I’ve never been a fan of procedural dramas like “CSI” or “Law & Order.” But I’m completely hooked on Fox’s “Bones,” which moves next week from Wednesday night to the network’s prime Thursday lineup with a new episode at 8 p.m.
I’d like to say I’m drawn to the show because it’s different from the typical forensics-mystery formula thanks to solid character development and a heavy dash of dark humor.
What made me watch “Bones,” however, was a borderline unhealthy crush on lead actor David Boreanaz.I absolutely loved Boreanaz’s moody vampire character on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and its spinoff, “Angel.” I approached “Bones” warily, imagining it impossible to view the actor as anyone except a reanimated, but gorgeous, corpse. And since it was hard enough watching “Angel” with minimal appearances by Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), could I adjust to a fully Buffy-less world?Happily, I did. From just the first few minutes of ever watching “Bones” last year, I learned Boreanaz is an incredibly versatile actor.
All traces of brooding Angel dissolve when he plays FBI agent Seeley Booth. The characters are as different as night and day (no pun intended). Plus, Booth, a sarcastic, sports-loving ex-Army Ranger is funny, likable, authentic and surprisingly sensitive. And, like George Clooney, Boreanaz uncannily gets better looking with age. Perhaps he is a forever-young vampire after all.The will-they-or-won’t-they chemistry between Boreanaz and co-star Emily Deschanel is electric.
Deschanel plays Dr. Temperance Brennan, or “Bones” as Boreanaz calls her. Brennan is a genius forensic anthropologist who works at a Smithsonian-esque “Jeffersonian Institute” in Washington, D.C. The socially clueless Brennan becomes partners with the self-assured everyman Booth when the FBI needs help identifying human remains that are too difficult for standard investigators.Most episodes feature self-contained plots, but there are season-long story arcs.
To appreciate the characters’ quirks, it’s best to watch them in order. Each show opens with discovered skeletal bits Brennan and Booth, along with the lab coats at the Jeffersonian, work to find the perpetrator.While the who-dun-it aspects are often compelling ? and thankfully, not always overly gory if you find decomposed body parts more palatable than blood and guts ? the best thing is the back-and-forth between Brennan and Booth. A crime-mystery writer on the side, Brennan is impossibly lonely and has trouble maintaining relationships due to her blunt, literal nature. (The series is very loosely based on the novel series by real-life forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, who is a producer.)
Brennan is unconventionally beautiful with a square face, pale blue eyes and habit of dressing modestly. Her bookish ways are so pronounced it’s understandable why most men find her intimidating. Though she and Booth are both ambitious and competitive, he is the kind of guy who, when in danger, shoots first and asks questions later.Booth has little time for the technical jargon Brennan and colleagues toss about and little stomach for the dissections.
The relationship between the disparate characters is volatile at first, but over time, works as they bond ? and develop a solid track record of cracking crimes. It’s the age-old opposites-attract tension that brings Sam and Diane from “Cheers” to mind. So far, it works because the characters are so complicated and romantically dysfunctional, they have yet to get together. I’m rooting for a relationship, but worry it could ruin the dynamic.”Bones” premiered in 2005 and is now in its fourth season.
The rest of the characters from the Jeffersonian are fine, but I could take or leave Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) and Angela (Michaela Conlin). I do get a huge kick out of a newer addition, Dr. Lance Sweets (John Francis Daley), a Doogie Howser-ish psychologist who provides partners therapy to Booth and Brennan after something bad happens in the field.Their shared skepticism and initial disdain for psychoanalysis creates an affinity between Brennan and Booth, the latter of whom dismisses Sweets’ field as “Jedi mind tricks.” Sweets’ role as a comic foil ? and as an opportunity for interruption-free scenes with our lead characters ? is always a welcome digression from the skulls and dismembered limbs.Sometimes the plots are highly unbelievable, but Brennan and Booth’s dialogues and parts are so smartly written, it’s worth giving a shot if you haven’t already.