Brennan and Booth are questioned by the media in the "The Recluse in the Recliner" season finale episode.

Question: David, can you talk about directing the season finale, and then Emily, can you talk about being directed by David?

David Boreanaz: It's always a challenge to take on something like the season finale. You get to the end of the season and everybody's a little tired and worn out. The patience is thin. With this specific season finale, there was so much information that we had to gather up and put out there in one 45-minute hit, it made it difficult and challenging. There were lots of elements that were involved -- whether it was dealing with the big huge hearing with Congress or an intense battle between other forces that could come in and jeopardize Bones and Booth's relationship, as well as the outcome of where they're headed as far as Season 10 is concerned. You take all that into account and it definitely was draining. It's something that by the end of it, you're pretty exhausted.

Emily Deschanel: I love being directed by David, and I'm not just saying that. I say it to everybody who's not on record. I think David is just really talented as a director as well as an actor. He has a whole other career if he wants it. When this thing's over, if he wants to do that, he could make a whole career out of it. He is great technically. He's good with the actors. He's decisive. He knows what he wants; he knows what he doesn't want. I'm always just amazed that he's dealing with all these incredible elements and he makes it seem so easy. There's huge scenes -- like he said, the Congressional subcommittee. There's a lot that goes on in this episode, without giving too much away, but there's a lot of elements, and he does it all with ease. And I love working with him. It was a pleasure once again to work with him as an actor and this time as a director. The season finale, I think that working on it was a great experience. There's some big cliffhangers. There's a lot going on for Booth -- and for Brennan. I think everybody will be pleased. I haven't seen it the episode yet, but everyone who has seen it has been raving about it. I'm really excited to see it myself.

Question: David, have you ever thought of writing for BONES? Emily, have you thought of writing or directing at some point?

David Boreanaz: That's a whole different ball game. Emily and I, when we started the show, we worked really hard with an acting coach who we were really proud of working with for about six seasons, Em? We do a lot of reworking of some dialogue and brought some ideas to the table that were helpful as far as moving the storylines or building these two characters that we've been living in their shoes for nine seasons now. As far as sitting down and writing, I'm pretty good with ideas but I'd really have to work. I think as Em can attest, my vocabulary is a little limited. I talk a lot in metaphors. I get my words out, but sometimes they don't... [laughing]

Emily Deschanel: I always understand what you mean though, David.

David Boreanaz: Thank you. Thank you, Emily.

Emily Deschanel: As for me, I live with a television writer so I know how hard it is. You have to make up a whole story out of thin air, not to mention all the technical stuff. I would be much more inclined to direct before I would try to write an episode. It's a very specific voice, our show. I might be able to write a couple lines back and forth of banter for the characters, having done this for a long time, but writing a story -- or a whole episode. I'm not going to name some shows, but there's medical shows on the air, and they don't have to know anything about the medical stuff. Our writers do all of their research -- they get people to help them -- they have to write all the dialogue regarding the scientific stuff, and each time you have to solve the crime in a different way. If you notice, pretty much every episode I identify the body in a different way. They're trying to make it interesting -- kill people in different ways, discover that in different ways...through just bones.

We'll reach 200 episodes next year. It's insane. No.

The short answer is: I'm not interested in writing.

David Boreanaz: Emily, I understood everything that you said. [laughing].

Brennan and Booth rush out of a Senate hearing in the "The Recluse in the Recliner" season finale episode.

Question: Can you talk about how the season finale will affect Bones and Booth's relationship?

Emily Deschanel: There's a huge thing that happens at end of this episode that we're not going to tell you about right now, but it changes everything for a while, not only with Booth and Brennan -- between them -- but also kind of between everything: Booth's job, possibly Brennan's job. I can't tell you exactly how it changes things, but it will change the dynamic, and kind of everything about them and their work and their relationships.

David Boreanaz: To put it in a different light. I think it puts them in a different place, for sure. We kind of know that going into a new season and what we're going to do with these characters. I think it's interesting to see at the end of this run, especially Season 9 and this specific finale, that there's a lot of destructive forces that come upon us, and we find out there's more to it than meets the eye -- and they've been kind of working underground for a while -- whether that's through conspiracy theories or stuff that they've been hiding in the FBI or through the Jeffersonian. It all kind of comes to a head, and it's pretty detrimental at the end. Things will change for the good and there will be also things that they'll have to adjust to. And I keep saying adjusting, because it's definitely going to be different.

Freddie Prinze Jr. as Danny Beck.

