Top 10 Booth & Brennan Moments on Bones

There have been many hugs between these two throughout their working and personal relationship. But no hug rings quite as true as this one. And no matter what Booth or Brennan says, it’s not just a guy hug. This particular hug comes at the end of “The Headless Witch in the Woods.” When Brennan ends up going on a date with a literal murderer, she laments her terrible taste in men to Booth at the end of the episode. When she remarks that maybe it’s okay because she likes to be alone, Booth steps in. He tells her that she’s not alone, and gives her a big old hug.

Brennan might have trouble reading people sometimes, and she might be a little awkward in social situations. But we’re choosing to believe she knew exactly what she was doing with this one! Booth ends up with human remains on him after chasing a bank robbery suspect who explodes into a million pieces. Yikes. When Booth gets to the lab, Brennan begins promptly undressing him because, as she puts it, he has evidence on him. Cam gets a big kick out of this, as do we. Sure, Brennan. It was definitely all about “evidence.”

While this might not be the first time Booth and Brennan kissed in the timeline of the show (more on that later), it was the first time the audience ever got to see them lock lips. It’s Christmas at the lab, and while there still might be crimes to solve, the team has more than enough time for some holiday cheer. When Booth and Brennan inadvertently find themselves under the mistletoe together, Caroline won’t let them leave until they smooch. They do, and the chemistry is palpable. It was at this moment that we learned Caroline was as much a shipper as the rest of us.

Families can be difficult. But it doesn’t get much worse than your father being on trial for the murder of the director of the FBI. During the trial of Brennan’s father, Max Keenan, everyone at the Jeffersonian except Bones herself is called to the stand as an expert witness. Throughout the episode, Brennan insists to everyone she’s fine and plans to prove her father’s innocence. That’s all fine and dandy, until Booth discovers that in order to do so, she plans to implicate herself. He is touched by her tenacity and love for her father, and helps to present her alternate version of the facts. It was a risky move, but the trust these two place in each other is truly something special.

Is there anything better than two characters who desperately need to talk to each other but won’t, getting stuck in an elevator together? We don’t think so, and in season six, “Bones” played this situation perfectly. Before “The Blackout in the Blizzard,” Booth and Brennan are both dealing with the fallout of their complicated relationship bubbling to the surface. They have a couple of serious conversations, and by the end of the episode, Brennan suggests to Booth that she might eventually be ready for him. They decide to both separately pick a date where they might be ready to try again. Things look bright on the horizon.

Everyone loves a good wedding! And by the time season nine of “Bones” had rolled around, we had waited long enough! Booth and Brennan’s wedding may have not been a traditional one, but that made perfect sense for our favorite crime-solving romantics. Their vows were delightful, particularly Brennan’s choice of an old letter that she had written to Booth years earlier while buried alive. Plus, they got married to the music of Cyndi Lauper. When it comes to these two lovebirds, there was literally nothing else we could have asked for after all these years. This wedding gets us time after time.

Being buried alive might not sound particularly romantic, but the episode in which this indeed happens plays a large role in developing Brennan and Booth’s relationship. Not only did this episode mark the first appearance of the infamous Gravedigger, it showed us that the way these two care about each other is past professionalism. This is the moment where Brennan writes the letter she’ll end up reading to Booth in their vows years later. And the moment that the team finds her and Hodgins just in time is one of the best reunions in TV history.

Throughout the series, Brennan is never anything less than a complex, rich character. Her particular combination of emotionality, repressed trauma and guardedness all came to a head in season six’s “The Doctor in the Photo.” The murder victim in this particular episode is a doctor whose behavior is shaped by the sadness in her everyday work and her tendency to guard her heart. If listening to that made you think that sounds a lot like Brennan, you’re not the only one. Brennan saw a lot of herself in this victim. At the end of the episode, that realization results in a tearful confession to Booth that she’s afraid she missed her chance with him. It’s heartbreaking, and Emily Deschanel plays it wonderfully.

Real “Bones” fans will never forget where they were when this episode began airing. Brennan walks into a room and climbs into bed with none other than … Booth? And they kiss? Everyone was shocked, and had no idea where this episode was going. As it turns out, the episode was a dream sequence running through the mind of Booth while he was in a coma. He imagined he and Brennan as the owners of a nightclub where a murder took place. So the kissing and snuggling in bed might not have been real - but we’ll never forget those first few moments of hope!

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Fake Out, “The Pain in the Heart”
Next Time Booth Dies, He Better Make Sure to Tell Brennan First

Airport Goodbye, “The Beginning in the End”
An Airport Goodbye with No Catharsis

Tony & Roxie, “The Woman in the Sand”
We Need More Tony & Roxie in Our Lives

Pregnancy Announcement, “The Change in the Game”
The Look on Booth’s Face Is Everything

Slow Dance, “The Death of the Queen Bee”
A Slow Dance for the Ages

For so long, we thought the first time Brennan and Booth had kissed was that sweetly awkward moment under the mistletoe. But in “The Parts in the Sum of the Whole,” we learned just how wrong we were. In this episode, we find out that Bones and Booth worked together once before the pilot episode. And what’s more, they kissed and almost hooked up! The implications of this knowledge are tenfold. Sweets’s reaction to it actually causes Booth to try his hand at romance with Bones one more time. It doesn’t work, leading to a long road back to normal for our favorite partners. But it’s still one of their most palpably tense and romantic episodes.

If we missed any of your favorite Brennan and Booth moments, let us know in the comments below!