The Script Gods Decree Castle and Beckett Will Be Together

The following will be miscellaneous highlights from my adventure with epically good sport Heather Waters, also known as redline_ , through the #CastleChase scavenger hunt, which was followed by an episode pre-screening, trivia contest, and live panel discussion.

Leading and panel images are courtesy of the Paley Center and ABC, and come from the L.A. side of the event. They clearly had fully charged batteries. *sigh*

I think everything in the post qualifies as scoop-y, but not particularly spoiler-y. It’s about the show’s direction, but lacks any specifics. Still, if you’re sensitive about any future knowledge, read on with care.

We began our evening with the NYC-based scavenger hunt on Twitter, set up by @NY_Comic_Con with 15 clues to be claimed from locations that could be relevant to Castle or crime fans.  We guessed what some would be in advance, and a couple as they were tweeted, but they were too far away, and people werehustling to scoop them up. Knowing that eventually one would have to land in the Union Square/Chelsea/Flatiron neighborhood of CrimeHQ, after work Friday, we camped at a genial watering hole and nourished ourselves for the race ahead while pawing at our screens like obsessive kittens to refresh them. At last something came across we thought we were close enough to reach.

It was Death + Company, a dimly-lit establishment of artistic cocktails.

Vastly upscale from our casual Friday wear, it was only 5 minutes away by cab, so we went for it. We got there and found the clue jammed by the side of the door just a minute before the next hunter! (Sam the doorman is a swell guy, in case you’re wondering.) We duly celebrated with a nip inside, and then headed to the Paley Center for the viewing and the trivia.

During the trivia game, we learned that Nathan Fillion’s favorite cheese is medium cheddar, a zen choice among the spectrum of cheddars, I think. There was perhaps one, maybe two questions of the many that no one got—these people knew their Richard Castle (formerly Richard Alexander Rodgers) and Fillion facts, too. He’s not merely Canadian to them, but an Edmontonian, if that’s a word.

Then, we got to preview an episode before the final production was done—fun. It had a dance competition type TV show as the crime scene, and “A Dance with Death” will air when the show returns on March 19th.  Show creator and executive producer Andrew W. Marlowe called it the last “calm before the storm,” indication a ramp up of the bigger arcs and interpersonal tensions.  Yay!

Without giving anything away, my favorite part of the episode was the adjusted dialog that needed to be dubbed in by the actors. Sometimes it was a clarification or a detail that must not have been in the script, and because this episode wasn’t finished with post—that’s how very fresh it was for us—we got to hear strange and kind of stiff, nerdy voices subbing in for the characters.  It was like listening to Castle, and then hearing his accountant talking about “drugs and partying.” I’d actually like to watch every TV show with some of that.  It keeps you on your toes, and also gave me a feeling for what the writers thought was important enough to (re)emphasize.

Then onto the panel discussion.

The show’s fans LOVE the theme episodes. From steampunk to vampires and aliens, these are explorations of diverse fandoms and subcultures that are reverent, and more importantly, damn fun. The latest was “The Blue Butterfly” a pulp-era throwback to a P.I. and a dame in trouble. The cast get to chew up the scenery with over-the-top accents, and Ryan and Esposito in their alter-images as a gangster’s toughs even get to beat up Castle, aka Joe Flynn, private eye. The moderator asked the cast to read a compressed version of the episode aloud, which was very entertaining.

So, the most important thing that most fans will want to know is that, although executive producer Marlowe is in no hurry, Castle and Beckett are destined to be together. He doesn’t want the current situation to drag on forever—only as long as it’s fun and reasonable for these two perfect-together people to stay apart—and he has lots of ideas for the storyline that comes afterward. (Note that Susan Sullivan channeling Martha wishes they’d get down to it already, and Molly Quinn as Alexis just doesn’t want them all lovey-dovey in the house with her and Gram.)

Other key things of interest:

Seamus Dever was adorable, and his wife who played his TV bride on the show, was in the crowd, too.

Jon Huertas compared Esposito’s and Lanie’s relationship to a long, long, and very enjoyable test drive-ahem.

From the backstory files, Stana Katic believes Beckett’s favorite color is purple—since childhood-and that she likes strawberry shakes. Also, when asked about kids with Castle, Stana quipped there would be four, all boys.

Tamala Jones noted the pleasure of Jon Huertas’ fresh breath in their cozier scenes together, but expressed tremulously that kissing Nathan Fillion in “The Blue Butterfly” was an experience of extra-freshness and that his lips were just satiny.  Picturing being swaddled with spearmint-colored silk in an intoxicating Arctic forest? Me, too.

Susan Sullivan doesn’t adore the red wig she sports to be Martha and thinks it makes her look like a tranny, an exciting plot line revelation she pitched, without success, to the show’s writers.

Since being “Cuffed” earlier this season to Beckett—the prop cuffs were padded and stretchy since they had to wear them for days—Nathan Fillion has added tigers to the list of things he hopes not to kill him. However, he’d be very satisfied to have Castle bungee jump, provided the stunt man’s there to do all the risky stuff in between the close-ups.

For you Firefly fans, Adam Baldwin is an upcoming guest star! He’ll play a hard-ass detective named Slaughter who Castle ends up having to shadow while Kate’s elsewhere.

Penny Johnson Jerald emphasized her role as providing a point of stability in a teetering world. If Iron Gates starts looks like a refuge or sanctuary, the rest of Season 4 should be as exciting as any hardcore fan could ask!

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Clare Toohey is Clare2e here at CriminalElement.com and also blogs sporadically at Women of Mystery. She had a short, surreal crime story appear in Murder New York Style: Fresh Slices. She likes eating medium cheddar in a medium-brown trenchcoat.