Bones

Recently I have been re-watching all the episodes of Bones. For those of you who aren't familiar with Bones it is a hit TV show on Fox that is based off of the books and life of Forensic Anthropologist Kathy Reich. The show details the adventures of Dr. Temperance Brennan and her FBI partner Special Agent Seeley Booth. There are a variety of great reasons why I am hooked to this show. First off, it has a great cast of characters that are perfectly executed by a very talented group of actors including David Boreanaz as Booth and Emily Deschanel as Dr. Brennan, also called Bones. Secondly, the writing is phenomenal. There are few teams of writers in Hollywood that I would class as exceptionally talented, Joss Whedon is the first that comes to mind, but the writers of Bones are not too far behind. Not only is there an appreciation for the intelligence of their audience, but they include wit, humor, suaveness, action, gore and the all essential 3D humanness of their characters. The most important thing is that for 45 minutes a week the cast and crew of Bones transports its audience into their world so completely that it is hard not to become addicted. Even my husband who tends to get squeamish around gory tv shows and dead bodies can't help but but want to know what's going on - even if he has to leave the room for the finding of whatever gruesome murder Booth, Bones and the team at the Jeffersonian are investigating that week.

I have lots of favorite episodes, and parts of episodes that I love and would be happy to watch over and over again. The infamous Santa in the Slush kiss, The Widows Son in the Windshield where the introduction to Gormagon is made, The Superman in the Alley about a dying teenager who dies trying to save an abused woman... my list goes on for a bit more (not to mention season 3's finale which was mind-blowingly good. But I think that my favorite episode is from Season 2 Aliens in a Spaceship. Now, it isn't anything like it sounds, honest. The plot features the investigation of Booth and Dr. Brennan into the murder of two kidnapped teenage twin boys some 5 years before. The boys were placed in a spaceship-like capsule, in reality a brewing container, and buried alive underground by someone the media dubbed the "Grave Digger." The kidnapper would bury a person in a container, demanded a ransom and if it was paid he would send the location and directions for where they were buried. If the ransom was not paid, the kidnapped person would die. Soon, Brennan and Hodgins, one of the scientists at the Jeffersonian, find themselves victims of the "Grave Digger", and Booth frantically searches for them as they slowly run out of oxygen underground.

There are a lot of things that make this episode a great one: fabulous character development, establishment of a new relationship (Angela and Hodgins), thrilling plot, amazing acting, etc. But for me, what really made this episode poignant was Booth's quiet and expressive conversation about God. Throughout the series, especially this episode, Brennan asks Booth questions about God and his faith trying to understand why he would place faith in something that was arbitrary and completely illogical. A good example would be where Brennan compares God to the Grave Digger, "Has it occurred to you that God is a little like the Gravedigger?... He lays down the rules. No way to question Him or negotiate and then it’s as though He doesn’t care how it works out. It’s just, do as He says, make some sacrifices and are delivered. If you don’t you end up in hell." At this point the writers interject a comment from Booth "Don't say that, I don't want to be struck by lightning!" While it may seem like the writers are talking about the Christian faith and God with derision, it is obviously not the case as you get to the very end of the episode. After Booth comes to the rescue of Bones and Hodgins we see him and Brennan sitting side by side in an cathedral. Obviously praying, Booth's head is bowed and he crosses himself before looking up:

Brennan: What did you ask for?
Booth: That’s between me and a certain saint. Although I did ask for a little help finding the Gravedigger.
Brennan: Good move…
Booth: And I said thanks. You should try it sometime.
Brennan: If I were going to pray, I would have done it just before we set off the explosion.
Booth: You mean, you didn’t?
Brennan: No. See. If there was a God, which there isn’t…
Booth: SSSHHH! Don’t you see where we are?
Brennan: And if I were someone who believed He had a plan…
Booth: Which I do.
Brennan: Then I’d be tempted to think He wanted me to go through something like I went through because it might make me more open to the whole concept.
Booth: It obviously hasn’t.
Brennan: I’m ok with you thanking God for saving me and Hodgins.
Booth: That’s not what I thanked Him for. I thanked Him for saving all of us. It was all of us, every single one. You take one of us away and you and Hodgins are in that hole forever. And I’m thankful for that.

This ending completely blew me away. After all the different things that Hollywood has said about Christianity and how they have completely misinterpreted or simply have no idea about what it is or says - this was refreshing. Not only did they get it right, it shows the sincerity and awe that a lot of Christians have when they think about the sanctity of human life - all human life - and that Christ, God himself, died for the whole world, for each individual. That He died so that every person would have the opportunity to have a deep and personal relationship with Him, so that all could be saved. To find that in a secular TV show on a major network... it was absolutely astounding - something I deeply appreciated.