ABC’s ‘Castle’ season 6 spoilers: James Brolin will return as Castle’s father

Just in case you were worried that “Castle” would bury the story of James Brolin and Rick’s dad for a season or so before reviving it in the future, there is no longer a reason to. The actor behind the role has just confirmed that not only will he be back, but he will be shooting the episode fairly soon.

Brolin confirmed the news that he is heading off to film the ABC series soon in an interview with Antenna Free TV, though details about his return in particular are unclear. This isn’t the first time that we had heard talk about him maybe coming back this year, but it is the first real confirmation on the fact that we have heard.

For fans of the show, this is worth doing a few celebratory cartwheels over. Brolin is a huge question mark, and there are questions as to whether or not “Jackson Hunt” (which was the alias that he used the last time we saw him) will ever reveal himself to his granddaughter, to Beckett, or to Castle’s mother Martha. This is a secret that Rick has held close to himself just to ensure the safety of all parties involved. He was involved in what happened with Alexis’ kidnapping last year, and we have to hope that this return will come under slightly less dire circumstances. But then again, what are we saying? It is hard to imagine that Castle’s father would just turn up for a game of Scrabble at the loft. There is probably some sort of significant reason for him to be back, especially if his episode is airing in the February sweeps (which could be right, given the timing of him shooting a spot on the show soon). The story is already set for the rest of 2013, so don’t expect to see him in the immediate future.

Does this next excite you, and what sort of story do you want to see coming up for Rick’s dad this season? Sound off in the comments below! Also, click here if you want to read some speculation about another returning character to the “Castle” world.