David Boreanaz

Spoilers Warning

Bare Bones - Secrets are revealed and loyalties questioned when Bones returns

For Dr Temperance Brennan, working as a forensic anthropologist means never having to get too close to the victims whose remains she identifies. This season, however, be shattered when she works on a case that cuts very close to the bone.

Brennan’s colleagues are identifying the remains of a woman found in the Jeffersonian’s storage facility when they make a startling discovery. The women is in fact Brennan’s mother who disappeared in 1991 - and she appears to have been murdered. While Brennan is left reeling, her FBI partner Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz), immediately takes control of the situation by opening a federal investigation.

"We’re going to find out what happened to your mum, OK?" Booth tells her. But far from answering questions, the investigation actually uncovers some shocking truths about Brennan’s parents. "Yes, we find my mum’s remains and it’s unclear whether my father is involved or no," Emily Deschanel, who plays Brennan, tells TV WEEK. "It was crazy working on (this episode) because in every scene there’s new, horrifying information that totally changes everything she’s thought about her life and her family."

But Brennan’s not the only one to get too close to a case. When the series returns this week, (February 15th 2007) Booth must re-examine a military death in Iraq after a man’s charred remains are found on the grave of a war hero. It’s initially thought that the mystery man was an extreme anti-war protestor - until it’s revealed he was murdered.

Brennan often disagrees with her partner’s methods, but this time she aslo questions his motives when the former army sniper refuses to believe that anyone in the military might be involved. "Inside, you’re still too military, Booth. I think you might be too close to this one," she tells him.

The fact that Brennan is even thinking this way shows just how far she’s come from last season, when she was more interested in bone fragments and soil samples than human behaviour. "That’s the nice thing about doing a series - you have a long time to explore a character," Emily agrees. "Certainly the relationship with Booth really changes my character as we go along."

As for where that relationship may be headed, Bones’ executive producer, Hart Hanson, has hinted taht romance is only a matter of time. "We will do everything we can to put them together without them getting together, for as long as we can pull that off," he told US TV Guide magazine. "They will actually have to go into couples counselling."

Booth and Brennan on the couch? We wont want to miss that!

Bones (Series Return)
Thursday 9.30pm - 15th February 2007 Seven Network Australia