One Of Bones' Best Storytelling Features Was Meant To Be A Temporary Arc

Fox's "Bones" benefits from many things that set it apart from other procedural dramas. Still, one of the most likable narrative devices the show ever introduced was effectively a simple running joke: Temperance "Bones" Brennan's (Emily Deschanel) rotating cast of "Squinterns." Members of this sizable and somewhat interchangeable group of interns regularly stepped up to aid Brennan in her work, often providing levity but also genuinely helping out. 

"Bones" started the tactical deployment of Squinterns in Season 4, after Brennan's primary intern Zack Addy (Eric Millegan) was incarcerated due to his association with The Gormogon (Laurence Todd Rosenthal). It proved to be an inspired way to fill Zack's role in the lab without actually replacing him as a character, and the presence of one Squintern or another soon became an integral part of the show's DNA. However, as "Bones" creator Hart Hanson told The Futon Critic in 2008, this wasn't the original plan. Instead, the Squinterns started out as a temporary way to have some fun with the short-term assistants before introducing a new, permanent one.

"'Oh, we'll look at four to six people and then pick someone who is great and have them come in,'" Hanson described the show's original plan for the Squinterns before noting that "Bones" had already largely abandoned the search for a replacement character. "We have a couple of more ideas now that we'd like to pursue with these grad students. It's no longer a case, at least in my mind, of finding someone to replace Zack but ... figuring out how long we can do this and how long it serves the show." 

The term "Squinterns" derives from Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) calling Brennan's lab crew "Squints" in Season 1 — a term used as a pejorative for scientists who peer at papers and evidence while deep in thought. Both the name and the interns stuck. 

The Squinterns remained an integral part of "Bones" until the very end, and the majority of them even got to team up to help Brennan in the "Bones" series finale, "The End in the End." Viewers and cast members alike recognized their worth — a very fun and important Squintern moment made it on our list of 16 biggest "Bones" moments," and Emily Deschanel told TVLine that the finale scene that nearly made her "bawl" was the one where she got to speak with her intern collective for one last time. The way the show realized the Squinterns' potential is a fine example of its ability to embrace storytelling elements that simply work.