You know I love Nathan Fillion (I’ve talked to him three times now in the past 5 weeks), and every time we chat he gets me super pumped to watch any show that he’s ever been involved in.  The season finale of CASTLE airs Monday after a-n0w-extended DANCING WITH THE STARS.  In the finale, according to ABC’s official press release:

“A Death in the Family” – Castle and Beckett investigate the murder of a missing plastic surgeon who is found dead in the front seat of his car after a week of being parked curbside.  As they delve into the twisted world of surgery obsessed patients and secret operations, Castle experiences a fatherly rite of passage as Alexis attends her first prom.  While looking into Beckett’s past, Castle unearths information that could end his relationship with her forever, on the season finale of CASTLE.

After a significant jump in ratings last week, fingers crossed that their momentum pushes ABC right into a Season 2 pickup because I’m not ready to say goodbye to Richard Castle quite yet!  Nathan agrees – read on to hear a little bit from one of our favorites, including what summer movie you have to see on his review alone!

We’re here to chat about the big season finale coming up!
Yes, the season finale!

The important word there is season, because I’m counting on this show to be around for a long time!
Thank you very much.  I can’t tell you how pleased I am to tell you how pleased I am that I have a show that actually made it for an entire season!

Yes, you’ve been a little bit unlucky in the past.
I like to think that I’ve been making good choices as far as projects to attach myself to.  I’ve been fortunate enough, rather, to be attached to really great shows that maybe weren’t given the chance that they deserved.  I have no complaints with CASTLE.

So what big tease can you give us about what’s to come on Monday night’s finale?
You know, that’s an excellent question.  I just kind of worked it out in the last 2 interviews.  I’ll tell you this.  Castle, in this episode, Castle starts poking around in Beckett’s past, and this is where we see just how smart Castle is when push comes to shove.  Is he smart enough to stop when she tells him to?  Will he go too far?  It’s always kind of Castle’s practice to push the envelope and to go too far, and be immature, and be self-serving.  We always tend to forgive him.  This time, we’ll see if he’s smart enough to quit while he’s ahead.

Last time we talked, we talked about how we were going to get into Kate’s backstory a little bit more, and I like that we’ve kind of fleshed out Castle, met the ex-wife, all of that, and now we’re getting more info on Kate, to build you guys both up, and have these solid back stories.
Yeah, I think it’s super important when you’re investing in a character to have an idea of their history, so you can understand what has created this person.  What forces of nature, of life, have molded and shaped this person into what kind of person they are.  You get two very extreme characters.  We’ve learned a lot about Castle’s past, and now we have this very uptight, kind of intense detective, we start to learn what shapes her.

I love the first episode with you and Bailey (Chase from SAVING GRACE – he’s back on Monday, too) coming in.  We get to see Castle protective of Kate – is it protective because he’s interested in a little more than just friendship with her, or is it him being a good partner?
I would say it’s the former.  Again, he’s self-serving, he’s selfish in that way.  He’s attracted to Kate Beckett.  Wouldn’t you be?  I’m not judging you.

Has there been any chats among the writers for what kind of story lines they might have planned, come Season 2?
You know what, I’ve run into Andrew Marlowe, the creator of our television program, I think 4 times in the last week and a half, and I haven’t asked him.  I’m doing these interviews, and they’re saying “What’s coming up?” and I’m like, these are the questions I could have been asking Andrew ha!  Until we get that pick up, everything is premature!  It happens a week from today.

Why should people get caught up and tune in Monday night?
I only get involved in projects that entertain me.  Whatever the reason may be, it entertains me, it makes me laugh, it warms my heart, it gets my juices flowing in one way or another.  CASTLE does this for me.  I like to think I’m particular about my entertainment.  You can’t just throw any old thing at me, and I’ll like it.  I think I’m pretty picky.  So if you’re picky about your entertainment, I don’t have all day to sit in front of a TV and just watch everything.  I plan my entertainment time very carefully. And CASTLE entertains me, so if you’re choosy about your entertainment and you’re not in the mood to be duped, then that’s a good reason to watch CASTLE!

What have you been doing for your hiatus?  Anything fun?
I’ve done a couple trips.  I did one half business-half pleasure, took to New York, I love New York City.  Took a little trip to a tropical island, had a nice relaxed time.  I’m planning a trip up to Canada.  In the meantime, trying to squeeze in a little film, some work on the side, and I’ve been catching up on all my summer movies.  Just saw STAR TREK last night and WOLVERINE the week before.

My goal for the weekend is to catch up on movies.
Did you see STAR TREK?

I didn’t, should I, is it good?
Let me tell you something.  Fuh-LAW-Less [flawless ha].  I really liked it.  I’ll put it like a 9 on a scale of 1-10.  There was one little thing, I said, eh, movies always lose me when they get to this little area, but 30 seconds later, it’s over, and I’m back in, and it’s fine, and it’s perfect.  I was entertained throughout, I was excited throughout.

That’s review enough for me – I have to go!
Yeah!  I was thinking to myself, when I see this movie again, there’s no slow bits that I’m going to be waiting for the next good bit.

Fingers are crossed for a season 2!
Thank you very much for the well wishes!