An unexpected relapse of last week’s sinus infection had a nice side effect: I suddenly had the time to marathon watch all of season 1 of BONES.
I didn’t expect to like the show for two reasons:
1. I have never been a fan of David Boreanaz in his role as Angel/Angelus on both Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and its spinoff Angel. (In fact, I’ve never even made it through all of Angel, despite being a devout enough Joss Whedon fan to watch all of Dollhouse.)
2. I don’t like decomposing bodies, skeletons, gruesome murders, or detailed closeups of gooey, bug-ridden flesh. (All of which are abundantly present in almost every episode.)
But, after watching 22 episodes of BONES in the course of one weekend, I’ve become a fan of the show despite these initial objections.
David Boreanaz is great as ex-sniper FBI agent Seeley Booth. Seriously, he has great comedic timing, a wicked smile, and an engaging presence. I have become adept at looking away during the more disgusting visuals — definitely a much-needed survival skill for this show.
But mostly, I love the geekery. I love watching uber-competent people, especially when they’re doing things in a field I have no experience or understanding of. Forensic anthropology definitely falls into that category. The dialogue is fast and witty, and the side characters — Dr. Temperance Brennan’s staff — are fun and three dimensional.
Dr. Brennan, aka “Bones,” is the least realistic character in the bunch, having obtained three doctorate degrees, mastered three different martial arts, written a best-selling novel, been a world-class scuba diver, traveled the world identifying bodies, and who is daily the best forensic anthropologist (and workaholic) in the world. (I’m sure seasons 2+ will add even more skills to her list.) But hey, she’s our hero, right? She’s allowed to be superhuman.
The only bad thing about this weekend’s marathon is that I think I like Castle a little less now. The shows are very similar, but I think Bones handles its secondary characters far better — even FBI agent Booth is a lot more interesting than Detective Beckett. Of course, Castle is still a young show, and I’m looking forward to watching it grow.
You know me and TV, right? This is the one show in probably the last five years that I've actually watched–all of the first season, with J. Still, I don't feel all that motivated to go on to season two. You're right that Tempy isn't realistic, but she's awesome, and I adore the actress. Interestingly, the last TV show that I engaged with (gosh, I think it was more than five years!) was Angel. J and I watched the entire thing, all, what, five seasons? On DVD. Even so, I'm not a Boreanaz fan, either, but he's really great in this.
I'm one of those weirdos who connected more with Angel than with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I was pretty forgiving of Boreanaz as Angel (to me Wesley & Fred were the heart of the show anyway), but it's amazing how much more accomplished he is as Booth on Bones. He's come a long way since those pasty early episodes of Buffy!
Yeah, the actress is awesome and her character is really what makes the show interesting for me. She does a fantastic job — especially with all that technical jargon. And do I mind that she's an awesome martial artist? No, I do not!
Right there with you about Boreanaz and Angel. Meh. And like you, it took Netflix for me to eventually watch Bones and discover its charms. (Most of the goop factor doesn't bother me so much because it's all after the fact. If we were regularly asked to watch victims die gruesome deaths, it'd be different for me, I'm sure.)
My biggest can't-buy-it aspect of Dr. Brennan is trying to swallow her as a bestselling novelist, given how ignorant she is of the workings of the human psyche. She's even said, more than once, that she's not at all interested in the motivations behind the murders she investigates with Booth. I'm happy to say, though, that the show's writers have finally addressed my quibble with a recent episode. Don't worry, I won't spoil it for you, even though having *that* quibble addressed has resurrected another I-just-don't-get-it aspect of the connections between the characters. Of course, if I tell you now what that is, I'll give away the other.
I also agree it would be nice to see Castle develop into something more robust. I'm only just now starting to distinguish between detectives Larry & Moe.
Totally agree with you both about the novel! When that part came up in an episode, I had to stop the playback just to rant about it to Chris. I am looking forward to seeing how they resolve that issue later — I just see know way that she could be a successful novelist given her character traits.
Sally, I was right there with you about the book part, and the resolution. I thought it was a nice little episode that touched on that.
The author who created Temperance is pretty accomplished; only one PhD, but two languages, and does forensic anthropology in at least two countries.
http://www.bookpage.com/9709bp/firstperson1.html
I didn't know that in Bones, Brennan's heroine is named Kathy Reichs.
Ooh, I keep forgetting that there is a real person behind the character. Thanks for the link!
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