The Truth About Bones And Booth's Relationship In Bones
"Bones" captured a league of fans' hearts with the partnership between FBI special agent Seeley Booth and forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan, just as much as it grossed them out with its gruesome murders and graphic dead bodies.
The procedural series takes the audience to Washington, D.C., where Bones (played by Emily Deschanel) and her team of forensic scientists work at the Smithsonian Institute on solving murder cases with Booth (played by Buffy's vampire boyfriend, David Boreanaz). Brennan's expertise in human bones makes her invaluable in identifying victims and adept at finding the cause of death. Paired with Booth's FBI investigative training and quick instincts, they make for an iconic crime-solving duo — though it's a partnership that extends beyond what's strictly professional.
While they start at odds — the first episode begins with Bones already upset at Booth — and bicker constantly, their relationship develops far past this early squabbling partnership over the 12 seasons. Here's a breakdown of how that relationship developed.
Booth and Bones have a 'will they, won't they' that lasts for six seasons. Spoiler alert: They do.
Series creator Hart Hanson was looking for sparks between the two leads when he first cast Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz (via TV Insider). They were always meant to have that romantic chemistry, which the writers turned into a six-season-long tease. While they begin the series in conflict, their partnership quickly develops into one unrivaled by anything else in their lives. In Season 2, the tension between them teases a potential kiss, but fans don't get to see that until Season 3. As Booth and Bones begin to understand their romantic interests in each other, it's revealed that they actually kissed back when they first started working together. But while they remain separate for various reasons, everyone else can see that there's something there; they're constantly mistaken for a couple.
It isn't until Season 6 that Booth and Bones sleep together. Hanson told TV Insider that the team would debate over them getting together at the beginning of every season. They'd planned for the two to get intimate for the first time after intern Vincent's (Ryan Cartwright) death but hadn't committed to that properly kicking off their romantic relationship until Deschanel admitted she was pregnant. In truth, Bones' pregnancy splits fans for several reasons. It is revealed in the Season 6 finale, but by the time Season 7 starts, they are already an established couple nearing the end of the pregnancy.
While Booth and Bones continue to have ups and downs in their relationship, in addition to two babies, they do get married by the end of the series and stay happily together.
They have opposing beliefs in science vs. faith
While Bones and Booth have an unbreakable bond, their relationship is all about dichotomies. Of course, as the leads of a TV show that's intended to last for several seasons, they can't agree on everything, but these two sure do differ on some very fundamental levels. Where Bones looks to science to find answers, Booth looks to his faith in God. When Bones uses rationalization and evidence to solve a problem, Booth uses his gut emotion and empathy.
These differences represent constant conflicts for the pair. At one point, their friend and psychologist Sweets (John Francis Daley) writes a whole book on how opposite they are, though he later realizes they're quite similar in other ways. Over time, they learn to take pages from each others' books. Bones, in particular, is shown to learn more empathy from Booth. She even brought this up during their wedding vows, reading from an old letter she wrote to him and saying, "Dear Agent Booth, you are a confusing man. You are irrational and impulsive, superstitious and exasperating. You believe in ghosts and angels, and maybe even Santa Claus, and because of you, I've started to see the universe differently."
In this way, they balance each other out and force one another to see a different perspective, just as it creates dramatic fodder to sustain the series.
They connect over their shared family issues
Though Booth and Bones differ in many ways, they connect with each other on a personal, intimate level that they never have with anyone else. Even by the end of Season 1, Booth admits an uncomfortable experience to her about his time in the military. They continually seek comfort in each other — it's what led to them sleeping together the first time — because while they both have trouble opening up, they can do so with each other.
Perhaps part of this is due to their shared trauma. Neither had a perfect childhood; Booth grew up with an abusive alcoholic father, always having to protect his younger brother, while Bones' parents disappeared, leaving her to spend her teen years in foster care. Plus, both have brothers that regularly get into legal trouble. While Bones' dad does show up in the series and they rekindle their rocky relationship, she is still strongly affected by his departure. She also admits to Booth that she was abused by her foster parents. Sharing these difficult things brings Booth and Bones closer together.
Booth and Bones are exceptionally protective of each other
In Booth and Bones' line of work, the threats are constantly flying. They've been shot, kidnapped, and blown up. Catching killers has not proven to be a safe career for either of them — or any of the other characters, to be fair. Taking this into account, it makes sense that their bond develops into a deep protectiveness over each other, but it manifests quite early. Already in Season 1, Booth threatens people over Bones' safety and risks his career to keep her from being a suspect in a murder case. He takes a bullet for her at the end of Season 3, but Bones, proving she's just as willing to die and/or kill for him, shoots the woman threatening them.
In their wedding vows, Bones references the time when she was buried alive with Hodgins in the Season 2 episode "Aliens in a Spaceship." It was one of the early moments showing just how desperate Booth gets when it comes to saving Bones. She later responds in kind by saving him from his own kidnapping by the Grave Digger. It's these moments of danger that show their true feelings for each other, and how dearly they care for one another despite their differences.