Bones & Sleepy Hollow's Crossover Episodes Explained (Which Ones To Watch)

The concept of crossovers is almost as old as TV itself. It's a good idea that can boost the viewership of two (or more!) shows, bringing audiences together and exposing them to another series they might like. Some crossovers are quite seamless and logical, such as the ones involving the Arrowverse and "CSI" franchises. Others are plain weird, like the time "Mr. Robot" met ALF or when "The X-Files" crossed over with the reality show "Cops" (or even the one time the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fought alongside the Power Rangers).

Another crossover that definitely belongs to the latter category is that one time "Bones" crossed over with "Sleepy Hollow," a rather unexpected event yet also one that felt like a full circle moment, seeing as both properties were already connected (in a way). Indeed, the main makeup design technicians on "Bones" were Chris Yagher and his brother Kevin Yagher, the latter of whom was once set to direct the 1999 adaptation of the "Sleepy Hollow" story before Tim Burton came aboard.

"Bones" and "Sleepy Hollow" could not be more different, which makes them a curious choice for a crossover. In "Bones," we follow forensic anthropologist Temperance "Bones" Brennan (Emily Deschanel) as she works with FBI agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) to solve crimes by studying human remains. Though often very humorous, the show is rather clinical in tone when it comes to the crimes. Meanwhile, "Sleepy Hollow" follows the actual Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) from the Washington Irving short story as he literally time travels from the 18th century to modern times and teams up with no-nonsense FBI agent Abbie Mills (Nicole Berharie) to prevent the Horseman from causing the apocalypse. That show is full of supernatural creatures, including witches and actual demons, very much unlike "Bones."

And yet, despite the fact that "Sleepy Hollow" is also a canonical TV show within the "Bones" universe (!), it didn't stop both series from uniting for one weird must-watch two-episode crossover.

The crossover started in "Bones" with the season 11 episode "The Resurrection in the Remains" and concluded with the "Sleepy Hollow" season 3 episode "Dead Men Tell No Tales." The crossover sees Brennan and Agent Booth assisting Crane and Agent Mills in unraveling a mystery involving a 200-year-old headless corpse with a link to a recent murder victim. There's also a subplot (on the "Sleepy Hollow" side of things) involving the British Army coming back from the dead as ghouls. It's a strange crossover that revealed, among other things, that Seeley Booth's ancestor not only killed President Lincoln but was also a literal demon.

Now, there were some instances of what could be supernatural phenomena in "Bones," but the show always played skeptical about those things, which made the fact that it had actual, literal ghouls in the crossover strange yet fascinating. It's also a crossover that never quite manages to reconcile the vastly different tones and approaches of its two halves. (Yes, even the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Power Rangers in Space" crossover mixed the two shows more seamlessly.)

At least it was more entertaining than the failed crossover between "Bones" and "Lie to Me" would have likely been.