Bones (TV series)
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| Bones | |
|---|---|
 The Season 1 cast of Bones. Left to right: Eric Millegan (Zach Addy), Emily Deschanel (Dr. Temperance Brennan), T.J. Thyne (Dr. Jack Hodgins), David Boreanaz (Agent Seeley Booth), Michaela Conlin (Angela Montenegro), Jonathan Adams (Dr. Daniel Goodman) |
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| Genre | Drama |
| Creator(s) | Hart Hanson |
| Starring | Emily Deschanel David Boreanaz Michaela Conlin Eric Millegan Tamara Taylor T.J. Thyne |
| Opening theme | Created by The Crystal Method |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 39 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 42 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | FOX |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV), 720p (HDTV) |
| Original run | September 13, 2005 – present |
| Links | |
| Official website | |
Bones is a current crime drama television series on the FOX Network. It stars David Boreanaz, Emily Deschanel, Michaela Conlin, Eric Millegan, T.J. Thyne, and Tamara Taylor. Season 1 aired between September 13, 2005 and May 17, 2006. The second season premiered on August 30, 2006, with the introduction of a new character, Dr. Camille Saroyan, played by Tamara Taylor.[1] The series is very loosely based on the Dr. Temperance Brennan character created in a series of novels by real-life forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, who is herself a producer on the show.
In a press release by Fox in February 2007, Bones was confirmed to be renewed for a third season.
Contents |
[edit] Premise
The program is a mystery/thriller, telling the story of a series of case files, solved weekly, by an unlikely alliance between Dr. Temperance Brennan's forensic anthropology team at the Jeffersonian Institution (a thinly veiled Smithsonian Institution) and the FBI.
Dr. Brennan's team brings scientific expertise (and an outsider perspective) to the world of criminal investigation, while Agent Seeley Booth brings human intuition, expertise, and "people skills" to the table. The result is an often strained relationship (the two sides don't always understand one another), but the results are better than either side of the team could accomplish on their own.
Fans of the Brennan books have expressed their dismay that the character in the series only shares the name with the character in the novels, and none of their life histories or characteristics match. However, the credits for the show state that it is based on the work of Kathy Reichs, but say nothing about her novels.
Juxtaposing reality, the on-screen Temperance Brennan moonlights as an author, writing about the adventures of a fictional forensic anthropologist named Kathy Reichs.
[edit] Cast and characters
[edit] Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan
- Portrayed by Emily Deschanel
The character of Dr. Brennan is intellectually brilliant, but so narrowly focused on her work to the point of seeming to lack any social skills. She can appear to be aloof and unable to empathize with people, but in reality she struggles with trust after her parents mysteriously disappeared when she was an adolescent. The television series explores the evolution of Dr. Brennan's identity as she comes to terms with her inner emotions about her tumultuous childhood. Through her relationship with her Jeffersonian co-workers and Agent Booth, Brennan begins to resolve her disconnect from humanity with her basic need for social integration.
She chose her field of research in order to find out what happened to her parents, who vanished without a trace when she was in her teens - leading to an unpleasant time in the foster care system before being rescued by her grandfather. It has been revealed that she has one living brother, Russ.
In the episode Woman In Limbo (2006), Brennan discovered that her mother's remains had been found several years earlier but had been stored unidentified in the Jeffersonian's backlog of old cases. It was learned that she died from a hematoma, or brain injury, but not immediately, and likely did not return home out of fear for her children's safety. Brennan learned that her parents were bank robbers who traveled with a notorious gang during the 70s. Her legal birth name is Joy Keenan and her brother's is Kyle but her parents changed their own names and the children's names to protect them. Brennan's father is still living, and in the episode "Judas on a Pole" she sees her father for the first time since she was 15. He seeks her out as a priest claiming to have spoken with her father. At the end of the episode her father handcuffs her to a bench in order to prevent her from following him. Her father leaves her once again, but not before telling her that he loves her and telling Booth to take care of her.
