Bones Cast & Executive Producers on Babies, Romance, & More at Paley Center

Days before the penultimate episode of Bones, some of the cast along with the Executive Producers greeted fans at the Los Angeles branch of the Paley Center for Media.

The audience was treated to a screening of the May 12 episode (worry not, there are no spoilers here) before a panel discussion that confirmed so much about the cast and creative team for Fox’s hit show. In attendance were series regulars Michaela Conlin, Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz and TJ Thyne along with show creator Hart Hanson and Executive Producer Stephen Nathan.

As the panel unfolded, moderator Michael Ausiello peppered the cast and crew about the episode and what to expect from the finale. Careful not to spill anything that connects the episode to the finale, everyone discussed the show and what has happened so far.

For Angela and Hodgins, Nathan commented that because they are such a strong and grounded couple that all of the tension in their relationship had to be external forces, such as the chance of their baby being born blind. It seems that, on the other hand, if anything were to happen between Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth, there is still plenty of conflict between them to have internal debates (it should also be noted that Deschanel and Boreanaz have a tendency to bicker and banter no matter what is going on—and in fact, a good portion of the panel was the two of them going back and forth).

As the finale approaches, the fate of the Hodgins’ baby will be shown. To get herself ready for that scene, Conlin admitted to watching birthing videos around YouTube and calling a friend from her hometown who works as a delivery nurse.

When the panel wasn’t vaguely discussing the finale, there was also a frank discussion about how the show would continue in season seven considering Deschanel’s pregnancy. Hanson admitted that there were about eight possible ideas for how to continue, including at least one that featured using The Finder cast (this seems like a moot point now that the spin-off series has been ordered for the fall, but who knows).

Other stories for next season might include a few more Squinterns, who Hanson described bring more stories to the show to tell each week. He also admitted that the creative team did abandon the idea of Dr. Brennan ultimately choosing one because of the types of stories that can’t be told with just one additional person in the lab.

When Ausiello went to question the panel from questions solicited by fans, Hanson voiced an opinion that made this Nice Girl love him a bit more: He’s no more appreciative of fans who speak for all of the viewers in questions (the “we” that is often heard in Tweets and comments) than he is of the hateful Tweets directed at him on a regular basis (in fact, he doesn’t read most of his @replies).

Bones‘ penultimate episode of the season, “The Hole in the Heart” airs Thursday, May 12 and concludes the season arc about Booth’s Ranger friend-turned-enemy Broadsky and a new field agent (played by Tina Majorino).

Attached: photos of the cast and showrunners / copyright Wireimage