Bones - A decent TV show but there is just one thing

BlindZenDriver

I find the show entertaining but again and again I wonder about a basic thing.

I know the show is not a documentary and I'm being silly for even wondering about their "science" however it would seem they would want to try and only cheat when absolutely needed.

Note - the spoiler tag is because my question may be a little... Don't click if the show is distasteful to you.

It seems whenever they find the remains of a dead person the corps has gone from just dead to pretty much just bones within 2-3 weeks and that just seems unrealistic. Not that I have experience finding dead people but I have on occasion found dead animals in nature and they do not turn into just bones in such a short time. Also clothing will last much longer than just weeks.
So my question is are the "Bones" people way off with their dating or am I wrong?

GoodOmens

Plus there's the fact that they can reconstruct faces from a skull or bone fragment, including eye and hair color. And the holographic thing. To say the show is full of psuedo-science is like saying that the sea is full of krill.

But Emily Deschanel is super-fine, and David Boreanez is charismatic.

Feral

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decomposition#Stages

The most important variable is a body's accessibility to insects, particularly flies. On the surface in tropical areas, invertebrates alone can easily reduce a fully fleshed corpse to clean bones in under two weeks.

Feral

GoodOmens wrote: »

But Emily Deschanel is super-fine, and David Boreanez is charismatic.

You know, Brennan doesn't do it for me.

But Angela?



omg unf

Feral

GoodOmens wrote: »

Plus there's the fact that they can reconstruct faces from a skull or bone fragment, including eye and hair color. And the holographic thing. To say the show is full of psuedo-science is like saying that the sea is full of krill.

You know, the science wasn't bad in the first season. I don't know if they added that stuff later on or if I was just lucky to catch the decent episodes.

Unknown

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DoctorArch

I especially love how they keep trying to top how disgusting the bodies are every show.

Neaden

Feral wrote: »

GoodOmens wrote: »

Plus there's the fact that they can reconstruct faces from a skull or bone fragment, including eye and hair color. And the holographic thing. To say the show is full of psuedo-science is like saying that the sea is full of krill.

You know, the science wasn't bad in the first season. I don't know if they added that stuff later on or if I was just lucky to catch the decent episodes.

I think thats pretty constant in shows like this as the writers use up all the plausible plots. I'd say House is the same for instance.

Hedgethorn

If you're watching Bones and expecting science rather than magic laced with anatomical jargon, you're doing it wrong.

I'm convinced it's intentional irony on behalf of the writers: Temperance Brennan prides herself on being the personification of Logical Positivism, all the while solving crimes largely on the basis of wizardry that defies some of the most basic laws of nature.

AngelHedgie

DoctorArch wrote: »

I especially love how they keep trying to top how disgusting the bodies are every show.

I think the chocolate with creamy human nougat one is the winner.

Bullio

When the show first came on I thought it had some kind of a Ghost Whisperer thing going with Bones being able to "hear" the bones of dead people talk to her. The early episodes did have kind of a spiritual/mystical feel to them, but that seems to have been dropped in favor of her just being really good at picking out very fine details. Instead the "magic" or whatever you want to call it seems to have spread to everyone else on the team.

DiannaoChong

I really enjoy the episodes on a pure pulp tv show now. But a few episodes are so fucking rediculous it is insanity. They are given JFK's bones in an episode and they prove there had to be a second shooter, then lied about it to protect the main leading males feelings.

over all the science isnt say.... fucking terrible like most shows, the way bones are stripped quickly by nature are generally plausable, and well, they gotta get there for the premise of the show.

Bionic Monkey

While they obviously exaggerate for the squick factor, given access by insects, animals and the very humid environment that the east coast would provide, some of the decomp you see on the show could absolutely happen.

I'm sorry, but zombie fiction has lied to us all. Corpses do not last.

Arthil

I think he's talking about once they already have the body, in which case... they strip it of all the flesh. There was one episode in particular perhaps two where they wanted to get rid of the flesh so they could examine the bones, but what was in the flesh was far too important at the time.

Also Bones is on Instant Watch on Netflix.

Regina Fong

My issue with the show is that while I enjoy Boreanaz's character, and Bones is mostly acceptable, I loathe the entire supporting cast. Every single one of them. They have zero personality. Half of them are totally blank slates waiting to be filled with whatever the writers want to project onto them that week (with absolutely no consistency) and the other half are stupid collections of exaggerated quirks masquerading as personality.

