Bones Executive Producer Michael Peterson Talks Hodgins’ Adjustment, Plans for Season 12

Bones Season 11 returns this week after a long hiatus, picking up eight weeks into Hodgins’ rehabilitation on “The Death in the Defense.”

Thankfully, the show’s return will be well worth the wait. Executive Producer Michael Peterson spoke with reporters this week about what we can look forward to in the second half of Season 11, and even a few plans for the Season 12, which will be the final season of the show.

The focus of the mid-season premiere will be on Hodgins and how he begins to cope with life in a wheelchair, as well as how that affects the other characters.

Peterson explained that T.J. Thyne was very receptive to the idea of having his character face this new challenge. “He could not have been more excited to really stretch his legs as an actor by not using his legs. He was just over the moon about the idea.”

In “The Death in the Defense,” everyone has a different idea about what’s best for Hodgins. “From the first episode it’s really about, you know, the different viewpoints. Booth is much more about the hope, and Brennan is looking strictly at the science of the situation, which is not so hopeful.”

This new challenge for Hodgins also means we’ll get to see some different sides of his character. “We wanted to make sure Hodgins gets to feel every different emotion that comes when you have this sort of a tragedy. So a little bit of denial at the beginning, and then we see some anger coming out later on. I think he did a tremendous job.”

In Bones Season 11 Episode 12, we’ll get to see more of how Hodgins is adjusting. “We really get to see the world through Hodgins’ new point of view, where we see him going through the lab. He’s at a different height, a different level, looking around the lab,” Peterson explained. “We got to understand his new perspective before really seeing him become angry and I think it gave great empathy for him.”

Peterson also praised T.J. Thyne for his commitment to the role. “T.J. is just amazing. He stays in that chair all day. He gets out of his car he is in the chair he stays in it until the end of production. He’s just the most amazing professional I’ve really ever dealt with in terms of his commitment to the role.”

As for how Hodgins’ injury will affect his relationship with Angela, the two are certainly going to be facing new challenges. Peterson brought up the character of Sebastian Cole, the artist. “It’s sort of this glimpse into another life that she could have had if she had taken off and been more the artist. So it’s going to be tough on everybody. There’s going to be temptations for Angela, temptations for Hodgins, and you know, hopefully we’ll do it all in the correct way, still showing restraint. But this is not an issue that’s going to be resolved easily.”

The remainder of this season will also be bringing a new big bad, a serial killer we’ll learn about in Season 11 Episode 13, “The Monster in the Closet.” It’s an episode Peterson said was inspired by an episode of The X-Files, “Home.” “It was one of the big reasons why I wanted to do TV. They do a great job in that episode of juxtaposing happy music with creepiness. So we do a little homage to that in there also,” Peterson said.

If you’re wondering what’s going to come of Cam and Arastoo’s relationship, Peterson gave us some hints about that as well. “I don’t think her relationship with Arastoo is going to follow the model of Booth and Brennan or Hodgins and Angela, it’s gonna move its own way. Hopefully, it won’t seem unlucky, but there a couple more twists and turns as far as that goes,” Peterson said. “His relationship with Cam is more important than anything else for him.”

Some other things we can look forward to this season include the returns of both Max and Parker, a situation where Booth “finds himself becoming something of a squint,” and even a documentary style episode that will allow the audience to see more in terms of the relationships of the main characters. “We really wanted to do is as a tribute to the fans,” Peterson said. This season will also bring a major cliffhanger.

As for what we can look forward to in the final season of Bones, Peterson said the writers wanted this to be “grand ride off into the sunset for the final twelve episodes.” He also said creator Hart Hanson already has some plans for how the show will end. “We have sort of the broad strokes of what we’re going to do for next season, but Hart is going to write the finale for the series is what it looks like right now, so we’re really excited about that. And he has a vision for how he wants the whole thing to end, which I am not privy to yet.”

One thing we can definitely count on for Season 12? One more undercover episode. Peterson said he also hoped they would be able to get Betty White back as a guest star for the final season.

With Bones ending, it’s hard to think about the possibility of a spinoff, especially since Bones has already had a spinoff with The Finder. “I’d love to maybe even bring The Finder character back in season 12 for a special arc,” Peterson said. “It’s really more of a question of whatever the network wants us to do as far as a crossover or spinoff. I’ve always said I’d love to keep writing this show for the rest of my life. So if we could figure out a way to spinoff and have a similar vibe and similar crew, I’d be delighted.”

While it’s good news that we can look forward to one more season of Bones after this one, Peterson said he would have loved for the show to last longer. “It was tough at first for us, because we love this. This is our family. We want to keep going. But now we’re at the place of acceptance.”

Bones returns this Thursday, April 14th at 8/7c on FOX.