Bones - General Discussion

[Guest]

This topic replaces the old Bones forum which has been vaulted at the location below:  http://forums.previously.tv/forum/431-bones-v/

[WendyCR72]

And to break in the shiny new upgraded forum, Emily Deschanel is returning to TV - and in a VERY different role from Brennan, playing an ex-con/drug addict ironically named Angela in TNT's Animal Kingdom.

[mojoween]

TNT only shows Bones on Thursdays and Fridays now.  That bums me out.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Fox Aims To Break ‘Bones’ EP & Stars’ Big-Bucks Arbitration Award After Profit Battle

Almost two years after Bones ended its run of more than a decade at Fox, the stars and executive producer of the crime drama have partially prevailed in their profit participation battle with the company, for now.

Emily Deschanel and David Boreanazand EP Barry Josephson have been issued a hefty award of almost $179 million in the case.  However, the matter looks to be far from over as Fox is appealing the awarding of more than $128 million in punitive damages that it says are in contradiction to the initial contracts the actors and Josephson inked for Bones years ago.

[WendyCR72]

TJ Thyne, a.k.a. King of the Lab Dr. Jack Hodgins, will be appearing on an upcoming episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. This will air on April 4th and Lucy Liu will be directing.

[WendyCR72]

Apparently, Dean Lopata, a writer on Bones for years, is the writer of tonight's Whiskey Cavalier episode.

[mojoween]

TNT is airing ads for the new season of  “Animal Kingdom” with guest star Emily Deschanel and she looks great.  Almost season one of “Bones”-like.

Season one has started again on TNT and it made me laugh when I realized that in at least two eps that season they had Bones telling someone something that was factual, but in her grating and near insulting way, and both characters said that they liked her because she was honest.  If you have to tell us, writers, it’s most likely not actually true.

Not that I care.  I still love this stupid show from start to finish, regardless of any flaws it may have had.

[ForReal]

I saw the episode where they were on lockdown over Christmas the other day. So many good memories, like Angela's dad and Zach making and giving the toy to Booth for his son.  I enjoyed watching it again.

[WendyCR72]

Just saw a commercial for Animal Kingdom, about Emily Deschanel joining the cast. As someone else here said, if I didn't know better, she could pass for S1 Bones again. She looks great. Ironic still when that commercial is during an early Bones repeat, "Death in the Saddle" from Season 3.

[WendyCR72]

No idea if people already know, but apparently all seasons of Bones can now be streamed by Prime Video on Amazon if you have a Prime membership.

[mojoween]

Oh, is it off Netflix now?  I hadn’t noticed. I just do not have time to stream anything any more.

[johntfs]

Currently watching "The Nail in the Coffin" from Season 9.  I find myself weirdly happy for the Donna Hastings character.  Sure, she got interrogated, but the end result of all that is that she gets to be a billionaire because she's basically the last Mcnamara.

[WendyCR72]

Seems John Boyd (Agent James Aubrey) likes playing FBI guys since he is now recurring on FBI as an agent on the CBS series.

[ForReal]

Once I got used to Aubrey, I liked him better than Sweets, but I didn't like his romance with the red-headed intern. She was annoying to me.

[DanaMB]

Ok, so I am almost done with season 9 via Prime and there isn’t a lot to read here (until late season 9 in the archives) but I just have to say I can’t stand Cam. I couldn’t stand her in her first episode and still don’t despite a few ok moments. In the ep I’m currently watching she’s being judgmental about Sweets and an intern flirting while she’s in a serious relationship with an intern herself. Ugh, she grates. Don’t even get me started on how often she likes to remind them she’s the boss. 

I don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion or not, but just wanted to get it off my chest. 

[ForReal]

19 hours ago, DanaMB said:

I just have to say I can’t stand Cam. I don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion or not, but just wanted to get it off my chest. 

