter,” remembers the actress, who previously starred as an alien on The Neighbors, with a laugh. “It was like, ‘So an attractive woman gets brought on the show and her only function could be for a guy to fall in love with her? Come on!’ I was especially irked by the female viewers who thought that. I was like, ‘Have a little more pride in your sex!’”

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The Nigeria native has brought that same spunky sense of humor and independent streak to her character, rule-bending private eye Hayley Shipton, who’s enjoyed a strictly professional relationship with Castle and become a mentor to his daughter, Alexis (Molly Quinn). Hayley’s unorthodox methods will prove invaluable in Monday’s episode, which finds her accompanying Castle and Alexis to Los Angeles, where the book will finally be closed on the writer’s mysterious Season 6 disappearance. “We’re going to get the last bit of information about what happened during Castle’s missing time,” promises executive producer Terence Paul Winter. “All of the secrets will be revealed, and hopefully, the audience will feel like it was worth it.”

Along the way, the gang also works a case that reunites Fillion with his former Firefly costar Summer Glau, who guest stars as a member of the Greatest Detective Society, a legendary secret organization headed up by fellow guest star Gerald McRaney. Someone from Hayley’s past will be popping up as well, spills Olagundoye, who’s eager to peel back even more layers of her character: “She’s almost a Jane Bond­—a bit of a badass. Yet she’s also slightly awkward, which is the part I can definitely relate to!”

Castle, Monday, March 7, 10/9c, ABC