Bones - Season One 4 DVD Set*

If you like shows about forensic pathology -- "Quincy" with Jack Klugman comes to mind as well as HBO's excellent documentary series "Beyond the Grave" -- "Bones" might just be the show for you. It is inspired by the life of forensic anthropologist/author Kathy Reichs who both produces and consults for the show.

The main character is forensic anthropologist and best-selling author Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) who works for the Jeffersonian Institute in Washington, DC (seemingly modeled loosely after the Smithsonian Institute) and is "loaned" to the FBI to help solve murders in which the corpses consist only of bones or otherwise unidentifiable remains. She has a genius IQ, and though she is attractive and dresses well she tends to come off as bit nerdy, which only adds to her charm. And though she often has an FBI agent near, she can take care of herself as she is skilled in kick boxing and other forms of self-defense. Adding to her mystique, her parents vanished just before Christmas when she was fifteen and have never been found. She assumes they are dead.

Enter Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz). He is Brennan's liaison with the FBI, working in their homicide investigations unit, and has given her the nickname "Bones," to which she replies, "Don't call me Bones." But by the season's end, she is resigned to the fact that Booth is forever going to know her as "Bones." Booth, a former Army Rangers sniper, has an intense sense of loyalty to country and tends to be very conservative in his views.

Brennan and Booth develop a big good working chemistry between the two of them, and Booth becomes fiercely protective of Brennan, and she develops at least a mild affection towards him.

Dr. Brennan is assisted in her investigations, both criminal and scientific, by three specialists at the Jeffersonian. Angelina (Angel) Montanegro (Michaela Conlin) is a sexy, gregarious brunette who specializes in forensic facial reconstruction. She is trained in the fine arts and urges the somewhat reclusive Temperance to get out more. Zach Addy (Eric Milligan) -- who has a schoolboy crush on Dr. Brennan -- is a 24 year old genius having graduated college at the age of 16 and whose area of expertise is in the removal of dead skin from bones (debridement) as decomposed bodies need to be stripped of their flesh in order to properly study their bones. As a graduate student, he studies forensic anthropology under Dr. Brennan and acts as her personal assistant. A stereotypical super brain, Zach lacks many social skills that he humorously tries to mimic from others. Angel comments that she finds it amusing when Zach "tries to act like a human being." Rounding out the team is Dr. Jack Hodgins (T.J. Thyne), a somewhat kooky but harmless conspiracy theorist who has advanced degrees in entomology, botany and mineralogy. He refers to himself as the "Bug Man" as he can date very accurately the time of death raging from days to many months by the insects that accompany a decaying corpse. He can also tell much about a skeleton by its "particulates," tiny, sometimes microscopic, pieces of debris that are attached to the bones.

In an interview with Kathy Reichs, she says that all the science in the show is grounded in truth, which is a soothing note for purists such as myself who cringe at technical errors in scripts. I only wish the show were more plot driven than character driven. While Deschanel's portrayal of Temperance Brennan is enjoyable, Boreanaz's Special Agent Booth begs to be believable. It is also very unlikely that Angel, Zach and Jack would be as quirky as depicted. But I chalk this up to poor directing rather than bad acting. The pure science in the show is its redeeming quality. It is absolutely amazing to see how forensic anthropology is applied to solving crimes. It would be a much better show, however, if more focus were shifted to the solving of the crimes rather than character interaction, as done in the exemplary programs Law and Order and CSI. Still, though there is room for improvement, Bones is a very enjoyable program, though I thought its IMDB rating of 8.5 was a tad high. I myself would give it a 7.5.

The first season of Bones ends with a cliffhanger that is intriguing while not leaving one annoyed. It doesn't leave one completely hanging, but it does give one an added impetus to watch season two, which at the time of this writing is about halfway through. Having missed the beginning of season two, I have refrained from watching it. It would be like starting to watch a movie after it has already begun, which I refuse to do. But I would definitely recommend this show for anyone who would enjoy a mixture of science wizardry and whodunit suspense.

Special Features on DVD

Bones - Inspired By the Life of Forensic Anthropologist and Author Kathy Reichs [The making of Bones]

Character Profiles [Data and trivia in text form about the main characters]


*Through Netflix, who I use for DVD rental, it is a seven disc set, but some of the discs have only two or three episodes instead of the usual four. The boxed set consists of three discs that play on both sides and one conventional disc.