'Castle': E.P. Rob Bowman talks Beckett & her mother's murder, season 2 & more

The season finale of "Castle" is tonight and my girl Marisa Roffman is obsessed. She got some time with E.P. Rob Bowman who says the Nathan Fillion/Stana Katic drama is so getting a season two (I mean, probably)...

"Castle" is one of the few shows that has actually gained viewers these past few weeks, so congratulations on that.
RB: We've got loyal followers, we've got good word of mouth, and [the increase in viewers] coming at the right time. So hopefully that'll be what the network needs to pick us up [for next year].

Have you heard anything from the network about a season two?
RB: [We've heard] a lot of things, but not the official pickup. We're interviewing writers and looking at directors and behaving as if [we're going to be back] though. We're just waiting to get the call.

Have you got any specific stories in mind for next season?
RB: I think [creator] Andrew [Marlowe] is still brewing over that himself. We just finished [season one] and we haven't even caught our breath yet. There are a few ideas floating around. I'll [be directing] the first one back.

Let's talk about the last episode of this season, tonight's hour. I'm hearing Castle digs further into the murder of Beckett's mother. Anything you can tease regarding that?
RB: I can neither confirm nor deny those reports.

I think ABC has blown your cover regarding that...
RB: [Laughs] Look, [Castle] knows this is the thing that haunts [Beckett], the thing that drove her to become a homicide detective. He is a very resourceful, well-connected man and if he can use those resources to solve a crime, he is going to. I will say it would be a very strong idea to conclude the first ten [episodes] with that plotline. I imagine that it's probably a touchy subject for Beckett, so I wish Castle well treading in those perilous waters. How far will he go? Will he risk his friendship with her? I don't know. But again, it's very, very perilous waters to walk in, to do something she doesn't want him to do. [Remember] that [Detective] Esposito said, don't tell her I helped and gave you the file, back in episode five? If that's [what goes on in the finale], then it's [going to be] meaty stuff.

When Castle does stuff like this, it seems he often forgets that Beckett has a gun and she can shoot him if he pisses her off.
RB: [Laughs] That was obviously a very funny moment in the pilot, and yeah, I think if he keeps crossing the line, if he does something [bad], [Beckett] should just shoot him in the toe or whatever! [But] we know he has a good heart and he only wants what's best for her, so I don't think he's going to do anything awful to her or destructive. He's likely to go too far [because he likes her, though].

Will Castle find some kind of miraculous break in the case, or is the murder of Beckett's mother something you plan to leave unsolved for the foreseeable future?
RB: I don't think [the case is] something that could be resolved quickly. I think there are a lot of complications in it. If I were writing it, I would make it so that every stone you turned over, you revealed three more. Beckett is a very good homicide detective, and if she couldn't solve the case of her own mother's murder, I don't think it's an easily solved situation. I don't think it's going to be one good-hearted gesture from Castle [that just does the trick]. To say, I'll swoop in, and the mayor will help me, whatever, I think it's more complicated than that. I think there will be ups and downs. I wouldn't expect to have [the case] resolved in the opening episode of next year.

And the murder of her mother has obviously helped shaped Beckett into the woman she is today.
RB: When it comes to solving murders and people not getting away with it, I've always said [Beckett]'s the wrong person to have looking for you. Because she has these personal demons, she sets everything aside, including personal feelings, to get things done. The way she can use that ghost [that haunts her] is [remarkable]... tenacity, commitment, ferocity, hard work, whatever it takes. I think if she's got you in her sights, you're not getting away.

