Bones Boss Talks Series Finale-Like Ending, Season 11 Time Jump and Mehr 

In a season finale that felt like the show was bidding adieu for good,

on Thursday night found Booth and Brennan saying goodbye to their colleagues as they prepared for a fresh start somewhere else — even as a videotape featuring an old foe surfaced.

“Pelant is in the past,” Brennan declared. “I won’t have him steal the new life Booth and I are going to live.”

Meanwhile, Hodgins declared that he and Angela didn’t need the $4 billion(!) Pelant stole, which his wife recovered, and instead suggested the tainted money go to 100 charities. Angie agreed to the plan, as long as they eschewed their Paris plans and stayed put at the Jeffersonian.

Below, executive producer Stephen Nathan discusses the episode’s finite feeling, Angela and Hodgins’ surprising decision, Season 11’s big changes and more. Plus: Will Pelant draw Booth and Brennan back to their old life?

TVLINE | There was something very series finale-ish about the ending. Was that you just being pragmatic in case the show didn’t get renewed?

Yes. We were tasked with doing two episodes in one. The one thing we wouldn’t compromise was our relationship with the audience. We couldn’t have an open-ended end if it was a series finale. That would have been unfair to the people who have been watching for 10 years. If this was really going to be it, we wanted it to be 

. Now, at the same time, once we were kind of down the road and the show got picked up – we knew this was a possibility – there had to be some kind of subtextual something going on that gave us the feel that it could keep going. So that’s what we did our best to do. And it gives us a great challenge for next season to come back from this. There’ll be a bit of a time jump, and we will see what it is that pulls them back into this world and this family that they’ve grown with for the past 10 years.

TVLINE | With Brennan and Booth leaving, but Angela and Hodgins deciding to stay, was it an either-or situation?

We couldn’t blow apart the whole place. And also, there was something always indefinite about Hodgins’ feelings about moving to Paris. Because he loves her, he [would do] it, of course. But she saw that. It just allowed us to see their relationship in a very crucial situation, see how two people in a life-changing situation really respond and what that means for their relationship. … We can’t do scenes in Paris, and Hodgins and Angela work in the lab. To bring them back, it would have been a rerun of the other episode we did where everybody was called back to help Cam. We just wanted this to be different and based on their relationship rather than some kind of goofy plot twist.

TVLINE | Might the answer to what brings Brennan and Booth back be found on the unwatched Pelant tape?

Everything is up in the air right now, to be honest. I don’t want to say yes or no to anything. It’s a big task to work them back and get them resolved again. We don’t want to take the easy way out. You don’t want to just go back to a well that’s running dry.

TVLINE | When next season opens, will we see who has replaced Brennan?

TVLINE | Could it be someone we already know? Or are you planning to bring in a new character?

Everything is still up in the air. I can’t really say anything

TVLINE | What about any cast changes? We’ve talked before about how the squinterns keep landing pilots and other roles.

We just have to be very agile. We have to be ready to move at the drop of a hat with the interns because they are so popular and rightfully so. Often times during the season, we have to write somebody out, somebody in, because they’re doing other things. So there’s always the potential for new people coming [in]. And also from looking at our locations a little bit differently and adding people.

TVLINE | If you can get Laura Spencer back, will you pursue the Aubrey and Jessica story?

It’s pretty fun. Those guys were pretty great together. John Boyd was just a drop from heaven this year. He did a wonderful job.

TVLINE | Finally, I noticed that after Arastoo comforted Cam, when they were coming back out to say their goodbyes, it looked like they were buttoning up their clothes. Am I crazy here?

No, you’re not. They were putting on their lab coats. No, they didn’t just have at it in Cam’s office. [

TVLINE | I wondered, because it seemed so unlike Cam, “Did they just do what I think they did?”

Oh, that’s hilarious. I hope everybody makes the same mistake. That’s great… That made my day.

fans, what did you think of the finale? Did it give you a sense of closure? Any predictions for Season 11? Grade the episode via the poll below, then hit the comments to back up your pick.

There wasn’t a lot of Booth and Bones together, but it was otherwise a good episode. Cam broke my heart. It’s a little sad more of the squinterns couldn’t be there, too. I’m hoping they can close it out better when that time actually comes, maybe next season.

I’ve been binge watching old episodes on Netflix and I miss Bones going out into the field with Booth. I like Aubrey but hopefully she can next season.

I’ll be really ticked if Angela really gives away their billions. I hope she stashes billions away for her and hubby, and will reveal she has the money in a future episode ( i.e. when suddenly they discover they need it )! Didn’t much care about this season and his down gambling addiction storyline.

