Review of 'BONES' - first four episodes.

BONES - first four episodes

A cute young woman, ANGELA MONTENEGRO, is at the airport looking for her friend and colleague, TEMPERANCE "BONES" BRENNAN, on an incoming flight.  Information boards are blank, and no one will answer her questions, so she goes to a counter where a young man is ignoring her and pulls open her blouse. She's wearing a full bra, but the action is still gets the guy's attention.  At that point Bones shows up and asks if Angela tried 'Excuse me,' before flashing her bra.

The two walk off and discuss Bones' trip.  Bones is a brilliant forensic anthropologist arriving from field work in Guatemala, where she was 'neck deep' in mass graves investigating genocide victims. At this point, a big guy, who later says he is homeland security, grabs Bones' arm.  Bones, not that big a woman, has no difficulty throwing him on the floor. Security guards come, find a human skull in Bones' satchel and haul her off for questioning.

All this is in the first few minutes of the pilot. The pace is pretty well sustained throughout.

Bones is rescued from the guards by SEELEY BOOTH is a handsome, personable FBI agent, who is also an ex-assassin and wants to make amends for some of the harm he's done in that role.  While he drives her home, the two argue over which one of them is more condescending, a typical lovers' spat, except that these two are in no way lovers, at least not by the fourth episode. Angela, Bones' colleague, urges Bones to make a play for Booth, but she is just not interested.

Booth tells Bones a body has been found in a cemetery.  After the expected joke, he explains it was found in one of the decorative ponds on the grounds. Bones is brilliant at her job, and, with Holmsian deduction and with help from Angela and other colleagues, soon figures out who the victim is (the daughter of an ambassador), when she died (within two weeks), and even if she suffered (she did).  In each episode, the two of them solve similar crimes.

Since the lead character is based on a woman who played an active role in producing the show, the scientific details a probably pretty accurate.

"Bones" is reminiscent of Monk, though she's less neurotic, and the show has more action and humor. Like Monk, Bones is clueless about popular culture. When Booth says the two of them can work together like Scully and Mulder, she looks puzzled and says, "I don't understand that."

Bone's physical and mental strength are also reminiscent of NIKITA, though not quite as tense. Bones is a fun series that really helps my workout.  I give it ++++ - it will usually get your pulse up to a run.