The Closer: The Complete Fourth Season (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have been an avid fan of this television show since the first episode of the first season. I have purchased all previous seasons. I noticed that with the beginning of season four an upgrade had been made with regards to the writing, plots, and characterizations of the shows regulars. (We still don't know Provenza's first name...) The most rewarding thing for me is that everything about the show improved in a very dramatic way. I love watching all the previous seasons' shows over and over again, but I anticipate that season four will be equally great especially without all the commercials! Kyra Sedgwick is the tasty bait for this show, but every other actor on the set is a joy to behold. I applaud the writers and the directors for bringing out everyone's best!!!!

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An offbeat personality, a tough-as-nails approach and a track record as one of the country's leading investigators: These are just a few of the traits exhibited by Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson. For the Atlanta transplant heading up the Priority Homicide Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, her position on this elite detective squad, which handles high-profile cases of a sensitive nature, is a tenuous balancing act. She faces antagonistic roadblocks, even from her own peers within the department, and must manage a team that remains wary of her unconventional style.

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Bones: The Complete Second Season (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)FOX Television has struck gold with the series, BONES. The series stars BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and ANGEL heartthrob David Boreanaz as FBI Agent Seely Booth and relative newcomer Emily Deschanel as Temperance Brennan.
The series is based on books written by real-life forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs. Reichs is also a real-life NEW YORK TIMES best-selling author. Viewers of the television show will quickly discover that the "Temperance Brennan" of the books is much different than the character in the television show. The literary Temperance is a divorced mother with a problematic family.
In the television show, Temperance is an orphan that was raised in foster care and has trouble relating to others on an interpersonal level. She also happens to be an author and writes about a forensic anthropologist named Kathy Reichs.
The two series, in some ways, are vastly different. But people who enjoy the show will probably enjoy the books. And people enjoy the books, once they get over the fact that their favorite heroine isn't presented the way she is in the novels, will have a blast with the television show.
BONES, derived from Seely Booth's pet name for Temperance and from the fact that a forensic anthropologist usually only has skeletons to work with, is a fascinating interplay of almost-romance, outstanding characters, and nifty little puzzles dealing with murder and mayhem. The chemistry between the two stars is palpable and believable. I haven't seen Boreanaz anything that I haven't liked him in. Deschanel was new to me, although I had seen her in a supporting role in GLORY ROAD that was much different than the Temperance role.
The almost-romance shtick has gotten potentially old after playing in MOONLIGHTING and LOIS AND CLARK, as well as many others. In fact, long-time mystery viewers will remember a show called REMINGTON STEELE that starred Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist. After those two characters hooked up, viewer interest seemed to wane. Series developer Hart Hanson has to know he's walking a thin line but by choosing to go this route. However, it plays beautifully at present.
The second season continues much of the same tone that was set in the first season. Booth has warmed up to Brennan and her crew, although he still continues to refer to them as the Squint Squad when referring to them among his peers at the FBI. Booth and Brennan also continue to look for her father and to find out what happened to her mother after Brennan's parents disappeared when she was just a teenager.
While Booth's romance with Brennan continues to fizzle this season, maybe even more difficult by the addition of Doctor Camille Saroyan (Tamara Taylor), Angela (Michaela Conlin) and Jack's (T. J. Thyne) romance buds, blossoms, and almost bears fruit. As it turns out, Saroyan is a pathologist (which is a conflict in field of study to a degree to an anthropologist), is Brennan's new boss, and is one Booth's ex-lovers.
Tensions mount between Booth and Brennan as each tries to figure out where the other fits into the work and personal scenes. However, thankfully, the idea of romance is merely hinted at and flirted with rather than moved into a starring role. This is a great choice for the series at the moment, but I don't know how much longer they can successfully pull this off.
In addition to interesting leads, Booth and Brennan are backed by fantastic supporting characters who often step into the limelight of an episode. Zack and Hodges continue to bring slapstick scientific moments to the episodes. Although I really didn't think they could top running the semi-frozen pig corpse through the wood chipper last season, they blew the roof off my expectations with the season opener when they simulated a burning death of a victim using Spam lunch meat. I can always count on those two for a laugh, either through Zack's deadpan delivery or Hodges's conspiracy theories.
Angela is the heart and soul of the investigatory unit. She reminds the team and the viewer that the victims in each episode were real people. Plus, she's gotta be one of the hottest babes on television today. I will never forget how she grabbed the attention of the airline clerk in the first season opener.
Only 21 of Season Two's 22-episode run are included on this box set. One of the episodes, "Player Under Pressure," was pulled out of the lineup during the regular season. The plot line was uncomfortably close to the Virginia Tech shootings. It will be aired this year in Season Three.
There were a lot of outstanding episodes this year, and it was good to see them again in this box set. I was happy to see that this set contains six single-sided discs instead of three double-sided discs like in the last set. On double-sided discs, it gets too complicated tried to figure out which side is up. Plus, I like the cosmetic appeal of having pictures of the actors and actresses on the top of the disc. This also helps make the discs immediately recognizable.
The special features include voiceovers on select episodes, two featurettes, and a gag reel that shows viewers how much fun this series must be to work on. Although the special features are still "bare bones" compared to what viewers want, it does add up to more reasons to pick up the box set.
BONES is one of the best hours of television currently on. If you haven't discovered the series for yourself and you're looking for something to fill the gap left by the cancellation of VERONICA MARS, this series may well be what you're looking for.


