Bones - General Discussion

[Gramto6]

hmmm will have tp check that out...

[ForReal]

9 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

In a bit of irony (as their respective shows seemed to have a bit of rivalry), Emily Deschanel will be playing the ex-wife of Nathan Fillion's (late of Castle) character, Richard Nolan, on his current ABC series, The Rookie.

She will air on May 2nd.

I saw this, too, and wondered what it will be like to hear her speak in a normal way instead of in the stilted way she did as Bones.

[WendyCR72]

Heath Freeman, memorable as serial killer Howard Epps, has died at just 41.

[hiisa]

Ok. I watched this for the first few seasons and then stopped. I'm rewatching it now. The only things I remember is:

1. Zack telling Hodgins and someone else to put them on the table and measure. While being confused and not knowing what they were measuring.

2.  Zack breaking into song.

3. Zack randomly becoming a serial killer. Or in league with a serial killer.

4. The merry go round of assistants after Zack left.

5. Being incredibly irritated with what Bones was supposed to know/not know. Her parents disappeared when she was 15. She presumably had a normal life up until then. Some of the things that they had her do/know/not know just didn't make sense.

6.  When Cam (I think that's her name ) comes and they specifically say she's there because Bones and the rest of the squints don't communicate well with outsiders and then a few eps in they have Cam complaining that she's not good with people. Then lady why are you here?! 

Ok that's all I remember but I've watched the first few eps and I like it. 

[hiisa]

It's crazy how tastes change. When this TV show came out I was *obsessed* with Zack (and Dr. Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds. MGG will forever be yowza). As time went on Hodgins was my eye candy. Now I canNOT take my eyes off Dr. Goodman. He's yummy. 

[hiisa]

When I started this rewatch I was planning on watching to the end. I never made it to Booth and Bones hooking up. I was looking forward to it. Now, I think I'll make it to the end of season 1 and drop it again. I really don't like any of the characters except for Goodman, Angela and Zack. Sometimes Hodgins. But I cannot stand Brennan and Booth. I think they are both serious assholes. I don't suppose Dr. Sweets makes it to season one does he? I really liked him. 

[Miss Anne Thrope]

6 hours ago, hiisa said:

When I started this rewatch I was planning on watching to the end. I never made it to Booth and Bones hooking up. I was looking forward to it. Now, I think I'll make it to the end of season 1 and drop it again. I really don't like any of the characters except for Goodman, Angela and Zack. Sometimes Hodgins. But I cannot stand Brennan and Booth. I think they are both serious assholes. I don't suppose Dr. Sweets makes it to season one does he? I really liked him. 

I think Sweets shows up early in Season 3.  While I like Cam just fine, I really liked Dr. Goodman a lot and would love to somehow have had both of them on. 

Edited April 6, 2022 by Miss Anne Thrope

[hiisa]

They didn't 

2 hours ago, Miss Anne Thrope said:

I think Sweets shows up early in Season 3.  While I like Cam just fine, I really liked Dr. Goodman a lot and would love to somehow have had both of them on. 

They didn't use Goodman anywhere near as much or as effectively as they used Cam.

I'm watching the episode where Booths boss/friend/colleagues s daughter had a bone graft from a person with cancer and made everyone else sick. Bones consistently refers to the girl as the body. In front of the girl. In front of her parents. In front of Booth.  It honestly didn't matter to her how many times Booth told her to knock it off she kept doing it.  She kept referring to her as if she were already dead. Who DOES that? She's a genius and I guess that gives her a pass from being human. 

[mojoween]

Bones the TV show has many, many flaws (before Primetimer there was Television Without Pity, and they did long-form recaps.  I believe they bailed on this show before season one even ended) but I unapologetically love every single season.

12 years wasn’t enough, I would have watched 12 more.

[hiisa]

I'm watching the ep where Bones identifies her mother's bones. And I think I'm officially dropping it. I feel no sympathy for this woman AT ALL. For the last few eps especially she's Ben particularly AWFUL. And instead of feeling any sort of sympathy for her during this whole thing all I can think is: why on earth should everyone or anyone tiptoe around her feelings when she doesn't bother to treat anyone else with the same dignity? So...I'm done.

