'Once Upon a Time,' 'Castle,' 'Big Bang Theory,' 'Following': Find out what's next in the Spoiler Room

Happy Tuesday, y’all! Lots of good stuff here so I won’t waste your time with foreplay — unless you like that sort of thing. Wink. Kidding. Sorry. Must be all these Valentine’s-themed episodes I’ve been watching that are making me all saucy.

Speaking of which, happy early Valentine’s Day to you all! Show me your love by sending more questions: spoilerroom@ew.com.

See you next week.

ONCE UPON A TIME: MR. GOLD’S ADVENTURE

Mr. Gold is off on an adventure into a terrifying land he’s never been before — New York. And while Henry certainly enjoys the trek to NYC in this week’s episode of Once Upon a Time, Mr. Gold’s journey to find his son definitely is not going to go smoothly, according to executive producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. “I would say that ‘Manhattan’ is going to be the showdown that everyone wants to [see],” says Kitsis, referring to Mr. Gold’s reunion with his son. (Also, there are some amazing flashbacks that explain at least one major burning question fans have Gold for a very long time and the ending of the last flashback will send a chill through your spine.)

Kitsis adds that Gold’s confrontation with his son won’t be the only emotional turmoil we should expect in this week’s hour. “Emma is going to be dealing with a lot of emotional baggage [in the next few episodes], I’ll say that,” Kitsis says. “There are a lot of things she needs to get through.”

In related Once news, as I told you this week, August will make a reappearance later this season, and says Horowitz, “We can’t wait for you to see the next phase of his story.” But the rest of the season won’t just be returns from favorite characters. Two words: —i- -o–.

CASTLE: 100th EPISODE DISH!

Castle‘s epic two-part episode is going to leave us with our jaws on the floor, but as all the loyal fans know, the show also has a big milestone 100th episode coming up. So how is the show going to top the former? Easy: It will dazzle us in different ways. “The two-parter is so big that in an ideal universe it would have landed in the 100 slot,” explains executive producer Andrew Marlowe. “And so for episode 100, we didn’t feel like we could do the kind of storytelling that just blows it out because [we had] just done something really huge. So what we’re looking to do is an episode that is a classic, charming, wonderful, surprising Castle episode that’ll be a lot of fun and feature all of our characters in a really great way.”

While the official storyline for the ep is something Marlowe has under construction, he says the episode will have some “small” callbacks to older seasons, “but it’s going to be more of a great, classic Castle episode.” “As much as our loyal fans would love us to do something out of bounds and crazy, we’re going to do something we think is a lot of fun and a little nod to them and have a chance to play around with the Castle-Beckett relationship in a fun way,” he said.

He adds: “We were having an over balance of big storytelling in the spring, and we don’t want to let go of the fun and we want to have a good moment with the Castle-Beckett relationship and we’re planning on having something interesting at the end of the season, which is coming up really quickly,” he says. “It’s an episode that is kind of sandwiched in an odd area, so we kind of have to honor the viewing experience.”

I don’t think we can argue with that, right, guys?

THE FOLLOWING: THREE BURNING QUESTIONS

I’ve gotten a lot of burning questions about this heart-pounding season of The Following, so I’ll clear some of these up in bullet points, with answers straight from executive producer Kevin Williamson!

Will the entire season be about Joey’s kidnapping?

Williamson: “No, no, no. There’s some game-changers that happen. Seven is a big game changer [and] 6 is a game changer. When I say game changer, I mean there’s a big turn in the story that takes us into a new direction.”

Is Ryan ever going to best Joe? He’s losing this fight so far!

Williamson: “Yup. Ryan’s our hero — he’s going to start dinging Joe’s plan left and right. That’s the fun of the show and the fun of the second half. It’s that kind of show where [you think] the FBI is behind the ball for five minutes. But they eventually get ahead of it and they really start kicking ass.”

Is Parker bad?

Williamson: “Well, you can look at it two ways. Is she more than she pretends to be? Or is that sort of her little psychology move of trying to befriend this man and get him to talk to her too — so Ryan Hardy isn’t the only person he’ll talk to. [Is] she trying to build a relationship, which is basically psychology 101.”

Note: There’s EVEN more scoop in this week’s Entertainment Weekly, on stands Friday. So please pick it up! On to scooplets….