She was an oddly drawn character, for sure. I didn't like how she came in as Booth's ex and  was quite willing to reengage. I didn't like it when she hooked up with Angela's ex, either. She seemed willing to throw caution to the wind when it came to men, but she was overly protective of her "daughter" in a hypocritical way.

I figure she was always reminding them that she was the boss because even though she herself had considerable expertise as a coroner, no one seemed to respect her as a scientist. I mean, even though she understood everything they said, she never seemed like one of them; she held herself more like Booth, as a (previous) member of law enforcement.

She wore some gorgeous clothes, though, and boy was she skinny!

[DanaMB]

I’m finally to episodes that actually have threads in the archives so I’m happy to finally have something to compare my own thoughts and opinions to. 
In the season 10 ep 01 thread, someone mentioned DB had requested not to be in lab scenes. Why did he not want to be in those scenes?

[ForReal]

I saw this online (news to me):

https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/bones-long-plan-blow-lab-series-finale/

Also, that was the episode where Booth was in jail, so he wouldn't have been able to be in those scenes, right? I don't recall anything about this, honestly.

Edited December 5, 2019 by ForReal

[DanaMB]

Thanks for the reply! I know I’m doing a solo watch here and posting about old stuff, but I appreciate the responses. 😊

[ForReal]

I've caught a few episodes recently, because the show is running on some station. It's nice to step back into a familiar series. The show does feel a little dated at times, and the episodes of Booth and Brennan's will they, won't they in the beginning seem weird knowing they ended up married with kids, but it's all good.

[DanaMB]

5 hours ago, ForReal said:

I've caught a few episodes recently, because the show is running on some station. It's nice to step back into a familiar series. The show does feel a little dated at times, and the episodes of Booth and Brennan's will they, won't they in the beginning seem weird knowing they ended up married with kids, but it's all good.

It cracked me up when I first started watching a few months ago when they kept mentioning myspace. I feel like I'm finally in a season where things are more current.

I do find myself not caring much about the CotW, but I still enjoy the scenes that show the relationship between the characters,

[DanaMB]

Made it through season 10, now up to 11 ep 3. I’m wondering if we ever see Parker again. I can’t even remember when  the last time was. 

[ForReal]

I seem to recall he shows up as a teenager, pretty much, visiting from England I think? I don't remember why he comes or what happens, but I do remember seeing him as older.

I saw the one where Arastoo returns to his country to see his dying brother and Cam is upset, and rightly so. Kind of a weird conflict, really. I can understand why he would want to go and why she would be upset, but I couldn't understand why he didn't seem to take the danger seriously and why he didn't see why choosing to go was so hurtful to Cam. Unless he really was sure he wouldn't be in danger, but they didn't imply that. I don't know. Just weird to me, somehow.

[ForReal]

I saw the episode last night where Bones and Booth were sitting in the lab, talking after a case, and Cam leaves, waiting by the exit to see if Booth will follow. He stands up, thinks for a minute, then sits back down and stays with Bones. Kind of a pointed way to let Cam know it's over, but so it goes.

Later was the episode where Bones and Hodgins were buried alive in a car, but I couldn't watch. I know they get out, but still, too creepy.

[WendyCR72]

8 hours ago, ForReal said:

Later was the episode where Bones and Hodgins were buried alive in a car, but I couldn't watch. I know they get out, but still, too creepy.

"Aliens in a Spaceship", which I think is one of the best episodes of the series. "The Hero in the Hold" in S4, and "The Boy With the Answer" in S5 (?) were its follow-up episodes, with the latter really showing how much it scarred Hodgins.

[DanaMB]

On 12/19/2019 at 10:27 AM, ForReal said:

I seem to recall he shows up as a teenager, pretty much, visiting from England I think? I don't remember why he comes or what happens, but I do remember seeing him as older.

 

He did show up in season 11's Thanksgiving ep.

[Mama No Life]

I've started watching again for some reason, because as much as I loved this show for 10 seasons the last two were kinda painful.  Watching season 1 though, and how their relationship developed so organically and how much chemistry they had from the start, makes me fall in love with them all over again.