[SilverShadow]

I've watched episodes here and there but binging for the first time. I'm most of the way through Season 3 ATM. It really is a charming show most of the time. It does a better job of working characterization in than a lot of other episodic procedurals. As far as controversial characters go, I like Cam and am ambivalent on Sweets. 

Cam really works as a pragmatist middle ground between Booth/the FBI and the Squints. I'm glad they squashed her and Booth as a thing early because that was really the best way to make fans hate her. 

Sweets I don't have a read on yet. I thought he was kind of condescending with his 'fish have souls' girlfriend. 

I am not yet at the infamous Zach twist though I am spoiled for it. 

[WendyCR72]

If you get BBC America listings have the show airing all day today (Wednesday) through 3:00 a.m. on Thursday. (now Seasons 1 and 2) and same days thereafter...

[Frost]

I've been doing a lot of rewatch on BBC America.  I can't watch any Pelant episodes.  The know all, see all, control all villain was so utterly ridiculous.  And I absolutely hate the season 10 arc with Booth's gambling addiction.  Bones was so incredibly self righteous.  I absolutely agree with her initial anger, but then after he's been going to GA she shows up at his 30 day celebration uninvited because she "deserves" to be part of his successes as well as his failures.  Wha?!?!?!  And then proceeds to tell Booth she wants him to move back home but is afraid to because losing her and Christine is his motivation for staying clean and if she allows him home, what will his motivation be?  

The writer's on this show seem to know nothing about addiction.  Booth needs to self motivate to stop from gambling, end of story.  An addict cannot rely on outside forces to keep him in line. 

And this arc was immediately followed up with the nonsensical storyline of Jared hooking up with criminal ex-Navy buddies and being willing to sell a list of undercover FBI agents to the highest bidder.  And somehow this team of "master criminals" is hunky dory with FBI agent Seeley joining their team?  If there was an explanation that made sense, it ended up on the cutting room floor.  I never liked Jared.  I thought he was a self centered brat most of the time, but this twist was straight up character assassination.  Just like Zack Addy falling for Gormaghon's schtick. 

I complain about some episodes, but overall I really do like this series.  I think it holds up better than Castle.  At least Booth and Bones felt like they cared about each other all the way through the series.  I can only watch episodes from the first couple of seasons of Castle.  It was obvious the two leads couldn't stand each other after a while.

[mojoween]

I’m never going to get over how the writers wrote Booth and Brennan’s “first case”.

Why did they need to shoehorn Cam and Caroline into it, when we already know how they all first met?  I’m sure the actresses would have understood they would have to sit out one episode.

And unless I missed something on rewatch, Cam was a cop in New York.  She shouldn’t even have been there.

Zach, fine.  It made sense for him to be in the lab.  But they way Brennan first met Caroline was perfect, and we all know that Brennan didn’t know Cam when Dr. Goodman was tossed to the curb.

[ForReal]

On 8/31/2022 at 7:14 AM, Frost said:

I've been doing a lot of rewatch on BBC America.  I can't watch any Pelant episodes.  The know all, see all, control all villain was so utterly ridiculous.  And I absolutely hate the season 10 arc with Booth's gambling addiction. 

I never liked Jared.  I thought he was a self centered brat most of the time, but this twist was straight up character assassination.  Just like Zack Addy falling for Gormaghon's schtick. 

I rewatch sporadically, and I don't care for the Pelant episodes, either. I also skip the parts where they are apart, in later seasons, for manufactured reasons. I don't think I have ever watched the episodes where Bones went on the run because it made no sense to me that she wouldn't have lawyers and friends in law enforcement (!) who could have helped her. 

I also never liked Jared, although I also didn't like the way Booth was with Jared. Some of the writers' ideas for stirring things up just sent things down the drain, IMHO.

[Cattoy]

On 8/31/2022 at 10:14 AM, Frost said:

I've been doing a lot of rewatch on BBC America.  I can't watch any Pelant episodes. 

I remember watching the early episodes of this show, but I couldn't remember why I stopped. I was doing a binge rewatch after some surgery, and oh my God! I came to the first Pelant episode, and it all came back to me. Even at the time of his first appearance, it was well-documented that ankle monitors were easy to fool. A "tech genius" would have easily gotten one off and the court would have accepted that he was cheating. Seriously, his stunts were so over-the-top, it would have fit in better on Bond parody.

