ABC’s ‘Castle’ season 5, episode 17 preview: ‘American Horror Story’ + ‘The Ring’

After the flurry of new episodes that come around for every show during the February sweeps, May suddenly seems like a very painful time. The latest example of that? Having to wait around for some new episodes of “Castle” season 5 after getting a few in succession.

Sadly, there will be two weeks of repeats coming up for the show before the adventures of Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic return to TV, and they will be doing so in March following the season 16 premiere of “Dancing with the Stars.” After seeing an hour that was so focused on emotional moments and meeting Castle’s father for the first time, this one revolves almost squarely around a tribute to horror franchises. There is a storyline involving watching a tape that seems almost like a carbon copy of “The Ring,” and there is also an asylum that certainly brings to mind the most-recent season of “American Horror Story.”

Based on the promo below, the story here is something that could be interesting, and it will almost certainly be much lighter in tone despite the claims of Castle that he could be about to die after seeing the tape that supposedly kills people. The next couple of episodes in particular are likely to be funnier, largely in order for the show to focus more on the serious subjects as we get a little closer to the end of the show. Even the 100th episode airing in April is set to be more focused on being more of a traditional hour than trying to do anything to break the mold.

What do you expect to see unfold on this episode? Be sure to share all of your theories below, and head on over to the link here if you want to see our full review of the two-part episode that just wrapped up.

Photo: ABC