CASTLE: Andrew Marlowe Teases ‘Always’

It’s a little crazy to believe, but we’re a little over a day away from the CASTLE season finale. (Where the heck has time gone?!) And let’s be honest…if you’re a CASTLE fan, you may be losing your mind just a teeny tiny bit thanks to the spoilerific promos ABC has released.

So, I’m here to (hopefully) make the wait for “Always” a little bit easier.

Last time I spoke with CASTLE creator Andrew Marlowe, he dropped a ton of finale teases just days before they actually shot the episode. But you guys wouldn’t object to a few more hints from a conversation I had with him late last week, right?

Keep reading for Marlowe’s take on what’s been revealed via promos, partnership angst, and a very vague tease about Tahmoh Penikett’s character…

I know you’re on Twitter, but I don’t know if you’ve seen how much CASTLE has broken social media in the past couple of days…
Andrew Marlowe: [Laughs] Those promos, huh? Leave it to the ABC promo department to be subtle. [Laughs again] It’s been something to watch. And it’s been something to watch when you have no control over it and you just have to go to your zen place.

Is that something that has been bothering you?
AM: As a storyteller it does, but from a promo point of view, I certainly understand their desire to get the fanbase talking and really excited. And I think they certainly achieved that. And the nice thing is the stuff they’ve shown isn’t all in context and there’s still a lot of surprises, even with the clips the audience has seen. When they’re in a different context, I think it’s going to be very interesting and surprising. So yeah, as a storyteller it bothers me to have all that stuff out there, but as a marketer, I understand their decision to do it.

It’s been interesting to watch what seems like everyone collectively lose their minds in excitement.
AM: I don’t think it’s going to stop anybody from watching the episode. [Laughs]

Right, it’s not like these are negative scenes.
AM: The episode deals with all sides [of the relationship], because as I’ve said, Castle and Beckett have been talking around some stuff and dealing with stuff in subtext, but this is the episode they put their cards on the table. The situation forces them to confront not only how they feel about each other, but also the ways in which they betrayed each other in the past year with the secrets and Castle cutting a deal for Beckett’s life with this mysterious guy. And Beckett having to own up to not admitting to Castle that she heard him say “I love you.” That stuff ends up coming out in a way I think fans had been craving for — that open and honest conversation. That doesn’t mean the conversation goes well, but we do get that stuff out and people can tune in to see how it all resolves.

They also had an important moment at the end of the last episode, too…
AM: Yeah. We’re laying seeds. We’re planting seeds. I think it was an interesting way to diffuse some of Castle’s anger — to have him recognize that she recognizes what she was going through and that there is more than her just not caring about him — which I think he was struggling with the last couple of episodes, he thought she didn’t care for him that way — and that there was more going on. It was a fun way for us to recognize that.

And also, how many times do you get to have a great moment where you’re really dealing with the subtext of a relationship and one guy is wearing zombie makeup?

That’s a pretty rare opportunity. Does this new knowledge play into Castle’s willingness to be vulnerable in the season finale? Or is it a mixture of everything?
AM: It’s part of it. It’s also some of the context of the case that they’re dealing with right there. So I think it all creates a context. We’re hoping that what we’ve been doing in the last series of shows is informing some of the challenges we have in this last episode; where we’re putting the Castle and Beckett relationship in the last episode.

Speaking about an entirely different relationship for a second, there was a tease that Ryan and Esposito are going to have some conflict in their partnership. What can you speak to about that?
AM: This is a case that tests their working relationship. And it puts them very much at odds in a way that we haven’t seen before over the course of the series.

Of course, last season we saw them literally come to blows over the Montgomery reveal…
AM: And that was about passion in the moment. That wasn’t about a fundamental difference of opinion of how they should be approaching the job. And I think we get into issues with stakes in this one that we haven’t quite seen before. I think the audience will be intrigued by where we leave that relationship going into the hiatus.

Is that partnership solid?
AM: Well, like I said, I think the audience will be intrigued by where we leave that relationship going into the hiatus. [Laughs] The relationship is very much challenged in this episode. Those two characters are going to have deal with the consequences of that, one way or the other.

There was also a rather dramatic tease where it seemed like Beckett apparently resigns from her job. What can you tease about that?
AM: Where did you see that? Oh, wait, the ABC promos. [Laughs]

Well, you’d think Beckett would need to be employed with the NYPD for this show to work right now…
AM: [Jokes] I have to say, when I pitched Beckett going off to open a cupcake shop in New York and Castle hanging out with her to [ABC President] Paul Lee, he was very receptive. No, I’m joking.

What happens in this case and what happens between Castle and Beckett when they put all their feelings — both positive and negative — on the table, really turns Beckett’s perspective on its ear and makes her challenge some assumptions she’s made about her life.

A very intriguing tease. What can you say about the character Tahmoh Penikett plays?
AM: What I can say is that…he plays a very important role in the episode. [Laughs]

Has he had a presence on the show in the past that we just haven’t seen in the flesh?
AM: [Laughs] Um, Tahmoh plays a character that has loomed large in Beckett’s life whether she knows it or not.

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And CASTLE fans, I’m thinking you may want to check back with GiveMeMyRemote.com Monday night at about 11 PM PT for a bit more from my chat with Marlowe…

Related:

CASTLE Season Finale: ‘Always’ Photo Preview
CASTLE: Watch Castle Meet Adam Baldwin’s Dectective Slaughter in ‘Headhunters’
CASTLE: ‘Undead Again’ Photo Preview

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