Pilot

Saw Bones for the first time today. Watched the 8th and 9th episodes on tv and then decided to stream from the beginning. I want to write down my initial, virgin impressions, because they will change as I view more and become influenced by what I read about the show and its cast down the line. So, I'd like to be able to go back and see what I thought the first time around.

I always believed her real surname was Bones. I'm glad to see that it is not and further that she is called by that moniker (over her objection) and that they don't address each other by last names as Mulder and Scully did. I had thought that was the case and I found it annoying. Although I noted that Duchovny directed an episode of this show, so surmised that he thought it contained some originality and wasn't a complete rip off of his, there was always a fear lurking in my mind that I would compare it to X-Files and find it lacking. Fortunately, with the emphasis on bones, the labs and forensic evidence, the show is quite distinct from X-Files and may be more akin to those CSI series that I've never watched. So, this is going to be an original ride for me.

David Boreanaz has such a way with a quip, such an excellent sense of humor. You can see how Angel became so much more than he was that first season of Buffy, just because of Boreanaz's personality. His acting range may not be expansive, but what he does well he does so well . . . Honestly, I've been bought and sold since Angel lost his soul.

I've never seen Emily Deschanel before. I like her clear gray-eyed seriousness.

I've only seen 3 episodes and I may well change my mind, but I think it would be more interesting if these 2 never got together romantically. I know from articles that I've read that the fans have wanted it since the first season and the producers either have or will soon give it to them and I think that's a shame. I can count on one hand the romantic attractions that Mulder and Scully had outside of each other. And it became clear fairly on (Jersey Devil) that aside from their emotional issues, each was the reason that the other had no sex life. They quickly became consumed by the world they were exploring together and the love and trust they developed grew up inside that microcosm that no one else entered. They were monogamous long before they were lovers.

Bones and Booth don't have that exclusivity. They're connected to the outside world and connected to each other in a way that, to me, is more believable, more unique, if it stays platonic.

Of course, at the shooting range when they're in each other's face, I know that I'm supposed to feel the sexual heat between them. I don't. I find that unnecessary physical proximity predictable, stagey and unnecessary. If you have to do that to show chemistry between two people, then it's not worth it. I'm drawn to their friendship, but put off by the fact that if I commit to watching this show (and truth be told, it's already a foregone conclusion that I'm already in for all 8+ seasons) I have to be teased with their flirty, but not really, antics every single episode. It already feels exhausting.

I also didn't like the fact that we're not only told about Temp's disappearing parents, but had it explained to us that that's why she chose her profession and is cold and distant right away. We couldn't have figured that out as we got to know her more. She said she hates psychology. Well, I hate it too when the writers slap me in the face. People really dont' wear their diagnoses on their sleeves like that, to be read aloud by all of their friends. To feel real, that sort of thing has to unfold more subtly. Sure we learned in the X-Files' pilot that Mulder thought his sister was abducted by aliens but we weren't TOLD how that shaped him. There was no one close enough to him to tell us and THAT, his isolation, was a fall out from the abduction that no one needed to cram into dialogue. We saw it when we saw his basement office for the first time. I was just annoyed about how people were TELLING me about Emily in all 3 episodes of Bones that I've already seen.
Watching her put the skull puzzle pieces together to the music of You and I Collide informed me in the right way. Angela's heavy handed observations did not.

As for Angela and the gang, I like the technical exchanges between the "squints."

I also like the fact that they all knew each other and had a history in the Pilot. I would have expected it to start with Temp and Booth working together for the first time and I'm glad it didn't.

I don't know much about Booth yet (except for the fact that he has an alcoholic younger brother and is an ex-marine sniper) and I look forward to finding out. I'm glad that his character is being revealed more organically than Brennan's.

Episode points: There was no reason to try to hide the brutality of Cleo's murder from her parents. Surely when the murderer is on trial all of the gory details will come out and be on every media outlet for months on end. We saw what happened in the Sondra Levy case. It was ridiculous for Booth to try to spare the parents by saying she never suffered. I also don't understand why Temp identified the body through the skull bone structure rather than DNA testing. I know that takes longer, but the fact that they were going to do that shortly should have been mentioned. Telling someone they found their dead daughter and identified her through an artistic recreation based on skeletal remains doesn't sound like something the FBI would actually do.