Question: Can you talk about working with Freddie Prinze Jr. this season?

David Boreanaz: He's great! Freddie was great. It's always tough and difficult for guest stars to come in on an arc on an already-existing show, because everyone knows each other. But he is so grounded and professional. He's a true pro. He just comes in and knocks it out in a way that's very honest -- and a lot of fun, as well. He kind of fit right in, and I hope to have him back for Season 10. I thoroughly enjoyed working with him, and he's just a great person, as well.

Brennan (Emily Deschanel, R) works with new Jeffersonian intern Jessica Watten (guest star Jessica Weaver, L) in the "The Drama in the Queen"

Question: How do Booth and Brennan react to the new squintern [Jessica Warren, played by Laura Spencer]?

David Boreanaz: When it comes to squints, I rely on my main Bones. My main girl. [laughter] She evaluates all the squints. I just make sure they get the information in order to solve the crime.

Emily Deschanel: Brennan thinks that the new squintern is very good at her job, except she does not care for the way she guesses about things and makes assumptions. Brennan is by the book and doesn't appreciate that. She [squintern Jessica Warren] is kind of an intuitive person. Even though she's very smart -- her intuition probably comes from experience -- she throws things out. In the next episode coming up ["The Drama in the Queen" on May 12], she's like, "I'm just getting a vibe that this [body] is an athlete," and then we find evidence that he was an athlete. She really rubs Sweets the wrong way, but that attention might turn in a romantic way. She has some interest in Sweets. That's kind of an interesting development. Brennan respects her but likes to keep her in line, because she goes off on tangents a bit. She's a little too intuitive for Brennan.

Jeffersonian intern Colin Fisher, Hodgins and Brennan investigate the death of a conspiracy blog writer in the "The Recluse in the Recliner" season finale episode.

Question: What can you say about the case you'll be investigating in the Season 9 finale?

David Boreanaz: The show -- Stephen [Nathan] and Hart [Hanson] and all the writers -- have such interesting ways of bringing in all these bodies that are somewhat different. It just kind of blows my mind away when I really look at it and arrive on a crime scene. They do such a great job. As far as the case is concerned, I know that they'll be investigating Booth and what it means to the other people that around him. I know that's definitely going to be investigated, as well as solving what happened with this particular body that we found, which is pretty grotesque.

Emily Deschanel: I'll just add that this is kind of an unusual investigation, because the dead body has something to do with the whole story with Booth and Brennan. There's a connection between Wesley Foster, who is the dead person. Booth gets a phone call from him, kind of a mysterious phone call from someone he doesn't know, who says he wants to talk to him about the McNamaras, who were the people related to the Ghost Killer case that people remember from a couple episodes back. In fact, Stephanie McNamara was the Ghost Killer, so there's a whole connection, but this has to do with the broader parts of the McNamaras. So Booth gets a call from this guy, who is a conspiracy blogger, and the next thing you know, this guy is burned to death in his trailer. Some very suspicious circumstances, and it leads us to think there might be people involved with this at the FBI. It leads to lots of things, and is connected to the whole story of [recording unclear].

David Boreanaz: I just gotta say, Emily does such an amazing job. It's tough enough that she has such grounded language that she has to learn, but her dialogue is so rich and thick and heavy, as far as the technical aspect of it when she's describing a body, it just blows my mind away. On top of that, this last episode had some really great emotional arcs in it for her character. I've seen it, and it's just extremely amazing to watch. And there were some days that were kind of rough. There was one day where she was very emotional, her character, and she not only kept it together, but she elevated her game. I'm just so proud of her for that, because it was a hard, hard shoot to do and it took a toll on everybody.

Emily Deschanel: Aww. Thanks, David. So sweet. David has some amazing stuff in this episode. He is awesome in it, too. I have not seen the final product, but I can't wait to see it. He's a great director; he gives compliments, you know.

David Boreanaz: You know what, I've been vegan for three days. I've been drinking juices. I feel so good. I just had this love juice -- it's amazing.

Emily Deschanel: See how good you feel.

When a college swim coach is found dead, Booth and Brennan investigate his secret past in the "The Drama in the Queen."

Question: After nine seasons, how have you maintained your great chemistry with each other?