Brennan appears to lack an understanding of modern pop culture. A running joke through the series is when someone makes an obvious pop culture reference and she blankly states "I don't know what that means". Her on-screen chemistry with her "partner" Agent Seeley Booth is strong, but the extent of their attraction remains confused. This chemistry mirrors the uncertain relationship between Temperance Brennan and Andrew Ryan in Kathy Reichs's book series.
Brennan is an atheist; she and Booth discuss their differing world views in many episodes.
[edit] Special Agent Seeley Booth
- Portrayed by David Boreanaz
Seeley Booth is a former Army sniper with the Rangers who is currently an agent with the FBI. In a recent episode he was revealed to be from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He frequently consults with Brennan and her team, acting as a liaison between the FBI and the Jeffersonian institute. When it comes to solving crime, Booth has a very different approach to Brennan and her team, preferring a more human, interpersonal and intuitive set of methods. While he finds the information Brennan and her team uncover invaluable, he often finds their means overly convoluted and restrictive.
Booth's character fits awkwardly with the collection of "geeks" (whom he and his FBI colleagues refer to as "squints") that make up Brennan's team. Booth fills out the stereotype of the "all American boy" — now all grown up — very well. He is worldly-wise, socially at ease with people, and apparently at ease with women (a contrast to the social bumbling sometimes exhibited by some of Brennan's team).
While Booth tries to keep personal and professional life strictly separate, aspects of his personal life leak through. He is a religious man by nature and a practicing Catholic (actor David Boreanaz is a Catholic in real life), seeking through the FBI to atone for the lives he took as a sniper by placing other killers behind bars. He was romantically linked to a blonde lawyer named Tessa. He also has a four-year old son named Parker, from a previous relationship with Rebecca (unmarried), who seems quite hostile toward Booth for unknown reasons. He has also mentioned having a brother named Jared. He used to have a gambling problem but has since quit.
There is a somewhat confused (and confusing) chemistry between Booth and Brennan. Good colleagues who can respect — if not always understand — each other, there is at least the beginning of a romantic tension within their relationship. [1] Booth is shown to be jealous of Temperance's boyfriend (see Two Bodies In The Lab and Woman In Limbo). He once arrested Brennan for shooting a murderer who was trying to set her on fire. Even though she was not convicted, she was still charged with a felony, which meant that her original application for a concealed weapon was denied. In the second season she was allowed a permit.
Booth is a fan of classic rock and arena rock music. He has expressed great affection for the group Foreigner, and has poked fun at Bones for her interest in new world jazz music.
Booth is known to be fiercely protective both of Brennan and of his partnership with her. When questioned about functioning on his job without her, he instantly replied "I'm with Bones, all the way." When her life was in danger, he went out of his way to be with her and protect her himself. Later, when Bones was kidnapped, Booth (despite having recently barely survived a deadly blast intended for Bones, and still wounded) led the rescue mission himself. And in perhaps Booth's most famous example to date, he went and found a criminal who put a hit out on Bones and threatened the man himself. Booth stuck a gun in the criminal's mouth and said "If anything happens to her, I will find you and I will kill you. I won't think twice about it."
Booth rekindled a relationship with Dr. Camille Saroyan when she joined the Jeffersonian team. The relationship ended after an intense case, with Booth asserting that on-the-job romantic relationships endangered the team in high-pressure situations.
[edit] Angela Montenegro
- Portrayed by Michaela Conlin
Angela Montenegro is not one of the "squints." An artist, free spirit, a "good-time girl" and "wild-child" at heart, she is the team's specialist in forensic facial reconstruction. She is the center of life and passion in the team, although not quite of normalcy and stability.
Although artistic in temperament, she is obviously intelligent, developing, maintaining, and improving the lab's 3-dimensional graphics and computer simulation system. While she may not exhibit the same social traits as her colleagues, she is well suited intellectually to the team.
She is open, friendly, and caring, seeming to have taken on a nurturing role in the team: she has befriended and constantly tries to draw out Dr. Brennan (referring to her as 'Sweetie'), and she acts as advisor and "social coach" to Zach. Her rapport with Jack seems to be that of a colleague, the two of them being the closest to socially normal within the team. Her appreciation for the well-scrubbed appearance of Seeley Booth is obvious for anyone within sight or earshot of her.
