Here's What You Can Expect From The Final Season Of 'Bones'

The long-running crime drama #Bones began wrapping up with the debut of the first of 12 final episodes on January 3rd. Fans have been waiting and dreading this moment since the Season 11 cliffhanger finale on July 21, 2016, which left us with a glimpse of the edge-of-your-seat ending to this popular series.

Producers and writers have a lot of strings to tie before Bones can make its final farewell, and according to executive producer Jonathan Collier, there is a lot in store for viewers, and we can expect resolutions to issues that arose in Season 1 of the series:

"We want to move the characters forward. We went back to the early seasons. We went back to Season 1 and thought, 'What's been opened about these characters? What are the threads that can still be pulled and still be tied up? There's past wounds for these characters, particularly for Booth, that knowledgeable fans will know about. It's actually worth going back to some of the earlier seasons, but we reinvestigate those."

Let's take a look at a few things fans can expect in this twelfth and final season of Bones.

There will be a wedding.

Collier confirmed at San Diego Comic Con that there will be a wedding between Dr. Camille Saroyan and her love interest, Arastoo Vaziri. With so few episodes, fans thought the relationship might get tossed to the back burner, and Tamara Taylor, who plays Camille, had the same thought:

“I kind of thought the writers were going to cheat me out of a wedding, but it sounds like they’re not.”

Executive producer Michael Peterson confirmed the wedding and let fans know that, most likely, the wedding will not take place in the series finale:

"The way we're eying it right now is it probably won't be the series finale. We'll have so many storylines we'll have to deal with during the course of 12 episodes. I think we're going to try and get it somewhere in the midseason. But that could change."

Remember Gordon Wyatt (Stephen Fry), the shrink who helped put Booth back to rights after he shot the clown in Season 2? He'll be showing back up on the Bones set before the end of the series. Also making an appearance will be Betty White, reprising her role as Dr. Beth Mayer, plus Eddie McClintock as Sully, and Cyndi Lauper as Avalon Harmonia.

There will be deaths.

It's Bones. Of course there have to be deaths. Peterson mentioned at the San Diego Comic Con that “two other people from past seasons will die”, and some fans are already speculating that the returning Zack Addy (Eric Milligan) will be one of the victims.

Though that might cause some irritation from fans who have adored and missed the lovable Zack, if he is, indeed, evil now, that might be the only resolution to his character. As we know, redemption isn't always possible.

Hodgins may not walk before the end of the series.

Though Jack Hodgins had leg spasms at the end of Season 11, offering hope that he might be regaining feeling, TV Guide dropped a major spoiler in mid-December that erased that hope.

But unfortunately, it might be too soon to celebrate. When Season 12 kicks off, fans will discover that the doctor who has been prescribing Hodgins' miracle regimen is not who Hodgins thought he was at all, and the revelation means that all of Hodgins' progress is thrown into question.

At this point, is a miraculous recovery needed for Hodgins? He and Angela have accepted his new normal, and their love has grown stronger. They've shown they can battle anything together, and that's really what matters in the end.

As we say goodbye to the longest-running scripted drama in Fox's history, we're left with one tiny ray of hope. EP Michael Petersen isn't considering this the end of the series. Okay, so maybe that's larger than a tiny ray. Here's what he told TVLine:

"I absolutely am not considering this the end. I am in full-on denial. I’ve been working on the show for eight-and-a-half years. It is my family. I adore it here. I don’t want to leave. And the idea of having some kind of reunion in a year or two…I would not rule it out."

And, as we know, show revivals are all the rage now!

P.S. If you want to get the waterworks flowing early, you read Hart Hanson's farewell letter.