Bones Season 9 has already had some amazing moments, including the wedding of Booth and Brennan. But there are still plenty more great stories to come. BuddyTV was on the line when executive producers Hart Hanson and Stephen Nathan spoke to the press about the returns of the Ghost Killer and Wendell, plus teased their plans for the 200th episode, Season 10 and much more.
Flashbacks for Caroline and Booth?
Booth and Caroline have a great friendship on the show, one that might be explored in a flashback episode to see how the two met. “We have been toying with the idea for quite a while of visiting the past with Booth and Brennan and with the other characters,” Nathan revealed. “We did have something in the works, but we couldn’t really do it because you can’t do too many weird ones in one season. But next season, especially if it’s the last season, I think we can do a couple.”
Hanson added that, if they did show Caroline and Booth’s first meeting, they’d have to write it carefully to keep the story canon. “We have to be careful for our very loyal fans, which many of them are,” Hanson said. “Caroline first appeared as the federal prosecutor in New Orleans. And we just loved her so much that we dragged her up to D.C. So we’re going to have to see how well they knew each other there, if they did.”
The Ghost Killer’s Return
Waiting for the Ghost Killer’s return? Don’t worry, they’ll be back in time for the season finale, according to Nathan. “[The Ghost Killer] will be tangentially a part of the season finale. We’ll be revisiting the Ghost Killer in Episode 20. And we will find that the Ghost Killer is just the tip of an iceberg. It is going to lead us into a big conspiracy that appears as if it goes back to the FBI.”
But just be sure you don’t call the Ghost Killer a serial killer, because this will be a different type of story. “It’s no secret that Hart and I are not madly in love with serial killers,” Nathan said. “So it’s a way for us to do a continuing story that doesn’t revolve around one murderer. It takes us down the rabbit hole in a way that’s a little more complicated and a little darker than we have in the past.
Wendell’s Return
For those fans who have been worried about Wendell since his cancer diagnosis, you can be rest assured that he will be returning to the show.
“Wendell will be coming back this season,” Nathan reassured. “I think it’s in Episode 18. We will not tell you how it ends, but we will revisit Wendell. And he will come back mid-treatment and be working at the Jeffersonian still in his old job. Although, that will get very, very complicated, and it will not unfold the way [you] expect it to.”
When asked what brought on the decision to take such a serious route with Wendell, Nathan said, “Well, Wendell is sort of the most all-American guy, and he and Booth are so close. To have two guys who are so strong deal with a vulnerability that intense, just seemed to work for the two of them. And it really did in that first episode, that scene in Booth’s office was just so moving and so rich for those two characters. And then now to continue with it with everyone on board, it just gave us a lot. And it was also a way to explore that disease on the show. I mean, not to be exploitive, but we have had a lot of feedback from people who are cancer survivors or families who have been dealing with that, and it meant a lot to them. And if we could do that every now and then on the show, it means a lot to us to be able to do that.”
Hanson added, “Wendell’s one of our most sympathetic characters. And he has the most relationship with Booth and Brennan, so he was the best candidate to do a sad and intense story.”
Clark’s Book: Murder Made Me Do It
Brennan and Clark have had a bit of a rivalry on the show, one that is going to get more complicated when he writes his own book.
“[The book puts] a new wrinkle within the politics of the lab. So I don’t want to say too much about that story,” Nathan said, adding, “I can tell you the name of the book is Murder Made Me Do It, so you can imagine what Clark has done.”
Season 9 Finale: More Arastoo and Cam
Talking more about the Season 9 finale, Nathan said, “We’re ending this year with-not ending, ending, but we’re going to examine Cam and Arastoo in a way we haven’t before when we meet Arastoo’s parents. So we try to give all the characters their due. They’re all interesting to us. They all vie for attention, and we try to do as much as we can. “
Planning for Season 10 and Beyond
Bones was recently renewed for its 10th season, which means a lot more planning, though Hanson admits to having the series ending already planned. “Stephen and I were just talking about this the other day,” Hart revealed. “I think that if Season 10 is our final season then at least the macro version of what I had in mind, we’ll be able to use. If we go past Season 10, the series will need a bit of an invention. We can’t tread water, a reinvention.”
Nathan added, “We have an idea of where we want [the story] to go, but since the finish line keeps moving all we can really do is continue to examine the characters and follow them where they lead. “
Season 10 Will See a Sweetie for Sweets
Now that Sweets and Daisy are truly over and have actually managed to stay friends, some fans are wondering if Sweets will ever find love again.
“We’re toying with that for Season 10,” Nathan said. Certainly not at the end of Season 9, but Sweets’ life is interesting. So we’re going to examine him and all of our characters.”
Hanson added, “Of all the characters on the show Sweets has changed the most. I mean, we watched him go from – every once and a while we have to remind ourselves he’s a full grown man now. He started as a wunderkind, a boy wonder, Jimmy Neutron type of guy. And now every once and a while you look at him, and go holy crap, John is leading man handsome. So we got to give him a grown up, big boy love interest.”
Season 10 Will See a Return of Hodgins’ Brother
Hodgins made a shocking discovery when he found out he had an older brother that his parents hid from him. The reveal made for some intense, yet vulnerable moments for Hodgins and both Nathan and Hanson promised that fans will see his brother back again.
“We will definitely see him next year, but there’s just no time [this season],” Nathan said. “There’s so much going on at the end of the season because really the end of the season is going to take place over four episodes. And it’s peeling back the layers of the onion, so it’s difficult to deal with that.”
The 200th Episode: A Love Letter for the Fans?
When asked if they had any plans for the Bones 200th episode, both said there was nothing concrete yet, but they had been thinking about it and might make the episode a tribute to the show’s hardcore fans.
“We have a few ideas,” Hanson said. “We’d love to do something special. Like the 100th episode, it would be great to do something that was really, really aimed at our very loyal, crazily noisy, and invested fans. Another love letter to them, but we have to figure out what it is. We have a few ideas.”
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
