Bones Emily Deschanel & Hart Hanson Talk Gravedigger, Finale

Bones star Emily Deschanel’s voice always throws me a little when I hear her speaking as Emily, as opposed to as Temperance Brennan. The cadence is totally different, she sounds much lighter and breezier, and her comments are interspersed with lots of laughing, especially when she’s answering questions alongside Bones‘ executive producer Hart Hanson. It’s fun to listen to the two of them chat, throwing questions to each other and asking the other’s opinion. They clearly have a terrific working relationship.

Fox invited several journalist-bloggers (joggers? Ha! No.) to participate in a conference call with Emily and Hart today in advance of the last two episodes of the season. Both were careful not to spill specifics, but just in case, here’s your obligatory SPOILER WARNING.

The Gravedigger

This week’s episode, “The Boy With The Answer”, features the return of The Gravedigger as she goes to trial and defends herself. It’s an emotionally tense episode with Bones and Hodgins both struggling to handle their terror at remembering when they were buried alive. Booth struggles a little bit as well, although Hart thinks his ordeal wasn’t as difficult since he had so much more room to move around in. Sure, there was that pesky bomb attached, but Emily and Hart agreed that being buried alive is their worst nightmare, preferring instead to get blown up. Yes, it was that kind of discussion.

For Brennan, the emotional fallout from facing The Gravedigger again comes in a surprising form.

Brennan faces Heather Taffet in The Gravedigger trial on Bones / FOX

Emily revealed, “The whole episode begins with Brennan’s nightmare. It is effecting her deeply. You’ll even see her questioning her field, solving murders.” She attributed Brennan’s willingness to even consider a career alternative as something she’s gained from her relationship with Booth. “[This job is] something she’s chosen to escape into. She’s opening up a lot more. Learning to be sensitive to people’s feelings. The walls are starting to come down. I think it’s mainly from her relationship with Booth, who has encouraged her to open up. She’s still the same person, she still has difficulties, but she’s made improvements for sure.”

With all of the emotional turmoil coming up in this week’s episode, do we get closure on The Gravedigger?

Hart teased, “There may be some closure and maybe some not closure.” He also noted that, if we look closely, we’ll see “a glimmer” of  a future nemesis arc in this episode. In a possibly related comment, Hart revealed that the presence of Bones’ father, Max, at the trial may be more than just a father’s concern for his daughter.

“[Max is] not just there for moral support. He’s a mysterious and multi-faceted character. He’s not an onlooker at heart.”

Season Finale

Booth and Brennan make a difficult decision in the season finale of Bones / FOX

Bones is known for shaking things up in its season finales. Last year’s alternate reality episode seemed to be a love-it-or-hate-it lightning rod for fans. Are we in for another summer of fan debate?

Emily: “What happens in the season finale is as impactful for the [Booth/Brennan] relationship as the 100th episode.”

Hart: “The season ender has as much of an impact as the 100th episode. Is that oblique enough?”

Yes, Hart, that’s oblique enough. Both of them also insisted that “closure” is not part of the season finale, “The Beginning in the End”, although they were laughing as they answered, so we might be getting played. They’re sneaky, those two. But more specifically, Hart said he does anticipate another loud fan reaction this year. After all, “I’ve talked to some other showrunners and I’m convinced we have the noisiest, most involved fans out there.” For which he’s grateful, “I hope there’ll be some noise about it, otherwise we’ll just go gently into that good night.”

Emily elaborated a bit further, however. “May I just say that it’s very different from last season’s finale. This is very much a Bones episode [where last season’s finale] was an alternate reality. … This is definitely not in an alternate reality. Huge things happen that do change the course of the whole gang. It’s funny how subtle things can change people.”

Hodgela, Billy Gibbons, and Season Six

Asked about last week’s wedding between Angela and Hodgins, I could hear the smile in Hart’s voice when he said that he’s known from the beginning that the two of them would get back together. In fact, he’s had the dialogue for that scene where they rehash what went wrong written since the break up at the beginning of season 4.

Billy Gibbons reprises his role as Angela's father in the season finale of Bones / FOX

Speaking of Angela, what’s the story behind Billy Gibbons as her dad? “I always knew that ‘Angela Montenegro’ was not her real name and that she had a rock star dad,” said Hart. “I didn’t know who it would be, and, it’s a funny thing, when you go through the list of rock stars who are instantly recognizable, there are about five of them. Billy Gibbons was on that very short list, and when we called, he responded. I selfishly used the fact that I have a TV series to meet one of my idols. And then he turned out to be a really interesting actor.”

Because he’s never referred to by name or as a member of ZZ Top on the show, some people are confused about whether he really is Michaela/Angela’s father. Emily recounted that, “[Billy] told me that people he knows personally think he is her father. He didn’t correct them, because he thinks that’s so funny.”

Writing for season six is already well underway. Although the writers are on a month-long hiatus at the moment, Hart said they already have six scripts in hand and two more stories in the works for a total of eight of next season’s episodes in advance. What can he reveal about what’s coming up? As you probably guessed, not much. One reporter tried to wheedle some information out of Hart by asking if Booth and Brennan will both be in Washington, D.C. when season six begins.

“I’m not going to answer that,” he chuckled. “We will not start season six without Booth and Brennan working together. I’m not willing to say that they’ll be in DC. I’m not willing to say they won’t be.”

Hart and Emily discussed the idea of revisiting Brennan’s desire for a baby at lunch yesterday. They definitely intend to explore that further although it hasn’t been written yet.

“I always thought it said something about Brennan that her interest in having a baby faded when Booth as a viable option to be the father faded,” said Hart.

On to more prosaic matters, Hart said that FOX has assured him that they plan to keep Bones on Thursdays at 8/7c next season, paired with Fringe. The idea of more crossovers (a la The Family Guy) was brought up, and Hart said he’s certainly open to it but the logistics are tricky. They had discussed a Lie To Me crossover in the past, and he thinks a Fringe crossover – where they start from the same crime scene – could be fun, should the fates align.

Hart also noted that he and Emily were talking about how long the show will continue at yesterday’s lunch. Where do they want to see the show go?

“Morocco!” laughed Emily.

OK, not literally. Is there a plan for the end of the series?

“I have a group of scenes, written on my computer, that are the end of Bones. Whether those become the end of Bones, I don’t know, but they’ve lasted so far. Since the second season. A TV series is very, very organic. It goes where it wants to go. You just kind of steer it, give it nudges. I do know where it’s going, it’s just how many steps between now and then there are that I don’t know.” Emily joked that someone should hack into Hart’s computer to get those scenes for her. Any takers?

Hiatus Projects

Neither of them have much time for hobbies. Emily joked that they work in their time off, and talked about a new film she begins rehearsing for this week. She’ll star as a pregnant lesbian in The Perfect Family opposite Kathleen Turner.  It’s a complete departure from her role on Bones, and she’s excited about having the time to do it. For his part, Hart is working on a pilot, Pleading Guilty, for FOX. He’ll find out next week if it gets picked up for the 2010-2011 season.

Bones airs Thursdays at 8/7c on FOX. Follow Hart Hanson on Twitter.