The season 10 finale of "Bones" felt like a series finale because it was arranged to be exactly that. Showrunner Stephen Nathan, who will give the executive producer torch to someone else for the next season, revealed why Booth ad Brennan decided to start anew in "The Next in the Last."
"We had to do an episode that would be worthy of our audience that had committed to us for so many years. We wanted to give them a satisfying conclusion if in fact the show didn't come back," Nathan told The Hollywood Reporter of the season ender, which saw the couple drive out of Jeffersonian.
"We also somehow had to have that vibe in the show that it could continue for another 10 years. It was really walking a tight rope. Hopefully, we did it [because] I don't think there's a net," he went on to say.
Although Booth and Brennan opted for career change and family life, Nathan said that the pair will still be back in Jeffersonian or at least on the permanent set come "Bones" season 11. Practically, that set is the "biggest set ever built for a television show" so changing it isn't an option.
Also, it looks like the EP has it all figured out on how to make their return to the place in "Bones" season 11 effective in a creative viewpoint. "The mystery and the fun of Season 11 is how is this team going to reassemble. How is life going to go on? At what point do we pick them up?" the showrunner teased.
"There will be a time lapse. We will be picking them up as they have been living a life that they have been wanting to live. From that they'll have to go back to the lives they had before and clearly they will be different people and different circumstances will allow us to continue in a new life," he explained.
However, Booth and Brennan will not come back to something familiar. Nathan said that the subtleties at the lab "will definitely change" with people following a new social order. This, the EP assured, will spawn tons of conflicts and surprises.
"Bones" season 11 will premiere this fall.
