Season 12 of Bones gives fans twelve final episodes to provide closure to the series. The eleventh season left viewers on the cliffhanger where Zack Addy (Eric Millegan) had shockingly returned and had kidnapped Brennan. While all evidence points to Zack as the perpetrator of the Puppeteer murders, he insists that he is innocent and seeks assistance from Booth and Bones for his appeal. The second large arc of this season involves a deadly killer from Booth’s past returning to seek revenge.

The twelfth season also mixes in some fun case-of-the-week episodes. The third episode, “The New Tricks in the Old Dogs”, features a murder at a retirement home, and includes appearances from guest stars Ed Asner and Hal Holbrook. Some of the other stories this season include Booth and Bones investigating a lumberjack competition and Booth and Aubrey heading to Newfoundland. We also see the return of Buck and Wanda Moosejaw as Booth, Brennan and Aubrey go undercover at a demolition derby. And in the creative penultimate episode, “The Day in the Life”, the same story is told from the point-of-view of each of the six main characters. This leads into an explosive season finale where the fates of all of our favorite characters are put into question.

The season also provides quite a bit of character development over the course of these final twelve episodes. There are changes and big decisions in relationships, some of the couples consider (more) children, and a couple of the characters deal with issues involving their fathers. By the end of the series, most of the main characters are given a satisfying wrap up and/or an indication of the future direction for their lives.

This final season sees the return of some favorite characters from past seasons, such as Sully (Eddie McClintock), Dr. Gordon Wyatt (Stephen Fry) and Dr. Beth Mayer (Betty White). The squinterns also return for final appearances, and there are some other fun guest stars—such as actor David Faustino playing himself—sprinkled throughout the season.

While I don’t think this final season was necessarily necessary, there were still some fun moments and cases. The final few episodes felt a bit rushed, trying to squeeze in this revenge case at the end. I think it would have been better if there had been one more episode after that case was resolved to wrap up the series instead of lumping the two together.

While the DVD presentation is pretty solid, I still wish that FOX hadn’t stopped releasing the seasons on Blu-ray. The picture looks good for a DVD, but as someone who’s used to watching everything in HD these days, it feels a bit dull and a little less crisp and detailed. That said, this becomes a less noticeable as you binge your way through the season. The audio track provides clear dialogue, and makes nice use of the surround and stereo channels to fill the room with the score and other effects.

The three discs are packed in a standard multi-disc keepcase. The bonus features can be found on the third disc—a short-but-fun gag reel and an entertaining 22-minute series retrospective. I really enjoyed this retrospective special when it aired on TV, and so I was thrilled to see it included on the DVD.

What’s Included:
Episodes: (8:44:04)

• All 12 episodes of the twelfth/final season:
  “The Hope in the Horror”, “The Brain in the Bot”, “The New Tricks in the Old Dogs”, “The Price for the Past”, “The Tutor in the Tussle”, “The Flaw in the Saw”, “The Scare in the Score”, “The Grief and the Girl”, “The Steel in the Wheels”, “The Radioactive Panthers in the Party”, “The Day in the Life”, “The End in the End”
• 480p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French, Chinese
• Closed Captioned

Extras:

• Back to the Lab: A Bones Retrospective (21:49)
  In this fun and emotional retrospective special, which originally appeared on TV shortly before the series finale aired, the cast and crew reminisce about 12 seasons and almost 250 episodes of the series. The interviews were recorded in December 2016 and January 2017 from the set at the FOX Studio lot and are interleaved with clips and behind-the-scenes footage. The participants include executive producers Jonathan Collier and Michael Peterson, series creator Hart Hanson & executive producer Stephen Nathan, actors T.J. Thyne (“Jack Hodgins”), Michaela Conlin (“Angela Montenegro”), Tamara Taylor (“Camille Saroyan”) & John Boyd (“James Aubrey”), executive producer Barry Josephson, stars David Boreanaz (“Seeley Booth”) & Emily Deschanel (“Temperance Brennan”), author Kathy Reichs, and writer Karine Rosenthal.
• Gag Reel (3:39)
  This final gag reel for the series features more fun with the cast flubbing and forgetting their lines, cracking up, dealing with prop malfunctions, and just having fun on set.

Final Thoughts:

The twelfth/final season of Bones gives fans closure for the series/characters while also providing some multiple-episode story arcs as well as some fun case-of-the-week episodes. The DVD presentation is pretty solid for a non-HD release. While the discs only contain a pair of bonus features, the material that is included is a lot of fun. Fans of the show should enjoy this final installment of the series.