On a Bones panel at the 2008 International Comic-Con in San Diego last weekend, actor Michaela Conlin indicated there may be a lesbian romance on the horizon for her character next season, which kicks off with a special two-hour episode in early September.
“Angela may have a relationship this season [with] someone by the name of Roxy,” Conlin volunteered to the enthusiastic crowd.
The popular Fox crime drama – created by Hart Hanson and starring Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz as a forensic anthropologist and FBI agent, respectively, who work together to solve crimes – averages 8 to 9 million viewers per episode, and is one of network television’s most-watched series.
Angela Montenegro, an artist specializing in forensic facial reconstruction, is engaged to entomologist Dr. Jack Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) and serves as Temperance “Bones” Brennan’s (Deschanel) confidante and best friend. Angela was revealed to be bisexual last season, when a private investigator mentioned she had received information about Angela from “a girl named Roxy, whose heart you broke in second-year art school.”
But Angela’s bisexuality was hinted at as early as the first season, when she teased Bones in “The Man in the Fallout Shelter” that she might kiss her under the mistletoe at the Christmas party “in a festive, non-lesbian manner.” Later that season, in “The Man in the Bear,” a FedEx messenger whom Hodgins and Zach were trying to impress made it clear she was more interested in Angela than them, to which Angela responded with a laugh, “That is very sweet. Thank you.” During the second season, the writers carefully and slowly developed a romance between Angela and Hodgins, culminating in a wedding that was called off at the last minute when it was discovered that Angela was technically still married to a man in Fiji who refused to grant her a divorce. In the third season, Angela and Hodgins hired a private investigator to help her find and divorce him, to no avail. The fourth season picks up with that story line, as Angela’s mysterious husband finally makes an appearance in the opening episode.
Because the writers and the audience have become so invested in the relationship between Angela and Hodgins, it seems unlikely that a rekindled romance between Angela and Roxy – if it actually happens – will be anything more than a temporary obstacle for Angela and Hodgins.
But the recurring theme of Angela’s bisexuality is noteworthy, especially considering the scarcity of lesbian or bisexual characters on TV. Angela is one of only a few on scripted broadcast television next season – the others are Thirteen (Olivia Wilde) on House, M.D., and Drs. Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) and Erica Hahn (Brooke Smith) on Grey’s Anatomy. Angela is also the only one who is Asian American (Conlin is of Chinese and Irish descent, and her character is also half-Chinese).
Sydney Tamiia Poitier’s FBI agent character on the upcoming NBC series Knight Rider was portrayed as a lesbian or bisexual woman in the two-hour TV movie last spring, but the show’s executive producers are now distancing themselves from this and appear to be de-gaying her character.
Casting for the character of Roxy and the timing of her appearance in the upcoming season is not yet known. If history is any guide, it is likely to coincide with the sweeps period in November.
Bones premieres on Fox on Sept. 3, 2008 at 8 p.m. ET. Watch a video interview with Emily Deschanel or visit ObsessedWithBones.com for more Bones photos, video and news.
