Tell-Tale TV Panel: Bones Season 11

Even in its 11th season, Bones continued to surprise us. From a life-changing tragedy to a shocking season finale twist, Bones Season 11 was a heck of a roller coaster ride.

What did you think of this season overall? Join the discussion by leaving your thoughts in a comment below.

Our panelists are:

• Pam from CBR Radio
• Christine Orlando from TV Fanatic
• Lissete (Lizzie) Lanuza Saenz, associate editor for Tell-Tale TV
• Ashley Bissette Sumerel, founder and editor-in-chief of Tell-Tale TV

On a scale of 1-10, how would you rank Bones Season 11 overall, and why?

Pam: 7. Sadly, with Fox jerking around the episodes it has been hard to follow Season 11 as it was with season 10. I truly miss the romantic scenes and chemistry between Bones and Booth.

This year, we have had very little contact with holding, kissing, or bonding this season. We have seen little of their son Hank and even Christine. I miss the children interacting. I miss Bones and Booth solving cases. We now get the bookend scenes with them and very little crime solving together…

Christine: An 8. I think the majority of the episodes were entertaining The characters are what make Bones work, and I think they kept true to who these characters are — and yet still let them grow with new challenges. That’s difficult after so many seasons. After the stagnation of Season 5 through 7, it’s great to see the show really hit its groove.

Lizzie: 7. I honestly never get bored or tired of Bones, but I do miss a little more of the Booth and Brennan interaction that we’d gotten used to, and I think was sorely lacking this season.

That being said, I didn’t think the season was awful, and I think, considering this is Season 11, they did a good job of keeping us interested and engaged. And they really did end the season with a bang. So, hey, give me season 12 now!

Ashley: 8. For me, this season was definitely an improvement on the one before it. The show did so many fun things this season, and it still managed to surprise us.

What worked really well this season?

Pam: I liked the Hodgins storyline with his injuries and how he has reacted to those injuries and his new way of life. Angela has gone through so much and always tries to remain loving and optimistic without being overly protective with his situation. I think this has been a wonderful story of true love overcoming circumstances that many couples wouldn’t survive.

Christine: I loved how they incorporated my namesake, Christine. The actress who plays Booth and Brennan’s daughter is perfect in the role, and the show is great at using just enough of her to keep our core couple grounded. Christine with her parents adds just the right amount of humor and precocious sweetness to offset some of those gruesome murders.

Lizzie: Hodgins worked really well. I hated the storyline, and I loved it, and it broke my heart. And just the fact that I had so many feelings about this speaks to how well it was done and how good this show has been at making us feel things for fictional people for eleven years. I also love the way Angela dealt with it, and the journey he and Angela took as a couple. It was the highlight of the season, for me.

Ashley: I have to say the Hodgins storyline too, for sure. But to add something new, I also think the season did a good job of getting back to the show’s roots. In some ways, it felt more like early seasons of Bones, which I appreciate it. Plus, it continued to remind us of things from the past — either with beer hats and belt buckles or reminders of characters who are no longer on the show. I enjoyed that.

What was this season’s biggest mistake?

Pam: No ROMANCE between Bones and Booth. It’s like once they had their children, we no longer see them touching or looking lovingly at each other. It’s all about cases and discussing the cases — no longer the chemistry of THEM, which is what made me fall in love with the series.

Christine: As much as I’ve liked the drama of Hodgins being in a wheelchair, I thought they dropped the ball by not showing or even discussing how it was affecting their son. I know the show can’t dedicate a lot of time to the kids, but it felt like a huge missed opportunity to make this story even more powerful.

Lizzie: Amen, Pam. Amen. I needed more Booth/Brennan romance. The show is still good, but I will never forget that they never truly gave me romance between the two of them at first, they went from sexual tension to a kid, and I always felt like I got cheated out of that, so now that they’re together I want it all. And this season didn’t deliver.

Ashley: Kind of along with what Pam and Lizzie are saying, I wanted more Booth and Brennan interaction. But for me, it was less about the romantic interactions and more that I wanted to see them working together. We did some, but I think they’ve always made such a great team, and that’s something I wish we could have seen more of.

What was your favorite case-of-the-week?

Pam: It’s been hard to keep track of the episodes with Fox pre-empting the show so much.  It would have to be Hodgins getting injured and how it has affected everyone on the team at The Jeffersonian. And mostly how it has affected Jack and Angela as a couple.