David Boreanaz: You've seen just the good days; there are bad days. [laughter] You know what's unique -- and this is, seriously, since day 1 -- I've been blessed to have a co-star who can be open and honest and tell me, "You're bothering me today" or "I have an issue." I think we have complete trust and respect for each other that we can just go aside and say, "You know what? I'm having a bad day" or "Just know where I'm coming from, Emily." We both support that with each other. Shooting a television show is hard enough, and it takes a lot of time. It takes away from your personal life, your family life. Thank god, I was blessed with a co-star who is so generous and supportive, yet also if we have a bad day, we have a bad day. We recognize it, we go on. We don't hold on to it. We don't judge. We just go forward. It kind of helps our chemistry, because we use it. We use what we're going through in our scenes, and we've learned early on that that helps our chemistry. It helps us grow with the characters rather than being so stagnant and say, "Hey, we're in Season 9, so why don't we kick back and do nothing about it and take it for granted." You can't. You gotta be able to push every moment in every scene, and it's so important. Yeah, we have those moments, but that's what helps us.

Emily Deschanel: I totally agree with everything that David said. We have open communication, which is something we've had from beginning. Like he said, we just tell each other if we're in a mood or if the other one is annoying you or something. [laughter] We accept that we're not perfect. I think one thing, too, is that we both know how important this relationship is -- both on-screen and off -- and how important it is for us to get along together on-screen and off. We both have a committment to the show. Like David said, for six seasons we would meet on every weekend and work on stuff together. Now, we do stuff on our own. Our families have expanded and lives have changed, but we have that foundation. We're really committed to making the show as good as it can be, and part of that is getting along on-screen and off, like I said. David's a really fun guy to work with. He's not like a dark person. He can play that -- he can do deep, serious stuff -- but we both believe in having a good time. We're not doing brain surgery here. We're not curing cancer. We're entertaining people. We absolutely can have fun while we're doing that and have fun together and with everybody else on our crew and cast. I'm really lucky that David is such a fun person to work with -- and a great guy.

With Brennan's support, Booth prepares to be questioned by a Senate subcommittee in the "The Recluse in the Recliner" season finale episode.

Question: Was it weird going through the transformation from playing partners through kissing and then having a family together?

David Boreanaz: It's the development of the character, obviously. The crux of it was that these two characters had to work together and there was a sexual tension and there was conflict. We played that and we continue to play that in our subtext when we work together, even though the two characters are married and they have kids. But part of your job is to do that and if you can't excite the writers, then what's the purpose. You have to continuously do that. For us, it's always been about the relationship of the characters, going back to that, exploring that, and making that for the audience.

Booth and Brennan investigate his secret past in the "The Drama in the Queen" episode.

Question: What and how have you enjoyed seeing your characters develop over nine seasons?

David Boreanaz: I've enjoyed it. I continue to enjoy it. It's not something to me that I'd put a period on yet. For me, it's growth inside scenes and the moments and where you can take them. The end of this season when we were shooting, there were moments that were pretty intense that reminded Booth of that inner child and how much he still wants to play with this other character. For me, that's really what it's about. You watch and you partake in these nine seasons and you just make it fresh. When we started Season 1, Scene 1, it was like you're going to get to two and three and four. I think Emily knows this about me, I don't go back in past. I just focus on the work tomorrow, whether it's Season 6 or Season 7 or gracious to get to ten seasons. To me, it's the same scene, the same shot that we did when we first shot the first scence of the pilot. [silence, then laughter]

Emily Deschanel: I was like wrapped up in your thoughts. I was like, "Am I supposed to say something?" If we had not changed as a couple and as characters, the show wouldn't be as interesting. I'm so glad that we evolved over time, and our relationships have evolved over time. It's not just Booth and Brennan, but Angela and Hodges and Cam and Sweets. I thank god we've been changing this whole time, and it hasn't remained stagnant and it's different. We keep moving forward, like David said. It keeps it interesting.

Question: Where would you like to see them go in the future?

David Boreanaz: I think the future is destined only for tomorrow's work and today's thoughts, so I can't say what's going to happen to them, because I don't look that far out. When I look at the first episode of Season 10, then I focus on that and then where I am with the character. I'm sure that Hart and Stephen know how the show's going to end. But how did they know they were going to get married and have a child? Circumstances happen in real people's lives. Emily got pregnant and it organically happened. It felt right for the show. It wasn't pushed; it wasn't pressed. I think that we believe in that, at least I do, and that's what it's all about for me.

Emily Deschanel: David likes to definitely live in the moment. He doesn't live in the past; he doesn't live in the future. I worry probably too much about past and future. I really leave that to the writers to decide where we're going, but I'll always have thoughts once we see what they're thinking. I don't know, I kind of love being surprised, so I leave that to the writers to decide where we're going.