'Wouldn't it be fun to put Castle and Beckett in a world which they don't belong in?'

In an era of television, where it is the intense dramas and rollicking comedies that stand out, Castle is one of the few shows that balances the two. A crime drama peppered with lighthearted moments, Castle follows the characters of writer Richard Castle and Detective Kate Beckett as they solve homicides and murder mysteries together. The show, starring Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic in lead roles, is one of the most popular American shows in India.

David Amann has been a writer and executive producer with the show since its third season. With the seventh season, Amann has taken over as showrunner of Castle from creator Andrew Marlowe. Amann talks to dna about the latest season of the popular crime drama and its journey forward.

Having taken over as showrunner this season, is there anything you've changed?

The show has evolved a little bit now that Castle and Beckett are married. But the intent of the show remains the same which is to have mysteries that involve them and explore their relationship and give the audience an enjoyable hour of television.

Their relationship has been a big part of the show. With them finally getting married this season, where do you think we can see them go from here?

There are a couple of things that we can see. One of them is that Castle obviously did not attend the first wedding (laughs) that he was supposed to at the end of season 6 because he disappeared. I think we can expect he will delve more deeply into that before the end of the season, try to get some understanding of what occurred because it has affected their relationship a great deal. For Beckett's part, she is on a little bit on a search for what she wants to do next. She is somebody who was driven by her mother's murder which is now solved. She had on and off relationship with Castle which is now a marriage and is stable. She's looking at what she wants to be next in her life. In the first part of the two parter (episodes 14 and 15), the subject of children briefly comes up. I think that's one component to it but I think she also has career questions that she will be exploring with the episodes to come.

With this season so far and the last you've wrapped up a lot of arcs that you had going on for several seasons, like Beckett's mother's murder and the 3XK mystery. Where do you see the show going because the long standing arcs that were driving the show all seemed to have wrapped up? How much more is there left to explore with both the characters individually and together?

We believe that as one area of mythology closes like Beckett's mother's murder then another one can open up like with Castle's disappearance this season. It's true that this season we seemed to have the 3XK arc we had since season 3 but other opportunities can come along- other cases, other characters with more mythology to move forward. We expect another Beckett mythology to begin before this season ends.

One of the things we're conscious about is that internally we liked the 3XK episodes a lot, but you also don't want to overstay your welcome with the audience and force them to track storylines over five seasons. So it felt like a good time to wrap that up and bring it to a close in satisfying way.

We're seeing more of Castle's mythology this season with the disappearance. Are we going to see his father make an appearance?
 
It's possible but I don't know that for certain.

With the two-part episodes 14 and 15 we've seen both of them veer towards a darker side of themselves. Is that a direction the show wants to explore?

I think both Castle and Beckett have demonstrated an ability to be ruthlessly protective of the people they love. With Beckett going to any lengths to try to solve her mother's murder and with Castle, a few season ago when Alexis is kidnapped, we see a side of him we had not seen before. So I think both of them are capable of it when the emotional stakes are high. But I don't think that it becomes a constant in their lives. As we've done in the past seasons, we follow the two parter with episodes much lighter in tone and more traditional Castle episodes. 

In the past we've seen episodes revolve around Ryan, Esposito and Alexis. Will we see the same for Lanie and Martha, more of back story for them, especially given the rumours of Martha being a Cold War spy?

(laughs)  I don't know about that particular rumour but we will be seeing more of Martha. Definitely more of Alexis and Ryan, both whom will feature in episodes much like Esposito had earlier in the season. We always like to feature our secondary characters because they're all great. In a perfect world we'd see all them get something each season.

With a lot of episodes you have featured different genres. Sci-fi and the supernatural seem to be particular favourites. What other genres would the show look to explore?

Part of what the show wants to do is to explore genres and worlds. Our most recent episode had a murder on Mars where astronauts are living in a simulation environment for six months. One of them dies and none of them could have done but, also, nobody else got in. So we add a little bit of a sci-fi element to take you into that world. We definitely like those kind of shows, touch on the horror vein a bit. When we see opportunities to explore different worlds and genres we try to take them.

How do you pick a genre? Is it just to put the characters in a world that they have never been in and see how they react to it?

There are a number of factors that go into, one of which is what can we actually physically accomplish on our show because we don't have unlimited money per episode. But there is also if we come across a world that we would like for our characters to be in. That was one of the ways we started off on the Western episode ('Once Upon a Time in the West'). 'Wouldn't it be fun to have them navigate that world which they don't really belong in?' Castle responds with particular delight in being a cowboy. Part of the criteria becomes how would our characters respond to being in that world.

What has been one of the most fun episodes to write for the show?

I'll pick two. I co-wrote an episode with Andrew Marlow last year called 'The Belly of the Beast' (season 6) which was Beckett's first time undercover. That was a very fun episode for me to write. I really enjoyed writing the first part of the 3XK two parter ('Resurrection') partly because I really enjoyed writing the characters of Jerry Tyson and Kelly Neiman. That was the first time we spent a lot of time with both of them interacting with Castle and Beckett. That was a real treat for me. 

We've seen a lot of Easter eggs from Nathan Fillion's Firefly on Castle. Would you ever attempt a crossover episode with the actual characters from Firefly?

I don't think so. You know, there are references from time to time. It's not an easy thing to mix fictional worlds. I'm not sure how we'd go about that. We're happy to make references.

Andrew (Marlowe) talked about wanting William Shatner and Stephen King on the show. Have you thought of anybody who would be dream cameos for you?

There are a lot of people we would love to have on the show but to say their names out loud would put them on the spot in a way that would probably not be fair. We've been very lucky in that we've had tremendous actors. Everybody has a wishlist of people they would like to have on the show— some of it unrealistic and some of it possible. I wouldn't want to name names. 

What do you make of the fan fiction the show has spawned? 

I've seen some of it. I do admire the creativity and the effort. I appreciate that fans devote time and energy to that.