Castle's Det. Kate Beckett is no more.

TV Line reports Season 8 of the show finds Stana Katic's character and costar Richard Castle's main squeeze promoted to captain. The jury was out on which way Beckett might go after the end of last season found her being recruited to run for the New York state senate just as she passed the captain's exam.

"At the end of the day, we came into this season wanting to shake things up," new co-show runner Alexi Hawley told TV Line at ABC's Television Critics Association press tour party. "The show has been doing a great job with what's its been doing, but now we've been given an opportunity to really sort of add some energy into it -- in part by putting Beckett in the captain's office, but also by introducing both a new series regular and a recurring player."

Several media outlets have reported "The Neighbors" alum Toks Olagundoye has been cast as Hayley Vargas, a security specialist who could mean changes for Castle (Nathan Fillion) and Beckett's relationship and "The Walking Dead's" Sunkrish Bala will star in the recurring role of tech analyst Vikram Singh.

Terence Paul Winter, the show's other new show runner, admitted execs thought long and hard about having Beckett run for office, adding the idea still may not be completely off the table.

"What we realized is that the best way to tell 'Castle's' stories is to have Castle investigating twisty, fun cases," Winter said. "And the best way to do that is to keep Beckett in the precinct."

But as captain, Beckett may not have all the time she once did to directly work with Castle on so many cases, and that could threaten to "shake things up" for the two and be precisely where Hayley walks in.

"The important thing to say about [Rick and Kate] is that the show has always been and will always be about their love affair," Hawley said. "But we're looking to add some drama to it, some spark to it. We're going to have fun. It's going to be emotional at times, it will be romantic. ... It will be everything."