I would have hated if that had been the series finale because it really didn’t have closure or anything resembling it and it had a morose vibe like viewing a corpse if that makes sense I’m excited and nervous at the idea of a last minute 11th season but I’ve stuck it out this long and I’ll stay till the end

i agree. If this had been the series finale, I would NOT have been happy.

If Stephen Nathan thought this would be a satifying SERIES finale he needs to go speak to a shrink…He sucks as a showrunner, all he cares about is showcasing anyone that isnt B&B, they had like 4 scenes in this ep…its awful how he has kicked their PARTNERSHIP to the curb….I have watched Bones since DAY 1 and THANK frak that this wasnt a series finale…can we have Booth & Brennan the center of the show actually in the center AND front and center, next season PLEASE

Doesn’t some of that $4 billion belong to and be needed by Hodgin’s brother? Oh wait—Disappearing Brother Syndrome has struck again. :/

I love this show, but sometimes it drives me crazy.

Hodgins fees for his invention runs to tens and hundreds of millions: his 40 million advance alone undoubtedly covered his brother with only a fragment of it.

Legally the brother still has some claim to the money, I would imagine–it’s not just Jack’s to give away.

If the parents didnt put money into the brother name in their will i dont think he has any rights to it but he isnt mentaly stable enough for the money.

But what happened to Hodges’ brother? Didn’t they need money to care for him? (Or did he die and I missed that episode?

Not really impressed with the whole giving up a giant fortune with a shrug of the shoulders story line. And isn’t it all evidence anyway? How could that ever be a secret, or dealt with so quickly?

Some of those many millions they didn’t spend on the Paris flat undoubtedly coveted his brother’s care just fine. His advance was 40 million up front alone right?

Guess I haven’t been watching all THAT attentively. Missed the 40 million. (though I did remember they were doing well financially) Thanks.

Brennan and Booth paid for him to remain at the institution he has been in basically his whole life when Hodgins lost his money and was thinking of taking out loans to help him stay there

Really? Guess my brain forgot that detail. Thanks.

No he declined their offer because he DID take out a loan.

Wao you let me thinking about it. Is a lot of money, how he take care his brother…?…?

Hart Hanson gets that Booth & Brennan are the backbone of Bones, that they should come first, he said that recently, now he needs to lock the new showrunners in a room with the writers and drum that into their heads until they get it….He is still excecutive producer & he created Bones you would think that he would have some pride on how his creation is getting MISTREATED

I love this show!!! It’s one of only 5 on tv I HAVE TO WATCH!! The characters are so well developed, I forget they’re actors and actresses!!! I would like to see more of Christine and Angela’s little boy. (sorry can NOT remember his name!) And please don’t lose Daisy or Wendal!!!! Thanks ;for a wonderful show!!!

Sorry, what I meant to type was that theyou named their son Michael.

I cannot believe it but I had to give it an F. THIS was supposed to be a series finale? How with hardly any Booth and Brennan too much Aubry, and the case was not good at all. I have really enjoyed Bones over the years and I still want to watch but this was awful. Please let the new show runners get the show back to what makes it work, Booth and Brennan, together as partners and as a couple. This sure didn’t seem like a series finale to me. They could have least given Booth and Brennan one last scene at home. The goodbyes were fine with everyone but just not good enough for a season finale to get people to come back and watch next year. Very disappointed just like most of this season. I am gong to consider last weeks episode as season finale because that was presented better. I am really hoping next year will be better

Even know some of the characters left in a series that doesn’t mean it’s over and besides there some series where some characters have to leave like Two and half Men; Charlie left the series but they were talking him. So there even know two characters left they still might talk about them in the next seasons.

Honestly that would’ve been awful as a series finale. B&B are supposed to be the centre, yet they had like 3 scenes together. The writers didn’t devote anytime to showcasing their supposed great love. Not a single I love you– the last I love you Booth said to Brennan was while he was lying and she told him she didn’t believe him. We get beautiful Angela and Hodgins scenes were they are willing to sacrifice for each there. But B&B don’t even talk to each other. Booth just comes home and informs Brennan that this will be his last case. WTF.

The season ending was very well done. It solved one situation, Hodgen’s money, but gave us something to ponder for next season. There aren’t many shows that keep you guessing while being obvious with their senarios. This show does it right!

