Warning: This article contains spoilers for Murder in a Small Town season 1, episode 3.Stana Katic, known for playing the female lead in ABC’s Castle, returned to murder procedurals in best dramedy series of its time, Castle ended after eight seasons, with Nathan Fillion going on to play John Nolan in ABC's The Rookie and Katic ing another crime series.
Katic's stint as Kate Beckett halted when ABC unceremoniously ended the crime drama in 2016. The network canceled the show because of declining ratings. However, ABC had already fired Katic from the show, and the series announced that it would continue without her, killing Katic's Kate character and making Richard Castle, who married Kate in seven years after Castle ended, Katic returns to the genre on network TV in Fox’s new procedural thriller. Her character will officially subvert expectations of the actor following her Castle stint.
Stana Katic Returns To The Police Procedural Genre With Murder In A Small Town
Katic Makes Her Police Procedural Return After Castle's 2016 End
In October 2024, Katic returned to the genre in Fox’s psychological crime drama Murder in a Small Town, which stars Trench 11’s Rossif Sutherland and Reacher's Kristin Kreuk. The series follows Sutherland’s Chief of Police, Karl Alberg, who moves to a small coastal town to escape big-city police work, but soon discovers that the small town has plenty of mysteries to solve. In the series' first three episodes, Murder in a Small Town introduced a murder case along with a small handful of suspects and followed Alberg as he dug deeper into the people involved and their motivations.
Stana Katic's Recent TV Series |
Character |
Year |
|---|---|---|
Castle |
Kate Beckett |
2009-2016 |
Absentia |
Emily Byrne |
2017-2020 |
Murder in a Small Town |
Zoe Strachan |
2024 |
Murder in a Small Town is the actor's second time returning to the police procedural genre since Stana Katic exited Castle, but it marks her return to network TV. Katic starred in Absentia, an Amazon series similarly positioned in the thrill and drama genres after Castle ended in 2016. In it, Katic plays an FBI agent who reappears after being declared dead and is the prime suspect in a string of murders. Absentia was a mix of Katic’s Castle and Murder in a Small Town roles, wherein she is a murder suspect but someone with previous ties to an agency.
How Murder In A Small Town's Zoe Strachan Is Different From Castle's Kate Beckett
Katic's Murder In A Small Town Character Is A Genuine Terror
Katic’s Murder in a Small Town role is the opposite of hers as Kate in Castle. In Sutherland’s series, Alberg suspects Katic's Zoe Strachan character of murder. Strachan is a wealthy resident of Gibson who mostly keeps to herself but gets wrapped up in Alberg’s investigation after her brother is murdered. If viewers tuned into Katic’s performance expecting to see something similar to her Castle character, they would be utterly surprised. Katic's Murder in a Small Town character was really creepy, putting her on the other side of the investigation as the murderer rather than the investigator.
Murder in a Small Town promised a different kind of police show, and Stana Katic's eerie murderer character delivered on that promise.
In Murder in a Small Town season 1, episode 3, "A Chill Rain," Katic's character grows more ominous as Alberg investigates. He uncovers that Zoe Strachan has left a trail of mysterious deaths behind her, with various odd police reports suggesting her kind, cunning demeanor was deceitful. Not a moment too soon, Alberg uncovers that Zoe Strachan burned her former relative alive and catches her just before she's able to replicate the crime. Murder in a Small Town promises a different kind of police show, and Stana Katic's eerie murderer character delivers on that promise.
Murder in a Small Town
- Release Date
- September 24, 2024
Cast
Rossif SutherlandKarl Alberg
Cassandra Mitchell
WHERE TO WATCH
Detective Karl Alberg moves to a peaceful coastal town to recover from the emotional toll of big-city police work. However, a series of mysterious murders shatters the town’s tranquility. Alberg must rely on his investigative skills to uncover secrets buried in this seemingly idyllic community, as danger continues to surface.
- Seasons
- 1
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Creator(s)
- Ian Weir
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