There was no way BONES could top its season finale from last year, when the show finally addressed its eternal Will They Or Won’t They? about Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and FBI Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) by cleverly disclosing that they already had, and in fact that Brennan was pregnant with Booth’s child.
Tonight’s 7th season finale, written by Executive Producer Carla Kettner and directed by Boreanaz, took an uncharacteristically somber note for the usually buoyant procedural comedy. The episode went back to the well with super-brilliant serial killer genius–every procedural needs one–Christopher Palant (Andrew Leeds), who can manipulate any computer anywhere with little more than an alarm clock and a paper clip, and who now framed Brennan for the murder of her old friend.
In truth, Bones is at its best when the murder of the week is a side event to the personal issues of our heroes (aside from Brennan and Booth, they include Tamara Taylor as boss Dr. Saroyan, Michaela Conlin and TJ Thyme as married computer and insect whiz Angela Montenegro and Jack Hodgins, John Francis Daley as shrink Dr. Sweets, and whoever that week’s intern is). When an episode is all about solving the crime, the show loses its special fizz and starts feeling like an ordinary cop show. Earnestness isn’t its best color.
The season’s cliffhanger was also somewhat weak, with Brennan on the run from Palant’s implausible frame–there’s not much suspense, since clearly Brennan isn’t going to spend the rest of the series in jail, and presumably the evidence against Palant will be unearthed in the first few episodes next season.
All that being said, Bones is always fun to watch thanks to its crack ensemble cast, and tonight’s episode was no exception. The series would just have been better off sticking to its unique expertise.
Related Posts
-
THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEWS
With the 2011-12 broadcast season now concluded, here’s a list of all our Season Finale reviews at The Sked: 2 BROKE GIRLS 30 ROCK 90210 AWAKE BONES COMMUNITY More after the break– CSI DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES DON’T TRUST THE B___ IN APT 23 FRINGE GLEE THE GOOD WIFE GOSSIP GIRL GREY’S…
-
THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “Bones”
BONES brought out the big guns for its Season 8 finale–a long-awaited marriage proposal from Brennan (Emily Deschanel) to Booth (David Boreanaz), and the return of the show’s arch-villain, Christopher Pelant (Andrew Leeds). Pelant is both a genius-level computer hacker and a serial killer who, the last time we…
-
THE SKED Season Finale Review: “Bones”
Like a middle schooler suddenly realizing that final exams are around the corner, the mostly tired 9th season of BONES went into overdrive tonight to deliver a super-dramatic season finale. The season had inherited a bummer of a cliffhanger from Season 8: Booth (David Boreanaz) was blackmailed by petulant…
-
THE SKED SEASON PREMIERE REVIEW: “Bones”
BONES: Monday 8PM on FOX WHERE WE WERE: Watching Brennan drive away, baby Christine in tow. Temperance (Emily Deschanel) had been framed by cyberpath Christopher Pelant (Andrew Leeds) for the murder of an old friend, and rather than be arrested, she fled with the help of ex-con dad Max…
-
THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “Whitney”
>And so we come to the age-old query: after 6 months and 22 half-hours of television, has WHITNEY gotten any better?Well, it’s changed. A revisit to the show on the occasion of its season finale, written by creator/star Whitney Cummings and directed by Betsy Thomas, presents a series that–whether because…
About the Author
Mitch Salem
MITCH SALEM has worked on the business side of the entertainment industry for 20 years, as a senior business affairs executive and attorney for such companies as NBC, ABC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, and BermanBraun Productions, and before that, at the NY law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During all that, he has more or less constantly been going to the movies and watching TV, and writing about both since the 1980s. His film reviews also currently appear on screened.com and the-burg.com. In addition, he is co-writer of an episode of the television series "Felicity."
More articles by
Mitch Salem »
