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.”

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“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. ”

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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.

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Warning: The post below contains spoilers! Do NOT read below if you don’t want to be spoiled!

Any more scoop on Castle’s two-parter? — Christine
ADAM: As with the show’s previous two-part episodes, there will be crazy stunts and big action set pieces. “We filmed a stunt, and we had to be fitted for wetsuits,” Nathan Fillion tells us. But as much fun as it is to imagine Fillion and Stana Katic frolicking in the surf, stripping off their scuba gear, we hear the suits figure into a scene of a much more treacherous aquatic variety.

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DGA President Taylor Hackford today announced the presenters for the 64th Annual Directors Guild of America Awards. The ceremony, to be hosted by director/producer/actor Kelsey Grammer, will take place on Saturday, January 28, 2012 in the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland in Los Angeles.

The slate of confirmed presenters for the DGA Awards includes:
Michael Apted
Berenice Bejo
Jessica Chastain
George Clooney
Jon Cryer
Laura Dern
Jean Dujardin
Taylor Hackford
Tom Hooper
Stana Katic
Ben Kingsley
Kathleen Robertson
Octavia Spencer
Betty Thomas
Michelle Williams
Owen Wilson
Deborah Ann Woll

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Warning! The post below contains heavy spoilers! If you wish to stay spoiler free, do not read below!

I hear there’s going to be a kiss in Castle’s 1940s film noir episode. Is that true? – Erin
ADAM: After chatting with Stana Katic, my money is on a kiss… and much, much more. “What fans will see is probably the fulfillment of what most any fan would like to see happen with the Castle and Beckett relationship,” Katic says of the episode, in which Castle daydreams about a detective who falls in love with a gangster’s moll (played in Castle’s fantasy by Beckett, of course). “Fans will be seeing the ultimate expression of love for those two characters.” Ultimate expression of love? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

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For ABC’s Castle, nothing makes a wedding more memorable than murder.

As Detective Kevin Ryan (Seamus Dever) prepares to tie the knot with his fiancee Jennie (Dever’s real-life bride, Juliana) on Monday’s episode (10/9c, ABC), the death of a notorious Lothario derails the wedding planning. And things only get worse when Beckett (Stana Katic) and Castle (Nathan Fillion) learn that Jenny has a connection to the womanizing victim.

“It’s sort of an interesting wrinkle,” Dever tells TVGuide.com. “What ends up happening is that everyone else worries about it a little bit more than Ryan does. Beckett and Castle are trying to protect some information from hitting me, and in the end, they sort of underestimate my ability to deal with that information.”

But don’t expect that reveal to give Ryan cold feet. “It’s nice to see one of [the characters] in a stable relationship,” Dever says. “I think it’s cool because everyone else gets to reflect on what Ryan has. I think it’s something that my character owns, which is a nice little space we’ve carved out for Kevin Ryan.”

Indeed, creator Andrew W. Marlowe says that on a show that so heavily relies on its leads’ will-they-won’t-they sexual tension, it’s helpful to have a couple that will. “It’s important, not just for the audience, but for the characters in the show to have a touchstone of what they can aim for,” Marlowe says. “They need to see something that’s functional and happy.”

So, will observing Ryan’s wedded bliss help push Castle and Beckett closer toward their own functional, happy relationship? “They’re thinking about what it’s like to be at another wedding and be single,” Dever says. “There’s that, ‘Why can’t we just give into these feelings that everybody knows they both have?’ … Or maybe they’ll at least admit some things. Something’s got to happen.”

Adds Marlowe: “We’re looking at characters who are looking for their other halves in life. And they have found each other to a certain extent, but they haven’t fully committed to it. So this is part of the journey.”

Castle airs Mondays at 10/9c on ABC.

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A new challenge will unleash new emotions between Castle and Beckett in the second half of ABC’s faultlessly fun crime drama, but it’s probably less romantic than you might think it is. (Or is it?)

While chatting about what Castle fans can expect from the next batch of new episodes, executive producer Andrew Marlowe said the show’s reality TV-themed episode, which will feature a guest spot from White Collar and One Tree Hill alum Hilarie Burton, will find the partners in a situation they’ve never experienced before: sharing custody of a four-legged friend. “There’s some fun to be had with the Castle-Beckett relationship [because] our victim is a celebrity dog-show host and famous dog trainer. And in the aftermath of his death, his beloved golden retriever is left family-less. So Castle and Beckett get to enjoy sharing custody of the dog and I think it brings out stuff in their relationship that’s a lot of fun,” Marlowe said.

The swoon-power of attractive men interacting with adorable dogs can not be understated, and Beckett will be no exception, says Marlowe, especially since Castle’s conduct will reveal a lot about the type of man he is — and the kind family man he could be. “Don’t you think a lot of women do that? Don’t you think Kate would be paying attention? I would think so,” he hinted.

But before that episode, airing later this month, Marlowe dished on tonight’s episode, which will center around the wedding of Seamus Dever’s character, Ryan, and his girlfriend, Jenny (played by real-life wife Juliana). “It’s a fun episode because we get to check in on where all the relationships are,” said Marlowe. “It helps that we get to see these relationships through the lens of our victim. He’s a lothario, a womanizer. And so his relationship – going out and picking up woman – is subject for conversation. Also, along the way, we learn a secret about Jenny that threatens to derail the wedding.”

