BONES’ Stephen Nathan and Jonathan Collier Tease Season 10: Episode 200, the Conspiracy, ‘Big’ Lifestyle Changes, and More

When BONES’ ninth season concluded in May, executive producer Stephen Nathan pointed out, “We’ve never quite been in a situation that has affected these characters this much by external forces.” And when the show returns in September, Booth will be in jail, and Brennan and the rest of the Jeffersonian gang will be struggling to right the wrong of his arrest.

Now that production has officially started on BONES’ tenth season, I sat down with Nathan and executive producer Jonathan Collier to find out what they could tease about what’s to come…

What can you say about the case that opens up the season?
Stephen Nathan: Well, we’re following this story which has slowly surfaced over the previous five episodes, I think. And it’s really coming to a head now. This is a conspiracy, somewhat based in fact. Because it was so protected and so underground, no one could really touch it or even know about it. But once it surfaces, all eyes go to it. So there’s a chance for them to rid us of this. They’re not foolish enough to think that something this big can be destroyed forever. But it’s like, if you catch one murderer, you don’t get rid of murder. This will be something that is added to the layers these characters have seen.
Jonathan Collier: The most important aspect of it is how it affects them. So, we’re solving the conspiracy, but it’s really putting everyone through an enormous ordeal.

Is the conspiracy the main focus of the premiere, or is there still a new body of the week?
SN: There is a body. We actually find a way to do both. The first episode does go a long way towards the resolution of the conspiracy, but the main thing that’s occurring — one, there is a body that is intimately connected to the main case, but mostly, it’s Booth and Brennan coming back together, these characters coming back together after four months. And how are they going to get past this? The fact that they were almost killed, that their house was shot up, they can’t trust the people they had previously trusted.

Will Booth and Brennan be getting a new home? Or will they just be patching up their old home to fix the damage from that massive shootout?
SN: You don’t want to have something look like it looked when you almost got killed.

Fair. What can you tease about the cases that are in store this year?
JC: We’re going to the world of psychics, we’re doing an undercover episode —

Will they be going as Tony and Roxy again?
SN: It’s a toss-up. It could be someone new, or it could be either of the others. We’re not sure.
JC: We have a great episode coming up at a forensics convention.
SN: Murder at a forensics convention.
JC: You have 900 people there who could have committed the perfect murder.

Is Brennan getting any help from the people at the convention?
SN: Well, we’re going to have our people there. Hodgins has some little invention he’s trying to sell. Everybody’s involved.
JC: There are definitely people at the convention who are trying to help out, too.
SN: So we have that. We’re doing a little nod to WOLF OF WALL STREET. I wonder if anyone will want us to catch the killer? [Laughs] This could be the first time.
JC: And then there’s a really moving, timely episode about illegal immigrants.

Will that be something that touches a particular character?
SN: Yes, but not in the way [you might think] — we’re just dealing with that [now]. It’s a large enough issue that everyone becomes involved.

How will you be dealing with Wendell’s cancer in the early episodes?
SN: He’ll be coming back twice, at least, in the first batch that plays through December. And we will be dealing with that. He had treatment. I think he’s going to be in pretty good shape initially.

Not so fond of that last word in that sentence.
SN: I know, but you want a little drama.

And some tears.
SN: Yes! We like the tears. We laugh, we cry.

We also have a talk radio show host who is no longer living.

Are you looking to get actual talk radio hosts to guest star?
SN: We’re a little bit in the [early] stages of that one. But the big talk radio person is dead. And then we have —
JC: Video games.
SN: A murder in the video game world…and crossword puzzles! It is a crossword puzzle championship. Have you ever seen that world? It’s unreal.

The most I’ve seen of that world is the SIMPSONS episode they had years ago.
SN: It’s people who do the New York Times crossword puzzle in three minutes.

How do they read the clues that fast?!
SN: That’s how great they are! And it’s a murder in this world, and it will be the murder of the person who writes the crossword puzzles. And our team will be involved in that world as well.

Do you have solid plans for episode 200?
SN: Yes.

Can you tease it?
SN: No. That one is going to — we’re still figuring out what we want that to be…I think [BONES creator] Hart [Hanson] and I will be writing that one.

Will it involve bringing back familiar faces?
SN: No. It won’t be in any way a flashback at all to the history of the show, to other cases, or anything. It’s going to be…just a totally unique episode, that will be some sort of odd punctuation to the 200 [episodes] we’ve been on.
JC: Probably directed by David Boreanaz (Booth).
SN: Yeah, David, I’m sure, will direct it.

Booth and Brennan are solid as a couple, but what can you tease about their arc this year?
SN: Well, Booth essentially has to recover from what happened to him. And that’s not easy.
JC: And he has to pick up the pieces legally, as well as emotionally.
SN: And Brennan has had to shoulder a lot of the responsibility while he was gone, and has been working tirelessly to get him out of jail, and to try and solve the case so none of this happens again, and none of them are in danger. We pick up season 10 at a great tension.

And what will be going on with Cam, Angela, Hodgins and Sweets?
JC: Their lives are definitely moving forward: there’s some progress, relationship-wise, big, big lifestyle changes, and some significant ones coming up.

An engagement for Cam?
SN: It’s definitely something that has to be discussed.

Will we see another baby for Angela and Hodgins?
SN: We have mentioned there might be another baby around within members of the BONES family.

With that wording, you’re not ruling out Brennan or Cam, either…
SN: It could be anyone in that world.

–

BONES returns Thursday, September 25th at 8 PM on Fox.

Related:

BONES: John Boyd to Recur
BONES’ Emily Deschanel Recalls Her LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT Guest Spot
BONES: Emily Deschanel Gives a Little Season 10 Tease
BONES Season 9 Finale Post-Mortem: Stephen Nathan Teases What Comes Next and Why They ‘Have to Right This Wrong’

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