Pilot (Bones)

Infobox Television episode
Title = Pilot
Series = Bones


Caption =
Season = 1
Episode = 1
Airdate = September 13, 2005
Production = 1AKY79
Writer = Hart Hanson
Director = Greg Yaitanes
Photographer =
Guests = Chris Conner as Oliver Laurier, Larry Poindexter as Senator Bethlehem, Sam Trammell as Ken Thompson, Tyrees Allen as Ted Eller and Naja Hill as Cleo Louise Eller
Episode list = List of Bones episodes
Next = The Man in the S.U.V.

"Pilot" is the first episode of the television series "Bones", which premiered on the FOX network on September 13, 2005. It is written by series creator Hart Hanson and directed by Greg Yaitanes. It introduces the two main characters of the series, Dr. Temperance Brennan (played by Emily Deschanel) and FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth (played by David Boreanaz), and their partnership in solving cases involving unidentified human remains.

ummary

Having just spent two months in Guatemala where she was identifying victims of genocide, renowned forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan returns to Washington, D.C., where she is immediately detained by an agent from Homeland Security for carrying a human skull in her bag. Upon the arrival of FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth, Brennan is released, which she finds odd and realizes that it was his plot to get her to help him on an FBI case. She refuses to help until Booth promises her full participation in the case, which he reluctantly does.

At the crime scene, Brennan and Booth find human remains which were so thoroughly decomposed that only the bones remained. Brennan and her assistant, Zack Addy (Eric Millegan), determine the victim is a woman between 18 to 23 years old, and was a tennis player. Back at the Jeffersonian Institute, Brennan argues with her boss, Dr. Daniel Goodman, who feels no qualms about assigning her to work with other federal agencies without her permission.

Inside the Medico-Legal Lab of the Jeffersonian Institute, Brennan examines the victim's remains while her colleagues inquire about the resemblances between them and the characters in her new book, "Bred in the Bone". Dr. Jack Hodgins (T. J. Thyne), an entomologist, tells Brennan that the victim has been in the pond for more than two summers. Hodgins has also found small bone fragments in the silt, which he guesses are rana temporaria or simply, frog bones. Angela Montenegro (Michaela Conlin), a forensic artist, uses a computer program she has developed, called the Angelator, to make a three dimensional holographic reconstruction of the skull, which Brennan reassembled. The identity of the victim is revealed to be Cleo Louise Eller, who was a missing senate intern and was rumored to have had an affair with Senator Bethlehem.

Brennan wants to confront the Senator but Booth argues that the Senator is not the only suspect. The Senator's aide, Ken Thompson, was Cleo's boyfriend. There is also Cleo's stalker, Oliver Laurier. Booth tells Brennan that they have a major case and that FBI Deputy Director Cullen is going to want to set up a special unit to investigate, which means they are going to have do things by the book and wants her to stay at her lab. Brennan blackmails Booth until he agrees to let her come with him into the field.

Based on the particulates embedded in Cleo's skull, Hodgins determines that Cleo's skull may have been smashed by a sledgehammer on a cement floor and diatomaceous earth. By the distinctive damage done to her finger pads and the way the body was hidden, the team determines that the murderer had put a lot of effort into hiding the victim. Hodgins also reveals that Cleo was taking medicine for her depression, while Brennan realizes that the small bones found with Cleo's body are not frog bones but fetal ear bones, indicating Cleo Eller was pregnant.

Hodgins, a conspiracy theorist, convinces Brennan that they may never find the truth as Senator Bethlehem may have enough power to impede the investigation. Without telling Booth, Brennan decides to confront the Senator. Consequently, Deputy Director Cullen removes Booth from the case but Brennan refuses to give up. With the help of her fellow scientists, she uncovers that Cleo Eller's boyfriend Ken Thompson, had killed Cleo because he feared the scandal Cleo's pregnancy would cause and affect his career.

Cultural references

Almost each episode in the first season of "Bones" contains a popular culture reference to which the character Dr. Temperance Brennan replies with her catch phrase, "I don't know what that means." In the pilot episode, Brennan is ignorant to the fact that FBI Special Agent Booth is referring to the characters of "The X-Files" in his remark, "We're Scully and Mulder."

