Bones Charater Analysis

Created by Hart Hanson, the series is very loosely based on the life and writings of novelist and forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, who also produces the show. Its title character, Temperance Brennan, is named after the protagonist of Reichs' crime novel series. Conversely, Dr. Brennan writes successful mystery novels based around a fictional (in the Bones universe) forensic anthropologist named Kathy Reichs. Bones is a joint production by Josephson Entertainment, Far Field Productions and 20th Century Fox Television.

Cast and characters Main cast Emily Deschanel as Dr.

Temperance "Bones" Brennan: a forensic anthropologist working at the renowned Jeffersonian Institute located in Washington, D. C. She is an empiricist and author of crime fiction based on her experiences. Her lack of social skills provides most of the show's lighthearted humor, primarily through her catchphrase, "I don't know what that means", whenever a pop culture reference is introduced into conversation. She and Booth begin a relationship near the end of season six, and in season seven, they live together with their daughter.

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David Boreanaz as Seeley Booth: Brennan aids FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth in his investigations involving human remains that cannot be identified without Brennan's skills in forensic anthropology. Booth is often used to provide a layman's translation of the scientific jargon-filled dialog. He gives Brennan her nickname, "Bones", which she starts out hating, but comes to accept it. Despite having no training in criminology, he is known for his ability to read people's behavior and cues, a quality unknown to Brennan.

He is a former U. S. Army Ranger and Special Forces sniper.

He has a son from a previous relationship, Parker, and a brother, Jared. He also has a daughter with Brennan.

• Michaela Conlin as Angela Montenegro: a forensic artist at the Jeffersonian Institute and Dr. Brennan's best friend. Angela is Dr. Brennan's team specialist in craniofacial reconstruction—helping to determine what their victims looked like before death to help determine their identity—and can generate holograms using her three-dimensional graphics program (The Angelator and later The Angelatron) to simulate various virtual scenarios of a crime to help determine cause of death.

She is open, friendly, and caring and constantly tries to draw Dr. Brennan out of the lab. Angela is the daughter of Billy Gibbons, guitarist of ZZ Top, starring as himself. In season five, she marries Jack Hodgins, and she gives birth to their son in season six.

• T. J. Thyne as Dr. Jack Hodgins: an entomologist who is also an expert on spores and minerals but whose hobby is conspiracy theories. He helps teach Zack how to be socially normal.

His family is extremely wealthy and are major sponsors of the Jeffersonian; however, Hodgins wishes for this status to remain concealed from his bosses because he does not want to be seen as a superior (it eventually came out during an investigation, although nobody has allowed it to significantly impact their relationships with him). In season five, he marries Angela Montenegro, and she gives birth to their son in season six.

• Eric Millegan as Dr. Zack Addy (Seasons 1–3; guest star, seasons 4–5): introduced as Dr. Brennan's graduate student and assistant at the Jeffersonian Institute at the start of the series.

In the second season, he receives his doctorate in Forensic Anthropology and Mechanical Engineering and becomes a professional forensic anthropologist. Although well-meaning, helpful, and friendly, when a situation calls for social interaction or intuition, he is often lost. He is also Hodgins' best friend and lives in the upper part of Hodgins' garage. Zack was removed from his position on Dr. Brennan's team in the third season finale, "The Pain in the Heart", where he was revealed to be the serial killer's apprentice, and is currently residing in an asylum.

However, it has since been determined that he is not as "crazy" as was initially assumed. Zack set up his diagnosis so that he would go to the asylum, as he felt he would do poorly in prison. Zack is also known as "Zacharoni" and "Z-Man", and a recurring element in the show involved Zack and Hodgins amicably competing to be "King of the Lab". In the episode "The Pain in the Heart", Dr. Saroyan's trophy recognizing Zack as "King of the Lab" is revealed.

• Jonathan Adams as Dr. Daniel Goodman (Season 1): a former archaeologist turned administrator, who is also the director of the Jeffersonian Institute.

He is a loving husband and father to a pair of five-year-old twin girls. His way of working leads Hodgins to think of him as subjective, long winded, and lacking the qualities of a pure scientist, although the antagonism between the two develops into a friendly rivalry as the series progresses. He has not made any appearances beyond the first season. As of episode 23, "The Titan on the Tracks", he is said to be on a sabbatical.

• Tamara Taylor as Dr. Camille Saroyan (Season 2–present): is the head of the Forensic Division at Jeffersonian Institute and a pathologist.

