Why The Creators Of Bones Never Considered A Darker Ending

As is so often the case with police procedurals, "Bones" has no shortage of terrifying serial killers, and the show often deals with fairly grim subject material like barf-inducing severed heads created with real human parts. Considering the subject matter, it's easy to suspect that the show might have tempted to end its 12-season tenure with a grim finale. Instead, the show took the exact opposite route. "Bones" concluded in 2017 on a decidedly lighthearted note, as Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel), Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz), and the rest of the main characters all received an unequivocally happy ending. 

Interestingly enough, the makers of the show never really even considered giving darker endings to its various main characters. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, "Bones" showrunner and series finale co-writer Michael Peterson revealed that late-game plotlines like Jack Hodgins' (T.J. Thyne) paralysis and recovery in season 11 and Zack Addy's (Eric Millegan) temporary prison stint during the Puppeteer arc factored in the decision to allow the characters end the series on a high note.

"There were lots of considerations. There was consideration of letting Hodgins walk again: Is that the lightness we need to run towards? But it was kind of like the Eric Millegan decision to not just have [Zack] free and out of prison; it didn't feel real. And I think it's a very important reminder: Just because we have our struggles and we have a disability or whatever else, it doesn't mean life isn't joyful. It can mean quite the opposite. You gain new perspective ... So I don't think we ever considered going much darker. [We considered going] lighter."

The final episode of "Bones" season 12, "The End in the End," starts in the aftermath of the previous episode's explosions at the Jeffersonian. Brennan has a head injury that impacts her memory and thought processes, which shakes her badly. It also forces the show's other main characters to fill her problem-solving shoes to stop the vengeful Mark Kovac (Gerardo Celasco) and his bomb-maker sister Jeannine (Brit Shaw). 

Those are the stakes, and they play out as thrillingly as you'd expect from a prominent police procedural taking its final bow. However, what catches the eye is just how profoundly well things end for everyone as they pack up to move out of the destroyed Jeffersonian lab. Cam Saroyan (Tamara Taylor) and Arastoo Vaziri (Pej Vahdat) begin a whole new life as the proud adoptive parents of several kids. Meanwhile, Hodgins takes charge of the Jeffersonian while preparing for the arrival of a new baby with Angela Montenegro (Michaela Conlin). As for the show's power couple, they live to fight another day. Booth defeats the villain, Bones recovers from her injuries, and the two end the show in a contemplative, yet content mood. They get to end the story as better people than they were when they started, happy together as partners in love and crime-fighting alike. 

The ending of "Bones," which contained some key improvisation, manages to be heartwarming without being overly saccharine, in large part because the major characters have to clear so many hurdles to get to the goal line. David Boreanaz, who directed the finale, feels the thing that separated "Bones" from "NCIS" and other procedurals was always its focus on the characters and their interactions, so it's nice that the show generously gave them all such happy endings.