ABC’s ‘Castle’ season 5 spoilers: Has a decision been made on Rick’s dad?

If you think back over the past couple of months, then you know already that “Castle” creator Andrew Marlowe has been mired in a major debate with himself when it comes to the subject of Rick’s father and the annual two-part episode airing in the February sweeps. While he knows that this is a character that just about every fan of the show under the sun wants to see, he also realizes that there needs to be something up his sleeve for viewers to look forward to now that so many questions have been answered on the murder of Beckett’s mom.

With this in mind, it looks as though we have reached what may be best described as a compromise when it comes to the character’s possible appearance moving forward into season 5. Speaking in a chat with TV Guide, Marlowe explained that the show is going to in part explore the story about Nathan Fillion’s character and his daddy issues, but they will also leave something hanging for later:

“I would not characterize the two-parter as being about his dad … Hopefully we can find a great and elegant way to embrace Castle’s father’s mythology in way that’s going to be exciting.”

With this in mind, we anticipate now the dad storyline happening at some point during season 6, which may be the start of the “Castle” home stretch, given how Fillion has already suggested that he does not like to see shows last so long that they become tiresome to viewers. (This is mere speculation, we would be surprised if “Castle” stuck around beyond a season 7.)

As for who should play the new Mr. Castle, can we still vote for Harrison Ford? The prospect of one sci-fi icon playing the dad of another sci-fi icon would be, simply put, beyond words.

Do you want to take a look at a “Castle” season 5 episode coming up later this month? If so, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: ABC