The Show
Inspired by the life of forensic anthropologist/author Kathy Reichs, Bones was developed for TV by Hart Hanson to include a colorful supporting cast of characters as well as seemingly endless intriguing murder mysteries, unraveled to the tune of some of the smartest dialogue I've heard in ages. The adorable Dr. Temperance 'Bones' Brennan (Emily Deschanel) is seriously brilliant at her job, examining cadavers in every condition imaginable. She's also seriously serious, leaving her more than a little socially awkward. For crime-solving purposes, her bookish Yin has been teamed with Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz), a hot-headed, two-fisted Yang, and their winning chemistry is essential to the show's success.
From the two-part, U.K.-set Season Four opener to the alternate-reality finale (with one last surprise), every case poses new and interesting challenges, not only in terms of science and justice but for the personal lives of the men and women whose iron stomachs and nerves of steel belie big hearts. For this "Body Bag Edition" Blu-ray, three of the episodes are presented in alternate extended cuts, re-incorporating about a minute of deleted scenes each, instead of including them separately as supplements.
The Picture
Those decomposing corpses turn all sorts of interesting hues and Fox is not shy about putting the gore on-camera, so the exceptional colors of this Blu-ray serve Bones well. The 1.78:1 wide shots usually proffer tremendous detail, while in tighter moments we can appreciate a particular episode director's deliberate use of soft focus. There is definite grain and noise present in the image, including some weird artifacting here and there, but blacks are surprisingly detailed and realistic, although not so much in some poorly rendered night scenes.
The Sound
Hats off to the sound mixers, who seem to have put extra effort into this 5.1 presentation, delivered here as DTS-HD Master Audio. Unlike, say, The Unit, which is a flat-out action series, Bones is more of a drama-with-occasional-action, and yet we're given some great moments of phasing in the rear-channel effects, generous environmental effects wherever we go, rock-solid dialogue including some discrete placement of voices around the soundstage, and ample bass.
The Extras
Two additional deleted scenes run about two minutes total, while the gag reel is good for about six minutes of smirks. (Apparently it's not easy to say all of that science stuff.) The featurette "Androgyny: Playing Haru Tanaka" includes a one-on-one interview with guest actress Ally Maki on her unusual "he-or-she?" role in one episode (about seven minutes), and "Squints in Training" (about ten minutes) introduces us to the intern characters from Season Four, as played by Carla Gallo, Pej Vahdat, Eugene Byrd, Michael Grant Terry, Ryan Cartwright and Joel David Moore. All of the extras are presented in high-definition.
Final Thoughts
I'd heard good things and am very glad I finally had an excuse to check out the ongoing adventures of Bones and Seely. There are certainly a lot of other crime shows out there, but none that balance autopsies and idiosyncrasies with such entertaining results.
Product Details
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