BONES: Hart Hanson Talks Booth/Brennan, Hodgins/Angela, Cam/Arastoo, Brennan’s Mother, and More
January 28, 2013 by Marisa Roffman
There’s a lot of potential relationship drama on BONES right now.
Hodgins and Angela just lost all their money. Cam’s hiding a secret romance. Sweets and Daisy split (and will soon be reunited, professionally). The only couple who seems to be doing well is Booth and Brennan.
But will that last?
I spoke with BONES creator Hart Hanson about some of the couple drama coming up, the (re)introduction of Brennan’s mother, Sweets’ living arrangements, and more…
What can you tease about what’s coming up for Booth and Brennan?
Hart Hanson: As you’ll recall, Booth said to Brennan, I am not proposing to you ever again; you’re going to propose to me. And that wasn’t something we’re throwing away. That’s what I’ll tell you.
Whether they get engaged soon or not, do you see them being married and still doing what they do sometime in the life of the series? Because, for all we know, they could get engaged next episode and have a long engagement that lasts for as long as the show runs.
HH: I would never tell you that! That’s too much of an answer that I want an audience asking themselves as we go on.
I suppose, technically, they could go to a chapel, a courtroom, whatever, and just get married and forgo any kind of engagement…
HH: Absolutely. There’s any number of things. Or they could never get married. They could have another child. Any number of things could happen. But I don’t want to say what is going to happen.
Are they a solid couple throughout the season?
HH: They’re a solid couple. They’re a solid, solid couple. But again, it’s a big, cruel world that sometimes pokes its thumb in your eye.
On the newer end of the couple spectrum, Cam and Arastoo are now paired up —
HH: Carastoo? Camastoo? Here’s what’s hanging in the wings: when does everyone find out? And that will happen this season. What’s the fallout from that? There’s fun to be had there.
Is it supposed to feel like an inappropriate relationship?
HH: Is it really super inappropriate? That becomes part of the story.
You know, we talk about this all the time at our show. Workplace romances, well, it’s where most people meet their mates. But it’s not good. And it’s especially not good for women. We talk about that all the time. It’s one of the things we — and in TV, no one seems to care in TV. GREY’S ANATOMY, for example, people care less on TV than they do in the real world. I think we care more in our world than [the rest of] TV world, but less than the real world, which gives us agitas. We talk about that all the time.
Fair. Let’s talk about Hodgins and Angela — despite all the bumps they’ve gone through this year, do you still view them as a couple who is in this for the long haul?
HH: I still view them as the world’s greatest couple. That whatever they go through, they are destined to be together. But there’s rough patches for couples like that. But they are the world’s greatest couple.
Hodgins and Angela, we’re a crimedy. We’re a romantic crimedy, and they’re one of the romances. Ups and downs, hithers and yons, and all that stuff.
You’ve hired Brian Klugman as a new squintern, and I have to say, he looks an awful like TJ Thyne (Hodgins)…
HH: When you see him on-screen, he’s not going to look [like him]. He doesn’t actually look like TJ. I certainly see why people think that given the picture and stuff…if you saw them standing besides each other, not that similar. Especially when we’re done with him. [Laughs]
Are you planning to keep him around for a while?
HH: We don’t plan to get rid of any of our squinterns.
True, but you’ve also had one-off squinterns, like David Alan Grier (Bunsen Jude, The Science Dude).
HH: He’s not one of those. [But] we’d love to have David Alan Grier back.
THE FINDER characters were also first introduced on BONES. Now that you have a bit of space from that show ending, are you giving serious thought to bringing any of those characters back to tie up that story?
HH: I would jump at any chance to have them on the show. Geoff [Stults (Walter)], I would be very, very surprised if he stayed available through upcoming pilot season. He’s a leading man.
He’s been so great on BEN AND KATE.
HH: You’ve seen how funny he is on BEN AND KATE! He’s hysterical. And Michael [Clarke Duncan] is unavailable…I’m still very taken with Saffron Burrows (Ike). I think she’s underappreciated. I don’t know where Maddie [Hasson (Willa)] is, I know she’s having a fabulous life doing wonderful things.
Completely fair. One of the most-repeated questions I’ve gotten from fans lately is wondering where Booth’s son, Parker, fits into the show right now. Is that a discussion the writers have actually had?
HH: You know, it’s a pickle in the world of producing television. I see that all the time. I’m getting a lot of stuff about…a lot of people are saying, “We need to see more of [this.]” And they’re really adamant that they want to see more of Hodgela, or more of this, or this. And this is what our show is. You might get an episode of Angela and Hodgins, but it’s not going to suddenly turn [into something new]. People have actually said to me, I like Angela and Hodgins way more than Booth and Brennan, and I have to say, that’s not going to happen. [Joking] Write Fox and ask for a spinoff, I’m all for it.
For example, someone like Parker and even it’s still up on the board [in regards to] someone like Zack. Do we bring back Zack? And the fact is a) there has to be a story, and b) in the story, you then have to remind a huge [portion] of the audience who this person is. [By doing that] are you picking a scab?
