Over the previous 10 seasons we saw an episode (or two) being made about the "Jeffersonian" for different reasons filming what the team does, but this is the first time we ever saw a finished product. While we hear people talk about themselves and the case at hand, we also witness glimpses into what various employees think of certain co-workers (not to mention the reaction of first grsdrmers to a presentation given by "Bones" in a manner only she could do. So, yes, this episode does have a different format, yes, it's still serious, and, yes, it has a few lighter moments (as in pretty much most of the previous 229 episodes), and the case in focus comes to it's conclusion in the last moments. This show has been on the air for 11 years and, being human, sometimes we tend to forget the basics of the team so it's nice being reminded of what people were thinking when they first started working at the "Jeffersonian" and Hope's for the future (plus, in my opinion, I think it provides a foundation of sorts for the conclusion of the series).
As was pointed out in a previous "review", occasionally the writers came up with a slightly different story that veers from the norm (2...not as many as indicated in another review and which equates to roughly .0081% of all 246 episodes)...if trying to keep it interesting for the television audience is considered to be a bad thing, then I would suggest something else is going on.
Personally, I liked this episode and didn't have a problem with neither the format nor the storyline(s). But here's a challenge for fans of the series: watch the series again (or various episodes) as written in the "Fandom" wiki: according to the show's creator Hart Hanson discussed that her character "almost has Asperger's Syndrome". While the show is based on novels written by Kathy Reichs, the character of "Bones" shares many traits of relative that is autistic. It was neither revealed nor discussed in any episode, but there has never been a mainstream recurring character in television series with autism until "The Good Doctor" (2017) starring Freddy Highmore. I guarantee watching the series knowing that about "Temperance Brennan" really puts a different spin on things.