SIDE DISHES

Any Justified scoop? — Leslie

Um, MAJOR. How big? Let me put it to you this way: the end of tonight’s episode is so super, you’ll want to come back to EW.com right after to read our post-mortem with Joelle Carter. That’s a hint, no?

Please tell me Dallas isn’t in danger of being cancelled! — Amy

I certainly hope it’s not because things are about to get REALLY good. In fact, in next week’s episode (airing 2/17) we’re going to see Ann give incredibly emotional testimony in an effort to clear up what has become a very messy situation. I’ll tell ya this, though — by the end of the hour someone IS being hauled off to jail.

Spoilers for Beauty and the Beast plzzzz! – EWOK

The grim reaper is paying a visit — VERY soon.

Big Bang Theory scoop would make my day! — Gerry

The gift exchange between Sheldon and Amy in the Valentine’s Day episode is going to warm your heart. My hint? Sheldon’s gift is definitely more tangible than you’d imagine — but there are consequences.

Sandra, I am a late-comer to the gore-tastic psychofest that is Criminal Minds. Please throw me a spoiler bone? Anything about my boyfriend Dr. Spencer Reid, preferably. (What? It could happen.) Regards — Annie

It’s will be mildly quiet on the Reid front in the next few episodes as he deals with the aftermath of his girlfriend’s death — and that’s sort of a good thing when you consider the possibly devastating alternative route we could have seen him go down. According to executive producer Erica Messer, the writers had talked about whether Reid’s loss would send him spiraling into drugs once again, but she reports, “you won’t see that in the near future.” “You won’t see that in season 8 but the idea is that he fights that,” she says. “As an addict, the easier thing to do would be to fall back into what can numb him and comfort him in that way. But instead he’s really fighting the fight to stay clean and sober.”

Is there some information about the [relationship between] Carrie and Sebastian on The Carrie Diaries? — Elizabeth

It gets a little tense in the Feb. 25 episode when Sebastian meets George for the first time at a school dance. But at least one of these men in Carrie’s life will mess up in a big way before the end of the hour, leaving you wondering if there’s any hope of a future left between them. (Note: Let’s admit it –no high school couple really ever has a future.)

Um, this week’s Arrow looks amazing. I’m ashamed of how into this show I am. I’m also ashamed of how I’d result to begging for a little scoop… — Chloe

This week’s episode IS amazing and I won’t even make you beg for scoop, I’ll just give it to you. Remember when I was told that someone else was going to learn Oliver’s secret soon? I can now tell you that you really, really don’t have to wait much longer at all to find out who this person is. (The promo is a good hint.) But before you go counting this person as part of the team, you should know that (s)he has one big condition…

Sandra, I loved the McAbby moments in last week’s NCIS. Any more coming up soon? — Sarah

None that immediately popped into Pauley Perrette’s mind when we caught up with her at the Grammy Awards this weekend. But it’s on her wishlist, as is this request: “We have never seen her house and I would love to take an episode there because I think they’d have so much fun building that set,” she says. “I think her house would look exactly like my makeup guy Tony’s house. I videotaped his house for reference if they ever need it. It is all very velvety and there’s weird old medical equipment hanging around and doll that he makes. I always love the chance to learn more about Abby.”

One word: Shameless! — Maggie

One word: BABY! We caught up with Shanola Hampton who said that even though Veronica and Kev are having a tough time in the baby-making department, it won’t last long. Rather, they’ll find a way to get a baby. “The way that they go about trying to bring a child into the world will be like nothing you have ever seen on television,” she said. I know what you’re thinking (because this is Shameless), but no, they’re not kidnapping a baby. “No, nothing deviant. We leave baby kidnapping to the Gallaghers. But the way they go about it is very unconventional and almost disgusting. I was nauseous when I read the script about it. I’m just saying that should give people a clue.”

Any 90210 scoop? Please don’t mock me for being one of ten people who watch this show… — Breanna

Of course I won’t mock you… (LQTM) Anyway, I hear that as Michael Steger’s Navid struggles to fit into his secret society, look for him to start having some doubts about the group. “There are a lot more tests, [and] there is one really serious test coming up in episode 18 that really crosses boundaries and goes overboard and leaves him questioning if this society is really the right way to go,” says Steger. “I can’t give any more than that away.”

What’s Alicia so upset about in the Good Wife promo? Did she say something to Will?

She didn’t say anything. It’s more of a “did.” And she’s not the only guilty party.

(Carrie Bell and Nuzhat Naoreen contributed to this column.)