In our world, Parker’s gone to England with his mom, because [Booth and Rebecca] weren’t married and [Booth] has no rights. A lot of people forget that.
I would guess the complaint is more about how it hasn’t really seemed to bother Booth that his son is missing.
HH: It’s really a pickle for us, because if you say Parker, and then you show a picture of Parker, that is screen time in which drama is not happening. You’re only conveying information. So that’s a pickle. But we hear it, and we do wonder what we do about it. But if someone [on the show] has a good idea about it, we’ll do it.
Sweets is currently staying in Parker’s room; it’s still Parker’s room.
Speaking of that, how long is that living arrangement going to last?
HH: Sweets is not going to live with them indefinitely. He will move out.
Before the end of the season?
HH: Yeah. It’s fun, but it’s not an infinite number of stories. There’s just a few stories of Sweets there. When we run out of the stories that make it fun, we move him out and make a story out of that.
Looking ahead, you’re reintroducing Brennan’s (dead) mother to the audience. What can you tease about how Brennan reconnects with her?
HH: Brennan’s mom is dead. Boy, I think that [episode] turned out really well, where Brennan has a near-death experience and sees her mom, and it makes her wonder if the universe is not more complicated than it appears. That story turned out really well.
Does the experience make her reconsider her relationship with Booth?
HH: It makes her reconsider her relationship with the universe.
But will it specifically impact how she looks at her life with Booth?
HH: Like, am I going to break up with you?
No, more like a “life’s too short” mindset…
HH: It makes her question her reliance on sheer rational thinking, which has to do with raising children, being in love, getting married, those things. She has to reevaluate in her [own] way.
–
BONES airs Mondays at 8 PM on Fox.
Related:
BONES: ‘The Doll in the Derby’ Photo Preview — Angela Goes Undercover
BONES: Hart Hanson on Getting a Season 9, the Possibility for Season 10, Pelant, and More
BONES: Tamara Taylor on Cam’s Romance with Arastoo, the Return of Pelant, and More
Follow @GiveMeMyRemote and @marisaroffman on Twitter for the latest TV news. Connect with other TV fans on GIVE ME MY REMOTE’s official Facebook page.
And to be the first to see our exclusive videos by subscribing to our YouTube channel at youtube.com/givememyremotetv
Related Posts
Filed under #1 featured, Bones
Sorry Hart, BS on no drama if you mention Parker. Perfect opportunity for Brennan to comfort Bth over missing his son, 20 second scene, something, it makes Bth look small, trading one child for the other. Other than that, rest of the season looks good, yay on Sweets moving on…….sometime this decade.
I hate to break to HH, but even unmarried, as Parkers’ father, Booth has rights.
@Lisa Absolutely, it has been established that Booth has paid child support since Parker’s birth.An opportunity for Parker to live in another country is one thing, saying Booth has no rights is incorrect.
Ok, if Hodgela are the perfect couple, please stop writing Angela so whiny and bitchy. I’m getting depressed just looking at her, what happened to fun, wild child Ang? Marriage? Not a good look on her.
Sorry Hart Hanson I am calling you on that Parker quip BS. You can’t show Booth being an amazing father to that kid for 7yrs and now you can’t even give their relationship one precious scene. What? none of your writers heard of SKYPE? In the cute end scenes with B&B write one to include talking to Parker, catching up, bonding, is that really too much to ask for? No it’s not. Geez. And the whole Sweets living with B&B yawnfest? You said a few eps, which only means a handful in book. Move it along it, serves no purpose to the storyline in moving anything forward except you think it is fun *eyeroll*, whateva, it’s well past its “bored by date”.
It always stumps me when producers say they don’t want to confuse the audience when mentioning something that has happened in an older episode. When I watch an episode and something is brought up I don’t know about, it intrigues me more. It is so easy to find old episode and to catch up on what you don’t know. It seems Hart is viewing television from the old model when the Internet wasn’t around. I think this type of thinking is the reason shows lose long time viewers. The producer’s lose site of what makes their characters interesting to begin with.
Booth is no longer a frustrated father. He now has Christine. He no longer needs to deal with Parker because he isn’t around any longer to worry about. Booth has no rights because he has never cared to make it a priority. Being married has nothing to do with rights. Courts do give joint custody to non-married parents.
Wow Angie&Hodgens the perfect Couple?No B&B are the great ,perfect Couple!!B&B are the Centre of the Show and i want more from the Both!!
I disagree that it wastes screentime to have Booth talk about Parker. It makes me squirm that they haven’t shown Booth even remotely upset that his son now lives on another continent!
Booth doesn’t have loads of cash and doesn’t take holiday often – how is he going to see Parker regularly? That could have been a great source of character conflict, but instead they’ve made it look like Booth couldn’t care less about his first born now we has a kid he can live with.
That’s not the Booth they showed us before. It’s important – it makes Booth look like a pretty terrible Dad, which isn’t fair.
PS – also, even though it’s convenient for the purpose of their storyline, being married has nothing to do with parental rights. That’s a cop out.
Why the show seems to miss the point of developing good drama in the its storytelling?
