Aye aye, captain! Fans of ABC's "Castle" were left with quite the cliffhanger in the Season 7 finale when Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) was told she had been vetted to run for New York state senate. Viewers were left wondering if the detective would give up working cases with her new husband, writer Rick Castle (Nathan Fillion), to become a politician. Fear not, Beckett will be back on the grind in Season 8, but she will have a different title -- captain.

"Castle" co-showrunner Alexi Hawley revealed the character's new premiere position at the Television Critics Association summer press tour Tuesday.

“At the end of the day, we came into this season wanting to shake things up,” Hawley told TVLine. “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”

“[Beckett running for office is] something we absolutely considered, and it’s not like it’s off the table," added co-showrunner Terence Paul Winter. “What we realized is that the best way to tell Castle's stories is to have Castle investigating twisty, fun cases. And the best way to do that is to keep Beckett in the precinct.”

Of course, the biggest cliffhanger of all was if viewers would even see Beckett again after the Season 7 finale. At the time of the finale, despite the fact “Castle” had been already renewed for an eighth season and co-star Nathan Fillion had signed on to return, Katic was still entangled in contract negotiations, leaving her fate unclear. The finale -- and its New York state senate tease -- did not do anxious viewers any favors, leaving the character’s fate very open ended in case she did not come back for another year. However, the day after the finale, ABC announced that Katic had signed a new contract to return, according to US Weekly.

How will Beckett's new job affect Castle and Beckett's relationship? Fans will have to wait to find out. "Castle" Season 8 premieres Sept. 21 at 10 p.m. EDT on ABC.

RELATED STORIES