Also I hated Cam.  And I'll skip Hannah episodes. 

[WendyCR72]

6 hours ago, Mama No Life said:

I've started watching again for some reason, because as much as I loved this show for 10 seasons the last two were kinda painful.  Watching season 1 though, and how their relationship developed so organically and how much chemistry they had from the start, makes me fall in love with them all over again.

Also I hated Cam.  And I'll skip Hannah episodes. 

I remember mentioning in the old forum that Katheryn Winnick was once on an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Her character's husband was offed and she was a suspect (but was innocent). And, even though that character was innocent, I loved seeing Goren and Eames go after her and tear her apart, anyway. Then I realized that Ms. Winnick's Bones stint was the root cause. LOL.

God...Hannah.

[ForReal]

21 hours ago, Mama No Life said:

And I'll skip Hannah episodes. 

Oh, definitely. I've kind of conveniently dropped that arc from my memory. I think I would skip those episodes, too, if they came on.

[dovegrey]

I'm binge-watching the show for the first time and am about halfway through season 4. (I tried watching the show later on its original run, but Emily Deschanel's portrayal of Brennan was so atrociously bad that I couldn't.) So: Booth was killed by the open mic night stalker lady in 3x14 and the nine years after was Brennan novelizing what could have been, right?

I've skipped around to watch some of the more popular episodes throughout the rest of the series, and my biggest thought is that there were some weird cast dynamics for a show that saw most of its original main cast stay for the entire run. 

[WendyCR72]

7 hours ago, dovegrey said:

I'm binge-watching the show for the first time and am about halfway through season 4. (I tried watching the show later on its original run, but Emily Deschanel's portrayal of Brennan was so atrociously bad that I couldn't.) So: Booth was killed by the open mic night stalker lady in 3x14 and the nine years after was Brennan novelizing what could have been, right?

Not asking in a snarky way, but is this a real question? If you really want the answer:

 

No. Booth DID survive being shot, but then - I forget why - had to pretend to be dead. In the S4 premiere, Brennan found out and was rightfully pissed and confronted him, as you likely saw since you are in the middle of S4 now. The shooting happened around the time of a Writers' Strike, but Booth recovered.

[dovegrey]

10 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

Not asking in a snarky way, but is this a real question? If you really want the answer:

  Hide contents

No. Booth DID survive being shot, but then - I forget why - had to pretend to be dead. In the S4 premiere, Brennan found out and was rightfully pissed and confronted him, as you likely saw since you are in the middle of S4 now. The shooting happened around the time of a Writers' Strike, but Booth recovered.

I was being snarky. 😉 And it might be my headcanon, as I'm finding season 4 to be mostly ridiculous. Plus, I've never seen a show jump the shark twice in one episode using two different storylines, but 3x15 sure nailed it.

Did the writers ever say what the point of him being shot in 3x14 was supposed to be? Was a fake death with no real impact on any longterm storyline or character arc the original plan, or did the strike change that like it changed Zack's exit?

(I am enjoying the show and the character dynamics are fun, but it does seem like another show that only had three solid years before the showrunners got bored with the premise.)

[WendyCR72]

4 minutes ago, dovegrey said:

Did the writers ever say what the point of him being shot in 3x14 was supposed to be? Was a fake death with no real impact on any longterm storyline or character arc the original plan, or did the strike change that like it changed Zack's exit?

That, I don't remember, where Booth is concerned. The whole Zack thing was crazy. I admit to not being a huge Zack fan, but it seems many were. Both sides agree that what was done to him made no sense.

[dovegrey]

6 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

That, I don't remember, where Booth is concerned. The whole Zack thing was crazy. I admit to not being a huge Zack fan, but it seems many were. Both sides agree that what was done to him made no sense.

I didn't like Zack but I find myself missing him. I don't like the rotating quirky interns. (And I've never liked Cam or understood why Angela does half the stuff she does. The lab scenes are killing me.)