She was born in The Bronx and was a coroner in New York City. At first, she and Dr. Brennan have an uneasy working relationship. Dr. Saroyan had a romantic relationship with Booth prior to her joining the Jeffersonian and a brief relationship during the show. Since season four, she has had a teenage adopted daughter, Michelle, because of her prior relationship with Michelle's murdered father.

• John Francis Daley as Dr. Lance Sweets (Season 3–present): a psychologist assigned to Booth and Brennan after Booth arrests her father.

He works as a psychologist for the FBI and as a psychoanalyst for the team at the Jeffersonian. Dr. Sweets replaced Dr. Gordon Wyatt (Stephen Fry) who had formerly been the FBI psychologist but who retired in order to pursue a career as a chef.

Recurring cast

• Patricia Belcher as Caroline Julian (Season 1–present): Caroline is the acerbic, witty, and often meddlesome Prosecutor from the U. S. Attorney's Office. She is a friend of Booth's and is always willing, if not eager, to help him and his partner in their cases.
• Billy Gibbons as Angela's Dad (Season 1–present): The musician from ZZ Top plays a fictionalized character of himself. His fictionalized character of self includes being the father of Angela Montenegro, of whom he is extremely protective.
• Ryan O'Neal as Matthew Brennan (Season 2–present): Max Keenan, aka Matthew Brennan, is the biological father of Russ and Temperance Brennan. A known criminal involved with gangs in the '70s, he and his wife changed identities to lead an honest life with their children.

In the second season, Booth arrests Max on murder charges and he is tried in season three, where the jury finds him innocent on all counts and is released, and is finally given the opportunity to reconnect with his children.

• Eugene Byrd as Dr. Clark Edison (Season 3–present): He is the most serious and professional of the Jeffersonian interns, and the most organized. At the beginning of season eight, Cam hires Clark as a forensic anthropologist, to focus on archaeological work.
• Michael Grant Terry as Wendell Bray (Season 4–present): He is Dr. Brennan's top scholarship intern.He dates Angela briefly during season five.
• Carla Gallo as Daisy Wick (Season 4–present): Daisy is upbeat and eager, often annoying the other Jeffersonian workers. She frequently has an on-again, off-again relationship with Lance Sweets.
• Joel David Moore as Colin Fisher (Season 4–present): Fisher suffers from depression and has a very dark sense of humor. He sometimes spends time at mental health facilities for treatment.
• Pej Vahdat as Arastoo Vaziri (Season 4–present): Arastoo starts out by having a fake Iranian accent, so he does not have to constantly explain his Islamic beliefs, but later drops the accent.In season eight, he begins dating Cam.
• Ryan Cartwright as Vincent Nigel-Murray (Seasons 4–6): Vincent is an Englishman and a graduate of the University of Leeds, and has a habit of reciting trivia while working. In season six, he is shot in the chest by sniper Jacob Brodsky, which led directly to his death. Hodgins and Angela name their son after him.
• Luke Kleintank as Finn Abernathy (Season 7–present): Finn is the youngest intern and incredibly smart. He is from Kentucky, and has a dark past, including a criminal record and he was accused of killing his step-father.

His background sometimes adds tension between himself and the other characters. He is dating Cam's daughter Michelle. The concept of Bones was developed during the latter part of the pitching season of 2004 when 20th Century Fox approached series creator Hart Hanson with an idea for a forensics show. Hanson was asked to meet with executive producer Barry Josephson, who had purchased the rights to produce a documentary on the forensic anthropologist and author Kathy Reichs. Although Hanson was reluctant about being involved in making a police procedural, he signed on nd wrote the pilot episode after having an intensive meeting with Josephson about the show. [ As the show is based on the works of Reichs, the writers constantly involve her in the process of producing the episodes' storylines. Although the show's main character is also loosely based on Reichs, producers decided to name her Temperance Brennan, after the character in Reichs' novels; Reichs has stated that she views the show as somewhat of a prequel to her novels, with the TV show's Temperance Brennan as a younger version of the novels' Temperance Brennan.

In order to make Bones a unique crime drama in the midst of the multiple procedural dramas that already populated network television like the Law & Order and CSI franchises, Hanson decided to infuse the show with as much dark humor and character development as possible. ] Another element conceived for the show was the "Angelator", a holographic projector that provides a way to replace the flashbacks often used by other procedural shows. In addition to their expositional purposes, the holographic images, which are created by visual effects, brought a unique visual style to the show that the producers were looking for.