F-Rated: Is history haunting Bones?

Shows

As sweeps month barrages forward, it’s a good time for viewers to branch out and test the best of TV. Well, what should be the best anyway.

I lightheartedly channel-surfed my way to FOX’s Bones this week, hoping to find the show had improved from the cardboard-y excursion it once was when it started a season ago. What I found was improvement so miniscule, it could be mistaken for the particled remains the show’s forensic team tries to lace together every week.

It’s no real mystery than, that Bones garnered a much-deserved B-rate on this week’s F-Rated scale, being guilty of spreading boredom through a month that traditionally sparks the biggest developments on TV drama.

That being said, it wasn’t all bad. When Bones started it was a mish-mash of quirky characters, still trying to find their groove on a show being plugged as part CSI, part X-Files. Those are already identity-swamping names to live up to, which is probably part of the reason Bones bumped its way through its first season. Nonetheless, FOX seems to see the light in shows that are unbelievably dank, and the series continued.

The characters–namely Bones’ forensic crew seem to have benefitted, having developed into a lesser fan’s Scooby Gang, exuding the kind of eccentricities that make us love supporting roles. Even Emily DesChanel’s Brennan, who’s monotonous disconnect from all things life-like was a little ridiculous, has acquired some much-needed human qualities which are making her more accessible.

So what is it about Bones that makes it so incredibly boring? The characters seem to have grown, the actors are more comfortable in their shoes, and the premise–though banking on the oversaturated CSI-whodunit fame has enough of a forensic twist to make viewers go ‘Hmm!’– but still it doesn’t warrant this viewer’s full-hour sit through.

Part of the reason, is Booth’s character. Though the relationship between Booth and Brennan has notably notched up its chemistry with the two banter-sparring off one another like an uninhibited Mulder and Scully, there’s something about David Boreanaz’s portrayal that keeps the old-Angel fan wishing for more. He is the only actor out of the bunch that has yet to strike a chord, sometimes seemingly overdoing it as if he recognizes how much he doesn’t fit in. Case in point, when Bones and Booth were having their ‘miss me’ argument this week, Boreanaz was prying to the point of annoyance, rather than the endearing smartass Mulder often was. Even his dramatic bouts seem haphazard for anyone who has watched the peaks of Angel, down a notch from the quality that show often attested to. If comparisons are key for this show, then Boreanaz’s portrayal isn’t hitting the X or biting into his past roles like it should.

And maybe that is the factor that undercuts this show’s could-be success. Getting it to this level of like has relied on campaigns that have harkened it to brilliant shows to the past. Boreanaz, being a TV veteran of sorts inherits most of the comparisons, his acting shortfalls more pronounced than the others who we aren’t as familiar with. Because of that, his character, despite being part of an ensemble cast, plays a heavy role in branding the show.

Or say, ‘Bland’-ing the show, according to our B-Rate.

Sorry Bones, if you can’t piece together history–don’t try to learn it.

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