Bones Review: Let’s Just Enjoy the Ride For A While

Bones is back, and let me tell you, after watching the first episode, I’m pretty excited.

It appears the writers are going to try something unprecedented, something many viewers (other than me) have been pushing for over the past several seasons, something generally assumed to be the kiss of death for the one hour drama – they’re going to continue the series with Booth and Bones as a couple.

If you’ll recall, we left off with the announcement that Bones (Emily Deschanel) is pregnant. It angered me that when they finally got together it was off screen, but the summer has passed and I’ve decided to let bygones be bygones. She and Booth (David Boreanaz) are essentially living together, splitting time between her place and his, an arrangement that is brewing trouble in paradise. The two of them are just adorable as a couple. Adorable.

I’m going to need to find synonyms for the word adorable. Other than cute. Keep reading. You’ll see why.

The case centers around a woman left murdered in a shallow grave, who is discovered by an unfortunate paintball enthusiast. At the scene, Bones begins to cry as she and Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) examine the body. It’s the pregnancy hormones, of course, but it doesn’t stop Booth from snapping a photo of the rare event. Their bickering is cute, their interactions are cute, Booth’s asides about dealing with a pregnant Bones are cute. Let’s go ahead and assume, for the remainder of this review, that everything Booth and Bones do together is, you guessed it, cute.

Aside: I would guess this episode was filmed while Emily Deschanel was still pregnant in real life, because she’s puffy and looks like (a very pretty) woman in the last trimester of her pregnancy. David Boreanaz, for his part, appears to have gained some, um, sympathy weight.

Back at the lab we discover Wendell (Michael Grant Terry), which makes me squeal with delight, and he walks the tightrope between catering to a pregnant Dr. Brennan and appeasing the ever-present ego of Cam (Tamara Taylor). As the rest of the cast continues to charm me every episode, I like Cam less and less. She’s constantly on a power trip mission to prove she’s the boss at the lab – which she doesn’t have to do because, you know, she’s the boss at the lab. It’s annoying. I don’t like her.

Whoops. Back on track. At the lab they discover the victim had suffered severe head trauma six months previously, that her body was lying on some sort of waterproof sack that is now missing, and that she was shot in the leg but never taken to a doctor. Her dental records and fingerprints match a missing persons report, identifying her as the wife of a local preacher. The team, including Sweets (John Francis Daley), who I will love until the day I die, questions him, expecting to learn the woman ran off six months ago because of domestic abuse. Instead they find that she ran away, and when she returned she had no memory of her previous life. In the meantime she’s been committing robberies (which is how she took the bullet). Back in her “real life” she’s been seeing a famous but controversial therapist.

The team at the lab in instrumental in solving the case, and as with every episode that utilizes the ensemble cast to its potential, this one works. I laughed out loud several times, and a few moments even brought a tear to my eye. The scenes between Sweets, Bones, and Booth work beautifully, as always, and their chemistry shines. It’s never, ever a bad move to toss Sweets into the mix.

Angela (Michaela Conlin) and Brennan have grown closer, bonding over pregnancy and motherhood. As Brennan struggles with the decision to move in with Booth, giving up her home in order to find one a new one that will be theirs, Angela is right there, understanding that it has more to do with the instability of Brennan’s past than anything happening in the present.

Booth and Bones have a fight in the middle of the episode, and the writers handled it quite well, in my opinion. What we see is that the two of them love one another, they’re committed to making their little family work, but no relationship is without issues. It’s nice to see them battle through their difference (heaven knows they have them) and realize that making a family together is the most important thing. The writers also get a nod of respect from me for the subtlety woven into this week’s investigation. It’s usually pretty clear to me who the killer is from the obvious hints dropped throughout the hour, but this week I figured it out only moments before Booth did.

All in all, this is a strong comeback. I’ll be waiting (along with a bunch of nervous network executives) to see whether or not Bones can pull off the great white whale of television – making a series work after the sexual tension between the main characters is broken.

Watch with me. Either way, it will be entertaining.

Season 7, Episode 1 “The Memories in the Shallow Grave” (original airdate November 3, 2011)

Bones airs Thursdays at 8/7c on Fox

Photos Courtesy of Patrick McElhenney and FOX