 Bones, Season One
Our Rating: 3 out of 5
Rated: TV14
Reviewer: Elle G.
Bones isn’t a series that has won coveted Emmys or Golden Globes,
and it isn’t the top show on FOX…yet it is a show which is fascinating and intriguing.
Set in current Washington D.C., we find ourselves watching an unlikely pair of people solving some of the day’s heinous and unsolvable crimes...
Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) is a very successful Forensic Anthropologist, world renowned for her ability to identify human remains thousands of years old. She can’t relate to living society well at all, but she
can give you the gender and age of skeletons within minutes. Upon returning from such a trip to Guatemala with a skull in hand, she
is accosted by the Department of Homeland Security… only it proves to be a stunt by her “partner” at the FBI, Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz). This makes a volatile relationship even more edgy. Dr. Brennan wants to be involved wholeheartedly in the investigations she works with; just doing some identity work
isn’t going to cut it. Since Agent Booth knows that “Bones” (Booth’s appropriate nickname for Dr. Brennan)
isn’t going to back down from her requests, Booth consents to letting his partner assist in every capacity… though he won’t let her carry a gun.
Off they go to Arlington National Cemetery, a common place to find bodies...
only this one is at the bottom of a pond and not in a casket. The skeleton is sent back to The Jeffersonian Institute where Bones can have the skills of her “Squints” (Booth’s no so nice nickname for the highly intelligent staff Bones has at her disposal). Dr. Zach Addy (Eric Millegan), Dr. Brennan’s geeky graduate student who is constantly at his superior’s elbow, gives his early findings; Dr. Jack Hodgins (TJ Thyne) rushes to get clues from the bugs and sediment retrieved from the pond
-- he can tell time of death or where the murder took place or time of day from such things;
and Angela Montenegro (Michaela Conlin) is a passionate free spirit
and artist. It is her job to do digital facial reconstruction with the skull. Booth thinks these “different” individuals are a bit on the wacky side,
but when within moments he learns that the victim is a missing intern for a US Senator, he has respect for the team. And it is off to find suspects...
This is a very easy show to like if you are into the whole “crime solving” thing. By the time you reach the season finale, you are even more enraptured with the hidden secrets in the lives of Bones and Booth. Thankfully, they are not bad secrets; they are the type of ones that you want to know more about. That even goes for the Squints!
If you are like me, you will find yourself drawn to the personal aspect of the show rather than the meaty side.
Yet Bones is not a moral show; sometimes it is riddled with more problems than there are
remains, including occasional profanities and abuses of
deity. It isn’t a series for the squeamish; you see badly decomposed
bodies in every episode -- in various different positions and atmospheres.
(This includes a lot of gore, goo, severed limbs, and
“clean up jobs.”) The biggest pitfall it falls into is the sexual aspect,
which ranges from casual conversation to questioning
suspects victims as to whether or not they were involved
with the victim. Bones often references sexual organs,
and the characters frequently reference sex in flippant
ways. Though we never see the main characters involved with each other, we are made aware of the fact that Bones is sleeping with her boyfriend (“The Girl in the Fridge”), Booth is sleeping with his girlfriend (“The Man in the SUV) and Angela, well, is very curious about
both. She is even willing to flash her underwear momentarily (“Pilot”) to get answers. The concept of abstinence doesn’t seem to ring with these people. The worse episode is “A Boy in a Tree” in which they solve a murder involving sex tapes… and sadly, you see them.
Then you have the worldview aspect. Bones is an evolutionary atheist. Booth is a Catholic who believes in, well,
more or less a Biblical worldview (except when
it comes to sex!). Consequently, these two have discussions quite often about their thoughts, politics, and religion. There is also Hodgins, who is a conspiracy theorist and thus, he has a negative view of government. To me, some of these scenes are laughable, but then there are others who might have an issue watching someone debate their religion or politics. There are episodes that involve terrorism (“The Man in the SUV”), military cover-ups (“The Soldier on the Grave”) and voodoo (“The Man in the Morgue”).
Bones reminds me that crime is messy, and so is life. It’s complicated; there are many layers. I can’t explain why I enjoy watching
it so much; it is one of my little pleasures. I fast forward what I must
and enjoy the rest. Why don’t you sit your bones down
and try it for yourself?
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