I just wish they had shown more reaction from their son and from Angela’s father both of which we never saw react at all or be mentioned. It has been a more realistic story then the serial killer puppet storyline.

Christine: I loved the start of The Puppeteer storyline with “The Monster in the Closet.” I really didn’t think that after 11 seasons they could make yet another serial killer intriguing, but they definitely proved me wrong.

The fact that the killer appears to admire his victims, holds them for six months and turns them into macabre marionettes creeped me out in the best possible way. I couldn’t wait for them to continue this storyline at season’s end.

Lizzie: I’m gonna agree with Christine. I thought, another serial killer? No way I care. And I did, and it was creepy, and I wanted to know more. And frankly, I shouldn’t even be surprised anymore that Bones can do this.

Ashley: I actually really liked the Secret Service agent one, “The Secret in the Service,” because I thought it made for some interesting opportunities for Booth’s character.

Let’s talk about that season finale cliffhanger. Were you expecting to see Zack, and how do you feel about his return?

Pam: I was never keen on the character of Zack, so for me I’d rather have seen a focused story on Caroline who is such a beloved character for me as far as I’m concerned. She never gets enough screen time. Would love to see her more with Bones like seasons past.

Zack wasn’t a surprise. I expected it with all the social media hype. I was hoping we wouldn’t have to regress back eight seasons and deal with him again, but focus on the characters we have been building storylines around with the last 12 episodes left. They are precious, and now we fit in Zack.

Christine: I kept hoping that Zack would return before the end of the series, but I never expected it to be like this! That said, I love it! By the end of the episode I was yelling, “OMG! It’s Zack!” at my screen.

Has Zack really snapped and become this vicious killer? Is he somehow involved with the killer as he was with Gormogon, or is he trying to protect his friends? The best part is that I have no idea, and any of the above is plausible.

Lizzie: No. I wasn’t expecting it. I thought they would bring Zack back in Season 12 in a nice way that would get us reminiscing, not like this. And eleven years in, for them to surprise me like this, well, it’s amazing.

On hindsight, though, I should have seen it, but whatever …I didn’t. Now, I don’t know that they don’t have another twist up their sleeves. This seems too clear cut, and in Bones, things are never what they seem. So hopefully Zack is not really the bad guy. I want to believe.

Ashley: I was shocked, and I felt so silly for not having figured it out. But man, that was a heck of a way to end the season. I love it, and like Christine says, there are so many possibilities! I’m so excited.

What are your hopes / expectations for Season 12?

Pam: I’d like to see Caroline and Brennan work a case together somehow. Can you imagine the comedy in that? Romance BACK for Bones and Booth — some touchy feely scenes again. It’s been ages. I’d like to see Angie and Jack have another child at the end of the series, Max find happiness and love again.

Would be great to see Parker come home to stay with Bones and Booth and the children, and see Michael at the Booth house spending overnights with them. I’m hoping the finale of Season 12 isn’t a downer with unanswered questions that we must try to speculate on for years to come, but nice, thought out episodes filled with answers and tied up story lines. If Bones could do what Downton Abbey did in their series finale, I’d be very content.

Christine: Oh boy! I think they’ve set us up for an amazing final season. I’m expecting Zack’s friends will struggle with what to believe about his involvement in these killings. I’d love for Cam and Arastoo to have an amazing wedding with all of their friends.

I hope Hodgins’ recovery continues, and I’d love to see more of Angela and Brennan’s friendship. And a little more romance between Booth and Brennan would make me endlessly happy.

Lizzie: Give me more Booth/Brennan romance, and give me more of their family, their whole family, aka bring back Parker, please. I would also like to see more interaction between Angela and Brennan, and I would love for Angela and Hodgins to have another kid. I really would. I want a happy ending. I don’t want to wonder, I don’t want to think about what could have been, no. I want these characters to end in a good place, one I can enjoy.

Ashley: Definitely more of Brennan and Booth getting to work together, or Booth popping into the lab more often. I also want it to be the kind of final season that’s just a celebration.

Bring on the old characters and the special guest stars. I’m dying, truly dying, for Walter Sherman from The Finder to show up. That would make me so excited. And then generally, I just want it to end well and with intention, which I have a feeling it will.

Bones returns to Fox for its final season in 2017.

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