Bones is still going strong in its eleventh season, and if the first two episodes are any indication of what’s in store, it’s going to be an exciting one. We recently took part in a press call with Bones star Emily Deschanel and Executive Producer Michael Peterson to learn a bit about what’s coming up. Here’s a bit of what they had to share about upcoming storylines, themes, and more!
The main focus is on Brennan and Booth in Season 11
“That [relationship] was definitely the focus coming into this season,” said Peterson. “When [Co-Executive Producer] Jon Collier and I met with and talked to David and Emily, our focus is making sure to have as much time as possible with Booth and Brennan. That is the heart of the show. We will challenge ourselves to make sure to get as much screen time as possible.”
He added, “David [Boreanaz] gave us a note early on, and said to go back and watch early seasons, like Seasons 1 and 2. I spent my hiatus watching all these episodes over and over again, and it also inspired a lot of storylines. For instance, watching the pilot, it talks a lot about the first book that Temperance writes and how it’s inspired by each of the characters on the show. That led to a fun storyline that is coming up — I think in Episode 4 — where there’s a twist in Brennan’s latest novel that is a sharp departure, but it leads to some pretty good back and forth between Booth and Brennan as a result of it. It’s been fun to re-discover those early seasons and having it reflect in this season.”
Secrets, lies and trust
Already in the first two episodes, Booth and Brennan have had some issues, and that’s going to color the rest of the season.
Peterson told us, “Last year was very specific, [with] Booth lying about gambling versus what happened this year. I think that if it had been a one-parter and David was reunited with her after the first episode, Brennan would have hit him a lot harder as far as accusations. Through the course of the second episode, what we’re trying to get to is she understands who SHE is better through this case, [and] that she belongs at the lab.
“In discovering where she belongs, she also understands Booth better — that Booth is this man of action. The way that we say it internally here is Booth is a little bit of a Superman, and Superman can’t just sit by and watch as people suffer. There really is no retiring for him, so by the end of the second episode Brennan understands that she belongs in the lab and that her Superman, Booth, belongs out there in the field saving people. She understands him in a way that probably nobody else could, so while a lot of people would yell at him, she understands it’s just who he is and she wouldn’t want him to be any other way.”
Brennan and Booth are going undercover again
Deschanel shared her favorite undercover storyline to date, but Peterson thinks she may change her mind after a storyline later in Season 11.
“I love the circus episode,” said Deschanel. “That’s probably my favorite undercover episode. It was a lot of fun to dress up, and learn how to fake walk on wire. It wasn’t me tightrope walking up above very high, but I got to do it down low, on a much lower wire for just filming close-ups or closer shots.”
It may have been fun, but Deschanel did suffer a minor injury: “I actually hit my eye in real life and I had a bruised eyeball. We had to think of a way of covering that in that episode, so I got an eye patch.”
Peterson teased the upcoming story that may challenge Deschanel’s favorite undercover tale.
“We will definitely be going undercover again this season, and I think it’s going to be so good that maybe next year she’ll change her answer. One of our former writers, Karine Rosenthal, is coming in to guest write one for us. It’s going to be a different version of undercover than we’ve ever done before, so it’s going to be very playful, competitive. I believe that’s going to be [Episode] 1109.
The midseason finale is going to be a game changer
There’s going to be a “major shake-up” for Hodgins, Angela and Aubrey in Episode 10, the midseason finale. Peterson let us in on a bit of what’s coming up: “It’s an episode that we were considering for our season opener. We’re going to start with a quite literal bang, but that episode will be very interesting as far as how it will change the trajectory of the rest of the season.”
Peterson shared a bit more about that episode when asked about upcoming “Big Bads”: “Episode 10 [will have] the biggest bad that we’re going to come across. I really don’t want to give too much away there, but it’s going to be something that impacts Hodgins, Angela and Aubrey very directly.”
He also touched on the upcoming Sleepy Hollow/Bones crossover. “The Sleepy Hollow episode has a very interesting version of a big bad. We’re going to find two sets of remains. One of them is going to be very, very old and that’s going to be more of a big bad from the Sleepy Hollow universe.”
Art sometimes imitates life (and vice versa)
Bones has managed to take real-life headlines and incorporate them into their stories from time to time, and the writers are always looking for those true crime stories to inspire them. Peterson let us in on a few potential storylines: “We’re always looking. We read a ton and look for inspiration anywhere we can. Hart Hanson e-mailed us recently asking whether or not we thought there was any kind of storyline with the young child in Texas who got arrested over building a clock. That seems very much in the Bones wheelhouse. We haven’t really developed a story yet for that, but it certainly could be a possibility down the line.”
He continued, “We look everywhere. I’ve got Google alerts set up for body finds and stuff like that. It gets a little morbid sometimes. [Sometimes] it seems like when we write something then it actually does happen in real life. We had one episode where a person was canned, and then shortly after we started writing, somebody actually died — I think it was at the Bumble Bee Tuna factory — and was canned. Sometimes it goes the reverse of that and it’s horrifying, which led us to write a lottery episode hoping that if we write it, maybe we can win the lottery. Sadly, that did not happen.”
Bones airs Thursdays at 8/7c on FOX. It has been airing Wednesdays on Global TV in Canada but moves to Fridays at 10pm starting October 23.
Photo Courtesy of FOX
