Moonlighting

I'm thinking about romance and mystery. Does every sleuth need a love interest?

After I post this, I'm going to watch Bones. I love this show despite the fact that I have to watch with one hand over my eyes, because I don't enjoy the sight of maggots writhing in decaying flesh or flesh sliding off bones. The sight of horrible remains in nasty places. I don't watch this show to guess who did it, either. The mystery is usually a simple one. I knew the killer in last week's episode the first time he was on screen.

No, I watch it for the sex. Or maybe better to say the sexual chemistry between the two main characters, Bones and Booth. (Those names break my rule for never naming characters starting with the same letter. In this case, I think it was the writers planting the idea that these two belonged together). They don't have relationship outside of their marvelous work one, but the viewers have always suspected something. Last season he finally put his feelings for her on the table, but she rejected him.

So now he's brought home a girlfriend but the fans are clamoring for a Booth/Brennan hookup. The question is would that mean the end of the show?

The trope is that once you satisfy the unspoken needs between two main characters, the show will die. Everyone points to Moonlighting as the prime example of this. But that show was on the air more than twenty years ago. Haven't times changed?

What do you think? Do you like a little romance with your mystery? Does consummation mean the end of the fun?