I get that Hollywood writers don't actually understand how real people live or how technology works, but get with the times! It was one thing with Whedon's cringe-inducing tech dialogue from Buffy back in the day, but there's no reason for writers in the late 90s, early 00s to be totally clueless about computers.

[Miss Anne Thrope]

Fellow avoider of Pelant episodes here.  As procedurals go, Bones kept up the momentum better than most, IMO, and produced consistently good and/or clever episodes for about 8 years. There are some funny or well-done one-off episodes after S8, but I can take or leave most of the later-season episodes, and can leave all of the Pelants . 

At one point I noticed that Christine Brennan is played by Sunnie Pelant and wondered if that was some weird joke, easter egg, or what have you -- like if the child actor was a total nightmare, so the writers named a supervillain after her.  Alas, Pelant the villain first appeared in S7, E6 and Pelant the actor first appeared in S9, E18 -- so coincidence it is. 

[mojoween]

Caroline making Booth and Bones kiss so Bones could have the Christmas trailer for Russ and Max is an incredible HR violation bordering on harassment, but it still makes me giggle, from puckish to steamboats to “you must really like your brother”.  And Booth ending up with the gum, even though his breath is fine.

[mojoween]

I’m confused what the BBC is doing.  The episodes they’ve aired today were from seasons 3, 6, 12, 6 and 2.  Why aren’t they just showing the seasons in order?  It’s jarring when Hodgins is walking then in the wheelchair and then walking.  

[CheshireCat]

I never watched Bones when it aired originally but I've caught several of the reruns on BBC America and most of the episodes I've seen, I've enjoyed. But who thought it was plausible or sensible for someone to take their baby girl when they go on the run as a fugitive? In what world does that make sense? And don't get me started on the rest of the episode. Far too constructed for my taste.

I'm really enjoying the cast a whole, though. They're interesting characters, interact well with each other and they're fun to watch.

[mojoween]

BBC, what the hell.  They show the second-to-last episode,

when the bomb goes off on the platform at the end

and the next episode is the series premiere!  I feel cheated.

[mojoween]

On Cam’s first episode she gets all het up about Hodgens doing an experiment and Tempe is like “I encourage independent thought” or somesuch and Cam is like “well not in MY lab” and wasn’t the Jeffersonian a TEACHING lab?  Didn’t Cam know what she was signing up for?

Anyways this was a long way to say I’ve never forgiven the show for bouncing Dr. Goodman without a second’s thought.

[Remlab]

@mojoween,

I, too, would watch another 12 seasons of Bones. It’s my go-to bedtime show, and I often find myself staying up to watch it, even though I’ve probably seen every episode at least 10 times. I really love the characters and their growth throughout the years. 
 

As an aside, whatever happened to Finn the intern? I remember him dating Michelle, but for the life of me, I cannot remember what happened to his character. 

Edited December 17, 2022 by Remlab

[WendyCR72]

14 hours ago, Remlab said:

@mojoween,

I, too, would watch another 12 seasons of Bones. It’s my go-to bedtime show, and I often find myself staying up to watch it, even though I’ve probably seen every episode at least 10 times. I really love the characters and their growth throughout the years. 
 

As an aside, whatever happened to Finn the intern? I remember him dating Michelle, but for the life of me,I cannot remember what happened to his character. 

He liked what Booth did for a living and joined the FBI! LOL! (Kidding. But actor Luke Kleintank, who played Finn, plays Scott Forrester now on FBI: International, the leader of the unit.)

(Fellow Bones actor John Boyd [Agent James Aubrey] also must like playing FBI agents since he stars on the original FBI series as Stuart Scola, too!)

[mojoween]

Didn’t some of the interns/new doctors attend the wedding?  Was Finn there?

[Kendra595]

I just did a Bones Marathon. I never realized what a pompous ass Booth was. He treated people terribly in some of the episodes. Kind of holier than thou in the Jacob Brodsky episodes. He caused a former soldier to commit suicide with his accusations - no remorse there. Ick.

