BONES: THE COMPLETE SEVENTH SEASON
(not rated)
MOVIE: ***1/2 (out of 5)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: ***(out of 5)
STARRING
Emily Deschanel as DR. TEMPERANCE ‘BONES’ BRENNAN
David Boreanaz as SPECIAL AGENT SEELEY BOOTH
Michaela Conlin as ANGELA MONTENEGRO
T.J. Thyne as DR. JACK HODGINS
Tamara Taylor as DR. CAMILLE SAROYAN
John Frances Daley as DR. LANCE SWEETS
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Created by: Hart Hanson
BY KEVIN CARR
It’s not uncommon for me to jump on a popular television show’s bandwagon four or five years into its run. “Bones” was one of those shows that did it for me. The main reason that I never watched the show in its early years is that I just didn’t have the time with all the other series I was watching. However, now that we’re past the seventh season, I’ve had plenty of chances to catch up on some of it on DVD and Blu-ray.
Part of what I like the most about “Bones” is that it’s wholly unlike the lesser and later-to-the-game similar show “Body of Proof.” I started watching both series around the same time, and “Bones” features better characters, more teamwork and less overt arrogance in the writing. It’s more fun, and while there are some characters I am not terribly fond of (I’m looking at you, Angela Montenegro), on the whole I like the team.
Season Seven is a bit of a hiccup in the series because it only has 13 episodes total, which is more in line with a cable season than a major broadcast network season. However, this decision wasn’t made for failing numbers of dwindling viewers, but rather to accommodate star Emily Deschanel’s real-life pregnancy. Not to worry for “Bones” fans, because the new season eight (which debuted in September) has four extra episodes tacked onto its standard run to balance out the short season seven.
Deschanel’s pregnancy was written into the series, with this season featuring Bones and Booth realizing they want to be together. They move in with each other and have their baby. I like how this dynamic isn’t spoiling the chemistry of the show, even though it’s a bit of a retread of Angela and Hodgins’ baby from season six.. Here’s to hoping the writers can balance their relationship without artificially injecting angst and drama in there to force a break-up just to “keep things fresh.”
Most of the season features your standard “Bones” formula, though in an effort to stay current and relevant, there are some mishandling of trendy topics. Their competitive eating storyline is a bit late in the game and mirrors ones we’ve seen on “House M.D.” and “Royal Pains” already. Similarly, an extreme couponing episode falls too much into hyperbole and spectacle. And of course, there’s the episode which features the birth of Bones’ daughter, which falls heavily into television show cliche to a fault.
There’s a fun episode in which Bones and Booth solve a murder on the set of a movie based on one of her books. This is not a terribly original, but it’s entertaining to watch the show poke holes in its own veil. The long-form arc in this series follows a computer hacker who is actually too brilliant to be believable, but at least it offers a nice cliffhanger at the end of this short season.
For a seventh season disc set, there’s a nice selection of bonus features. The keystone episode “The Past in the Present” comes with an audio commentary as well as deleted scenes. There is also a deleted scene from “The Memories in the Shallow Grave” as well as a red carpet event for the “Bone of Contention” movie-within-a-show. Finally, viewers can enjoy a gag reel and the featurette “Creating The Suit on the Set.”