Bones 606

I am a big fan of this show. Of course, the quality fluctuates, but I like what they do and how they do it. Its a strange sort of cross between Crossing Jordan and a grown up Freaks and Geeks. Which is ironic because one of the show's main characters, Dr. Sweets, is played by the lead Geek of the classic Judd Apatow production, and Sweet's girlfriend - one of Dr. Brennan's forensic interns - Daisy Wick is one of Apatow's carrousel cast members. The show follows the unlikely crime solving partnership of Dr. Temperance Brennan and FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth. Brennan is a prodigious forensic anthropologist who cannot help but relate to society from a rigid and cold anthropological perspective. Booth is a 'night in shining armor' romantic who cannot help but see the world through a more liberal form of artistic interpretation. Both are attracted to the oppositeness of the other, and both possess a sense of mentorship in their relationship with each other.

This week's episode was slightly above the show's recent average. It features a marginal but episode-long exploration of a subject that is somehow both taboo and cliché at the same time in the American slave trade, as well as an interesting albeit brief foray into the social dynamics of foster children. Bones does a good job avoiding the writing flaws of many of its predecessor murder-mysteries (Columbo, Monk et al.), namely revealing their hand with the inclusion of otherwise random details that always and  blatantly obviously lead to the murderer's identity. Their tactic is simple but effective, they reveal decoy details to obfuscate the viewer's prescience. Complete with a 'Cougar Cruise' and slimy pink parasites, Bones always seems incorporate the fringes of society and nature. All in an anthropologist's day's work.

Episode Rating:
6 (Above average quality TV)

Episode's Best Line:
"You had intercourse accidentally? What were you trying to do Ms. Wick?" - Dr. Brennan