Production details

Despite the fact that the series is set in Washington, D.C., filming of the pilot and subsequent episodes primarily took place in Los Angeles, California. Footages in Washington, D.C. were shot by the second unit with body doubles. The first scene featuring the characters Angela Montenegro and Dr. Temperance Brennan inside Washington Dulles International Airport was actually shot at Los Angeles Convention Center, while the opening shot of a plane landing was taken from footages filmed at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. ["Pilot" audio commentary by Barry Josephson and Hart Hanson, "Bones" Season 1 DVD.]

Series creator and writer Hart Hanson describes the murder victim at the center of the episode as a "Chandra-Levy-type congressional intern". The story alludes to the power of politicians and allowed Hanson to establish the character of Dr. Temperance Brennan, who is driven to find the truth despite the barriers presented by politics. [Hanson, Hart, " [http://www.fox.com/bones/episodes/writers/079.htm Writer's Block: Pilot] ", Official site of "Bones". Retrieved on July 6, 2007.]

Response

The pilot episode of "Bones" attracted an average of 10.8 million viewers with 6.7% household share and 11% household rating. It was the highest number of viewers Fox has received for a primetime Tuesday-night drama series premiere since "24" premiered in 2001. "Bones" finished first among the 18 to 49 years old demographic and in total viewers in its Tuesday 8:00 pm ET timeslot. [Berman, Marc, " [http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001177629 National Ratings in Primetime - Week of Sept. 12, 2005] ", "Mediaweek.com", September 21, 2005. Retrieved on May 20, 2007.]

Based on the episode, "New York" described the show as "the best drama of the new network season" and a "sexed-up variation of all the CSIs". [Leonard, John, " [http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/tv/reviews/15227/ Bodies in Motion] ", "New York", December 12, 2005. Retrieved on June 27, 2007.] Gillian Flynn of "Entertainment Weekly" writes that although "Bones" has a "pretty standard Crossing Jordan/CSI-style framework", its main attraction is the chemistry between the two lead characters; "that old Sam-and-Diane, Maddie-and-David, Mulder-and-Scully opposites-attract stuff never feels standard when it's done right." [Flynn, Gillian, " [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1102765,00.html Bones] ", "Entertainment Weekly", September 9, 2005. Retrieved on June 27, 2007.] Similarly, "USA Today" comments that compared to other crime shows, the show "is built on a more traditional and solid foundation: the strength of its characters" and "what sets Tuesday's Bones premiere apart from the procedural pack are stars Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz, as the season's most appealing new crime fighters." [Bianco, Robert, " [http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2005-09-12-bones_x.htm The stars flesh out 'Bones'] ", "USA Today", September 12, 2005. Retrieved on June 27, 2007.]

On the other hand, "Media Life Magazine" says that while "Bones" has "an amazingly clever notion, brilliant even", its "execution doesn't match the conception" and "fails to evolve into a gripping series. In fact, it quickly becomes so derivative of so much else on television - especially, strangely, "X-Files" - that one might even call it bone-headed." [Rosen, Steven, " [http://www.medialifemagazine.com/News2005/sep05/sept12/2_tues/news4tuesday.html 'Bones,' from the heap of tired ideas] ", "Media Life Magazine", September 13, 2005. Retrieved on June 27, 2007.] In the opinion of "Variety's" Brian Lowry, the pilot lacked originality. He writes: "'Bones' aspires to achieve a mix of 'House' and 'X-Files' chic (there's even a reference to Scully and Mulder), but for the most part its playful banter feels forced and the way-cool visual flourishes overly familiar. What's left, then, is another crime procedural with a not-especially-fresh twist, which, admittedly, has proved a surprisingly durable skeleton over which to drape new dramas." [Lowry, Brian, " [http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_review/VE1117928109.html?nav=reviews07&categoryid=1986&cs=1&p=0 Bones] ", "Variety", September 11, 2005. Retrieved on June 29, 2007.]

Music

The song played during the funeral scene is "Gone", from Thirteen Senses's album The Invitation.

References

External links

* [http://www.fox.com/bones/episodes/recaps/079_1.htm Pilot summary] at the official site of "Bones"
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0529893/ "Bones" Pilot (2005)] at IMDb.com
* [http://www.tv.com/bones/pilot/episode/426415/summary.html Bones: Pilot] at TV.com