When Jennifer Beals comes to Castle as part of a February sweeps two-parter, she will be more than just one of Rick Castle’s old flames.

When Castle (Nathan Fillion) and Beckett (Stana Katic) discover a murder victim who was apparently murdered by a rogue CIA agent, they quickly find themselves in the middle of a much larger investigation, led by Beals’ Sophia Conrad.

“She is a CIA agent and, as we know, in Richard Castle’s first series of books, a female CIA agent figured prominently,” creator and executive producer Andrew W. Marlowe tells TVGuide.com. “So, of course, it would lead us to ask: Is Beckett Castle’s first muse?”

Naturally, Beckett learning that she isn’t Castle’s first will leave Beckett with lots of questions about the will-they-won’t-they couple’s future. “Beckett has to wrestle with where she thought she stood in Castle’s life and where she might really stand in Castle’s life,” Marlowe says. “I think it’s natural in a situation like that to feel threatened to some extent, and to measure yourself up.”

“What [Sophia] meant to Castle at the time … and whether or not it makes Beckett feel any less important in Castle’s life, are all things we’re dealing with,” he continues. “Those are questions that Beckett is trying to have answered without exposing her feelings too much.”

For Katic’s part, she believes her character will also be a little disturbed by Castle’s repeat behavior. “When you find out that the guy has had other muses before you, it’s not like, ‘Oh, geez, am I muse enough?’” Katic says. “It’s more like, ‘Some guys have foot fetishes – is this your thing? You just follow women around and tell them they’re your muse so that you can get in their pants?’ I think that’s the confusion there. ”

So, could this bombshell set off other explosions in Castle and Beckett’s relationship? After all, both of them are already keeping big secrets from one another.

“I think it serves as a bit of a touchstone for them,” Marlowe says. “It certainly brings up stuff in both of our characters about how they’re handling the relationship and getting a sense of what they want, what they’re afraid of, and what they hope might happen.”

Castle airs Mondays at 10/9c on ABC. The two-parter begins on Feb. 13.

View original Exclusive: Castle Boss and Stana Katic Dish on Castle’s First Muse at TVGuide.com

“Thanks.” “For what?” “For not saying I told you so.” “That starts tomorrow.”

I had the great pleasure of getting a few minutes to chat with Tamala Jones, who plays Dr. Lanie Parish on ABC’s “Castle“. We discussed the upcoming 1940s themed episode “The Blue Butterfly” and the direction the series is taking this season.

KarenL: This season of Castle seems to be highlighting the characters – letting the actors shine. Do you think we’ll get an opportunity to find out more about Lanie, and in which direction would you like to see her travel?

Tamala Jones: I hope that we get to find out more about Lanie. The truth is we only have 45 minutes, but they’ve been giving Lanie a lot more to do and I love what they’ve done with her so far. Personally I would love to see more into her, like what’s going on with you, who’s your mom, why are you so closed off when it comes to marriage, did you have a husband – I’d like to see all of that.

TJ: But you know, Andrew is very secretive in his writing, and we only know what we’re going to do when it’s close to time to perform. So, we’ll see what happens.

KL: I’m sure we’d all like to see more too.

KL: “The Blue Butterfly” looks amazing. We’ve been given a few teases about the look and feel of the episode – what were the challenges in regards to shooting a period piece?

TJ: I don’t think the challenges were with any of the actors at all. I think we were all excited to switch it up a bit and go back in a time machine to the 1940s. I think that it was more of an adjustment for the crew that had to deal with those sets, and get them ready, and have them looking like we were in the 1940s.

KL: Did you alter your speech patterns and things like that?

TJ: Oh definitely. I think that all of us individually did homework and when we came together on-set it just fit together like a puzzle. We all had the energy, the dialect, the speech pattern from that time – it was beautiful.

KL: Things have come a long way for women on TV since Lucy. Shows like “Police Woman”, and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” started featuring strong female characters. Castle is unique in that all the regular female characters are independent and empowered in one way or another. If there’s one impression you want to leave on female viewers, what would it be?

TJ: Me as an individual or as Lanie?

KL: Either way.

TJ: Well, for me as an individual, I would like to leave the impression that, you know, you see women in these characters, you know women are very strong and very powerful in this day and age – and we all have to support each other. So I hope that my character that I play, and that Stana’s character, Beckett, touches you in some way – to make you go out and accomplish whatever it is that’s important to you as a woman. And not shy away from it because you are a woman.

KL: You two – at least your characters – you play off each other well, and it’s very believable that you guys would be friends even though you’re kind of an odd coupling. And I love how you tease her about Castle. I had a dream once that Lanie was planning something to get Castle and Beckett together, and for you to get back together with Javi, and you would try to come on to Castle to make them both jealous.

TJ: (Laughs) I love that!

KL: That would really be difficult for you right? Because Nathan’s just horrible.

TJ: Oh my God – he’s hideous. (laughs) That is really funny! I like that. I might have to take that and pitch that to Andrew.

KL: Feel free – I think that would be neat.

Source: here

CASTLE – “Linchpin” – In the explosive conclusion of a two-part story arc that began last week with “Pandora,” Castle & Beckett race to find the “Linchpin” in order to stop the first domino in a chain of events which will plunge the United States into war, on “Castle,” MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20 (10:01-11:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network. In the episode, Jennifer Beals (“The Chicago Code,” “Flashdance”) continues as Sophia Conrad – a smart, commanding and sexy CIA operative who was Castle’s inspiration for Clara Strike in the Derrick Storm series of books — and Josh Stamberg (“Drop Dead Diva”) is back as intelligence officer Martin Danberg.

Thank you to Meghan for these photos! ♥

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