So is heartbreak in store for Ryan? You’ll have to watch tonight to find out for sure, but in the meantime, Marlowe offers a bit of assurance. “I think we keep it relatively poppy and enjoyable, and we do have some really fun moments between Castle and Beckett in it.”

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Stunning Stana. We don’t know how she does it, but Stana Katic combines brains, brawn and beauty – and is still totally down-to-earth. Luckily the star of Castle is happy to share her secrets.

“I’m not a believer in balance,” says Stana (pronounced STAH-na) Katic. “I know a lot of people who are philosophers and they sit by the river and talk about what that underwater world might look like. And I’ll say, ‘Dive in, man, and go and see it. Swim around. You’ll be okay.’”

This carpe diem attitude explains why the 33-year-old’d resumé reads like it could be that of an M15 agent: She’s skilled in fencing, scuba diving, archery, falconry and horseback riding, and she’s studied martial arts. She’s fluent in Serbian, French, English and Italian. She even learned Navy Seal knifing techniques for her rols as a Russian assassin in the 2008 film Stiletto.

Stana credits her spirit and wanderlust to her parents, immigrants from the former Yugoslavia, who came to North America with nothing. They moved to Hamilton, Ont., where Stana was born, and eventually settled in Chicago and “built an empire of sorts with their furniture business,” she says. “They got my five siblings and me educated – piano, ballet, karate – well travelled and excited about the world. There was a level of respect for the planet in general. It was part of our upbringing.”

That hasn’t disappeared. Last summer Stana went on a two-week holiday to Mongolia, where she donned traditional clothes, learned a few words of Khalkha (the official language), slept in a yurt and rode a camel through the Gobi Desert. She loved the solitude. “It doesn’t get a lot of tourists,” she deadpans. That adventurous jaunt to Central Asia sums up Stana’s personality: She isn’t your cookie-cutter Hollywood type.

Her latest cause is the Alternative Travel Project. “California’s supposed to be an eco-friendly state and we’re doing a rotten job of it in L.A.,” she says. Her ambition was to encourage viewers and fans of Castle to leave their cars at home and find other ways to commute. For seven days over a month, she walked 40 minutes, rode her bike or took public transit to the set in a city where people rarely travel anywhere by foot. “I was exercising while I was doing it. And I was engaging with the community, too!”

Stana says seeing the world through “Canadian eyeballs” helped cultivate her nonconformist attitude. In 1997, she enrolled at the University of Toronto in international relations, economics, and pre-law. “I thought I could save the world,” she says. “What’s promoted in the States is assimilation, whereas in Canada, it’s multiculturalism,” says Stana. “That mosaic mentality allows for an appreciation of an individual’s culture and history.” She tips her hat, too, to Canada’s socialized health care and supports Obama’s reforms to extend health-care insurance.

When it comes to the politics of her love life, though, the spicier topics are off limits. “I love to kiss, but I don’t tell,” she says, laughing. “Romance is difficult for some celebrities. If the media finds out you’re dating Robert Pattinson, you’re screwed.” But she does admit that she’s very committed to deep and substantive relationships. “I like the concept that if you’re with someone, it’s for the long term.” Is she dating co-star Nathan Fillion? She won’t tell – though the internet is awash with buzz about it. For now, she opts to keep us, and her three million viewers, guessing.

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‘CASTLE’: THREE TEASES FROM EP ANDREW MARLOWE!
One of my favorite things about Spoiler Room is that I get a chance to preview for you a lot of the fun things to come here on InsideTV, and here’s yet another: Yesterday, I hopped on the phone with Castle EP Andrew Marlowe, who talked about the second half of the season. And while you can expect a full report on our chat over the next few days (good stuff!), here are three bits I’ve pulled to entice you for the time being!

+ Another kiss coming?
As one of you pointed out in an e-mail to me, last January, fans were treated to a kiss between Castle and Beckett. So, I posed the factoid to the ever-coy Marlowe, while shamelessly fishing to see if there was something coming up to be equally excited about. “I think we can be treated to something, if not at that level, close to that level — in terms of movement and complication,” he teases.

+ Another high-stakes two-parter!
One of my favorite episodes of Castle last season was the two-part dirty bomb episode that guest-starred Heroes alum Adrian Pasdar. This season, Jennifer Beals will guest in another two-parter as a CIA agent (with ties to Castle!) who will allow the writers to “do storytelling on a grand scale.” “We have some folks here who spent some time in features and we want to try to bring that movie mentality to TV as best we can,” he says. “I think it will be as explosive as last season. Certainly, I’ll say, we were dealing with a dirty bomb so explosive is a good word for last season. This one will be equally high stakes.”

+ Finale planning in progress
Last season’s Castle finale was, for yours truly, the best episode of the series. So how does one top that? Simple: You don’t. “You try to do something different,” clarifies Marlowe. “If you’re doing the same thing, only better, it still gets a little bit familiar. We always like to keep the audience a little bit on their toes, so we’re conceiving the last couple of episodes — what can we do that’s really compelling in a way we haven’t explored on the show yet?”

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