While we see how being alone has shaped Beckett, Castle's family plays a big role in the shaping of his life. Was it always the intention to ground Castle with his family life, because it seems that while he is a total man-boy at work, he shows a bit more maturity around his family.
RB: [That was] absolutely intentional. His mom requires a lot of real estate, a lot of emotional and psychological real estate, so Castle has to surrender some of his own when he walks into a finite amount of space with her. He does love her, and it's okay with him that she has her own notion of grandeur and past accolades. And if she wants to feel that way, that's okay with him. But we've also seen in a few episodes, [she has] a very grounded, a very real side, a side of wisdom, a side of experience, she's good-hearted. It's not [just] the whimsical, hands flying around, gesticulating her point [all the time]. She's both a hyperbole and good-reasoned. And that is definitely something we wanted, we wanted to surround Castle with women, and we wanted to surround Beckett with men. They both have their own world of gender issues. The relationship with [Castle and his] daughter, we wanted the daughter to be mature. Not to be written-down to, not to be portrayed as a distressed teenager, as I think they commonly are [in television]. She's well balanced, self-assured, self-confident. And just as Castle defers some psychological real estate to the confines of his mom, I believe the daughter surrenders some of her psychological real estate to her father. She seems to be the grown-up between the two. She's really not, but that is the basis for the dynamic of the relationship. [The relationship is] really just based on how much he loves and cares for her, but as we saw in episode four when [Alexis] had to figure out her own conditions of being grounded, because she's determined to do it, those kind of moments give us insight into how to properly raise a daughter. [Castle]'s not always sure how to do it, but [Alexis]'ll help him. We want those [family moments] to be real. We want them to be grounded. Those are the moments that give us permission to have fun while we're trying to solve a murder.

Alexis is going to prom in the season finale. Is Castle going to have a problem with his baby girl taking such a big step towards growing up?
RB: She's a little girl [in his mind]. If she's going to her first prom, I'm sure she's going to be very excited about it. She's [not above] the freshness of her first experiences [because of her maturity], she doesn't look down on it. But I have a feeling in terms of the rules of the night, she'll probably be [the one] setting her own rules of the night because her dad won't set the rules for her.

Since we're on the subject of the women in Castle's life, we have to talk about Beckett as his muse. Does she think their time together is going to be over soon now that there is cover art for the Nikki Heat book?
RB: She's very shortsighted if she thinks he's writing [just] one book about her. There's going to be a series of them! She said [in the last episode], if they're doing the cover art, that means your book's done, and that means you and I are almost done. Well, she's in for a big surprise.

I can just imagine how thrilled she is going to be when she finds out he's going to be sticking around.
RB: Oh yeah, of course. And the book will be a big hit because it's based on the real life comings and goings of New York homicide detective Kate Beckett, who's still active, and still filling Castle's mind with stories and ideas, and wonderfully exploitive character flaws, which she will underline and highlight [when she sees the book]. But yeah, we're starting a new series. There might be ten or fifteen new Nikki Heat books.

Which will give us plenty of time for Beckett and Castle to bond further. You know I have to ask about their relationship and where it's going.
RB: We wanted it to be clear that there was an overt attraction by him to her and that in the good old-fashioned man-chases-woman, that rejection was part of her game. That she is, at her root, a serious homicide detective, and somebody loitering around real, hardworking people who are dealing with life-and-death, [the fact that] her office is being occupied by a writer, is getting in the way. And she was off-put by that. Rightly so. Problem is, he's charming. He did help solve the first murder. He does have occasionally insightful things to say. As any homicide cop would agree, any good ideas to help solve the crime are welcome. The problem is, they come out of [Castle's] mouth and he is a man-boy. But as long as the mayor is happy, and the commissioner's happy, and the captain's happy, he's not going away. And so, we've put them in this box that neither of them... well, seemingly, we've removed the options for either one of them to get out of the situation. So they're in it. I think Andrew's description to me of that first interrogation [in the pilot] was, he thinks he's on a first date, and she thinks she's interrogating a suspect. And I think he always believes he's on some sort of date with her, but I think she always feels like she's saddled with him, but has decided to surrender the battle and join forces to solve crimes. In terms of them actually getting together [romantically], well, wouldn't that ruin it?

They almost seem like they're together already. His family has really taken to her, plus Beckett and Castle already fight like they're a couple.
RB: Yeah, like in episode five when they pretend they're married and they start bickering in front of the [apartment] tenant and she says, well if we're married, I want a divorce. They're always bickering like boyfriend-girlfriend, husband and wife. So, yes, we are behaving as so, but in her mind, it's never going to happen. And that is again, part of the chase. Men like that kind of thing. Rejection is the key to have you keep coming back. I'm positive if something were to happen, [something] more than conversation, it can only happen under the guise of inebriation. To the point of blackout, to the point of neither one of them remembering, to the point where both of them are saying -- certainly her -- that it never happened, you can't prove anything happened. And therefore the score is still 0-0. The truth is, we walk the line, every day, every scene. We're trying to make it really fun for the audience. Castle adores her, no question about it. And I think that she does find him charming and useful and I think that's how she characterizes him the most... charming and useful.