Comic-Con Report: Sunday, July 25

Sunday started early for us. We were in line at 3:30. And still I was probably a dozen or so people back in the line headed into the "Castle" panel first thing Sunday morning, and the rest of the Geek Girl group was further back in their quest for "Smallville" and "Supernatural" panel seats. But it was weirdly fun, being tired, camped out well before dawn, and hitting that magical "close enough to 6am" and making a Starbucks run that woke everyone up! Starbucks was angling for "geeks in good moods" by playing music like the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" theme and "Pinky and the Brain".

If you don't normally follow this blog, you may not know that I've been working on a "Castle" spec script, so I was uber excited about the "Castle" panel. I actually had a moment when show creator Andrew Marlowe mentioned wanting to do a show that was similar to the spec, and had to check with friends sitting nearby to be sure I heard him correctly! Took a lot of pictures and video, so I'll probably cram them in here like a mad woman! The panel kicked off with a video sparking the Twitter mystery, a game leading into Season 3, which can be found by following WriteRCastle on twitter for clues. Funny video, with a little meta humor with Nathan Fillion as Castle tweeting a pic of the dead body.

The panel was amazingly funny. The moderator gave Nathan Fillion (Castle) and Stana Katic (Det. Beckett) a copy of "Heat Wave" to read from, and antics from consulting cast mates Seamus Dever (Ryan) and Jon Huertas (Esposito) on how to pronounce words to a rogue ice cube getting into the guys' pants while Katic was reading kept the audience in stitches more than the dramatic reading of the infamously steamy page 108 scene in "Heat Wave".

Also on tap was the moderator asking Dever and Huertas about the depth of the relationship between Ryan and Esposito. The moderator even mentioned that there is a growing and popular segment of the fan base who ships the slash pairing, which lead to Huertas trying to answer about the relationship, but Dever just continuing to dig a deeper hole by saying that partners were sometimes as close to a marriage as some cops get. Huertas finally managed to get around to talking about how they were brothers, and Marlowe mentioned that Dever and Huertas have the same banter and chemistry off screen as on, which translates well for the show.

The panel screened a scene from the upcoming Season 3 premiere and it looks like a great kick off for an awesome season! Other big season reveals include Castle's daughter Alexis (played by the adorable Molly Quinn who came to the panel in Trek uniform, making her the coolest one up there in my books!) having a boyfriend and continuing to push the boundaries the way her dad says he wants her to, but giving him a heart attack when she does! They also mentioned a multi-episode arc featuring a serial killer smart enough to be a worthy nemesis for Castle and Beckett. A challenge to Fillion's "Dr. Horrible" castmate Neil Patrick Harris to come on the show was issued, with Fillion asking the fans to tweet the challenge at Harris.

The cast shared some great stories of pranks played on set, including the prank Stana Katic played on Seamus Dever, managing to get the entire cast and crew in on convincing him that the upcoming episode would feature him and a strip tease. This resulted in Andrew Marlowe dodging Dever because he didn't think his acting skills were up to the prank, and Dever being more convinced it was true. Restrictive diets and body makeup were all in the mix before Katic and the cast and crew presented him with a g-string that read "Kiss me, I'm Irish."

Fillion of course tapped into his ability to say "Double Rainbow" and have his twitter fans yell back "Double Rainbow All the Way!" though the level of the response from the audience seemed to surprise the panel. When the lights came up for the Q&A, the audience learned why- the cast and crew thought the room was less than half the size it was, and they didn't know that quite a few people were actually turned away and didn't get in. A pleasant surprise for them!

Following the "Castle" panel, Anthony Head (Uther) and Colin Morgan (Merlin) of the BBC's "Merlin" took the stage to promote the upcoming Season 3, which is currently being filmed. The panel started with a video from series star Bradley James (Arthur) who couldn't make it to the panel. The next video in the set was a blooper reel, which revealed that Head is incapable of keeping a straight face for long, in contrast to the intimidating and fierce character he portrays in the show. The third video was the Season 3 trailer-- looks like Uther will expend every resource possible to bring his ward, Morgana, home again. And when she comes home, she'll be apologetic, but all in a ploy to work her way deep into the court for a mischievous end. The panel implied that there's a good chance Morgana will learn about Merlin's magic this season, and leaned toward ruling out the use of the part of Arthurian legend where Morgana seduces Merlin.

In wrapping up, I do have to say Comic-Con was an amazing and almost unreal ride of simply awesome panels and screenings, with a lot of fun making new friends and bonding with old ones. I'm really hoping to return to Comic-Con next year, with the Geek Girl group, for more fun and crazy antics!