[CheshireCat]

I've now seen several episodes of every season. Unfortunately, I can only watch at night, so I usually see three or four episodes (and when I've seen an episode before it usually is one I don't like. It's like that with every show. Why is that? 😂)

In any case, I really don't like how they're portraying many of the interns/assistants. You'd think everyone who has a higher-than-average IQ is full of themselves and thinks everyone else is stupid. That is not the case.
I read or heard somewhere that Brennan is supposed to have Asperger's, so I can see where they're coming from (although, the two people I know who have Asperger's have not once mentioned how smart and talented they are even though they are but they both do take things literal and the man does not exactly have a filter) but not everyone who is gifted also has Asperger's or is socially awkward or thinks of themselves as superior to others. My mom did a course about giftedness in connection with her job. Granted, it was about giftedness in children but the therapist who did the course said that girls/women actually have a tendency to hide their giftedness.

I could see how telling everyone that you're so brilliant could be used as a defense mechanism because there is the issue of being/feeling different and a desire to fit in but then they should have explored that.

I'm sure there are very smart people who act like the characters on the show, I just think they should have had a mix of character and not have every gifted character act in the same way. I find many of them not likeable because of that.

 

[hypnotoad]

I've been watching reruns on BBC America. When the show originally aired, I stopped watching when Zach was revealed to be an apprentice of a serial killer. It irritated me even watching the reruns!

Can someone explain to me this shows obsession with Pelant? Every single time that character shows up I want to scream in frustration.

[Gramto6]

11 minutes ago, hypnotoad said:

Can someone explain to me this shows obsession with Pelant? Every single time that character shows up I want to scream in frustration.

I don't know, if a rerun has Pelant in it, I don't watch it. Just like L&O-CI, if it is a Nicole Wallace episode, I don't watch it.

[kaygeeret]

I do agree that Zach's final story was a bit weird, but in fairness, the actor had a number of issues and needed (and requested) to be off the show.

I think they treated him well by crafting a story that highlighted him and even brought him back for a couple of epis at the end of the series.  The show runners did the right thing for the actor.

The entire Pelant story line would have been ok if they had wrapped it up after 2 epis instead of dragging the thing out.  The story itself is just not that compelling.

[Featherhat]

On 4/6/2023 at 1:36 AM, kaygeeret said:

I do agree that Zach's final story was a bit weird, but in fairness, the actor had a number of issues and needed (and requested) to be off the show.

I think they treated him well by crafting a story that highlighted him and even brought him back for a couple of epis at the end of the series.  The show runners did the right thing for the actor.

The entire Pelant story line would have been ok if they had wrapped it up after 2 epis instead of dragging the thing out.  The story itself is just not that compelling.

IIRC Zach was originally supposed to be Gorgamon's final victim but due to the writer's strike they decided to make him the apprentice instead. That and they liked Sweets/JFD and wanted to keep him around and it was "too obvious" that a new recurring character might be Gormagon. I really didn't like it but I hated even more that they reconned it so Zach was the Apprentice but never killed anyone, that made even less sense. If he was the Apprentice then commit to it when he came back, even if he realised that his logic/rationale was faulty and repented. It seems they did right by Eric Milligan though, letting him leave the show and talk about why in his own time. 

Pelant would have been fine as a 2-3 ep arc but stretching it out for so long completely ruined it for a lot of people, including me. Especially when they tried to make him this omni present and omni powerful character who could do anything. Epps, as all powerful as he sometimes came across, made mistakes and the team beat him before his next ep and that early serial killer arc was just much better written.

 

Quote

I read or heard somewhere that Brennan is supposed to have Asperger's, so I can see where they're coming from (although, the two people I know who have Asperger's have not once mentioned how smart and talented they are even though they are but they both do take things literal and the man does not exactly have a filter) but not everyone who is gifted also has Asperger's or is socially awkward or thinks of themselves as superior to others. My mom did a course about giftedness in connection with her job. Granted, it was about giftedness in children but the therapist who did the course said that girls/women actually have a tendency to hide their giftedness

She wasn't originally supposed to have Aspergers or be neuro divergent, that idea was something of a retcon (and possibly something that stemmed from something her mother once said to her as a teen which also made no sense.). In S1 and 2 she was obviously smart and wasn't shy about saying it but she was a socially functional adult who understood jokes without having to "explain" why she found them funny and knew enough about human social interaction to realise that her ex chose the day she returned from her dig to get his stuff back because he wanted to get back together. She also knew when people were flirting, how to be empathetic and joked about Angela lifting her top up (the pilot). It was only later on that she developed into a character who could only talk about how smart she was.