As one person already pointed out it could have been really interesting to see a conflicted Booth in regards his son relationship. It seems the writers or showrunner get really lazy.
Instead let’s give Sweets a “good” drama *boring*
Over the years Bones has been one of my favorite procedurals on networks TV. I would love to see more of Cam and Arastoo and I hope that develops well. I haven’t gotten a chance to watch last night’s episode with Daisy yet because I was working late at DISH, but I’m going to check it out when I get home. I’ve been able to keep up with Bones this season on my schedule with my DISH Hopper and its PrimeTime Anytime feature. It will record Bones, and all my other favorite shows from the four major networks during primetime hours, automatically. I don’t have to worry about running into recording conflicts while recording all my favorite primetime shows.
I know how to get Parker back kill off Rebecca. Booth being the biological father would have some rights as to custody.
I agree with most that Parker NEEDS to at least be mentioned. . .we all KNOW Booth was a GREAT Dad when he had the chance! Let’s not show that he’s now uncaring! And PLEASE bring back Zach. . .rotting away in prison for a murder he didn’t committ!? PLEASE, regulars know the storyline & newbies can catch up online, etc!!!
Did Hodgens lose his money? I must have missed something.
It’s actually a cool and helpful piece of info. I am glad that you simply shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
Here is my webpage arlington movers
I agree with others that Parker could be part of a scene where they are catching up via Skype, etc. He has been mentioned a time or two, but just in passing, like when Brennan told Booth he should call Parker in the Ghost in the Machine ep. She’s spent a lot of time with him, too, since she fist met him when he was about 4 years old! She was jealous of the thought of him being close with the other girlfriend. She loves the kid, too. Booth shown as a great dad to him. Yes, it is total BS that he has no rights just because he wasn’t married to Parker’s mom….we all know that…..especially since h’s been involved in he kid’s life and provided child support from the moment he was born! The court would definitely take that into consideration. It’s just weird for him to suddenly not be a part of their lives at all.
As for Zach, it’s not that hard to come up with storyline for that one. He already confessed to Sweets that he never actually killed anyone. So just let everyone else find that out and him be set free. Duh! It would be interesting to see everyone’s reactions to that and we could see if Booth ever really and truly understood how Brennan really felt about Zach. He was like a younger version of herself and kind of a little brother or even a son to her. Until that episode where they took him off of the show, Booth didn’t really understand that, even asking how hard it could really be to replace him. Did he finally understand how much she cared for Zach then, or not? I loved him on he show, but am realistic about him coming back permanently. Just tie up this loose end, please!
I’m getting pretty irritated at the show in general. The whole Pelante arc just really killed Bones for me. The whole idea of a corporation the size of the Cantilever Group being taken down by cyber-terrorism!? When it was witnessed in full view of the FBI? The odds of something like that not being insured, thoroughly investigated and covered are slim to none. From a TV show that thus far has had a pretty good track record of at least attempting to be forensically accurate from an accounting perspective (and a corporation that size going down because of a single hacker would send the stock market and invested confidence through the floor, it would never happen, not in a million years.) Big Fail. I think the writers have just gotten lazy.
WHAT IS THIS I KEEP HEARING??? HOW COULD HOW DID HODGINS LOSE HIS FAMILY FORTUNE. PLEASE DO NOT TELL ME IT WAS PELANT. I AM GLAD HE IS GONE/DIED.
I really love your website.. Pleasant colors & theme.
Did you make this site yourself? Please reply back as I’m
wanting to create my own personal site and would love
to find out where you got this from or just what the theme is
called. Thanks!
Truly when somone doesn’t be aware of then its uup to other
people that they will assist, soo here it happens.
Here is my webpage; ahs nerium skin care
* Assist PADI Instructors with students, and at Utila Dive Centre
we have classes starting on a daily basis with plenty of opportunity for you to gain experience.
With that, as a scuba diving instructor you will be able to bring others
up to scuba diving. The carp is a fish species surrounded in myth, legend, and lore.
my web site: news
Great post. I was checking constantly this blog and I am impressed!
Extremely helpful info particularly the final phase 🙂 I
take care of such information much. I used to be seeking this certain info for a long time.
Thank you and good luck.
What i do not realize is in truth how you’re not actuaqlly much more neatly-preferred than you might be right
now. You’re so intelligent. You already know therefore significantly relating to this topic, made me individually believe it fro numerous varioous angles.
Its like men aand women are nott interested until
it is something too accomplish with Girl gaga!
Your imdividual stuffs great. Always maintain iit up!
Take a look at mmy web page -dog health (Deon)
I don’t know if anyone’s still reading this page, but I had to comment on HH’s statements about Parker and Booth’s rights. It’s always annoyed me in older episodes where they reference Booth’s lack of parental rights. The show’s creators did that only to create drama, and it’s a ridiculous storyline. Unless the father is unfit, the mother can’t keep the child away from him just because they’re not married. Pushing the idea that this smart, successful FBI agent, who would lay down his life for those he cares for, could be so easily manipulated and pushed around by his son’s mother is frankly an insult to the viewers.