On Monday’s Bones (Fox, 8/7c), Brennan will have a close call with death that causes her to see her deceased mother (played by Brooke Langton). Naturally, it makes the überscientific and logical forensic anthropologist contemplate not only the existence of an afterlife, which she doesn’t believe in, but also her relationship with Booth. Emily Deschanel spoke with reporters to preview the powerful hour.
PHOTOS | Bones Sneak Peek: Brennan’s Near-Death Experience Brings Her Closer to Her Mother
WHAT GOES WRONG | "Booth and Brennan have a fight. Brennan believes that Booth is criticizing her parenting style and runs out and ends up at the lab at night to finish working on a case, and that's when she gets shot," previews Deschanel. Since the doc is facing maternal challenges and can’t seek her late mom’s advice, "It's quite fitting that this issue that she's dealing with, in a way, causes her to see her mother again, and hopefully ease that pain she's dealing with because she doesn't have a mother around." So who’s responsible for the shot that takes Brennan to the great beyond? "Pelant is one of the first thoughts everybody has," says the actress. "I’m not going to tell you if he is involved or not."
WHAT CHANGES | Temperance’s interaction with her mom will reveal "why Brennan behaves in the way that she does, is hyper-rational and has cut off her emotions in many ways, even though over the last few years she's opened up after knowing Booth," Deschanel says. But after going through such a traumatic experience — not to mention an encounter that she never thought possible — Brennan has to evolve, right? "As the season goes on, it's a subtle change. It's not like people are discussing it right afterwards, but I think it will be addressed in later episodes this season. … It shines a light on her behavior and maybe encourages her to change a bit."
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WHO COMES BACK | Brennan’s mama isn’t the only family member who makes an appearance. Fearing that he’s "losing" his daughter, Ryan O’Neal’s Max also shows up at her bedside. "He gives a wonderful performance," raves the actress. "It's an emotional episode for his character… and there's a communication between my mother and my father through [Brennan]."
WHAT’S NEXT | Could Brennan’s experience on the other side, coupled with Booth’s recent comment about living in sin, change her mind about marriage? "Something like this always makes you look at every situation in your life and think, ‘Is this how I want it to be?’" teases Deschanel. "We are moving towards some kind of answers on that. We discuss it in an episode that we’re about to shoot next week." (The actress however adds that "there's not necessarily a resolution" to the issue.) Meanwhile, the ball is still firmly in Temp’s court after Booth told her she’d have to be the one to pop the question. "She’s also said that she’s not getting married," points out Deschanel. "So far, having a child hasn’t changed that or at least changed her stubbornness about asking him. So we’ll see. If it happens — and I imagine at some point it will — I look forward to seeing what Brennan's proposal to Booth is like. But so far, I can't say I know definitively that that’s happening yet."
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