Catching Up On: BONES

My Netflix queue is jam packed with TV shows that I've been meaning to catch up on, and Bones has been on and off the list a few times because I've been procedural-ed out over the last couple of television seasons. I used to love crime procedurals like CSI, CSI: New York, and Numbers, but then I just got tired of the same old blood-n-guts story lines. Then Pushing Daisies happened...

On the surface, Pushing Daisies was this whimsical, fairy tale type TV show, but it was a crime procedural at its foundation. Daisies made me realize that all crime shows don't have to be gritty, depressing, and bloody. Death can be fun if you let it. Like so many others, I was devastated when PD was cancelled (although I still think the decision makes sense), so I decided to find some other off-beat crime shows to fill the void. This journey led me to Psych & Eureka, which in turn piqued my interest in Warehouse 13, which is just a sci-fi version of Bones. Since I liked the aforementioned shows, I decided to give Bones a shot, and I ended up watching the first three seasons in less than a week.

Bones is still from the more traditional crime procedural mold, but it is still very different when you compare it to shows like CSI & Criminal Minds because it's lighter (ironically due to its use of dark humor), but what I love the most about this show is how character driven it is because of the characters that this show works.

Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz are brilliant as Dr. Temperence Brennan and Special Agent Seeley Booth. Sure, Dr. Brennan's social ineptness can get a bit tiresome, but she has become undeniably cute as her character has grown. Then there is Seeley Booth, who is essentially Captain America, but you can't help but be in awe of him, and I'm not afraid to admit that I might have a tiny man-crush on the guy.

Of course, there has to be some sexual tension between the two leads because it's required to be a part of every TV show on the planet. Unfortunately the sexual tension on most shows is forced (like Grissom & Sara on CSI), but the thing about the tension between Bones & Booth is it's organic, and that's what makes it realistic and gripping. You know from episode one that these two should be together, but it's so subtle, and you get to see their feelings for one another grow season by season.

I'm excited to catch up on some of the season 4 episodes, even though I've read that it ends kind of oddly, in order to be ready for season 5. While I don't see Bones becoming a show that I have to watch week in and week out, but at least I have a reason to watch TV on Thursday nights again.