Bones, currently in its second season, is a one-hour drama that airs on FOX on Wednesday nights. If you want a brief synopsis of what the show is all about, you can read Mark Whittington’s article “Bones: Truth and Justice for the Dead”.
I started watching Bones every week not because of the premise or the actors (although, as a fan of both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, I was curious to see David Boreanaz in this new endeavor), but because of claims that the show is based on the life and novels of forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs.
In a way, this is true. The main character in Bones is named Dr. Temperance Brennan and she is a forensic anthropologist. The main character in the Kathy Reichs novels is also named Dr. Temperance Brennan and she too is a forensic anthropologist. This, unfortunately, is where the similarities end.
I have read almost all of Kathy Reichs’ novels, starting with Deja Dead, first published in 1997 and most recently, Cross Bones, published in 2005, and I’ve gotten attached to Dr. Temperance Brennan as she is portrayed in the novels. This Dr. Brennan splits her time between North Carolina and Quebec. She has an ex-husband, a daughter, and a cat named Birdie. She is a likeable character, sociable and intelligent and it’s easy to maintain interest in her thoughts and actions.
The Dr. Temperance Brennan shown on Bones is a little more difficult to get to know and love. She is socially awkward, untrusting, and somewhat bitter. Early episodes were punctuated with the trademark Dr. Brennan phrase “I don’t know what that means,” uttered every time someone would make a pop culture reference. While it may be true that no man is an island, Dr. Brennan is doing a pretty good impression of one, at least in the earliest episodes. Emily Deschanel and the staff writers for Bones have come a long way towards humanizing the character since the series premiere, but I can certainly tell you that having read the novels before seeing the pilot episode, the way Dr. Brennan was portrayed on the small screen was quite a shocker.
In the novels, Dr. Brennan’s sidekick-slash-love-interest is a Montreal Detective named Andrew Ryan. In the show, it is FBI agent Seeley Booth, played by David Boreanaz. Or is it? Despite obvious chemistry between Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth, the show seems to be intentionally keeping them apart, in much the way the X-Files crew did with Mulder and Scully even when fan feedback was practically begging for a liaison. Instead, we see Agent Booth with a parade of different women (none of whom even remotely resemble the enigmatic Dr. Brennan) and Temperance with a couple of different men who are entirely too cookie-cutter for my taste. Despite the fact that the show is primarily a forensic crime show, it wouldn’t have hurt them any to throw in a little more spark and a little less cold shoulder.
On the other hand, Dr. Brennan’s relationship with Detective Ryan has captured and held my attention. There is some witty repartee, some neuroses (on both sides) that accompany all relationships, there is doubt, there is wonder, and there is genuine affection. This makes both of the characters feel more real to me.
I completely understand that it is nearly impossible to accomplish in a one-hour drama the kind of characterization that can be built up in a series of novels. My issue with the characterization in Bones is not so much a lack of thoroughness, but rather the glaring differences between the Dr. Temperance Brennan we see on television and the one we read about.
I can see why they chose to make the Dr. Brennan of Bones significantly younger than the Dr. Brennan from the novels. Youth and beauty are all important in any visual medium. What I cannot understand is why they did not choose to make her merely a younger version of the same character. Is it so much more dramatic and full of audience appeal to have a standoff-ish single woman who is completely out of touch with the world around her than a young wife and mother?
More importantly, I wonder how the author herself feels about the changes that have been made to her character. On her website, she appears to support the show completely. However, since the character is purported to be based on her life as well as her novels, I can imagine that she is, perhaps, somewhat offended by the de-humanization of her fictional alter-ego.
