TV Review: Bones Episodes 1.05

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

From FOX: Brennan working hard on her latest novel, is enlisted by Booth to help locate and identify the remains of Charlie, a 6 year old boy who went missing from a local park. Brennan determines that Charlie was sexually assaulted before he was murdered, which leads booth to conclude they are on the hunt for a serial pedophile. When the prime suspect is eliminated, Booth and Brennan pay a heartbreaking visit to Charlie's mother, Margaret to inform her that Charlie's killer is still on the loose.

My Rating:

Tonight's episode of Bones was probably the hardest to watch for me, and I'm sure it was the same for other viewers. Seeing the death of a child is never easy, and this episode had to dissect one. Bones and her crew had to figure out what happened to this one little boy. Charlie is found just outside the mall. His body is severely decomposed even though he has only been dead for a day and a half when he is found. Angela and Zach have a hard time working on the case due to the boy's young age, but Bones once again seems a bit detached from it all. In order to deal with the case, she focuses on the details. This is just another case like all the rest they have dealt with in the past. She suggests her team members do the same, but it still isn't easy.

Angela's problems with the case aren't all that is bothering her about her job. She is an artist first, but now she is feeling a bit stifled by what she does. She is even pondering quitting, and this worries Temperance because Angela is her best friend. Things do work out in the end for Angela, but only after their boss explains her job to her in a whole new light. I think Angela by far is my favorite on this show. I love Bones most of all, but Angela and character are right there at a close second.

Let's talk about the case for a bit though. A young boy is found outside the mall, and it looks like he has suffered a blunt blow to the chest. They aren't sure what happened, but we soon learn his foster brother had taken him to the mall when they were supposed to be playing at the park. The older brother said he lost track of him, and the little boy was kidnapped. After some viewing of the mall surveillance footage, they find out that the young boy lied, and he had led his little brother away from the mall. The brother turns into the main suspect.

However, after some more investigation, Bones discovers that the injuries the little boy sustained couldn't have come from the brother, but someone much larger. He was essentially crushed, and the only way that could happen is by someone at least 190 pounds or larger being on top of his chest. She then goes to the brother and gets him to tell her who was the man that killed his foster brother. He finally does tell her after a scene in which tells his more about Brennan's background.

The three brothers were all foster children, and Charlie had been taken by the mother after his birth mother died after a drug overdose. We learn that for a time Brennan was also a child in the foster care system, and this explains a bit about her character and why she is the way she is. This whole episode was truly heartbreaking for me to watch. At the end when they are putting the remains away for burial, I found myself tearing up.

However, the case isn't all that we have going on this week. Just like it isn't any other week. just as we learned something more about Temperance this week, we also learned more about one of her team members, Hodgins. Apparently, he comes from a very rich family that donates a great deal of money to the Jeffersonian. Essentially, he is the boss of all of them, but when Booth, Zach and Angela confront him on this, he asks them to not tell anyone else. He just wants to live his life in the way he is happiest. If this is playing with bugs, then so be it!

I truly am loving this show. I know we're only five episodes in because of the break last month for baseball, but this show is really growing on me. The story lines each week and the character development are really sucking me in. I also liked how they stopped trying to push Booth and Brennan together so hard like they had done during the second episode. The show has mellowed out a bit. It is still mentioned as a possibility, but it isn't pushed so hard. Not only that, but Booth's girlfriend seems to have mysteriously disappeared. Although she was mentioned in this episode. We still haven't seen her in a few episodes. I'm not even sure why. Almost makes me wonder if episode two had been shot later on, and shown second for the series for some reason. Her not even being seen now is just odd to me. Am I the only one? Bones is back again next week with another all new episode!