Bones, inspired by the life of forensic anthropologist and author Kathy Reichs, portrays the adventures of crime-fighting duo Dr Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and FBI Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz). The character of Brennan is loosely – very loosely – inspired by Reichs herself, although the only similarity she shares with the character from Reichs’ books is her name.
Bones DVD Season One
Season One of Bones starts off a little tentatively, as the actors settle into their roles. Deschanel in particular has a hard task, portraying an awkward genius, brilliant in the laboratory yet socially inept, sometimes spectacularly so. Just how awkward is naturally awkward? Deschanel has been criticized for being wooden, but at least part of this is due to the character and how she is written, at least in the beginning. Dr Temperance Brennan is not a character in touch with her feelings.
She is also a character who is a little unlikely at times. She's a good shot, a martial arts expert, and speaks Spanish, in addition to being a brilliant forensic anthropologist. Given all that, she can probably be forgiven for not being up on popular culture.
Brennan is forced into dealing with the world beyond her laboratory by her partnership with Agent Booth, ably played by David Boreanaz. Shaking off his brooding vampire persona from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, Boreanaz proves adept at the mixture of drama and comedy that is at the core of Bones. His cocky, occasionally uptight, and charming Booth is the perfect foil to Deschanel’s rational, detached and blunt Brennan.
The cast is rounded out by Brennan’s laboratory team at the Jeffersonian Institution, a quirky group called “the squint squad” that proves forensic dramas can have characters with personalities. They include boss Dr Goodman (Jonathan Adams), a soothing, authoritative figure with a nostalgia for his days as an archaeologist;Jack (T J Thyne), a conspiracy theorist; Zack (Eric Millegan), a painfully young and very literal graduate assistant; and Angela (Michaela Conlin), a portrait artist with a distressing tendency to call everyone “Sweetie”. Angela had the potential to become an annoying character, but the writers managed to address this by the end of the season.
Bones DVD Extras
There are two episode commentaries - on the pilot episode and "Two Bodies in the Lab" - along with featurettes on the squints, the science used in the show, and Kathy Reichs, who laughingly said she'd had messages from colleagues saying they didn't know she carried a gun or knew judo.
After a slightly rocky start, Bones showed it had potential and would make it to Season Two.
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