I felt let down by the season finale. It all seemed so flat and predictable. Hodgkins and Angela stayed because he didn’t really want to go in the first place. Booth and Brennan left to start over because their lives were really difficult this year. I guess that idea about supporting Daisy and Sweet’s baby by being there for him/her since Sweets couldn’t got lost in translation somewhere. The killer was no surprise. I hope that next year the show can get back to Booth being the lead FBI agent (felt like it was Aubrey a lot this year) and Brennan being a brilliant scientist and a slightly harried new mom.

You have my whole family in tears because they think the show isn’t coming back next season.

That would be Awful! Heck it is THE show we wait for all week!

Please bring Bones back next season!!

This show jumped the shark 4,5 seasons ago. It began to unravel right around when Booth and Bones got married.

It also took a weird sharp left turn. In the cringe worthy 9/11 episode one of the lab assistant asked the Cam’s Muslim love interest (Aziz?) if he was ashamed that his people committed acts of terrorism. Um, who would actually say something like that?

The Aubrey character has no purpose in the show except other than shaming the cartoonishly arrogant executives of financial institutions. The writers really played out their political agenda in the past few seasons. If someone works at a big company or holds conservatives, they’re either buffoons or Doctor Evil.

It’s a shame that it ended this way. Dr. Brennan was NOT this Sheldon Cooper like character in the early seasons. This was a sharp ensemble drama, it just went stale.

It was really a sophomoric plot line, seemingly a patch work of previous stories stitched together like some 70’s melodrama. Little originality. However It would be nice to see Brennan and Booth do a spin-off in their new life with maybe guest appearances of friends from the past. But in a new location, new venue, wider challenging life (academia and the NSA/Homeland Security) it opens a whole new ball of wax and possibilities. Especially where Booth is the new lower level man working his way up the ladder trying to gain trust from a new bunch of folks, new limitations and more unexpected paperwork. And Brennan having an expanding family and ever more taxing carrier. Exciting new dynamics.

Don’t scrape up an old story line from an old case. Go forth and find NEW cases, new crimes. Close a chapter and move forward. How about Brennan reconnecting with her only sibling, and his 2 step-daughters. That would be real and it would be interesting.

Then there’s her brief fling with another FBI guy who sailed away on a sailboat. Have it & him come back home – even back to the FBI. He was cool.

Bring back Cam’s daughter. Have her daughter marry the backwoods’ squint that was so under the radar smart.

Bring back Booth’s cool brother. He was great. (He can get the night off from Night Shift.)

Have the cute “ole lady `D.A.’ spend more time in court fighting & solving some of these cases.” Her & her New Orleans charm.

I know the cast hates when it’s mentioned but for the love of god if next season is really the end can we finally get some closure with Zach?!? It’s so obvious he’s avoided being mentioned especially during Pelant episodes when Brennan kept saying how smart she is when Zach could’ve figured it out in a second!

I miss Zach. All this time in the psych ward he should be legally crazy now.

As a potential series finale, I appreciated that time was spent with each of those that have become the “Bones family” because the show really has become more about the team than just Brennan and Booth. There was a sweet sense of closure in that I could see Brennan sticking to her decision about moving on regardless of Pelants threats from the afterlife. I’m really glad we got to see Daisy, and love the sense that the Jeffersonian would continue to be successful in kicking crimes butt and taking names in spite of the loss of the most brilliant forensic anthropologist in the world. (Even if it takes a team of brilliance to fill her shoes)

Though the season finally would have done it for me (barely, only because I’d miss it) I am glad that the show is continuing on! I actually stopped watching for a while after Booth and Brennan got together but have come back, pleasantly surprised that the show has gotten really good again. It made me want to watch all I’d missed to get caught up. I’d actuaIly love it to keep going past season 11. The evolution of the show, its characters and a seemingly endless supply of unique murder plots is really impressive to me. Although we may not like something the team or an individual character is going through at the moment, these story lines have created a great dynamic over all. I love the show! Can’t wait to see what you come up with in season 11! Until then I’ll undoubtedly be rewatching on Netflix.

Well you gave me a real scare! I was freaking out that this was a series final. ..then just when I was sure the the end was near, little hints began to appear, giving me hope. But I did need to surf the web to soothe my fears. And I’ll be back next season to see how it all turns out, for sure!

I just thought too much happened in this episode. No one but Cam really seemed upset. I never believed Bones and Booth we’re going to be gone for good. I hope when it comes back it won’t be a big mess.

Bones is my most favorite show of all time. I hope it never ends. I was, however, very disappointed that you killed Sweets. I wish you would find a way to bring him back, but keep Aubrey at the same time.

I’m a big fan of Bones. Not only because of the good story line but more because of the characters’ friendship. I will feel sad if Booth and Brennan will not be back. I could watch this series forever.

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