Bone’s T.J. Thyne Fully Committed To Hodgins’ Paralysis Plotline

By the time this episode aired in December 2015, Thyne had played Hodgins in more than 200 episodes of the show. In fact, he was one of just four actors to appear on every single episode of “Bones.” Needless to say, he had settled into the role by this point. But this major event offered a significant shake-up to his comfort level. That said, Peterson further explained that the actor seemed to relish the opportunity. More than that, the staff was committed to making sure that this was a more authentic depiction of paralysis than one might typically see on network TV:

“We don’t want it to be a TV-convention version of paralysis. It’s very real. And again, I’m just in awe of T.J.’s commitment. The other day, I think he was like wrapping bungee cords around his legs or something, just to feel what it felt like to have really no feeling. Our rule right now is we don’t want this to be like ‘Downton Abbey’ where this miracle thing happens right away. It just seems silly. This is very real, and our people know medicine. He’s going to go through the ringer. […] Certainly when you first see Hodgins again, he’s going to feel like he’s going to be able to get back to his old self, and we’re going to throw some things at him, some road blocks. That’s his hope, but it’s not going to be that easy.”

It might have been easy for some actors to go the easy route for something like this. But Thyne had reservations about signing on for a long role in a TV show before joining “Bones.” A big part of that had to do with not wanting to do the same thing over and over again. That being the case, this feels like something that would have excited the actor in him after a decade in Hodgins’ shoes.

“Bones” is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Hulu.