Holy, backlash: Castle will not be moving forward without its leading lady after all.

In the wake of the firestorm that has erupted following leading lady Stana Katic’s confirmed ouster, ABC has cancelled the venerable procedural, TVLine has learned. The axing comes despite ABC Studios closing new one-year deals with star Nathan Fillion and several supporting players, including Jon Huertas and Seamus Dever.

Katic’s exit — which was reportedly a budgetary move on ABC’s part — was announced last month. Longtime co-star Tamala Jones was similarly let go. At the time, Katic said in a statement, “Rather then distract from what was an amazing experience, I would just like to say that I’m very grateful to ABC for giving me the opportunity to be a part of a much beloved show. Thank you to the fans.”

Several days later, Fillion released a statement of his own in which he thanked Katic “for creating the character of Beckett,” before adding, “I wish her well, and have no doubt she will succeed in everything she pursues. She will be missed.”

Exec producer Alexi Hawley previously told TVLine that if Castle was renewed then next Monday’s finale would end in a “dynamic” way that allowed the show to move forward in a slightly altered incarnation — meaning, sans Katic and Jones. However, if Castle was cancelled, an alternate, closure-filled ending would be swapped in.

Thoughts? Are you saddened or surprised by this turn of events? Are you relieved producers had the foresight to shoot an alternate ending? Hit the comments!

UPDATE: Watch the series finale promo here:

