(UPDATE: The Easter egg has been revealed … and it’s not this painting.)
This past Friday, Nathan Fillion made mention the following cool tidbit for anyone who’s a fan of Fillion or Firefly (actually you’re probably a fan of the other if you’re the fan of one, because that would just be really weird and, come on, it’s Nathan Fillion. You know, Captain Hammer. Bam, said the lady.) Apparently there’s a Firefly “Easter egg” on the set of Castle:
Nice to see Jewel Staite and Hubby at Castle today. Showed her the Firefly Easter Egg on Castle set. Can YOU find it?
Oh, the gauntlet is thrown, Mr. Hammer!
I used the magic of Hulu to skim through four or five episodes of Castle, seeing if I could come across anything that stood out as a prop from the set of Firefly. First of all, I decided not to look at anything other than Castle’s apartment, as that would be the most logical place someone would throw a call-out to Firefly and I didn’t want to drive myself crazy trying to look everywhere else.
Next, I thought to look for something from Inara’s shuttle, since Castle’s apartment has that sort of feel to it (y’know, in a cool Asian, artsy way, not in the “I’m a fancy futuristic whore” way). There is an Asian decor piece near Castle’s entryway that I don’t recall seeing anywhere on Serenity, but that’s about it.
Finally, when I was about to give up, I saw the scene pictured above, from Castle’s office. It’s certainly not a prop from Firefly, but is it … a firefly, as in Lampyridae? Not a set piece, but could be considered an “Easter egg,” possibly?
Alright, it’s a bit of a stretch, as I’d more expect to see a prop from the set of Firefly over something like this. Have any of you seen something else that’s more conclusive? Let’s hear it!
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Oct 04, 2009 @ 09:59 EST5EDT
You might just have something there! I hope it’s something really cool like that too, one that makes ya think. :-D
*POST AUTHOR*
Just as a brief update: I was contacted by someone I trust who informed me that the Easter egg in question has not been shown yet on the show, but expect to see it “soon” and it will be very obvious. That’s all I know.
*POST AUTHOR*
OK 2nd update — turns out the person I spoke to said the thing he’s speaking of is a “nod” to Firefly, maybe not an “Easter egg” per se. So, I may still be onto something.
I thought it was this :-D
LOL… Looks like a Zoic-y sort of thing to do.
I’m going to go with ‘no’, if only because I think the antennae are too long. However, Lampyridae do not have clubbed antennae, which that drawing shows, so there’s a possibility it’s a species with long antennae.
I would hazard a guess and say that that insect is from the Cerambycidae family and is in fact a long-horned beetle. There’s a lot of pretty ones and I can imagine someone thinking it would make a good decoration.
I seem to recall him saying in a recent interview that he put it inside one of the drawers on set, and that it will be revealed in a future episode.
I think it’ll be that button from Out of Gas that calls them back to Serenity…
He would have had to get that from Alan Tudyk, because he stole it off the bridge when they finished filming the last Firefly ep. Which is certainly a possibility…
… and then Alan sent it to Joss Whedon when he was trying to get “Serenity” picked up. I believe Joss said that on the Serenity commentary.
Something in a drawer, you say? I guessing Fruity Oaty Bar. :)
*POST AUTHOR*
Another possibility that I forgot to mention in my post is Shepperd’s bible. If someone can get me a screenshot of what this book looks like, I’ll know for sure if the one I saw in a scene of an episode of Castle is it.
Then Ron Glass would have had to have “donated” it – I know that he has said that he kept that particular prop as a keepsake.
Seems a bit subtle for a shout-out, but if you want to find a screencap of Book’s bible, you can’t go wrong with this site:
https://still-flying.net/images/
Rumor has it that Fillion ill be dressed up as Mal for the Halloween episode of Castle.
Man, the guy will do ANYTHING for ratings! LOL It will definitely get ME looking closer, for sure. One day we will all get a life, but in the meantime . . . (voting for the Mal Halloween costume – I miss Capt. Tightpants! But that is probably too obvious)
*POST AUTHOR*
It looks like the bit about Castle dressing as Mal are true!
Just read an interview with Fillion and Katic where Fillion stated the “easter egg” would not show up before the Halloween episode.
Here is the link for the interview:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/jenna-busch/nathan-fillion-and-stana_b_309886.html
When Alexis says that the model used to babysit her, Castle says she what you? Kinda reminded me of Swhat? from Shindig. I now know that we have to wait for the Halloween ep for the actual Easter Egg, but when I heard this line last night, I thought I had found it.
Fillion said it was around the 6 minute mark of last nights episode so you might be right!
Two by two. Hands of blue.
https://twitpic.com/lcs9c
There is more than a nod or easter egg in the halloween episode of castle. Here is a link to it on hulu, it happens in the 1st minute of the show. https://www.hulu.com/watch/104731/castle-vampire-weekend