Little is known of her family, although it was revealed that she is the daughter of Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top. Apart from this, and the parade of faces and anecdotes from her love-life, not much is known of her background. It is revealed that at one point, she got married in a fire-water-influenced ceremony in Fiji. She was unsure whether the marriage "stuck" (was legal) and has no knowledge of where her husband is now.
Her personality according to her coworkers is "quirky," a reality that she seems to be aware of herself. She once told Dr. Brennan: "I don't know how to talk to crazy people unless I'm dating them" (Episode 1-16). She is also the most socially sophisticated of the team, especially on matters pertaining to love and romance.
She also frequently shows attraction to a man who turns out to be guilty of the crime they are investigating. Angela once was asked by Hodgins on a date. She broke it off and went back to being just friends because she was afraid that if things get "messy," it would affect their co-workers negatively. Later, after he was found after being buried alive, they kissed, and at the end of the episode they went home together. Additionally, Angela once asked Hodgins if she could sleep at his house after being scared by restored video footage. Lately, their relationship has become more involved and open; Hodgins has asked her to move in although so far she is resisting.
[edit] Dr. Zack Addy
- Portrayed by Eric Millegan
Zack Addy is Dr. Brennan's brilliant young assistant. Coming from a large Michigan family, he is a former child prodigy, a genius with an I.Q. well above 163 and a supposed photographic memory. He has started two doctorates, one in Forensic Anthropology, which he has completed, and one in Engineering, which he has yet to finish.
Despite his brilliance, he is unsure of himself, and, although he has come up with crucial insights vital to some of the team's cases, he is unable to forcefully express his opinion to Dr. Brennan. This may be due to hero worship and also to romantic or sexual feelings toward her. When he discovered that Temperance's own Forensic Anthropology professor had become her lover, Zack repeatedly wondered aloud whether he might enter into a similar relationship with Dr. Brennan. He was quickly disabused of the notion by his colleagues, however.
His specialty, like Dr. Brennan, is in the analysis of remains, especially identifying cause of death and weapons from marks remaining on skeletal remains. It is usually his task to remove the flesh from the bones, a process known as debriding. Because of his tremendous intellect, he has a strong broad-based knowledge of many of the specialties in the Jeffersonian lab.
Zack is as close to the stereotypical geek as anyone else on the team. Although well-meaning, helpful, and friendly, when a situation calls for social interaction or intuition, he is often lost. Further evidence of his social ineptitude can be seen in the frequent, on-screen coaching in social matters he gets from Jack and Angela.
Zack's only friend seems to be Jack, with whom it was once thought he was roommates. In fact, he rents from and also carpools with Jack, since he can't drive.
Episodes towards the end of the first season of Bones reveal that Zack's colleagues, especially Dr. Goodman, feel he has become too comfortable as Dr. Brennan's assistant and is therefore not completing any of his Doctorates to avoid having to grow into a new position. Goodman and Hodgins have conspired to make Zack less comfortable in his position to motivate him to complete his studies and assume a role above that of an assistant.
Right before he was about to complete his doctorate, Zack asks Dr. Saroyan if he could have a job working at the Jeffersonian, but she replies that she could not put him in front of a court to testify because people would not take him seriously. Zack then goes to ask Angela for fashion advice and she completely redoes his look including a new haircut and suit. After completing his doctorate, and getting a makeover from Angela, Zack again asks Dr. Camille Saroyan for a job, and she gives it to him.
[edit] Dr. Jack Hodgins
- Portrayed by T.J. Thyne
Jack is an entomologist and also an expert on spores and minerals, but conspiracy theories are his hobby. He can estimate time of death from the development of insect larvae in human and animal remains.
Hodgins is one of the more sarcastic members of the group. He seems to have a dislike for Goodman's way of working, and is sometimes "the funny man." He is one of the more normal persons in the group, and helps teach Zach how to be socially normal.
His family is extremely wealthy and affluent - and happens to be the single largest donor to the Jeffersonian Institute; they own the Cantilever Group, the third largest privately owned corporation in the United States, and Jack is their sole heir. Jack wishes for his current occupation to remain concealed from his family as he fears they will prevent him from pursuing his career. Booth, Zach and Angela knew about his family, but respected his wishes to keep it from Brennan. However, as of "Aliens in a Spaceship", Brennan knows of Hodgins' family and riches.
