The final episode of season 10 had a feeling of things coming to an end because that very nearly was the end.

Executive producer Stephen Nathan said the show's writers had to make a season finale that could double as a satisfying series finale because they were making it before they knew if they were being renewed.

But they were renewed, and so Booth (played by David Boreanaz) and Brennan (Emily Deschanel) will be back.

"There'll be a bit of a time jump, and we will see what it is that pulls them back into this world and this family that they've grown with for the past 10 years," Nathan told TVLine.com.

Though even he doesn't know quite how that's going to play out, he promised that the writers won't resort to some kind of last-season-was-all-a-dream cop-out (no offense, "Dallas" fans).

"It's a big task to work them back and get them resolved again. We don't want to take the easy way out. You don't want to just go back to a well that's running dry."

Even before the season finale, there was speculation that Boreanaz and Deschanel might leave the show. Their contracts were both up for renewal at the end of the season, and 10 years is a long time to be in one role.

Season 11 will premiere on Thursday, Oct. 1, paired on the schedule with another drama with a slightly creepy sense of humor, "Sleepy Hollow."

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