[ForReal]

14 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

The whole Zack thing was crazy.

Particularly when they circle around to him later in the show. Crazy, indeed.

14 hours ago, dovegrey said:

I've never...understood why Angela does half the stuff she does. The lab scenes are killing me.

Yes, there is nothing she can't do. I look at it as I do the opening scene -- they are trying to make it as outrageous and gross as possible and try to one up themselves every episode. Angela does more amazing and impossible things every time. I think she's probably the most valuable member of the team.

[Mama No Life]

Am I the only one who skips from The Parts in the Sum to the The Bikini in the Soup when rewatching? I can't stand the Maluku/Hannah arc. Even knowing how it ends it is so awful to watch....

[mojoween]

My hubby is binging Criminal Minds and it’s making me laugh because in this one episode from 2010 I recognize four people who were guest stars on Bones.  I imagine most of these serials probably pull from the same actor pool.

[ForReal]

I've been watching a lot of Bones lately because it seems to be on all the time, and I have notice afresh how patronizing Booth is to Bones. I was watching an episode where Bones was trying to get better at reading facial expressions so that she could learn to interview people as well as Booth does (with his inherently awesome people skills 🙄). Angela told her that Booth lets Bones be the smart one because he knows how much it means to her, so maybe she should let Booth be the people person. Really? She is the smart one. Certainly, it wouldn't hurt her to acknowledge that other people excel in other areas, but that he "lets" her be the smart one? Please.

[anna0852]

On 5/10/2020 at 8:33 PM, Mama No Life said:

Am I the only one who skips from The Parts in the Sum to the The Bikini in the Soup when rewatching? I can't stand the Maluku/Hannah arc. Even knowing how it ends it is so awful to watch....

Nope. You're not. I do the same thing.

[dovegrey]

On 10/17/2020 at 2:09 PM, ForReal said:

I've been watching a lot of Bones lately because it seems to be on all the time, and I have notice afresh how patronizing Booth is to Bones. I was watching an episode where Bones was trying to get better at reading facial expressions so that she could learn to interview people as well as Booth does (with his inherently awesome people skills 🙄). Angela told her that Booth lets Bones be the smart one because he knows how much it means to her, so maybe she should let Booth be the people person. Really? She is the smart one. Certainly, it wouldn't hurt her to acknowledge that other people excel in other areas, but that he "lets" her be the smart one? Please.

It's been a while since I watched the show (okay, it was early in quarantine)... All the episodes/seasons may be blurring together, but, IIRC, by this point in the show, I was getting fed up with Bones regularly outshining Booth in the investigation part of their partnership. No question Bones was "smarter" at forensic anthropology as a forensic anthropologist, but no question Booth was "smarter" at reading people, interviewing, and investigating as an FBI agent. As much as the writers began to write Booth as bumbling and dim, they also started to write Bones as so smart she was dumb, which is how I remember this episode. No one came out looking good.

I loved the first three seasons, when Booth was smart and competent at his job, similar to how Bones was brilliant at her job. That's why it worked. 

[Mama No Life]

Agree. This show became a victim of its own caricatures. 

[ForReal]

I agree, too. I was fine with Booth being better at reading people -- there is certainly a place for instinct and gut reaction during an investigation, and Bones' all logic, all the time approach would not be successful without it, but it was that Booth "let" her be the smart one so she'd be happy.  They both had strengths and weaknesses, and when they appreciated both in each other, they were at their best.

I recall times early on where Bones clearly understood social nuances, and then later was almost completely socially inept. So yeah, the writing wasn't even, for any of the characters. In a post somewhere on here, I commented that sometimes Cam rubbed me wrong, but watching shows lately I find she had a sharp wit and delivery that I very much enjoy. Or maybe that's just a quarantine perspective 🙂

[mojoween]

My son is binging from the beginning and when he was watching season one he was like “man there are a lot of episodes in this season” and I laughed because cable has ruined long seasons for everyone with their 12 episode runs.