After a rocky beginning, he and Angela have now made their relationship clear, and are "out" at work. Their first date (Second Season, "The Girl with the Curl") was to the park, to play on swings. In "Aliens in a Spaceship" he admitted to Brennan that he was in love with Angela. In the episode "The Priest in the Churchyard," they openly kissed at work, and he asks her to move in.
[edit] Dr. Camille Saroyan
- Portrayed by Tamara Taylor
Camille is introduced in the first episode of the second season as the head of the Forensic Division, a new division formed during the summer of 2006.
She was born in the Bronx and had a hard time trying to get to the position she achieved at the Jeffersonian, having to perform autopsies in hard conditions, and admits to Booth she took the job because of the facilities.
She is a hard line woman who will take charge of her division and defend them if necessary, if she thinks they're in the right. In the beginning of the second season, she butts heads with Dr. Brennan and the team members, but eventually accepts their quirks and develops relationships with them.
Dr. Saroyan and Booth have had an intimate/romantic relationship in the past. Shown in the episode "Aliens in a Spaceship", that they had plans to go to New York together. This relationship ended in "The Man in the Cell", when Booth asserted that workplace relationships put everyone in danger when high-pressure situations arose.
[edit] Dr. Daniel Goodman
- Portrayed by Jonathan Adams
Goodman is a former archaeologist turned administrator who is also the director of the Jeffersonian Institute, which makes him everybody's boss (except, perhaps, Hodgins'). He is a loving husband and father to a pair of five year old twin girls. His way of working leads Hodgins to think of him as subjective and long winded, and lacking the qualities of a pure scientist.
He has not made an appearance in season 2 and it is widely recognized that Jonathan Adams, the actor that portrays him, has left the show for unknown reasons.
[edit] Sam Cullen
- Portrayed by John M. Jackson
Sam Cullen is a Deputy Director of the FBI. Very little info is known about him, other than he has a wife and also a daughter diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. The episode "The Graft in the Girl" revealed that she contracted the disease from an illegally sourced bone graft; Brennan and Booth discovered and arrested the criminal responsible. He does his best to keep Agent Booth on track and frequently disapproves of Dr. Brennan's involvement in FBI field investigations.
[edit] Howard Epps
- Portrayed by Heath Freeman
Howard Epps was a serial killer who appears in several episodes. Most of his victims were blonde teenage girls. He was previously married to Caroline Epps, whom he later decapitated while she was still alive. His main goal was to disconcert Brennan's team and make her feel like she was responsible for the deaths of his victims. During many episodes he had left clues for the scientists to discover and decipher that lead them to more victims. Most recently, he tried to kill Dr. Saroyan and talked to Booth's son. After being cornered in Brennan's apartment by her and Booth, he ran for the balcony. Booth tried to save him at first, but Epps fell off the balcony to his death.
[edit] Tim Sullivan
- Portrayed by Eddie McClintock
Agent Sullivan ('Sully' as he prefers to be called) is an FBI agent who worked a case with Dr. Brennan while Booth was in therapy. Brennan doubted his sincerity at first because of his wide variety of interests and hobbies, but Booth assured her that Sullivan is serious about his job and mentioned that he had previously lost his partner.
After working the case, Sullivan asked Brennan out on a date, which she eagerly agreed to.
His law enforcement co-workers call him "Peanut". Apparently this nickname is meant as a joke like (according to Brennan) "Curly" for a bald person; since Brennan says that he "stands out from a crowd", aka he is very well endowed. He is very self conscious about this, contrary to popular belief about male behavior in regards to endowment, and refuses to shower in the locker room.
Brennan and Sully have been on four dates (or six, depending on how you define date) and Brennan informed Booth that she slept with him at the end of the episode 2x14 The Man in the Mansion. Booth has shown himself to be jealous of Sully's relationship with Brennan.