Edited April 7, 2023 by Featherhat

[Clawdette]

The first Bones episode I saw was "The Proof in the Pudding" (S5 E12) in which the lab goes on lockdown to examine secret government remains.  I loved it and streamed the first seasons as well as continued to watch the new episodes to the bitter end.  But I don't enjoy re-watching.  I have watched every single episode of the L&O Mothership dozens of times and L&O Criminal Intent, too.  Heck, now I'm doing the same with Monk.  But I don't enjoy rewatching Bones episodes at all.

[WendyCR72]

3 hours ago, Clawdette said:

The first Bones episode I saw was "The Proof in the Pudding" (S5 E12) in which the lab goes on lockdown to examine secret government remains.  I loved it and streamed the first seasons as well as continued to watch the new episodes to the bitter end.  But I don't enjoy re-watching.  I have watched every single episode of the L&O Mothership dozens of times and L&O Criminal Intent, too.  Heck, now I'm doing the same with Monk.  But I don't enjoy rewatching Bones episodes at all.

Funny you say that. For a time, I did like re-watching Bones episodes. And I am like you that I can watch the original Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent bunches and still enjoy those, yet I find I no longer have the patience to re-watch Bones.

I wonder if it is because it has more comedic elements (in a good number of episodes, anyway!) or something? Shrug.

[hypnotoad]

Quote

I wonder if it is because it has more comedic elements (in a good number of episodes, anyway!) or something? Shrug.

Personally, I think Law and Order is much easier to rewatch endlessly because the show is about the cops and lawyers who handle the various crimes. That's it. There is very little personal drama going on.

Bones makes a viewer deal with all the will they won't they nonsense and once Booth and Brennan are together then it's time to come up with lame ass reasons for conflict. And it's not just them by any means! Hodgins and Angela are going to get married and then find out she's already married to someone she doesn't remember! The hi-jinks with the rotating interns!  I think ones ability to deal with that kind of 'drama' over and over determines ones ability to enjoy rewatching.

I mentioned before I stopped watching the show during the original run with the whole Zach being a serial killers apprentice thing. It annoyed me and I sort of lost track of the show. I've only recently started watching reruns and the later seasons are tough. I mean of course shows don't usually remain as good, the longer they run but still I find a lot of the alleged drama with the various relationships pretty hard to watch and to care about.

[mojoween]

I have no trouble watching every episode a million times, heh.

However, I do have some nits to pick.

Foreigner is gross and terrible and no, everyone DOESN’T love them, Booth.

Hart seemed petty that he seemingly vindictively killed off Sweets because Jon Francis Daley wanted to direct a movie.  He couldn’t have just been given some time off, man?

Just because Emily was pregnant doesn’t mean Tempe needed to be.  I think this one is Emily’s fault.

Dr. Goodman was awesome and it’s wrong that no one ever mentioned him again.

Booth could never have escaped from the battleship without help from a human, not a ghost.

The Chinese restaurant was WAY cooler than the diner.

There really wasn’t any reason to age Parker.

And I’m repeating myself here, but my least favorite episode of all time is the one where they pretend Booth and Bones had a different first case because they shoehorned Cam and Caroline in even though it made no sense.

Edited April 17, 2023 by mojoween

[WendyCR72]

John Francis Daley (Sweets) supported the WGA Strike by supplying his fellow picketing writers with tacos!

 

[mojoween]

I’m surprised that they play “The Girl in the Mask” in reruns considering how wretchedly insensitive it is.

[CheshireCat]

On 3/15/2023 at 5:34 PM, Kendra595 said:

I just did a Bones Marathon. I never realized what a pompous ass Booth was. He treated people terribly in some of the episodes. Kind of holier than thou in the Jacob Brodsky episodes. He caused a former soldier to commit suicide with his accusations - no remorse there. Ick.

