'Bones' season 12 air date, plot spoilers: Zack to save Brennan from The Puppeteer after everything he's done?

When "Bones" season 12 returns to the small screens, fans and viewers might realize that Zack Addy is not as bad as he seems. If latest speculations about the show are any indication, it even looks like Booth will be thanking him for the rest of his life.

In the season 11 finale, many were shocked when Brennan (Emily Deschanel) was abducted by no less than her former intern, Zack (Eric Millegan). At the time, the Jeffersonian team was after the sly serial killer "The Puppeteer," whose manner of killing people was the stuff nightmares were made of.

Putting two and two together, everyone deduced that Zack might be The Puppeteer. After all, he has the motive. He was Brennan's brilliant protégée, but he turned out to be connected to a case the team was working on. It was likewise revealed that he had problems in the head, so he was locked up in a psychological facility, from which he probably managed to escape. Besides, it was only after Brennan was abducted when her husband Booth (David Boreanaz) learned that she's been having nightmares about Zack.

However, according to recent reports, Zack isn't The Puppeteer but merely the criminal's sidekick. There's even a possibility that he will have a change of heart, thereby helping Brennan escape. This valiant act might cause Zack his life, and if it does happen, then Booth will owe him a debt of gratitude. Still, it's worth noting why he teamed up with The Puppeteer and why he acquiesced to abducting Brennan.

Nevertheless, it looks like season 12 will be a tough one for Brennan. Showrunner Jonathan Collier teased in his interview with TV Line that things will not go well for her.

"Nothing is off the table, because some very, very, very serious, meaningful, hard-hitting things are going to happen to Brennan," he teased.

"Bones" season 12 is expected to air midseason of 2017 on Fox.