I’ve said it before, maybe here, maybe on TWoP, but first season David Boreanez could not possibly BE hotter.  And I know what it says about me, but his best moment among all seasons is when he stuck his gun in that gang leader’s face and threatened him against going after Bones again.

I was thinking about my Top Five episodes, and I can’t contain it to five (I don’t know all the ep names and these are in no order)

• The first Christmas when they were trapped in the lab   
• When Bones and Hodgins are trapped by the Gravedigger
• The 9/11 episode
• The 200th set in the forties
• Booth’s dream episode when he had the brain surgery
• When Mr. Vincent Nigel Murray is killed (it sounds so bad typing it out, but there’s a lot to like before that moment)
• The one where Caroline calls them all back after they fled to Afghanistan, the Maluku Islands and Paris (I know you guys don’t like Hannah, but she wasn’t there until the end, heh)
• The one in New Orleans where Bones is drugged by Colby

I know the episode that I am the least fond of, and that’s when Sweets wrote his book, and Bones and Booth are like “well that’s not actually our first case,” so they did an episode in the past, and if they were going to do it, Caroline should not have been involved, because it was CLEAR that Caroline first met Bones in New Orleans when Colby drugged her.

Also, Hodgin’s fly in his neck, which I know again I am repeating myself, but I will never forgive Kathy Reichs for that.

[ForReal]

On 11/7/2020 at 6:29 AM, mojoween said:

My son is binging from the beginning and when he was watching season one he was like “man there are a lot of episodes in this season” and I laughed because cable has ruined long seasons for everyone with their 12 episode runs.

I’ve said it before, maybe here, maybe on TWoP, but first season David Boreanez could not possibly BE hotter.  And I know what it says about me, but his best moment among all seasons is when he stuck his gun in that gang leader’s face and threatened him against going after Bones again.

I was thinking about my Top Five episodes, and I can’t contain it to five (I don’t know all the ep names and these are in no order)

• The first Christmas when they were trapped in the lab   
• When Bones and Hodgins are trapped by the Gravedigger
• The 9/11 episode
• The 200th set in the forties
• Booth’s dream episode when he had the brain surgery
• When Mr. Vincent Nigel Murray is killed (it sounds so bad typing it out, but there’s a lot to like before that moment)
• The one where Caroline calls them all back after they fled to Afghanistan, the Maluku Islands and Paris (I know you guys don’t like Hannah, but she wasn’t there until the end, heh)
• The one in New Orleans where Bones is drugged by Colby

I know the episode that I am the least fond of, and that’s when Sweets wrote his book, and Bones and Booth are like “well that’s not actually our first case,” so they did an episode in the past, and if they were going to do it, Caroline should not have been involved, because it was CLEAR that Caroline first met Bones in New Orleans when Colby drugged her.

Also, Hodgin’s fly in his neck, which I know again I am repeating myself, but I will never forgive Kathy Reichs for that.

I remember a fine scene with Booth on a table with his sniper rifle, setting his sites on something outside the window of a big building. Actually, I just remember Booth on the table.

I like the Christmas in the lab, can't bear to watch when they are buried, really liked when Mr. VNG dies and she tells him he was always her favorite.

I don't recall the fly in Hodgin's neck?

Edited November 9, 2020 by ForReal

[mojoween]

It was a later season episode.  Somehow a fly got in the back of Hodgins’s neck and he INCUBATED it and then with Angela’s and Wendell’s help he birthed it OUT OF HIS NECK and it was so gross.  Kathy Reichs wrote that episode and that’s why I’ll never forgive her.

[dovegrey]

On 11/1/2020 at 7:41 PM, ForReal said:

I agree, too. I was fine with Booth being better at reading people -- there is certainly a place for instinct and gut reaction during an investigation, and Bones' all logic, all the time approach would not be successful without it, but it was that Booth "let" her be the smart one so she'd be happy.  They both had strengths and weaknesses, and when they appreciated both in each other, they were at their best.

