Bones - Season 1 [DVD]

Bones really is very good, I must admit I watched it for the first time, quite simply because there was nothing better on, and I was very sceptical thinking it would be a cheap CSI rip-off.

However, I was pleasantly suprised, like many say, it can be difficult to sum up, but I think it breaks down like this;

- The character background and development of Lost

- The science of CSI

- The sexual tension of The X Files (back in the day when it was Mulder and Scully, will they/wont they?)

- The emotion and dramatic twists of 24 (not always, but the last episode has it all) and;

- The bickering comedy of something like Scrubs

Ok a comparison to Scrubs may be a little out there but there are a number of witty jokes and the humerous (pun intended) rivalry between the characters is good for a regular chuckle, particularly Bones' attempts to get her partner, Booth, to let her have a gun of her own, despite her trigger happy ways.

All in all, I would really recommend it, as I describe above, it takes the best parts of some brilliant shows and turns them into something very special.

There are a lot of this type of show out there - CSI being the biggest. But this is the best. The police procedure is there, the science is there, the flashy visuals are there. But what sets this apart from others is the humanity that the characters possess. The interactions, the banter, the fun that they have. But even more, there is also a lot of heart here too. And the relationship between 'Bones' and Booth - you have to wonder where they'll take it, and that's the fun of it.

On top of this, Bones is not afraid to tackle issues - Homelessness, immigration, with out ever getting preachy.

Love it and can't wait till season two.

If you are a fan of CSI (and who is not?), you will probably look sceptically at this show, which seems to following in the tracks of this major franchise. Well, you would be wrong. "Bones" does much better than just following - from the first episode it actually switches to its own ways and, if put in parallel with the venerable CSI, it could very well take the lead. And here is why.

First, there is Bones herself. She is incredibly inteligent, succesful, pretty, liberated, courageous woman, fully in control of her life and perfectly able to kick a bad guy's a.. without any problem if needed. In one word, she is a genius (like Grissom), but she also has a serious case of social autism, which makes many of her interactions with the regular society histerically funny. As a forensic anthropologist she clearly is very comfortable around the skeletons - but her relations with living are not half that succesful. And when the recent deceased are concerned, just wait for the scene when Booth takes her for an autopsy...

Then, there is agent Booth. I always liked very much David Boreanaz ("Buffy", "Angel") but I was a little concerned if he still can play without turning into a vampire every two minutes or so... well, he can!! His caracter is great - he is clearly a macho, good cop but clearly not genius (unlike people he works with), in principle just a honest, simple guy - but with some secrets in his past, very much in control of his life and having some really funny habits. Quite smart, handsome and with sense of humour - Booth is surprisingly likeable.

Then there is the relation between Bones and Booth - I must say that I enjoy watching it almost as much as the one that existed between Mulder an Scully. They are soooo different that they simply can not stop bickering and both being smart and having humour (although for Bones it is a little... skeletic) they exchanges are a delight. Just wait to see the episode in which Bones is charged with murder!

There is more. Other members of the team working in the criminal anthropology lab are as irresistible as the main characters - there is Zack, the genius young anthropologist, who is even less adapted to life in society than Bones. There is Dr Jack Hodgins, "slime and bugs guy", who actually is almost normal - the stress is on word "almost". Finally there is Angela, an adorable Eurasian girl, who actually is an artist as much as a scientist - she designed software for graphic projects and adapted it for the reconstruction of faces and bodies from remains. She is the merriest and most normal person in the lab - although the way she gets the attention of clercs in crowded offices will probably surprise you...

Stories are good, some of them very hard. The atmosphere is less gloomy that in CSI and there is definitely much more humour. After watching Grissom and his team for years I really was ready for something new, as smart as CSI, but freshier, funnier, less macabre and - surprise - even more original. I bought the first season and swallowed it in a couple of evenings. I can't wait to buy the second.