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Detectives Bones and Booth create undeniable chemistry and humor while solving crimes using frequently clashing investigative styles.
Audio: English: Dolby Surround 5.1
Language: Dubbed: English / Subtitled: French & Spanish
Disc 1:
The Titan on the Tracks
Mother and Child in the BayThe Boy in the Shroud
The Blonde in the Game
Disc 2:
The Truth in the Lye
The Girl In Suite 2103
The Girl with the Curl
The Woman in the Sand
Disc 3:
Aliens in a Spaceship
The Headless Witch in the Woods
Judas on a Pole
The Man in theCell
Disc 4:
The Girl in the Gator
The Man in the Mansion
The Bodies in the Book
The Bonless Bride in the River
Disc 5:
The Priest in the Churchyard
The Killerin the Concrete
Spaceman in a Crater
The Glowing Bones in the Old Stone House
Disc 6:
Stargazer In a Puddle
With Commemtary by actors David Boranez, Emily Deschanel and director Caleb Deschanel
With Commemtary by Executive Producer Steven Nathan

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Bones: The Complete Fifth Season (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)At the beginning of the fifth season of the wildly popular forensic drama "Bones," many viewers tuned in trepidatiously after the spectacularly strange fourth season finale. Thankfully, all fears were allayed and relieved when the fifth season kicked into high gear in the very first episode and maintained that pace throughout the season; "Bones"' fifth season is perhaps its greatest yet.
The one thing that has always set "Bones" apart from the countless other procedurals on the airwaves right now is the focus on the characters solving the crimes rather than the crimes themselves, and the strength of this approach shines through brilliantly in every episode of this season.
David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel return to the roles of Booth and Bones and deliver their strongest performances yet as each character is shaken to their core. As Booth struggles to regain his sense of self, he has to confront the knowledge of his feelings for his partner, while Bones herself goes through a whirlwind of emotion as the emotional barriers she has erected around her heart begin to crumble down, leaving her questioning not only herself but her relationship with Booth as well as her work at the Jeffersonian itself. The tension between the two has never been more delicious or more addictive, and both lead actors knock their roles absolutely out of the park.
But while the relationship between Booth and Brennan becomes increasingly more complex, the wonderful supporting cast of engaging characters at the Jeffersonian keep the show moving along briskly and lightly. Cam (Tamara Taylor) must run the lab while dealing with the challenge of being a good mother, guiding the team effectively toward each conclusion; Sweets (John Francis Daley) continues to provide invaluable insight into the minds of the team; Angela (Michaela Conlin) remains the emotional heart and soul of the team as she opens her heart to love's possibilities; and Hodgins (TJ Thyne) struggles with his feelings for Angela as he returns to his abrasive, loveable self.
The cases themselves have regained a fascinating light as the mysteries the team confronts become more complex, and the special effects department has outdone themselves in the gore and goop department this year as Booth and Bones investigate some of the most gruesome crime scenes in history, all moved along by the brisk black humor the show excels at; the team investigates a possible secret agent locked in a truck for days, a would-be rocker torn to pieces by an industrial washer/dryer, a gamer literally melted in a vat of fast-food grease, and a dozen more cheerfully disgusting cases where the outcomes of the mysteries hold the power to shock and surprise the audience; the writers have once again caught the perfect balance between the whodunnit and the drama to craft a truly unique show.
