Bones is a crime series that was unafraid to take big risks. The series is adapted from Kathy Reich’s novels and follows forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan, who partners with FBI Agent Seeley Booth to investigate crimes that require unique expertise. They are aided by a team of scientists and experts who use various scientific mediums to solve the case.

Bones stands out from the crowd of similar crime procedural shows. This series is unafraid to take bold risks when it comes to its plotlines, both personally and professionally. However, these risks don’t always pay off and can cause questionable results.

Making Dr. Zack Addy the Gormogon’s Apprentice Changed Bones Forever

The Gormogon storyline is arguably the most shocking moment of the early era of Bones. The storyline sees Booth and the Jeffersonian team go up against a cannibal cult of serial killers. Every episode seemed to reveal a new twist to this case, and fans were locked in. The biggest twist of all came in the finale episode, when it was revealed that Brennan’s assistant Dr. Zack Addy had been working for the serial killer and tampering with evidence.

Zack’s actions in the finale led to him being institutionalized after killing a lobbyist on behalf of Gormogon; thus writing him off the show. The decision to make Zack Gormogon’s apprentice was a poor end to his character arc. It completely destroyed all his personal development in the series in favor of a shock value reveal. If he had to leave the show, a more fitting end to his arc would be him accepting a different research position, not being a serial killer’s assistant who is then institutionalized.

Killing Dr. Lance Sweets Was a Heartbreaking Decision

Dr. Lance Sweets was introduced in Season 3 of Bones. Sweets was a young prodigy who worked alongside Booth and the team as an FBI Psychologist. The addition of Sweets helped the emotional element of cases in Bones thrive, as he brought out a new side to the cases. Sweets also helped draw out new emotional storylines for the characters, as he often provided counsel for his friends on personal matters.

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It’s little surprise that Sweets became a fan-favorite character and deeply close to Booth, Brennan, and the Jeffersonian team. This made his shocking death in the Bones Season 10 premiere episode “The Conspiracy in the Corpse” all that more heartbreaking. Sweets’ death marked the end of an era for Bones, which contained some of the most popular episodes in the series. It was a mistake to kill Sweets off, even if the death scene was very emotionally impactful. If it was necessary to have Sweets exit the series, writing him off via a career change would have kept him as an option for special return occasions.

Brennan’s Pregnancy Timing and Announcement is Weird

Season 6 of Bones is a time of great transition. A now-married Angela and Hodgins share with their team that they are expecting their first child. Their pregnancy journey is complicated by a serial sniper targeting the team, resulting in the death of ‘Squintern’ (Booth’s nickname for Brennan’s forensic anthropology assistants), Vincent-Nigel Murray. Angela delivers baby Michael Staccato Vincent Hodgins in the Season 6 finale “The Change in the Game”. In that very same episode, Brennan shockingly reveals she is pregnant, and that Booth is the father.

While fans have been angling for Booth and Brennan’s relationship to transition from platonic crime fighters to something deeper, this was arguably the worst way to go about it. The wholly unexpected reveal of Brennan’s pregnancy cut short the joy of Hodgins and Angela’s son being born. Even if the creators wanted to have Brennan be pregnant before she and Booth were officially a couple, they could have chosen a better time to reveal the news.

The Team Season 5 Breakup Seems Odd Looking Back

Season 5 of Bones saw a lot of transition for the main cast, both personally and professionally. While the season was very popular and had a lot of movement, it did get too hectic at times. This is evident by the team each deciding to leave D.C. at the end of the season for a year, each on various projects.

Having the team just break up for a year seems completely unorthodox. While it makes sense for the team to undertake other ventures, especially for so many of them being academics, having them all do it at the same time is a bit bizarre. These ventures also barely had an impact on the plot of Bones, so it was a rather useless plotline overall.

Having Essential Moments of Booth and Brennan’s Relationship Occur Off-Camera Robbed Fans

Booth and Brennan’s partnership is essential to the success of Bones. The electric chemistry between the FBI Special Agent and the Forensic Anthropologist was immediate from the pilot episode. Their success as partners was obvious, with each of them unafraid to challenge each other and also meshing well despite their differences. However, their potential as romantic partners was undeniable, and fans were clamoring for them to date.

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Season 6 ended with the shocking reveal that, after an off-camera tryst, Brennan is pregnant with Booth’s child. Season 7 takes place a few months later and begins with Brennan in the third trimester of her pregnancy and Booth and Brennan living together as a couple. This vast time jump from the Season 6 finale to the Season 7 premiere prevented fans, who have been waiting years, from seeing this vital transition period on screen. A much more ideal way to conduct this storyline would be to shorten the time jump or at the very least incorporate flashbacks to show these missed domestic moments.

