Season 8 of "Castle" will find Rick spending plenty of time with a new series character known as Hayley.

TV Line hints that development could leave "Castle" regulars wondering what it could mean for Rick and Det. Beckett's seemingly once blossoming relationship.

The website previously reported show executives are now auditioning for the role, with the character described as "a quick-witted, free-spirited former LAPD cop" who now works as a security specialist. Specifically, ABC execs are rumored to be eyeing either a black or Latina actress for the role of the twentysomething character.

Beyond all the Castle/Beckett relationship questions, viewers are also probably wondering why the show would need for a security expert to begin with. Is she someone that Castle and Beckett meet while working on one of their high-pressured cases? Or is she someone Beckett may need as part of her security detail during her rumored New York senate run?

In addition, the show is also rumored to be casting for the "major recurring" role of a high-strung, East Indian male tech analyst.

Whatever changes the show might undergo between the end of last season and the upcoming one seem minor compared to what execs could have faced if they didn't move in the eleventh hour to bring back Stana Katic in her role as Beckett.

Both Katic and Nathan Fillion's (Castle) contracts expired at the end of the season, and network officials were only recently able to get Katic's signature on a new contract.

"There's always a Plan B," new co-showrunner Alexi Hawley told TV Line when asked if there was a planned direction in place for the show to move in if Katic had not agreed to return. "But it would have been a fundamentally different show, and that would've been quite a mountain to climb."

Hawley is slated to share showrunner duties next season with Terence Paul Winter.