But it's not merely the cases that hold the viewers' attention this season; season five is full of true powerhouse episodes: heartbreaking cases like "The Plain in the Prodigy"; darkly comical shows like "The Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood"; truly shocking mysteries like "The Proof in the Pudding,"; and even a historically fascinating case written by the author of the original Temperance Brennan novels Kathy Reichs herself ("The Witch in the Wardrobe") -- however, all of these merely lead up to the three knockout moments of the season:
In the fifth season, "Bones" reaches its 100th episode, "The Parts in the Sum of the Whole." Likely the most beloved and most contested episode in the show's history, the 100th episode completely redefined Booth and Brennan's relationship as it showed the viewers the pair's first meeting, something never before revealed, and circles around to one of the most hearbreaking and yet most powerfully hopeful moments of the series. "Parts" was also directed by David Boreanaz, one of the series' leads, and the sheer emotion wrung out of Boreanaz and Deschanel by the end speaks volumes to the talent of the show's leads.
As the series continues, however, the characters were shocked to their cores as they were forced to come face-to-face with their most terrifying adversary yet: the cunningly frightening sociopath dubbed The Gravedigger, in "The Boy with the Answer," a nail-bitingly tense hour of television that had viewers' hearts pounding as Heather Taffet, the Gravedigger, proved that her true arena was the courtroom, tearing apart her victims and throwing the entire future of Brennan's life into question.
This only segues into the season's amazingly dramatic finale, "The Beginning in the End." As the team investigates the home of a hoarder, Bones questions what she truly wants to do with her life, Booth's past comes calling, and Angela's father blows back into town, all leading to a truly shocking season ender, a masterful finale that not only redefined the very foundations of the show and the characters but also contined to set the show on a rising point, ensuring that every faithful viewer of "Bones" will be frantically waiting for the sixth season to premiere in the fall.
In the past five years, "Bones" has redefined the procedural while producing a truly unique show filled with drama, comedy and the most satisfying romantic tension between two characters in years. Featuring challenging cases, intriguing mysteries, gruesome discoveries, fascinating character interactions, and truly touching and shocking turns in the lives of a cast of characters an increasingly growing fanbase have come to know and genuinely care about, "Bones" has proven that it still has plenty of tricks to show, and this wonderfully strong drama will remain on television for seasons to come.
Five out of five stars.
NOTE: The fifth season also features the return of Max (Ryan O'Neil), Brennan's father, as well as a memorable cameo by Zooey Deschanel (Emily's real-life sister) as Brennan's zany cousin, as well as a truly touching show introducing Booth's grandfather, as well as the return of Jared Booth (Brendan Fehr), Seeley's younger brother, who has some news of his own.
Also, it is important to note that in the fifth season, the writers managed to fix a truly annoying plot device: the revolving interns, who alternated between odd and downright annoying throughout the fourth season, have now managed to find a balance and a home on the show, with each character's unique traits adding to the episode they are featured in, providing some much-needed comic relief as well as some unexpected drama along the way.

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Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) are back for more mystery, murder, and mayhem in the fifth season of Bones. Relying on Brennan\'s unparalleled scientific abilities and Booth\'s street-wise instincts, the sexy, crime-solving duo and their team face everything from modern-day witches to murdered rock-n-rollers as they scramble for evidence to stop a gruesome serial killer.This spectacular new season brings a wedding, the show\'s landmark 100th episode, and decisions Bones and Booth must make that could change their lives forever.

