Two Whedon references in one

On tonight's Halloween episode of Castle, there were at least two references to former Joss Whedon shows.

First, we see Nathan Fillion's title character dress up in full Captain Mal Reynolds browncoat wardrobe, declaring to his daughter that he's a "space cowboy," exactly what what people would have consider Mal to be. And his daughter replies, "Didn't you wear that, like, five years ago?" (After her comment about there being no cows in space, of course.)

A fun little ribbing at the last time he donned the getup for the filming of Serenity, the movie followup to canned TV series Firefly. (The Halloween theme was the perfect chance for Firefly fans to see Nathan Fillion as Mal Reynolds again, so why not?)

Then, with the episode having to deal with vampires... or at least people who like to dress up like vampires, it was the perfect opportunity to get in a Buffy reference, which Castle did upon seeing a man with a stake rammed through his heart.


...There might have been a reference to Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, as well, what with Castle mock laughing as a mad scientist, but as I have not watched it, I cannot comment.