BONES Post-Mortem: Michaela Conlin on Angela’s Real Name, the Emotional Brennan-Angela Scene

[Warning: this post contains spoilers for BONES’ “The Life in the Light.” Please watch that hour before you go any further.]

BONES’ penultimate episode of the year was an emotional hour: as Booth and Brennan took a big step forward in their reconciliation post-his gambling relapse, Hodgins and Angela decided to move to Paris.

Though Angela’s desire for more from life wasn’t new, when she told Brennan that she’d be leaving the Jeffersonian, it led to a highly emotional scene for the long-time best friends.

“It’s funny, because we hadn’t been picked up yet when we filmed that,” BONES star Michaela Conlin (Angela) recalled. (The show has since been renewed for season 11.) “A lot of [the emotion] was mirroring a lot of things. Doing scenes with Emily [Deschanel (Brennan)]…I think the connection we have as friends is similar to their friendship, in some ways. [But] the thing was, we hadn’t heard yet [about season 11], so it was a very crazy time. We really weren’t sure if the series would come back, and I think that scene says so much about the two of them as friends, and what they do for each other.”

Since the fate of BONES was still up in the air at the time, the writers didn’t take any chances, and also used the hour to reveal a long-time secret: Angela’s real name. Yes, the woman fans know as Angela was actually born…Pookie Noodlin.

“Yes!” Conlin laughed. “Which, by the way, I did not know, until that hard script hit my trailer. I read it as it was printed off the machine. I mean, whoa! It’s [unfortunate], but also kind of perfect. I’m actually okay with that decision. I think it obviously had to be pretty ridiculous, and I like it has a furry animal connotation, or something that goes along with that — [something] that you’d name a pet or small animal. Which is very funny, and weird, and very Angela.”

“I think as much as Angela tries to be so many things, I think she is a nerd at heart,” Conlin continued. “I think it’s very telling she had a name like that and tried to change it to a sophisticated an ambiguous [name]. It makes sense.”

And like many fans, Conlin shared she had speculated what Angela’s name could possibly be over the years, but allowed, “I had no specific name [in mind], I just knew it had to be cringe-worthy.”

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What did you think of tonight’s episode of BONES? Did you love Angela’s given name? Were you emotional over Brennan and Angela’s scene?

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