'Castle' season 8 spoilers: Rick, Hayley and Alexis team up in 'Tone Death'; disappearance mystery explained?

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"Castle" season 8 won't be back until February but there are already tons of spoilers that suggest what the show will look like upon its return. The midseason opener titled "Tone Death" sees an exciting, formidable trio in action.

Rick was sent all the way to Los Angeles to investigate the death of a member of a competitive acapella group only to find out that this case is directly connected with a murder case the NYPD has dealt with in the past.

The mystery writer will enlist the help of his daughter Alexis to crack this case along with his partner Hayley. But even with them around, rumor has it that Rick will still be in touch with Kate in this "Castle" season 8 episode to solve the mystery.

"High School Musical" alum Corbin Bleu will star in this installment as Hunter Washington, the leader of another acapella group that happens to be the foremost rival of the group the victim was a part of. From the looks of it, he will be a suspect in the case.

As for Kate and Castle's breakup charade, it is unclear if "Castle" season 8 will eventually show them as a couple in public once again. The two got back together but they did so behind closed doors in order for Kate's enemy not to make Rick a target.

While the resolution to this storyline is still unclear, the showrunners are priming for the clarification of Rick's mysterious five-month disappearance in the show's past season. As it turns out, Kate has something to do with this unexplained event in her husband's life.

"We haven't nailed the story down for it but we do like the idea that something that Castle came across during his missing time is actually why his memory was wiped — and it wasn't necessarily about the reason we showed in Season 7," co-showrunner Alexi Hawley told TV Line.

"And it does have something to do with Beckett. But we haven't nailed it all the way down yet," she clarified. That being said, there's still no way of knowing what Kate has to do with Rick's so-called abduction but it sure looks like fans will be getting an answer to that soon.

"Castle" season 8 returns with episode 14 "Tone Death" on Feb. 1, 2016.