I recall times early on where Bones clearly understood social nuances, and then later was almost completely socially inept. So yeah, the writing wasn't even, for any of the characters. In a post somewhere on here, I commented that sometimes Cam rubbed me wrong, but watching shows lately I find she had a sharp wit and delivery that I very much enjoy. Or maybe that's just a quarantine perspective 🙂

I absolutely agree on all points (...except I was never able to warm up to Cam). I didn’t articulate this well before: I think Angela saying Booth lets Bones be the smart one was the show’s embarrassingly clumsy attempt at trying to make Booth appear intelligent and competent again. It wasn’t equitable or decent to diminish Bones to do that, nor was it fair to use Angela as a puppet to say it. 

There were a couple other instances where the writers tried to rehab Booth as an FBI agent with one-off statements or even episodes, and it never worked, at least for me. I partly blame the writers/showrunner(s), and I partly blame Boreanaz, who tends to go overboard when he gets creative control. Booth became a lot of Boreanaz, I think (all the way from embarrassing slapstick hijinks to essentially turning Booth into the prequel to Jason Hayes). (This isn't to say that Bones/Deschanel didn't have similar issues with characterization/portrayal.)

On 11/7/2020 at 9:29 AM, mojoween said:

I was thinking about my Top Five episodes, and I can’t contain it to five (I don’t know all the ep names and these are in no order)

• The first Christmas when they were trapped in the lab   
• When Bones and Hodgins are trapped by the Gravedigger
• The 9/11 episode
• The 200th set in the forties
• Booth’s dream episode when he had the brain surgery
• When Mr. Vincent Nigel Murray is killed (it sounds so bad typing it out, but there’s a lot to like before that moment)
• The one where Caroline calls them all back after they fled to Afghanistan, the Maluku Islands and Paris (I know you guys don’t like Hannah, but she wasn’t there until the end, heh)
• The one in New Orleans where Bones is drugged by Colby

These are some of my favorites, too. Seasons 1-3 had some real gems. I loved the episode with Booth, Bones, and Angela in the desert trying to find Angela's friends. I also loved the episode with the exploding refrigerator, Booth doing everything possible to save/help Bones, and Hodgins watching Bones and Booth hug the living hell out of each other at the end. The show had a lot of heart. 

[ForReal]

Last night I saw an episode with Hannah. I don't really remember why Booth tried so hard convince himself that he was in love with her, but it  was as uncompelling this time as it was last time.

I also saw the episode mentioned previously where Booth went sniper mode and was on a table imaging taking a shot. Turns out it was the episode where the Gravedigger was assassinated. I have to say, that was one of the goriest openings of all time. It was interesting how her death impacted everyone. Loved Caroline admitting she was scared in an attempt to make Sweets feel better.

[ForReal]

Last night I watched the episode where Finn was introduced. I got the same impression that I did the first time around -- the character was too broadly written, almost like a caricature. I mean, his language -- it was like he went out of his way to sound hickish, despite being brilliant. Now, I'm not saying you can't be a brilliant hick, but it seems to me the years spent in educational institutions learning the things he knew (which he didn't learn on the farm or in a swamp) would have included exposure to more sophisticated language, and he should have picked up more of it. Also, his back story was a little too much. Suspected of killing his abusive stepfather, okay, but to the point where Caroline tells Cam she made a bad hiring decision because his background would cast doubt on his contributions to a case? Puhlease.

That said, I did like the friendship that developed between him and Hodges, but I loathed the relationship between him and Cam's stepdaughter. I felt quite bad for him when she eventually dumped him.

[WendyCR72]

Tamara Taylor (Cam) is returning to crime solving. This time, on the upcoming latest show in the Law & Order franchise, Law & Order: Organized Crime (with Chris Meloni/Elliot Stabler returning, as well as also-just-announced Dylan McDermott!).

[WendyCR72]

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, John Nolan, on his current ABC series, The Rookie.

She will air on May 2nd.