Relationships end for a variety of reasons; sometimes the two parties slowly drift apart, sometimes it’s sudden and tumultuous. Other times, it can be nice: all mutual and civil like. Those types of separations are – at least in my experience – a rare breed, but can often lead to most surprising catharsis. That’s pretty much how I felt after watching the premiere of the eight season of Bones; I don’t particularly dislike the show anymore … but I surely don’t feel compelled to invest any more of my time in it.

Our coverage of Bones has had a fairly interesting history in the four years of CliqueClack. The past couple of seasons, Julia and I have traded the show back and forth; once either one of us would get fed up with the direction of the show, we would punt the show back. Based on that history, I really shouldn’t be surprised that I’ve finally hit my limit. But once I get invested in a show – and watching for seven years is definitely what I call an investment – I rarely walk away. I’ve tried several times before, but no matter how many times I gave up on shows like Smallville and Gossip Girl, they always find a way to drag me back in, just like Pacino in Godfather III.

As I screened the premiere a week or so ago, I realized that I just don’t care anymore. Everything that originally pulled me in seven years ago is still there: I love the actors and character dynamics. Sadly, though, I just am not really interested in what happens to them anymore. Brennan’s decision to go on the run at the end of last season created a problem with only one solution. Unless showrunner Hart Hanson was setting up an extended run of episodes with the show’s leads separated, this was pretty much the only way this episode was going to end. (Well, other than Pelant’s last minute reprieve, but considering they’ve never given me a reason to fear – or care about – this particular big bad, I’m not getting worked out about it.)

I hate to make the comparison to Castle – wait, that’s a bold-faced lie, and everyone knows it. Let me back up for a second: I generally don’t like procedural crime dramas. Frankly, I find them repetitive and very rarely challenge me as a viewer. That being said, I get drawn into certain shows from time to time if there’s a hook: generally an actor/writer/director/showrunner I am already a fan of will garner a new show a “chance” on the ole’ DVR. In Bones’ and Castle’s cases, it was David Boreanaz and Nathan Fillion respectively. But even when a show’s got a hook, that doesn’t necessarily mean I stick around. I mentioned earlier that Bones drew me in because of the actors – and their performances – and the interesting character dynamics. Castle has done the same thing, but is considerably more funny, and has managed to move the relationship between the leads on at a much greater pace than Bones did, which avoided getting stale in its fifth, sixth and seventh seasons.

But I’m not here to sing Castle’s praises – talking about your new crush while in the midst of a breakup is a big faux pas. Bones and I had a good run; sure, every relationship has its bumps in the road, and I think we weathered them fairly well early on. But sometimes, the more mature thing is realizing that it is just not working out, and that it is time to move on. Maybe we will run into each other at the bar from time to time — when everything else is in repeats. Rebounding can be a serious problem, but I think we won’t have any issues there. In this case though, it’s not me: it’s you.

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