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Bones: The Complete First Season (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)Good to see Bones: The Complete First Season is out on dvd. I've waited for this. Debuting in September 2005 on the Fox Network, Bones very quickly garnered rave reviews and amassed a loyal following. Bones is loosely inspired by real life forensic anthropologist and author Kathy Reichs. This funny, clever, sometimes gross, and totally addictive crime drama centers around forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperence Brennan (Emily Deschanel), who toils out of the Jeffersonian Institution and, on the side, writes mysteries starring her fictional heroine (and here's the twist) Kathy Reichs. Because Brennan has an almost supernatural ability to generate accurate assumptions based on her examination of the corpse's bones, she is often consulted by the FBI on difficult, seemingly unsolvable cases. She is frequently partnered by brash wiseacre FBI Special Agent Seely Booth (David Boreanaz), who seems to hold a bias against science and those who practice in that field. It's Booth who breezily saddles Brennan with the nickname "Bones." Naturally intuitive and freewheeling, Booth immediately is at odds with the clinically analytical Brennan. But, despite their personality clashes, and with the aid of Brennan's gifted and quirky colleagues, the cases do get solved.
It's no great secret that the palpable chemistry between Deschanel and Boreanaz is what actually propels the show and is what separates it from the other, more formulaic, dispassionate crime dramas. Every week, fans tune in for the leads' deliciously caustic banter more so than for the weekly dose of mystery. You see, the mystery jones can be fixed by viewing any other one of the gazillion forensic dramas so currently prevalent on the airwaves. So the mystery is basically the MacGuffin that drives the show forward. But the cantankerous chemistry - that palpable "something" between the two leads as they hilariously bicker and wrangle - is definitely unique to this show. You won't find this sort of wicked rapport going on in any of the CSI or Law & Order shows.
Emily Deschanel is a find. I haven't seen her before but she's awfully good and ingratiating enough with her acerbic character. She imbues Brennan with a cooly detached yet vulnerable and lonely quality that intrigues and endears her to the fans. Her social awkwardness and pop culture ignorance are also quite charming. It's pretty funny that a mention made regarding a pop culture reference almost always elicits a response of "I don't know what that means" from the clueless Bones. And, of course, her expertise in the martial arts doesn't detract from her allure.
And David Boreanaz. Yeah, I found it difficult going, at first, watching him in a new role, seeing as how I'm a fan of Buffy and Angel. But it helps that Booth isn't much like our vampire with a soul. This ex-Army Ranger Special Agent is breezy, personable, and outgoing, not brooding, tortured, and introspective like Angelus (although Booth, also, is trying to atone for past actions). So, the transition, while disconcerting for me, was ultimately smooth enough. Boreanaz brings such command, self-assurance and charm to his character that I bought into it soon enough.
My favorite episodes are the pilot episode, where we are introduced to the cast; "The Man in the Fallout Shelter" - the team is quarantied together in the Jeffersonian during Christmas and we learn personal stuff about the characters; "Two Bodies in the Lab" - character development galore in this episode as Brennan dates on-line and is targeted while she works on two cases; "The Superhero in the Alley" - a decomposed body is found wearing a superhero costume; and "The Woman in Limbo" - a gripping, emotional season finale as Brennan discovers shocking facts about her parents.
Special Features contain episode commentaries on the "Pilot" (with Exec. Producer Barry Josephson & Series Creator Hart Hanson) and "Two Bodies in the Lab" (with David Boreanaz & Emily Deschanel); Disc 4 has "Squints" - an 8-minute-long behind-the-scenes look; "The Real Definition" - A "squint's" guide to forensic terminology; and "Bones: Inspired by the Life of Forensic Anthropologist and Author Kathy Reichs" (with, of course, an interview with Kathy Reichs); and character profiles.
So, to sum it up, this show has a lot to offer. It has a fabulous cast, great character development, and engrossing, well-crafted storylines. The forensic geek, the drama lover, the repartee admirer, the romantic (have patience) - all can meet here and each is guaranteed to come away with something from this intense, smart, funny series. Long live Bones, long may she "squint."
Here's a list of the 22 episodes:
1."Pilot"
2."The Man in the S.U.V."
3."A Boy in the Tree"
4."The Man in the Bear"
5."A Boy in a Bush"
6."The Man in the Wall"
7."A Man on Death Row"
8."The Girl in theFridge"
9."The Man in the Fallout Shelter"
10. "The Woman at the Airport"
11. "The Woman in the Car"
12. "The Superhero in the Alley"
13. "The Woman in the Garden"
14. "The Man on the Fairway"
15. "Two Bodies in the Lab"
16. "The Woman in the Tunnel"
17. "The Skull in the Desert"
18. "The Man with the Bone"
19. "The Man in the Morgue"
20. "The Graft in the Girl"
21. "The Soldier on the Grave"
22. "The Woman in Limbo"


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David Boreanaz (Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) stars as F.B.I. Agent Seeley Booth, who teams up with forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan (Emily Deschanel) to solve some of the most baffling and bizarre crimes ever. Booth depends on clues from the living, witnesses and suspects, while Brennan gathers evidence from the dead, relying on her uncanny ability to read clues left behind in the bones of the victims. Their different investigative styles cause the two to frequently clash, creating an undeniable chemistry and just the right touch of dark humor. Inspired by real-life forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs and state-of-the-art criminal investigation procedures, Bones is a compelling, cutting edge television.

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