'Bones' returns to Fox on Monday

BY RITA SHERROW World Television Writer
Sunday, November 04, 2012
11/04/12 at 3:38 AM

Down to the bone: Watch, if you dare, a spooky clip from “Bones.”

Sneak peek: Watch a promo of Monday’s episode.

Serial killer Christopher Pelant will return, Angela will begin to think of a life beyond investigating crimes, and Booth and Brennan get a roommate - besides their baby - on "Bones," which returns Monday on Fox.

Executive producers Hart Hanson and Stephen Nathan chatted about the rest of the season in a recent teleconference.

The forensic drama, which has been pre-empted since September, will return to familiar characters and continue to explore the relationship between scientist Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel), who sees clues in victims' bones, and her husband, FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz), who is not so keen about the science but is all about solving the crimes, they said. Oh, and there's their baby, Christine. She's a gift that keeps on giving, according to Hanson.

"So far, knocking on wood, this has been a very, very rich load for us to mine - the two of them living together with a baby and continuing to live lives and solve crimes," said Hanson, who created the series that debuted in 2005.

"So far we don't have to do anything big to throw a wrench into that machine anymore. It's working just fine. Lots of new stories - as many, I think, as we had at the beginning when there was just sexual tension."

To keep that tension, Nathan said the couple will be given storylines that "overwhelm emotionally" so viewers can see how Booth and Brennan react and how their relationship is tested.

"We're doing that by keeping Pelant alive, by adding somebody to their household and also putting (the couple) in situations neither of them expected to be in," Nathan said.

"We have an episode coming up where Brennan has a near-death experience, which really kind of causes her to re-evaluate her life and see everything a little bit differently. We're just trying to move them along and have these characters evolve and not stay in the same place so, hopefully, it will be surprising for everybody."

New twists, turns

Dr. Lance Sweets, played by John Francis Daley, will be moving in while he looks for an apartment following his breakup with Daisy Wick.

The new roommate situation is supposed to be temporary, but it may not be, Hanson said. Either way, it will be a great source of entertainment, the showrunners said.

"It started out as something we were going to play through one episode, where Sweets needs a place," said Hanson, a native Californian who also wrote "The Finder," episodes of "Joan of Arcadia," "Judging Amy" and "Traders."

"When he busted up with Daisy, he let her have the apartment, so he's been kind of a nomad since then. They say, 'Come on in. You can stay with us for a few days.'

"We were going to do that for one episode, but it was just too much fun. If Stephen and I have one fault - out of many - it is that if something's fun, we're going to stick there for a little while," Hanson said.

On Monday's episode, the Jeffersonian team investigates the death of a woman whose body was found mutilated and discarded in a city garbage can. It's a case that challenges the skills of the team.

During the season, viewers can expect to see an investigation of a murder at a roller derby, Brennan's reasons for being on the run earlier in the season, ballroom dancing and a 9/11 episode featuring Brennan's male interns, aka "squinterns," from the lab.

It's the story of the interns' point of view that gave the writers a way into a 9/11 episode they had been wanting to write for the past eight seasons.

"They were all very young," said Nathan, who originated the role of Jesus in the hit musical "Godspell." "They were young, and you don't usually hear that.

"We do hear it from Cam (Dr. Camille Saroyan) and from everyone else - and clearly it changes Brennan in a very, very significant way at the end of that episode but it was really hearing what kids went through, as well as adults. Of course, we touch on religion a bit, as we always do. It was a very important episode for all of us."

Viewers will also find out that Booth has a past when it comes to dancing. Yes, ballroom dancing.

"Our undercover episodes are sort of gifts to the hardcore fans, where we all get goofy. It's sort of like doing shots every time someone says something," Nathan said, laughing.

"... David and Emily just love doing them, and this one's no exception. It's a murder at a ballroom dancing competition, and we find out in this that Booth actually taught ballroom dance when he was in college to make money.

"...We have that from Booth's standpoint, and from Brennan's standpoint - because of her phenomenal knowledge of kinesiology and anatomy - she believes that as long as she can look at someone dance, she can replicate that exactly. I can just tell you that that's not true."

The only strange thing about that episode, which centers around a murder at a dance competition, is the ability of Boreanaz to learn anything.

"I watched David Boreanaz learn how to rumba in five minutes," Hanson said. "He's gifted. He's a physically gifted guy."

‘BONES’

When: 7 p.m. Monday

Where: Fox, channel 23, cable 5
Original Print Headline: 'Bones' is back to TV

Rita Sherrow 918-581-8360
rita.sherrow@tulsaworld.com

Associated Images:

Brennan (Emily Deschanel, right) and Booth (David Boreanaz) investigate a murder in an artisan district of Washington, D.C., on “Bones,” airing at 7 p.m. Monday on Fox, channel 23, cable 5. PATRICK MCELHENNEY/Fox

Jeffersonian intern Colin Fisher (guest star Joel David Moore, right) brings Brennan (Emily Deschanel) important evidence in “The Method in the Madness” episode of “Bones,” airing at 7 p.m. Monday on Fox, channel 23, cable 5. PATRICK MCELHENNEY/Fox