Starring: David Boreanaz, Emily Deschanel, Michaela Conlin, Eric Millegan
Category: Mystery, Drama
I was really late coming to Bones. It also came with a few false starts. I caught a couple of episodes in Season 3 and wasn't impressed. There were too many CSIs and me-too series. I was also cheesed off at the whole NCIS vs Criminal Minds thing. Really? 2 teams with exactly the same make up. Father figure leader with tortured past? Check. Tough as nails, street-wise former cop. Check. All-knowing / All seeing Lab dweller. Check. Learned, technical, academic figure. Hot, burnette, smart, butt-kicking female. Check. At a glance, it didn't strike me how Bones was different from the others. Also it is shot in really bright lights. In comparison to the CSI series, being schooled in the X-File school of near-zero lighting and illumination-by-flashlight, it was like it was sponsored by the power companies.
I was intrigued by a few episodes in Season 3. Enough to make it a point to catch the premier of Season 4. What a mess that was. Agent Booth came off as the ugly american and it felt like a travelogue rather than a crime-drama series. So I stopped watching.
Then I caught an episode involving Ryan O'Neal as Dr. Brennan's father and another one featuring Steven Fry as Booth's psychologist. I was hooked.
It was a good time to catch the series. While the series is about the cases centering around Booth and Dr. Brennan, the series does not skimp on character development for the other characters; Anglea, Hodgins and Dr. Saroyan, Dr Sweets. It is nice to see a series that has it's characters go in very different directions. The different personalities are distinct and yet they can interact both professionally and personally. This helps to make the series relate to it's viewers.
What also caught my attention was the merry-go-round of assistants. Their different descendence (Irsih, African-American, Iraninan) and quirks (quoting of inane facts, openly depressed and slightly suicidal, overtly excitable) adds a refreshing wholesome dimension. Rather than most shows where almost everybody is a anglo-saxon male. I can understand why there are no Asian-Americans, though. The dead are revered in their culture so anything post-mortem is frowned upon.
Then there is the Booth-Brennan connection. It was obvious in TV land the main characters hook up. But this is a really slow dance between partners to friends to something more. They obviously care for each other but each have their own reasons to hold back at different times. The attraction comes and goes like any real relationship. The differences are wide but they don't create a wall with it between them.
I am currently doing penance by going back and watching the series from Season 1. Sometimes it's like a flashback, especially in the first season when the characters and stories weren't fully there yet. But it's also like a watching a family movie or a old photo album. You can see where certain things came from and how things were different "way back then". It helps understand who the characters are and why they are where they are in the current season.
Category: Mystery, Drama
I was intrigued by a few episodes in Season 3. Enough to make it a point to catch the premier of Season 4. What a mess that was. Agent Booth came off as the ugly american and it felt like a travelogue rather than a crime-drama series. So I stopped watching.
Then I caught an episode involving Ryan O'Neal as Dr. Brennan's father and another one featuring Steven Fry as Booth's psychologist. I was hooked.
What also caught my attention was the merry-go-round of assistants. Their different descendence (Irsih, African-American, Iraninan) and quirks (quoting of inane facts, openly depressed and slightly suicidal, overtly excitable) adds a refreshing wholesome dimension. Rather than most shows where almost everybody is a anglo-saxon male. I can understand why there are no Asian-Americans, though. The dead are revered in their culture so anything post-mortem is frowned upon.Then there is the Booth-Brennan connection. It was obvious in TV land the main characters hook up. But this is a really slow dance between partners to friends to something more. They obviously care for each other but each have their own reasons to hold back at different times. The attraction comes and goes like any real relationship. The differences are wide but they don't create a wall with it between them.
I am currently doing penance by going back and watching the series from Season 1. Sometimes it's like a flashback, especially in the first season when the characters and stories weren't fully there yet. But it's also like a watching a family movie or a old photo album. You can see where certain things came from and how things were different "way back then". It helps understand who the characters are and why they are where they are in the current season.
The story arcs / recurring storylines are also interesting. From the Serial Killer on Death Row, the Gormogon to the Gravedigger. Although the series is based on books by Kathy Reichs which she based the character on herself, check out the real-life story of Pornthip_Rojanasunand. She, like Dr. Brennan, works to put criminals behind bars through forensic science but the difference is that she does it in the real world.
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