Every time one of the supporting characters starts talking I want to change the God damn channel. If the episode starts to look like one of the secondary characters actually has some sort of attempt at a sub plot revolving around them then I do change the channel.

The show seems to be written by committee, when what it desperately needs is for each one of those God awful side characters to be adopted by a writer or simply put out of their misery, preferably off-screen because I don't want to see the tearful death scene in which the writers start pulling random, never before mentioned shit out of the aether in a pathetic attempt to make the character's life suddenly meaningful as they lay dying (one hopes in horrible pain).

WMain00

I couldn't stand Bones. I found her character unlikeable, therefore I was never able to get into it.

Yogo

WMain00 wrote: »

I couldn't stand Bones. I found her character unlikeable, therefore I was never able to get into it.

This so much.

I caught an episode off-hand about the guideo community and Bones' personality completely destroyed my suspense of disbelief. I may have shared a few traits in my earlier years with Bones' almost inhuman perception of human interaction and thus may understand the writer's portrayal of the character, but no one is that dumb. Especially not in field work.

Salvation122

I liked Bones until over the course of a couple seasons the titular character slowly became mildly autistic.

She went from not really giving a shit about people's emotions to not being able to interpret facial expressions

Like, what

GoodOmens

I created a Bones drinking game: Take a shot whenever Bones says "I don't know what that is" regarding a cultural reference.

Make sure you have 911 on speed dial, because you will end up with alcohol poisoning.

Tastyfish

I like the "Finder" spin off episode they did, recaptured the sense of fun I remember from some of the earlier ones, but I've definitely found some of the later episodes/series a bit more grating.

Plus I'm pretty sure they've stopped making sense with some of the plots, the one with the deaf mute child had them doing some pretty horrible things for really stupid reasons, and then the twists made even less sense backed up with even more retarded science than usual.

Enig

TV science is always terrible. Really that is a foolish thing to complain about. Mostly they just exaggerate the level of accuracy that is possible, or often the speed of results. I just turn my brain off for that part, as it makes the story work.

Overall the show is enjoyable, mostly because of the two leads. I find the supporting cast anywhere from likeable to totally uninteresting, varying between characters and episodes.

Linespider5

Well, you know. Bones is about, um, bones. She doesn't work with complete corpses. They mention this a few times through the seasons. It gets a little inconsistent later on in terms of what constitutes an acceptable skeletal form, but, if it's skeletal, they get the call. If it's not skeletal enough, the case goes to, um, some less snazzy facility on some other show, somewhere.

KalTorak

Linespider5 wrote: »

Well, you know. Bones is about, um, bones. She doesn't work with complete corpses. They mention this a few times through the seasons. It gets a little inconsistent later on in terms of what constitutes an acceptable skeletal form, but, if it's skeletal, they get the call. If it's not skeletal enough, the case goes to, um, some less snazzy facility on some other show, somewhere.

First it goes to Dr. Skin and Dr. Hair. Occasionally they have to call in Dr. Pubes. But if they hold onto it too long they have to ship it out to Dr. Flesh.

APODionysus

I actually find the "magical" decomp not to be the most ridiculous thing about the setups. For me it's how the FBI somehow has magical jurisdiction over any freaking crime. The guy in the chocolate bar? The guy in the flower bed? Why is the FBI - Booth - running these investigations?

I've watched the show since the beginning and honestly, I think it used to be good but hasn't for a long time. the writing has been completely inconsistent. Bones, in particular, seems to vary wildly in how socially aware she is from episode to episode. Cam (I think? The woman who is supposedly Bones boss) is an utterly useless character who seems more like a subordinate to Bones now than anything. I miss the Director guy from the first season. He seemed perfectly able to put Bones in her place and actually fleshed out the Jeffersonian as an Institute rather than just Magic Science Place. Angela seems to have somehow gained super computer hacker skills out of nowhere when she started as an artist with facial reconstruction talent (I know there was the wired hologram thing early, but her responsibilty - at the time - seemed more for the human body movement analysis rather than the actual programming).