Sully left off to the carribean in the end of the episode "The Boneless Bride In The River", he had asked Brennan to go with him, but she refused. Sully will be back in a years time from his carribean trip.
[edit] Caroline Julian
- Portrayed by Patricia Belcher
Caroline Julian is a prosecutor and works as a District Attorney, She has a very demanding, if not bossy attitude which overpowers even Brennan to a point where Brennan does not even argue with her, She has a deep understanding in the workings of the government and the way cases should be handled, she seems to have a friendship history with Booth and trusts in his instincts and beliefs when working on cases, She has appeared numerous times to have Booth and Brennan in court and to solve their cases.
Her first appearance in the show was in Season 1, Episode 19 - The Man in the Morgue and has since appeared in Season 2, Episode 11 - Judas on a Pole; and in Season 2, Episode 14 - The Man in the Mansion.
[edit] Dr. Gordan Wyatt
- Portrayed by Stephen Fry
Dr. Wyatt is the psychiatrist assigned to Booth in the episode The Girl In The Gator after he shoots an ice cream truck. At first Booth regards his therapy with skeptisism, but eventually come to befriend Dr. Wyatt. According to Booth Dr. Wyatt is "so English".
[edit] Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally Aired |
|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 22 | 2005 – 2006 |
| Season 2 | 22 | 2006 – 2007 |
[edit] Broadcasters
[edit] DVD releases
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Cover Art DVD Name Episodes Release dates Region 1 Region 2 
Season One 22 November 28, 2006[2] October 30, 2006[3] The six disc boxset includes all 22 episodes of season one. Bonus features include "Pilot" commentary with executive producer Barry Josephson & series creator Hart Hanson and "Two Bodies in the Lab" commentary with actors David Boreanaz & Emily Deschanel, Squints, The Real Definition, Trailer for Vanished, Bones - Inspired by the Life of Forensic Anthropologist & Author Kathy Reichs, Character Profiles.
[edit] Books
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Cover Art Title Author Release date ISBN 
Buried Deep Kathy Reichs, Max Allan Collins 28 February 2006 (US)[4]
15 June 2006 (UK)[5]ISBN 1-4165-2461-4 (US)
ISBN 0-09-949867-7 (UK)- Tempe's work at the Jeffersonian Institute is put on hold when Special Agent Seeley Booth, stalled on a case deposing a Chicago mob family, calls her in to assist with a bizarre discovery: a plastic bag of skeletal remains — and a chilling note — left on the steps of a federal building. Tempe determines the bones are from different corpses, suggesting a serial killer's handiwork. A suspect is quickly taken into custody, but Tempe senses the case is far from closed. And as Booth's Mafia case heats up with violent twists and bloody discoveries, including ties to one of Chicago's most gruesome and notorious killers, Tempe must unravel the story of the bones, where the truth lies buried — in order to stay alive.
- — Buried Deep synopsis
- Tempe's work at the Jeffersonian Institute is put on hold when Special Agent Seeley Booth, stalled on a case deposing a Chicago mob family, calls her in to assist with a bizarre discovery: a plastic bag of skeletal remains — and a chilling note — left on the steps of a federal building. Tempe determines the bones are from different corpses, suggesting a serial killer's handiwork. A suspect is quickly taken into custody, but Tempe senses the case is far from closed. And as Booth's Mafia case heats up with violent twists and bloody discoveries, including ties to one of Chicago's most gruesome and notorious killers, Tempe must unravel the story of the bones, where the truth lies buried — in order to stay alive.
[edit] References
- ^ Fox Broadcasting Company: Bones. Retrieved on 2006-07-08.
- ^ Bones Season 1 DVD at Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2006-09-05.
- ^ Bones Season 1 DVD at Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved on 2006-10-10.
- ^ Bones: Buried Deep (Bones) (Mass Market Paperback) at Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-27.
- ^ Bones (Paperback) at Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved on 2006-07-27.
[edit] External links
Categories: Wikipedia articles needing style editing | 2005 television program debuts | 2000s American television series | Crime television series | Drama television series | Fox network shows | Physical anthropology | Television series by Fox Television Studios | Television shows set in Washington, D.C. | Bones (TV series)
