In the TV series Bones, Jack Hodgins is a character portrayed by T.J. Thyne. In Season 11, during the episode "The Doom in the Boom," Hodgins is examining a dead body when he finds a strange-looking cell phone in its pocket. The phone turns out to be a bomb, and Hodgins is blown backward by the ensuing detonation. Although he appears to have made it out without any serious issues, he suddenly loses sensation in his legs and collapses to the ground at the end of the episode. The damage the blast caused to his spine was exacerbated by the blood-thinning effects of an aspirin he took in the aftermath, and he is left permanently paralyzed from the waist down.

In subsequent episodes, Hodgins adjusts to his new limitations, and the team tries to help him cope. He experiences a few moments of movement, such as an involuntary muscle spasm in his leg, but the series ends with him still in his wheelchair, now acting as interim head of the lab).