Firefly Reunion on Castle!

Boy, do I love it when television makes me giddy!  I admittedly - and regretfully - was late to the awesome party that was Firefly ... didn't become a fan till it was long off the air, but now I am a dedicated and enthusiastic Browncoat.  I was also a fan of the NBC series Chuck starring Adam Baldwin and am currently a big fan of ABC's Castle starring Nathan Fillion. 

Last night, all worlds gleefully collided as Baldwin made a hilarious guest appearance on the hit show.

Baldwin played Detective Ethan Slaughter - rightfully named, being the kind of cop he was - dangerous, prone to violence and recklessness, doing any means to achieve his end.  Problem was, Fillion's (Rick) Castle, still hurting after learning the truth that (Kate) Beckett, his partner and woman he loves has been lying to him for months about knowing his true feelings for her, opted to shadow Slaughter as his new muse, allowing himself to be put in harm's way repeatedly.

I confess, I wasn't really paying much attention to the case of the week - a father killed his son and tried to frame a local gang for the deed.  I was too busy enjoying the onscreen reunion and looking for any nods to  Firefly - "easter eggs," I guess you'd call them - and they were there ... or maybe I just saw what I wanted to see.  Eh, who cares?  I wasn't disappointed!

• In Castle's first scene, he is caught playing with dolls ... sorry, action figures ... saying he was working out a scene for his new book.  This was just like Wash (Alan Tudyk) in the Firefly pilot episode "Serenity," playing with the dinosaur figures he kept on his console ("taking over this land which they would then call ... This Land.").

• Baldwin had a line during his interrogation of the father, saying the son's activities were his "boy's brand of stupid."  In the Firefly episode "Heart of Gold," Fillion had a similar line, when deciding to take on the local bad guy rather than run, he told his charge "You're my kind of stupid."

• To get Slaughter to let him tag along, Castle trades his leather coat.  The color?  Brown, of course! (Browncoats were what the rebels wore in Firefly).

• Mid-episode, Slaughter made Castle believe that the former had killed someone, later having a good laugh about it.  In the Firefly pilot, Mal (Fillion) made Simon (Sean Maher) believe he'd killed Kaylee (Jewel Staite), then the crew had a hearty guffaw at Simon's expense.

• Later, Slaughter throws a gang member into a garbage truck to "question" him about the murder, threatening to kill him by turning on the crusher.  In the Firefly episode "Ariel," after Jayne (Baldwin) had betrayed the crew, Mal looked him the airlock and opened the door as they were heading off into space, threatening certain death.

There may have been more, but those were the ones I happened to catch.  Clearly the boys had a blast working together again and the shift of power - Castle tried to be a badass to keep up but ultimately needed to be bailed out by his team, while Mal was a natural badass who confidently led his team -was a cool dynamic.  Stana Katic (Beckett) took a backseat in this episode, but toward the end we were brought back to the magic connection her character shares with Castle, and both seemed on the road to healing.  Castle knows who his true partner is and so the will-they-or-won't-they continues.

Baldwin's Slaughter was very much a marriage of his Jayne character - lots of gun play, raw violence and lusting after women - and his Chuck character John  Casey - tough-as-nails spy, also with a penchant for violence, clearly in charge.  He looked more like the former, scruffy, unshaven, but with much more unruly hair. 

Slaughter, with Castle and Beckett's help, got the bad guy in the end and maybe learned that his methods don't always yield the right results.  But I don't see him changing his ways so easily.  Hope he returns.

I know it's a mission of Fillion's to have a bigger Firefly reunion on his show.  Unfortunately, this guest star appearance may not allow for Baldwin to join in that fun (as another character, that is), but you never know.  Castle is going strong and Fillion might get his way (fingers crossed!).

That's not to say other Firefly alums are busy with their own work!  Check out:

Gina Torres (Zoe) on USA's Suits, returning in June.
Alan Tudyk (Wash) on ABC's Suburgatory, airing now.
Sean Maher (Simon) on ABC Family's Make It or Break It, airing now.
Jewel Staite (Kaylee) on the CW's The L.A. Complex, premiering next Tuesday, April 24.
Summer Glau (River) has been most recently on ABC's Grey's Anatomy.
Morena Baccarin (Inara)on Showtime's Homeland, returning later this year.

Bonus:  sweet promo after the credits for May 4th's The Avengers featuring fun, playful, one-upmanship banter between Fillion and Robert Downey, Jr. (Iron Man)

Hope you got to enjoy the mini-reunion!  Catch Castle Mondays at 10 p.m. on ABC.