The rotating intern thing has become incredibly tiresome - the whole point seemed, at first, to introduce a bunch of characters then have Bones pick one to replace Zack (I won't even get started on the stupid way they wrote him out), allowing that character to then grow into his/her own. Actually, screw "seemed", thats exactly what Bones and Cam said was going to happen: they would pick one. The writers abandoned that and instead we get a bunch of characters who are no more than Walking Personality Quirks who neither get the time to develope into real characters nor for the audience to connect to. I really miss the Zack/Hodgins dynamic.

Bones' biggest problem, though, is Castle. They two shows share the same basic concept (unlikely pairing of personalities/professions investigating crimes - they even both carry the Whedon alum demographic), but Castle is basically far superior in all aspects - better writing, better lead actors, better supporting cast... and Bones can't keep up.

Irond Will

Feral wrote: »

GoodOmens wrote: »

But Emily Deschanel is super-fine, and David Boreanez is charismatic.

You know, Brennan doesn't do it for me.

But Angela?



omg unf

i find her character so retarded and annoying and distasteful with such ridiculous subplots that i have a hard time even regarding the actress as attractive

really bones is a pretty terrible show. frankie was childhood friends with emily deschanel so she has bones on netflix streaming frequently.

Unknown

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Tastyfish

Enig wrote: »

TV science is always terrible. Really that is a foolish thing to complain about. Mostly they just exaggerate the level of accuracy that is possible, or often the speed of results.

Or to extract the wisdom tooth from a deaf mute 16 year old to work out where she was when she was 3 years old?

Why would you want to abduct a deaf mute 3 year old anyway, especially when you, yourself, aren't a deaf mute? They never explain that either.

OptimusZed

My wife loves this show. We have recently watched through the entirety of the streaming Netflix catalog of it.

It is enjoyable enough at times. But the events are so outlandish as to be laughable most of the time.

Linespider5

I was wondering if Castle was doing that to Bones, actually. Newer show. Newer Whedon pet actor. More likeable female lead. Seemed like it would take over sooner or later.

Enig

I like Fillion plenty, but Castle didn't really catch my interest. I think the chemistry between the leads didn't really work for me like it did in Bones.

Delzhand

I've sort of stopped watching recently, mainly because it seems like the show is coasting along on it's own popularity so the producers put their b-list writers on it. But I do think it's kinda neat that while they aren't allowed (because of Fox) to explicitly say so, its a show about a character with Asperger Syndrome, but without it being a major focus.

Enig

Delzhand wrote: »

But I do think it's kinda neat that while they aren't allowed (because of Fox) to explicitly say so, its a show about a character with Asperger Syndrome, but without it being a major focus.

Uh, what? Bones is ignorant socially, not incapable.

Edit: At least that's how it always reads to me. Is she really supposed to have AS?

Tastyfish

No she isn't, she's just a bit of a prick. But then apparently she's also supposed to be an alcholic in the books the TV series is based off.

The books are based off a real woman, who wrote them (so she's the sort of person who write a book about their own crime fighting adventures...) and the TV show is based on the books, but the author is a producer. She's just a bit socially awkward and obsessed with her work.

King Riptor

Delzhand wrote: »

I've sort of stopped watching recently, mainly because it seems like the show is coasting along on it's own popularity so the producers put their b-list writers on it. But I do think it's kinda neat that while they aren't allowed (because of Fox) to explicitly say so, its a show about a character with Asperger Syndrome, but without it being a major focus.

As I understand it she was Flanderized pretty severely over the course of the show. She's supposed to be socially ignorant but now she's autistic Spock or something.

I saw an episode where Boreanas talked to a ghost and it turned out the ghost was real and he died again or something? It was maddening.

Marty81

Salvation122 wrote: »

I liked Bones until over the course of a couple seasons the titular character slowly became mildly autistic.

She went from not really giving a shit about people's emotions to not being able to interpret facial expressions

Like, what

This, pretty much. The characters used to be quite a bit deeper. Now they're all completely one-dimensional. It's pretty jarring if you've been watching some of the later (seasons 4-6) stuff for a while and then you go back and watch an episode or two from season 1.

Hedgethorn

King Riptor wrote: »

Delzhand wrote: »

I've sort of stopped watching recently, mainly because it seems like the show is coasting along on it's own popularity so the producers put their b-list writers on it. But I do think it's kinda neat that while they aren't allowed (because of Fox) to explicitly say so, its a show about a character with Asperger Syndrome, but without it being a major focus.

