The executive producers behind Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt For the Bone Collector are already looking to the future and if the procedural drama gets picked up for more seasons, they promise to explore other killers from Jeffery Deaver’s novels.
“The Bone Collector is the title of only the first book and we wanted to open it up to the option to potentially use other killers who are referenced in subsequent episodes,” Rachel Kaplan, an executive producer on the drama told reporters Saturday at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. “The title is very expansive.”
But will the Bone Collector, played by actor Brian F. O’Byrne, be captured? “Yes, of course, at some point, but you will have to watch,” said Peter Traugott, another series EP, refusing to reveal when the capture will happen. “Eventually we hope to introduce other characters in the books and the characters of the show [the writers] create.”
Discover your new favorite show: Watch This Now!
For those not familiar with 1999’s The Bone Collector movie, starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie, or the Deaver’s book that proceeded in 1997 and inspired it, the serial killer known as the Bone Collector is taken down by the end. But with the television adaptation, his capture presumably has to be drawn out to keep viewers watching. This is just one of the challenges a TV version presents.
Lincoln Rhyme (played now by Russell Hornsby) becomes more mobile than he is in the book and the movie and will start using a wheelchair by Episode 2. A former NYPD forensics detective and expert, Lincoln was also shown in the pilot trying to leave the Bone Collector in his past after becoming paralyzed in an accident the serial killer set up. But he returns to the job and the case after a transit cop named Amelia Sachs (Arielle Kebbel) discovers a corpse that is staged the same way the Bone Collector staged his victims’ dead bodies. Thanks to Amelia’s skill set and passion, Lincoln discovers she is just the person he needs to help him find the serial killer that destroyed his life.
On the show, Lincoln also has an ex-wife and a child (Jaidon Walls) he is hiding to keep safe from the Bone Collector and the killer’s legion of copycat fans. The producers are hoping to explore that relationship for romantic potential rather than having Lincoln pair up with Amelia, as the character does in the books, the producers revealed.
Here’s Why Russell Hornsby Didn’t Consult Denzel Washington for Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector
“Lincoln has an ex wife and a child and we’re rooting for their reconciliation,” Kaplan said. “That’s the romantic interest that we’ve chosen. [Lincoln and Amelia] do have a special connection, but it’s a little different than the books.”
Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector airs Fridays at 8/7c on NBC.
(Disclosure: TV Guide is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of ViacomCBS.)