The Amount of Squinterns in Bones Backfired

A telltale marker of the middle era of Bones is the rotating cast of Dr.Brennan’s Forensic Anthropology assistants, nicknamed Squinterns. This began in Season 4 after the institutionalization of Brennan’s first intern, Dr. Zack Addy. This began a cycle of recurring interns with diverse backgrounds. While this eclectic cast of Squinterns elevated Bones as a series and introduced some fantastic characters, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

The amount of Squinterns in Bones made it hard to flesh out the characters, as their time on camera was limited. Success in situations such as these includes Wendell Bray’s cancer story arc, which worked because he is the third-longest serving Squintern on the series. Squinterns introduced later in the series had less success with developing their character. Bones would have benefitted from capping the amount of Squinterns in the series and focusing on those characters to develop them further.

Having Dr. Zack Addy Be Offscreen for Years Was a Waste

The Gormogon storyline in Bones irrevocably changed the series. Bones began with a core team and ran in a similar lineup for three seasons. There were some changes, like Dr. Goodman’s exit and Dr. Saroyan’s addition, but those were handled well. When the Gormogon case ended, Dr. Zack Addy exited as a series regular when he was institutionalized. This caused a very jarring change.

For three seasons, Dr. Zack Addy was an integral part of the original version of the Jeffersonian team. Fans watched as he grew as a man and a scientist, growing from an intern to a full-fledged forensic anthropologist. Zack all but disappeared from the series from Season 4 until his return and exoneration story arc. A more productive use of this character that they had spent so many years developing would be to have him go on to recurring status, not unlike the Squinterns who would follow him. Having a character consult on cases from prison would be in line with some of Bones wackier antics.

Neglecting the Squintern Dynamic Off-Work Wasted Great Characters

One of Bones’ most unique characteristics is the rotating cast of Squinterns. 10 recurring interns appear multiple times throughout Bones. However, it is incredibly rare that any of the interns ever work together on a case. It’s a rare occasion when any of the interns appear at one time, such as for Brennan’s wedding or when Brennan brought 5 interns for a team building exercise in Season 8, Episode 6, “The Patriot in Purgatory”.

Making the Squintern crossovers a rare occasion was a mistake. The Squintern characters were incredibly interesting, and several were fan favorites that fans wanted to see more of. Putting them in a social or even a professional situation together outside of special occasions would have been a fantastic way to develop their characters while creating great television.

Writing Off the Heads of the Jeffersonian and FBI Was Odd

The first season of Bones was quite different from any of the 11 seasons that followed it. Namely, Booth and Brennan both have supervisors who recur throughout the season. Booth reports to Deputy Director Samuel Cullen of the FBI, while Brennan and the Jeffersonian team report to Dr. Daniel Goodman, an archaeologist who was in charge of the Jeffersonian’s Forensic Anthropology Lab, where the team worked. Both Goodman and Cullen tended to provide a contrary opinion to Booth and Brennan, challenging them so they could grow professionally.

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Deputy Director Cullen and Dr. Goodman were good additions to Bones. Cullen challenged Booth to be a better agent, and Goodman helped bring the Jeffersonian Institute to life and lent his archaeologist skills to cases. Their positive impact on Bones made it that much weirder when both characters were written out of the series with little to no explanation, only vague mentions of Goodman on sabbatical abroad. Keeping these characters in Bones would allow both the FBI and Jeffersonian to become more fleshed-out settings.

Bones Resolved Brennan’s Mother’s Death Too Quickly

The first season finale of Bones sees an unidentified woman in Jeffersonian bone storage, nicknamed Limbo, who is identified as Brennan’s missing mother. This shocks the team, and Brennan most of all. Booth and the Jeffersonian rally behind their friend and vow to solve the case. Throughout the episode, the team uncovers shocking information about Brennan’s parents’ background and their mysterious disappearance in her childhood.

This type of emotionally impactful case was crammed into one episode, which concluded with Brennan’s mother’s murderer being imprisoned. This investigation lost some of its emotional power by being treated in the same style as any other investigation episode of Bones. This case would have been much better served as a multi-episode arc, allowing more time to explore the intricacies of Brennan’s mother’s life and Brennan’s emotions about the situation.

Bones

Release Date

2005 – 2016

Network

FOX