Like any TV show from the early 2000s,Boneshad its fair share of controversies appear throughout the series' run, but one of them proved to be unavoidable. No matter how audiences felt about some of the more dated aspects of the crime procedural and its old-fashioned sensibilities, the character relationships were relentlessly compelling, making these plotlines the most hotly debated and impactful on the show.
Starring Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz as Dr. Temperance Brennan and FBI Agent Seeley Booth,Bonesmade a name for itself by being alighthearted crime drama TV showthat didn’t alienate audiences. However, for many fans and critics,the best part ofBoneswas always the relationship between Brennan and Booth,which was always on the verge of becoming romantic, though they tried to fight it.
Bonesran for twelve seasonsbecause it consistently nailed the formula and tone that audiences come to expect from crime procedurals. However, rewatching the series today demonstrates some of the flaws that popped up as the show progressed. There werecertain tensions and stakes onBonesthat were never going to be sustainablelong-term.
Bones Lost Some Of Its Magic After Brennan And Booth Got Together
Brennan and Booth finally admit their feelings andtake things to the next level at the end of season 6, episode 22, “The Hole in the Heart.“It’s an intense episode that sees the death of the intern Vincent, making the main character reevaluate their relationships to each other and realize what really matters to them. For Booth and Brennan, this meant taking the next step with each other.
There are plenty ofwill-they-won’t-they romances that go on for too long, which can be just as bad as not going on long enough. Striking the right balance when it comes to this relationship dynamic onscreen is notoriously tricky. WhileBonesdid the best it could, finding a way to maintain tensionbetween the characters for as long as possible, they had to get together eventually.
However, the aftermath of their romance proved thatBonesdidn’t have a concrete plan for how to navigate the altered story structure of the show now that the pair weren’t denying their feelings. At the start of season 7, the series jumps forward in their relationship, diving right into the meat of their partnership instead of taking advantage of the intrigue of first love.
Bones Could Only Keep Its Will-They-Won’t-They Story For So Long
Forcing The Pair Apart Would Have Been Just As Unsustainable
Most TV shows use the will-they-won’t-they dynamic when they have lead characters who play off each other so well. If the show had tried to keep Brennan and Booth apart any longer than the sixth season, it would have been an obvious play to keep things interesting. Instead,the series followed the natural trajectory of the character development,which is admirable.
Part of the reason that other crime procedurals likeCastlearen’t perfectBonesreplacement showsis because few leading duos had the kind of chemistry that Deschanel and Boreanaz did.From the pilot episode, there’s no question on the viewer’s mind that these characters are meant to be together,perfectly embodying the opposites attract archetype on television.
Unfortunately, the fact that it made narrative sense to allow Brennan and Booth to fall into a comfortable routine together didn’t make the best television. WhileBonesattempted to focus on other romances, like that between Daisy and Sweets, or grappled with how Booth and Brennan worked through each phase of their relationship, it made the series into a different story.
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Bones Struggled With A Problem That Affects A Lot Of Other Procedurals
There Are Aspects Of The Procedural That Every Formulaic Series Must Face
The best and worst part of a procedural is thatthe audience always knows what to expect from the series,as each episode and season follows the same formula. This is why so much emphasis is placed on these romantic dynamics and over-arching plot points, as this shakes up the structure of the project and gives viewers something to latch onto long-term.
Bonesalready struggled with staying fresh and original without succumbing to complete repetition and predictability before Booth and Brennan together. However,the romantic relationship being consummated shined a light on these existing issues,making them even more present, as viewers were no longer left wondering when they would finally see the pair get together.
It turned out that Booth and Brennan committing to each other, and eventually getting married, was too big a shift in the structure of the series for the show to be quite the same.
It turned out that Booth and Brennan committing to each other, and eventually getting married, was too big a shift in the structure of the series for the show to be quite the same. WhileBonescontinued for many more seasons after this, it often put Brennan and Booth at odds or came up with ways to separate them to recapture some of the earlier magic.
