BONES is introducing a new serial killer this week in an episode that seems much spookier than normal for this show. The episode, titled “Monster in the Closet”, has the team investigating a very strange death. Soon, Arastoo realizes the body is similar to one that was brought in during the time Booth and Brennan had quit their jobs, which leaves Brennan wracked with guilt. She believes if she had been at the Jeffersonian at the time she would have solved the murder and the newest victim would not have been killed.
During a recent conference call with reporters, BONES Executive Producer Michael Peterson talked about this upcoming episode. He addressed the fact that Brennan is wracked with guilt, saying that this episode is one “where we see what Brennan is going through [in terms of] really experiencing guilt for not being there at the time of this murder that takes place and having a feeling of responsibility, where she quit her job and bad things happen when she leaves. And so I think that helps with her arc. She’s somebody who’s always been able to separate herself and not become as emotionally attached to elements of the job. But she realizes the responsibility that she has, and so the way that [she and Booth] both handle that situation will definitely be telling.”
Peterson also hinted that this new villain “is pretty much our big bad for the remainder of the season. So, we will be seeing that person again. And I’m glad [if you thought the episode] was a little bit creepy. That was one I wrote, and it was something that the show lends itself [to] because of Brennan obviously dealing with skeletal remains so much. I had been re-watching a lot of old Hitchcock, and Psycho in particular, and thinking about that movie and then Ed Gein and the people it’s based on and how very similar they are to Brennan in a way, where they’re able to live with remains and see them as still alive. I think Brennan sees these remains a very similar way. And it’s a unique perspective. So, we really wanted to look at the flipside of that coin [from the perpetrator’s perspective], and to get a little bit of that nice creepy feel.”
Related: Peterson teases the remainder of season 11
“The inspiration also was — and there’s a little homage to it — there was an X-FILES episode called “Home,” which meant a lot to me. It was one of the big reasons why I wanted to do TV. And they do a great job in that episode of juxtaposing happy music with creepiness, so we do a little homage to that in there also. But, yes, that’s going to be our big bad for this season, and maybe a little bit into Season 12. But we’re still playing around with that.”
Sarah Rue will also be returning as Karen Delfs, an FBI profiler. Peterson expressed a lot of admiration for the character and said she’ll also be appearing in episode 15 as well. “She’s just been a breath of fresh air. David [Boreanaz] and John Boyd especially just love having the interaction with her. And we wanted to make her a little bit different obviously. She has some of the same characteristics as Sweets as far as her background goes, but in a way she’s almost Brennan’s version of a psychologist where she’s more of a behavioralist, so it’s a little bit more of a concrete science than what Sweets was dealing with. She’s on another show called IMPASTOR, and so she got shipped off, and we tried to fit her in for a couple more [episodes] but if possible we’d love to get her back for Season 12.”
“We’re delighted to be able to grab her for three episodes of this year, because she brings a lot — not only for the cases, but we think there’s some great opportunities as far as interplay with her and David and her and John Boyd in particular. So knock on wood, hopefully we’ll get her back for Season 12 and be able to do even more with her.”
Don’t miss an all new episode of BONES tonight (April 28) at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on Fox (U.S.) and Global TV (Canada).