As I understand it she was Flanderized pretty severely over the course of the show. She's supposed to be socially ignorant but now she's autistic Spock or something.

I saw an episode where Boreanas talked to a ghost and it turned out the ghost was real and he died again or something? It was maddening.

Spoiler for season...4? 5? Something like that:

Booth had a tumor in his brain. A full half-season -- including that ghost-of-a-dead-Marine episode -- was a tumor-induced hallucination. Those episodes also involve Stewie from Family Guy appearing and giving Booth advice.

Those episodes were awful.

Unknown

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King Riptor

Hedgethorn wrote: »

King Riptor wrote: »

Delzhand wrote: »

I've sort of stopped watching recently, mainly because it seems like the show is coasting along on it's own popularity so the producers put their b-list writers on it. But I do think it's kinda neat that while they aren't allowed (because of Fox) to explicitly say so, its a show about a character with Asperger Syndrome, but without it being a major focus.

As I understand it she was Flanderized pretty severely over the course of the show. She's supposed to be socially ignorant but now she's autistic Spock or something.

I saw an episode where Boreanas talked to a ghost and it turned out the ghost was real and he died again or something? It was maddening.

Spoiler for season...4? 5? Something like that:

Booth had a tumor in his brain. A full half-season -- including that ghost-of-a-dead-Marine episode -- was a tumor-induced hallucination. Those episodes also involve Stewie from Family Guy appearing and giving Booth advice.

Those episodes were awful.

But

Bones saw the ghost. SHE SAW IT. And he did things that required two people. Did he have Travolta Tumor? Magc powers

Linespider5

Remember: Bones is only 50% science. If it's not related to a literal skeleton on a slab, all bets are way the fuck off.

Bullio

King Riptor wrote: »

Hedgethorn wrote: »

King Riptor wrote: »

Delzhand wrote: »

I've sort of stopped watching recently, mainly because it seems like the show is coasting along on it's own popularity so the producers put their b-list writers on it. But I do think it's kinda neat that while they aren't allowed (because of Fox) to explicitly say so, its a show about a character with Asperger Syndrome, but without it being a major focus.

As I understand it she was Flanderized pretty severely over the course of the show. She's supposed to be socially ignorant but now she's autistic Spock or something.

I saw an episode where Boreanas talked to a ghost and it turned out the ghost was real and he died again or something? It was maddening.

Spoiler for season...4? 5? Something like that:

Booth had a tumor in his brain. A full half-season -- including that ghost-of-a-dead-Marine episode -- was a tumor-induced hallucination. Those episodes also involve Stewie from Family Guy appearing and giving Booth advice.

Those episodes were awful.

But

Bones saw the ghost. SHE SAW IT. And he did things that required two people. Did he have Travolta Tumor? Magc powers

That ship episode was so strange. I can generally let my mind go "zzzz" and just go with the flow when I watch TV and movies, but that episode was full of WTF moments.

Hedgethorn

King Riptor wrote: »

Hedgethorn wrote: »

King Riptor wrote: »

Delzhand wrote: »

I've sort of stopped watching recently, mainly because it seems like the show is coasting along on it's own popularity so the producers put their b-list writers on it. But I do think it's kinda neat that while they aren't allowed (because of Fox) to explicitly say so, its a show about a character with Asperger Syndrome, but without it being a major focus.

As I understand it she was Flanderized pretty severely over the course of the show. She's supposed to be socially ignorant but now she's autistic Spock or something.

I saw an episode where Boreanas talked to a ghost and it turned out the ghost was real and he died again or something? It was maddening.

Spoiler for season...4? 5? Something like that:

Booth had a tumor in his brain. A full half-season -- including that ghost-of-a-dead-Marine episode -- was a tumor-induced hallucination. Those episodes also involve Stewie from Family Guy appearing and giving Booth advice.

Those episodes were awful.

But

Bones saw the ghost. SHE SAW IT. And he did things that required two people. Did he have Travolta Tumor? Magc powers

I'm not sure what the canon explanation is. My view is that

the whole episode should be treated as a Booth hallucination. We don't know how they actually caught the Gravedigger.