I kind of like Booth more than Brennan, especially in the earlier episodes. Sure, Booth has some macho-man-eye-roll-worthy moments but Brennan is just so full of herself. I don't mind confidence but I don't think being convinced that you're the smartest person in the room and everyone else is stupid because they have a lower IQ than you and you can also do the job of the other person even though you never learned it is confidence. That is (unjustified) arrogance, especially since the majority of people with a high IQ have an area where that manifests.

I'm glad they had the episode where Brennan was confronted with the question of why she was involving herself in the cases the way she did and toned the arrogance down. But if I had watched it from the first season on when it first aired, I'm not sure I would have continued watching. I may have been intrigued enough because the cases are interesting and the characters have a good dynamic but I find Brennan to be a rather unsympathetic character (at the beginning).

[mojoween]

On 5/24/2023 at 4:11 PM, mojoween said:

I’m surprised that they play “The Girl in the Mask” in reruns considering how wretchedly insensitive it is.

This was on again today and I realized that I knew James Sok from somewhere, because he has a distinctive voice.  I checked his IMDB and yep, he played adult Tam on “The Big Bang Theory”.

I love how “Bones” is the “Law and Order” of the double aughts when it comes to people who were guest stars and are now known for something else.  (Hey it’s the brown-haired girl from “The Rookie!”  Oh it’s the other brown-haired girl from “The Rookie!”)

[WendyCR72]

BBC America is running the end of S4/S5 now. Right now, Booth's coma dream episode, "The End in The Beginning", is airing.

"The Critic in The Cabernet" was on before that, and Booth's repartee with cartoon Baby Stewie was still strange, but I admire the show for taking something so odd and tying it into something poignant [the tumor].

[mojoween]

I’m doing a “The O.C.” rewatch (I don’t care that I was almost 30 when it premiered, I loved that damn show) and not even halfway through season 2 I’ve recognized four people who went on to a big or small role on “Bones”.

TJ Thyne

That New Orleans lady cop who was convinced Bones murdered Colby from Survivor

That guy who murdered a senator with a statue of the state of Virginia (who apparently never heard of neosporin)

The red headed lady lawyer who killed a guy with a briefcase

FOX sure likes to keep things in-house.  And I bet when I saw them  on “Bones” I had that “where have I seen this person before?” moment, and 20 years later, now I know.  Like I didn’t know that TJ Thyne was on “Friends” until I saw a rerun in the 20teens.

Edited August 21, 2023 by mojoween

[WendyCR72]

If anyone watches Bones Mondays on WE, enjoy it while you can. Come September, it is being replaced with 9-1-1.

And it looks to be off the channel's schedule completely then.

[mojoween]

I just said to the hubby when one of the eleventy-seven “9-1-1” ads was on that I hoped it was not replacing “Bones”. There goes that!

BBC America, please don’t let me down.

Edited August 22, 2023 by mojoween

[WendyCR72]

On 8/21/2023 at 9:05 PM, mojoween said:

I just said to the hubby when one of the eleventy-seven “9-1-1” ads was on that I hoped it was not replacing “Bones”. There goes that!

BBC America, please don’t let me down.

Well, WE must have reconsidered. Listings show it back on the channel!

[mojoween]

16 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

Well, WE must have reconsidered. Listings show it back on the channel!

Woohoo!  Just turned it on during lunch and it’s going to be on all day AND it’s starting from the beginning.

[Souris]

I keep getting sucked into the Sunday Bones marathons on Cozi TV. The episode where Bones wanted Booth to be a sperm donor so she could have a baby was on today, and it reminded me again that I'm still salty we never got to see the team find out Bones was pregnant with Booth's baby because they did a time jump with the season opener. I know WHY they did that, to sync with Emily's real-life pregnancy, but damn, I wanted to see their reactions (especially Sweets and Angela) even more than I wanted to see the scene of Bones/Booth getting together!

[ForReal]

One of my favorite Bones moments was when Angela and Cam were discussing how much they would all spoil a Bones/Booth baby.

[WendyCR72]

Rest in peace, Ryan O'Neal (Max Brennan).

[mojoween]

I’m still mad at Hart Hanson for what he did to Max.

[mojoween]

Looking back on it, it’s amusing (to me anyways) that at several different times Cam fired Hodgins, Daisy, Finn, Wendell and Rodolfo, but none of them stayed fired.