The TV Chick

Last night I had the privilege of heading out to USC and listening to Stana Katic and Andrew Marlowe chat about Castle. ABC screened last week’s episode, “Probable Cause”, and tonight’s episode, “Final Frontier.”

Here’s what we learned from their chat:

• The Castle fandom is seriously dedicated. Some people flew in from other states and even other countries for the event AND people waited in line for hours to get in. It’s like Comic-Con on a much smaller scale. There were maybe 200 people in the room and I heard rumors that another hundred got turned away after the room filled up.
•  The writer of “Final Frontier”, Kate Sargeant, was in the audience and seemed thrilled with how well the episode played.
• Beckett’s middle name is Houghton. Marlowe was inspired by Katharine Hepburn.

• There’s a scene in an upcoming episode where Castle meets Beckett’s dad.
• The USC moderators were fantastic. Not only did they have their own Castle drinking game, but they also got Marlowe and Stana to discuss it for about 5 minutes. Marlowe suggested adding “every time Beckett touches her hair” to their list. (PSA: don’t do this. You will probably die of alcohol poisoning). P.S. If you have a Castle drinking game that you play with your friends, leave me a link to it in the comments. I’m curious…
• An audience member asks about entering the business and avoiding burnout as an artist. Stana says that you just have to do what you love, whether that is music, acting, writing, etc. Marlowe advises the audience to pursue what they love and not be afraid to go for it; if it doesn’t work out, pursue something else that you’re passionate about.
• Stana was asked about her emotional crying scene in “Probable Cause.” She spoke about what a great scene partner Tamala Jones was, and discussed how Tamala gave 100% even when the camera wasn’t on her. Marlowe asked Stana to expand on what she needs to get to such a vulnerable state on camera. She said that it helps to try to imagine that the crew isn’t in the room and to connect with something sad from her own past. Marlowe joked that she thinks about the time that he asked her to stop chewing gum on camera because it makes the editing harder.
• We’re going to learn more about Beckett’s wild child phase and her past this season.
• Fan asks if Stana or any of the other actors are interested in directing an episode. Stana says that she isn’t ready for that step quite yet, but that she knows that a few of the other actors are interested in stepping behind the camera.
• Andrew Marlowe browses the Castle tag on Tumblr. You’ve been warned.
• Stana Katic is clearly a Caskett shipper. She made a point to say how much she enjoys working on the Castle and Beckett scenes this season. She also quickly followed that up with a comment about how much she enjoys working with the other characters too. The whole panel was basically one big love fest.
• Stana Katic really wants to ride a motorcycle on this show. She mentioned it three times during the panel.
• The last two minutes of the panel were Stana talking about how much she appreciates Andrew Marlowe. I couldn’t type fast enough to catch all of the nice things she said about him but the sentiment was clear: she appreciates what he’s done for her career and loves working with him.
• USC was very strict about their no pictures/video policy during the Q&A. Don’t worry, they had an official photographer capturing the event and high-res photos will crop up soon. The shady iPhone pictures that are cropping up on Twitter and Tumblr are not doing Stana’s hair justice.
• I’m hearing that video of the Q&A will appear on USC’s Trojan Vision network at some point. Here’s the link if you’re interested.

If you want to check out my chronological, 140-character play-by-play of the event, you can find me on Twitter at @SarahMaines. In the meantime, keep scrolling for a few tidbits to get you excited for tonight.

Here are 6 teasers for tonight’s Comic-Con themed episode, “Final Frontier”. WARNING, very minor spoilers:

6. There are several references to Firefly and Joss Whedon gets name-dropped.

5. Castle has a very awkward run-in with Alexis while she’s out with her college friends.

4. Castle has life-sized version of a certain Star Wars character in his bathroom.

3. We find out a little more about Beckett’s college days. Hint: she was a total nerd.

2. Castle and Beckett have an important conversation that relates to their future.

1. Cosplaying. Let your imagination fill in the rest.

Make sure to tune in to Castle tonight at 10 PM on ABC, and then let me know what you thought of the episode!