The Final Frontier (5 Nov. 2012)

During the annual major SciFfi convention, Nebula 9 - super-fan Audrey O'Neill, who finally organized with a nerd couple a life performance there starring the short-lived series' original ... See full summary »

Director:

Jonathan Frakes

Writers:

Andrew W. Marlowe (creator), Kate Sargeant

Stars:

Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic, Susan Sullivan

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Nathan Fillion	...	Richard Castle
Stana Katic	...	Kate Beckett
Susan Sullivan	...	Martha Rodgers (credit only)
Jon Huertas	...	Javier Esposito
Seamus Dever	...	Kevin Ryan
Tamala Jones	...	Lanie Parish (credit only)
Molly C. Quinn	...	Alexis Castle (as Molly Quinn)
Penny Johnson	...	Captain Victoria Gates (credit only) (as Penny Johnson Jerald)
Ed Quinn	...	Gabriel Winters
Christina Moore	...	Stephanie Frye
Armin Shimerman	...	Benjamin Donnelly
Arye Gross	...	M.E. Sidney Perlmutter
Erin Way	...	Audrey O'Neill
John Bobek	...	Davis Hawthorne
Chris McKenna	...	Simon Westport (as Chris L. McKenna)

Storyline

During the annual major SciFfi convention, Nebula 9 - super-fan Audrey O'Neill, who finally organized with a nerd couple a life performance there starring the short-lived series' original cast as well after decade of 'webipsodes', is found dead on set, killed with a real 'space laser', of which only two working ones were custom-made. Castle, who has better taste, is amused to find Becket was part of a college fan gang. The team works out various personal, career and business motives as well as opportunities for cast and crew.

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Plot Keywords:

convention | disarming a person with a gun | laser weapon | laser pointer | female stockinged legs | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 November 2012 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beacon Pictures, Experimental Pictures, ABC Studios

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the suspects, Stephanie Frye (played by Christina Moore) who was 'Lt Chloe' in the story's fictitious sci-fi TV series, "Nebula 9", is interviewed by Beckett and Castle at the sci-fi convention in front of the marquee featuring her new spy action movie, "Agent Stark". The character Gabriel Winters ("Nebula 9"'s captain, 'Max Rennard') is played by Ed Quinn, who portrayed Nathan Stark, the head of Global Dynamics in the sci-fi series, "Eureka".

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Connections

References Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

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Soundtracks

"Ideal Woman"
(uncredited)
Written by Ben Folds and William Shatner
Performed by William Shatner
[occurs in the closing scene]

User Reviews

Funny Funny Funny Funny

By Michael Seese

Funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny episode. Did I mention I thought it was funny?

"The Final Frontier" was just a wonderful show. I suspect that the direction of Jonathan Frakes had something to do with it. Though I've never met him, of course, I just get the impression that he has a great sense of humor. And it showed.

First, let's dispense with the formalities.

Murder? Check. Lots of suspects? Check. Motives? Not at first, but then...check. They solved it? Check. Nice bit of insight in to Beckett's soul? Check. (The scene where she explained why she liked Nebula 9.)

MINOR SPOILER IN THIS PARAGRAPH! One picky thing: at the end, when they were examining all the suspects' hands under the UV light, they seemed to pretty easily accept Winter's alibi that he bought a gun and shot it that morning.

OK, so let's talk about lines, looks, and references. For the sake of level-setting, normally when I take notes on Castle, I use ¾ of a sheet of paper. This one took 1 ½ pages.

LINES

Beckett: "What caused the wound?" Medical Examiner Perlmutter: (Pause) "No clue."

Perlmutter: "Detective Beckett. And non-detective Castle."

Beckett: "This coming from the man with a life-sized Bobba Fett in his bathroom." Castle: "Point taken."

Castle: (After seeing Alexis in her cleavage-baring costume): "How am I going to un-see that?"

Beckett: "I know about the threesome with the Lt. Chloes. How much worse can it be?"

Castle (channeling Jean-Luc Picard): "Let's make sure no one forgets the name Enterprise."

Stephanie: "Lt. Chloe bobbleheads!" (The delivery was everything.)

LOOKS

Ryan's quizzical, "The Nebula 9 Fan Club?" followed by Beckett's uncomfortable, "Yeah, I understand they have a loyal following."

Castle's amused blink-blink when he said, "Kate Beckett! You have a Nebula 9 outfit."

Castle's true shock / horror when Beckett appeared in the hot costume and the hideous mask.

And the entire scene where Ryan and Esposito were interviewing witnesses was precious. I especially loved Espo's face when the girl in the leaf costume pulled one off, wrote her number, and walked away. Then he added weakly, "You took my pen."

And I have to admit, I loved Stephanie's "death throes" as they were re-enacting the crime.

REFERENCES

Of course, I'm sure I missed a few. And others were so obvious that I didn't even record them. But the most noteworthy:

"Star Trek. Battlestar. And that other show by Joss Whedon." The latter, of course, is "Firefly" starring you-know-who.

"Fracking amazing." "Frack" was the f-word equivalent in the original "Battlestar Galactica." It might have been used in new one as well; but since I only saw bits and pieces of several episodes, I can't say for sure.

The song played at the end was "Ideal Woman" from the William Shatner disk "Has Been." Incidentally, that is a great album; it definitely is one of the "Ten I'd Want On A Desert Island" disks.