A main character is killed off in the season 10 premiere and exec producer Stephen Nathan reveals it was 'a complicated and very difficult decision.'
- Sep 26, 2014
AceShowbiz - "Bones" kicked off its tenth season with the most shocking way possible by killing off a main character without alerting fans beforehand. This marks the first time a regular character is killed off in the show's history.
[SPOILER ALERT!] John Francis Daley's Dr. Lance Sweets met his demise in the season opener as the actor is pursuing his writing and directing career. In the episode, Sweets was beaten to death as he tried to collect evidence in the FBI conspiracy that landed Booth in jail. Making it more tragic, earlier in the episode it was revealed that Sweets and former girlfriend Daisy rekindled their romance and are expecting a child.
For showrunner and executive producer Stephen Nathan, killing Sweets was as hard as viewers who watched it on television. "It was a devastating thing for us to do," he tells The Hollywood Reporter. "We were in a strange situation and wanted to find out how best to handle it - and we wound up handling it in the most painful way imaginable."
To TVLine, Nathan explains, "It was a complicated and very difficult decision for us. John's career as a writer and director has been taking off over the past few years, and... [this fall he's helming] a remake of 'National Lampoons' Vacation', which coincided with the start of the season. We didn't know what to do."
He continues, "And then we realized that this fit in very well with the conspiracy arc [that landed Booth in jail]. It gives us something very rich and very emotional to play within the first half of the season. Everybody's affected very deeply by this. And it also seemed to be a surprising way to start the season. Usually when characters meet their ends on a series it's at the end of the season."
Recalling the day they shot Daley's last scene, Nathan shares, "It was very sad. There were a lot of tears shed on the set. We adore John. He's an important and valued member of the family. It was really painful to lose him."
Daley himself calls his character's death "a grim moment" and admits that he "cried like a baby for a minute" after shooting his final scene. He goes on telling USA Today via phone, "I remember how it had choked up David, shooting that scene, and Emily. They were both pretty emotional during that time," adding, "Most of my 20s were spent on that show and, fortunately, it's an incredible family."
He also tweeted, "Much love to the cast, crew and fans of 'Bones.' I grew up with you guys," while co-star David Boreanaz simply wrote, "Gutted" and "Sad."
The aftermath of Sweets' death will be dealt with in the second episode. "There's a huge emotional stake for all of the characters. It's not only finding a killer because of a sense of justice, but it's finding a killer out of a sense of vengeance and redemption," Nathan says. "They're doing this for Sweets, not only for his memory but to honor his son."
Of why he created the Sweets-Daisy reunion/baby plot, Nathan explains, "Well, Carla [Gallo] is pregnant, so life wrote that section of the script. We thought, 'Oh, this is fantastic. Daisy and Sweets get together during the hiatus, get pregnant and now he dies.' The impending birth of her baby leaves us with another great story arc to play with."
He adds that Daisy's pregnancy "will color the rest of the season. That said, Bones is not going to a dark place in any kind of long-term way." And if there's a possible way to bring Sweets back, fans can cross their finger that the writers make it happen in the 200th episode as Nathan teases, "It's going to involve as many characters as we can reassemble... [We'll be] seeing all of our characters in a new way, but somehow it's still our characters. It's not an alternate reality, but it is going to be unique."
