BONES: Michaela Conlin on Angela’s Big Decision, Season 11’s Possible Changes

[This post contains spoilers for BONES‘ season 10 finale episode. Please do not read this interview until you’ve seen the hour.]

BONES’ Angela and Hodgins didn’t end up going to Paris, but they opted out of their trip for a good reason: Angela realized how much her husband was sacrificing to make her dreams come true, and she acknowledged the best place for them, for now, was at the Jeffersonian.

“I was really glad to see how they handled that, particularly because I think [Hodgins] has been so supportive of Angela’s mood changes and wild lifestyle, and a lot of the choices she’s made — he’s been a supportive husband,” BONES star Michaela Conlin (Angela) shared. “I really like that the decision came out of Angela wanting him to be happy. And realizing maybe what she wanted wasn’t going to serve them as a couple. I was glad for that. I’ve expressed that [desire]: we need to see that part of that relationship. And [her decision] does come out of how much he loves to be there.”

“And also, probably, how much she does [love being there, too],” Conlin acknowledged. “I don’t think she always wants to admit that. But I do think the two of them in some ways, belong there. I think sometimes you have to do those [attempted changes] in life to realize what you really want.”

While the final hour of BONES’ tenth season was highly emotional, the mood echoed for what the cast and crew were going through — the long-running show’s fate was very much up in the air (it has since been renewed) and they didn’t know if they were filming their final moments of BONES.

“It was so surreal, Marisa,” Conlin said. “At this point in [filming] the season, you’re also tired and run-down, so there’s a general fatigue level that makes you overly emotional anyway. So there’s that element. None of us really knew [what was going on]; we had sort of started to hear rumblings that it might come back, but with this business, you never know. I know there was a general desire to make it good, and try to give it as much as we could, because we honestly didn’t know if that would be it.”

“I know the last scene where we’re hugging them goodbye was great and really sad,” she continued. “It’s so many different things. I think all of us discussed a little bit that we’d be coming back, but [if it didn’t], we kept being like, ‘How do you honor something you’ve done for so long, without knowing if this is really the end?’ It was a very strange place [to be], and a very tricky thing to balance…it was a funny place to be. But thankfully, because we’ve been doing it for so long, everything feels very real, because it’s been in real-time, and it’s been happening to all of us [and] the crew as well.”

Now that Angela and Hodgins are staying put for season 11 — and the show used them opting to not leave as a potential ending for their story — Conlin shared that whenever the BONES journey ends, right now, she’s hoping Angela doesn’t actually end up back in Paris.

“I’d like to see an alternative; personally, I would,” Conlin said. “But who knows. I have a feeling there will be a lot of change [in season 11]. I think they might shake things up a little bit. That’s my guess. I could be completely off base. [For the ending,] I’d like to see them tackle something else, if only because they’ve talked about this [so much] — [though], Paris is great.”

“I think there might be shifts with Angela and Hodgins this [upcoming] season,” she continued. “I think we might see different things with them…I know there was a lot of stuff they can’t [always] get to in a season, like Angela going undercover, or Angela and Hodgins going undercover…I hope we see that. I’d love to see more backstory with the two of them: with Angela and Hodgins and their families. But something tells me there’s going to be a lot of change within the series. But I’m looking forward to that. I think all of us are.”

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