Bones: The Complete First Season

A taut series filled with drama as well as great chemistry between its two lead stars, Bones is a strong addition to Fox's television lineup. Debuting in 2005 to favorable critical reviews, the series shares an audience of fans with the CSI franchise. Smartly written and well-acted, the first season of Bones focuses on the collaborations between FBI special agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz, Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel), whom Booth somewhat sarcastically nicknames "Bones." Each of the 22 episodes follows a premise well-known to regular viewers of crime dramas--a murder has been committed and a body found. The team's job is to figure out who the victim is, how he or she was killed, and how it was done; that part doesn't differ from other shows on television. What sets the show apart is the humor injected into the episodes (Boreanaz is particularly good at delivering wry lines). There's some wicked humor in the episode focusing on Brennan's attempts at dating, which is nicely offset by the horrific crimes she has to deal with. And for a show with such attractive leads, Bones doesn't make a huge point of dwelling on any possible attraction between the pair. Rather, it takes advantage of their playful bantering, which is more akin to that of bickering siblings than repressed lovers--for this season, anyhow. The series is inspired by real-life forensic anthropologist and author Kathy Reichs (who stars in one of the featurettes on the four-disc set). In a nice play on art imitating reality, Kathy Reichs also is the name of the heroine in the murder mysteries that Dr. Brennan writes on the side. By the end of the season, viewers will learn enough about the characters to care, but not enough to completely understand why they are the way they are. That is an ongoing mystery. --Jae-Ha Kim