Tamala Jones talks exclusively with BuddyTV about what fans can expect in Castle Season 7
Picking Up Where We Left Off
The Castle Season 6 finale had most fans fooled right up until the very last second. It seemed that it was just going to be a fun farce about Castle and Beckett trying to get married after they discovered that Kate wasn’t divorced from her first husband. But then, in the final moments, everything changed when Castle went missing on his way to the ceremony and all that was found of him was his car engulfed in flames.
According to Jones (who plays Lanie on the show), fans should be prepared for the excitement to begin right away in the premiere.
“We’re going to pick up right where we left off, right at the burning car,” Jones said. “So you can expect Detective Beckett to be on top of things even more, because this is involving her fiance. You can also expect her best friend Lanie to be right there with her, trying to help her figure out what caused this, what’s going on and what has Castle gotten himself into?”
What happens in the premiere is promising to be a big surprise for fans, but don’t expect the storyline to kick off a two-part episode or anything like that. Once the premiere is over, things will get back to normal… sort of.
“Some of that stuff [from the premiere] will be brought back up. You know how we do on Castle. We touch on something, move on from it and maybe come back to it later. So I think there’s a possibility that [we could find out more later]. But for the most part, we are trying to solve this — what happened to Castle — immediately.”
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A Spicier Lanie in Season 7
Lanie fans can also expect some new fire from the medical examiner. “Lanie is, she’s a little spicier this season. I love it,” Jones revealed.
One thing that will be first and foremost on Lanie’s mind is getting back to her duties as matchmaker. “Her best friend’s wedding was ruined. She’s been working so hard through all the seasons to get Kate and Castle together, and now they’re finally together and this thing happens. So she’s got her work cut out for her. She’s trying to figure out, ‘How are we going to do this, guys? How are we going to get this wedding done? It can’t stop here.'”
A Turning Point for Lanie and Esposito
As for the on-again/off-again romance between Lanie and Esposito, there might be some interesting news there as well. “I also heard — now, this is a rumor — that around Episode 10 you’re possibly going to see a turning point between Lanie and Esposito and their relationship. So I’m dying to get to Episode 10 so I can see what that’s all about. But I wonder if it’s going to be for the better or if it’s going to be bad. I don’t know!”
Talk about a teaser! Fans have been eagerly waiting for Lanie and Espo to just commit to each other already, but so far it hasn’t happened. Jones thinks both characters have a lot to work on personally before that can happen. “I think that Lanie has a wall up and she can be a little bit commitment-phobic. And I think that Esposito has got a wall up as well, that makes him out to be a little bit commitment-phobic,” she said.
“I would love to see, with Lanie, what is in her past made her like this. What got her to this point where she’s afraid to just let go and be in love with someone she knows she loves so much. So hopefully they’ll touch on that throughout the season,” Jones added.
One thing’s for sure, Jones is rooting for them just as much as the fans are. “I want to see them get together,” she shared. “I’m like, ‘Come on, guys! You were getting it on all this time, then you break up because someone mentions the ‘m’ word, marriage.’ And now at the end of last season we kind of saw them a little cuddly and holding hands. It seems like it could’ve brought them closer together, this drama that’s going on with Castle and the car accident.”
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Looking Back at 6 Seasons — Favorite Episodes and More
Heading into the shows seventh season, Jones said the entire cast and crew is having a wonderful time. “It’s so easy, because we have such a great cast and great writers and a great crew. It’s like your secondary family. So it makes the work that much easier.”
Another thing that is good about having six seasons under her belt is getting all that medical jargon down. Jones admitted that it used to be harder for her, but now it’s much easier and, in fact, some of that jargon has become quite useful.
“I feel like for the past six seasons I’ve been in med school, learning everything. But it’s been great because I’ve been able to use what I’ve learned from Castle in different situations with friends or family. If they get sick, I can tell them, ‘don’t mix this medication with that because it can cause a chain reaction.’ I kind of impress myself with that sometimes.”
Six seasons adds up to a lot of episodes and though it wasn’t an easy choice, Jones was able to come up with her favorite episode to film so far. “I can tell you — because I love period pieces — [that] I loved “The Blue Butterfly,” Season 4. That was one of my most favorite episodes, and I’ve had a lot of favorite episodes of Castle. But I loved us getting dressed up and going back in time,” she said.
“It was just so exciting to do that and everybody was into it. We all had a good time. We were up one night until about 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning and no one was sleepy. It was like if we’d been dressed in regular clothes and that wasn’t a flashback, we could’ve been a little sleepy. But everyone was still wide awake and just into it, and it was great.”
Castle Season 7 premieres on Monday, Sept. 28 at 10pm on ABC. What storyline are you most excited to see played out this season, Castle and Beckett or Lanie and Esposito?
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
