David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel’s Impact on ‘Bones’ Is Bigger Than You Think

While it’s hard for any long-running show to sustain a consistent level of quality as it reached its later seasons, the ABC crime series Bones was one of the rare programs that improved as it went along. Despite being on the air for over a decade, Bones managed to keep its core audience engaged by presenting new mysteries, developing new serial killer antagonists, and changing up its core ensemble of characters. Although much of the show’s success can be attributed to its unique premise, the series managed to retain its creative juice thanks to the terrific chemistry between David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel. The authenticity that the pair brought to their performances isn’t surprising, as Boreanaz and Deschanel developed a close relationship in real life that resembled their onscreen characters.

How David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel Got Into Character on ‘Bones’

Bones follows the forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (Deschanel), a brilliant scientific mind whose knowledge of human anatomy proves to be essential in solving major criminal investigations and conspiracies. While she doesn’t necessarily consider herself to be a “social” person, Brennan finds herself leading a team that consists of the artist Angela Montenegro (Michaela Conlin), the entomologist Jack Hodgins (T.J. Thyne), the psychologist Lance Sweets (John Francis Daley), and the pathologist Camille Saroyan (Tamara Taylor). Although the FBI Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) is initially skeptical of Brennan’s unique approach to solving mysteries, he finds himself impressed by her knowledge and interested in her romantically. The relationship between Brennan and Booth is the heart of Bones, as the two characters find that they are a perfect match both personally and professionally over the course of the series.

Although the series took perhaps too long teasing the romance that developed between them, the temperamental relationship between Booth and Brennan kept the show feeling exciting. Although Booth’s aptitude for social situations would seemingly conflict with Brennan’s awkwardness, the two characters discover that they have much more in common with each other than they may have initially realized. Both characters deal with difficult family situations; Booth is divorced and trying to care for his son, Parker (Ty Panitz), and Brennan has struggled with the criminal activity of her father, Max Keenan (Ryan O’Neal). It’s only over the course of several seasons that Brennan and Booth discover that their skills complement each other. Their workplace friendliness soon turns to romance when they are faced with the possibility of spending the rest of their lives together.

If the dynamic between Brennan and Booth felt particularly realistic, it’s because Boreanaz and Deschanel took time out of their shooting schedules to develop their chemistry, eventually becoming friends in real life. Boreanaz revealed that the pair met to rehearse every weekend for over seven years to develop the banter that was so essential within each episode. He cited their coach, Ivana Chubbuck, a renowned acting teacher, for being “very dynamic in regards to bringing and creating that chemistry.” It’s due to the off-screen relationship that Boreanaz and Brennan had that Bones’ most emotionally impactful moments hit so hard; events like the death of Sweets in Season 10 were devastating because the pair was able to react and respond to each other emotionally.

David Boreanaz Became a Director on ‘Bones’

In addition to bringing an aura of authenticity with his performance as Booth, Boreanaz and Deschanel were essential to the creative direction of Bones. While originally the series was conceived as a darker, more propulsive mystery series like The X-Files, Boreanaz discovered through his rehearsals with Deschanel that Bones would work better as “a character show.” While this may have been in contrast with what the writers originally intended, Boreanaz cites the fan enthusiasm for their interpersonal storylines as significant to the show’s trajectory. His influence on the tone of Bones is notable; while early seasons were almost exclusively focused on the mysteries themselves, Bones began developing multi-season arcs and tying in its characters’ backstories and fictional histories. It’s due to this personability that the series was able to maintain its longevity.

Over the course of the series, Booth is granted additional responsibilities as he grows to take a leadership position within the FBI, and becomes a mentor to his new partner James Aubrey (John Boyd). This mirrored aspects of reality, as Boreanaz was assigned additional responsibilities within the production of Bones once he began directing episodes. Although he made his filmmaking debut directing one of the best episodes of Angel, Boreanaz directed eleven episodes of Bones throughout the show’s run, which kept him engaged in the creative process. When reflecting on the end of Bones, Boreanaz said that “the show had endless possibilities” because “of the genuineness of the open-ended small arcs.”

‘Bones’ Legacy on Television Can’t Be Understated

While not every acclaimed television series has a satisfying finale, Bones had a worthy conclusion with the last episode, “The End of An Era.” Directed by Boreanaz, the conclusive installment in the series saw the Jeffersonian team solving a mystery that linked back to the bomb maker Jeannine Kovac. By pooling the knowledge of their interns and reflecting upon their past cases, Booth and Brennan were able to convict Kovac and ensure that she was brought to justice. While the conclusion to this story arc helped wrap up Bones’ loose ends, the episode was powerful because it gave the characters time to reminisce on the events that had led up to this point in the story. It served as an emotional way for the Bones cast to bid farewell to the characters that they had inhabited for over a decade.

Given the personal enthusiasm that its cast had for the material, Bones is a phenomenon that is unlikely to be replicated in the modern television landscape. This style of “mystery of the week” premise is rarely seen on streaming, and there haven’t been any recent procedurals that have distinguished themselves as unique in the same way that Bones did. While the notion of the spin-off series The Finder was briefly floated by ABC, its failure to captivate audiences served as a further example of what an anomaly Bones really was.

Bones is streaming on Hulu.

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