Bones went off the air in 2017 with a total of 246 episodes in the can, which is a pretty amazing accomplishment for any procedural drama series. The show was based loosely on the life of author Kathy Reichs, a forensic anthropologist who produced the series and provided the basis for Doctor Temperance Brennan, known as Bones to her husband and collaborator, Agent Seeley Booth.
Over the course of the series' 12 seasons, Dr. Brennan and her ever-expanding team of experts in forensic anthropology teamed up with of the FBI to uncover the substantial number of murders in the Washington, D.C. area. Their efforts helped make the streets safer from would-be monsters, but their work also landed a crosshairs on each and every one of their backs. This wouldn't have been a great show if there wasn't an antagonist or two for the various players to contend with, and Bones had them in spades. Some of our favorite characters were taken out unexpectedly, while others turned out to be just as bad as the bad guys Brennan and her team were going after all along.
Whether you were a casual fan or a hardcore binger of the show, there are probably a few details about what was happening that made you think. While these sorts of shows can't always be accurate, there were some aspects of Bones that just didn't make a whole lot of sense. Even for those who paid close attention, some details, plot holes, and outright absurdities failed to meet the logic test.
Here are 20 Things That Make No Sense About Bones.
DR. BRENNAN'S RACIAL PROFILING
Identifying a victim's race on Bones is as simple as a side conversation where Dr. Brennan points out a small feature on the skull. The casual observer might take this as a standard method in forensic science, but determining a person's race is not as easy as the show made it look.
As it turns out, identifying a person's race from their bones is incredibly difficult, and often incorrectly done even by the experts. The Los Angeles County Coroner, Elizabeth Miller, once spoke out about this aspect of the series: "It's the hardest thing to determine, it is the least accurate, and I'm never surprised when I'm wrong.... Pardon the pun: It's not a black-and-white issue." It is possible to determine race from bones, but it's far from easy and requires a lot more work than we see in the show.
WHY ALL THE STORAGE BINS ARE BACKLIT
If you have ever seen promotional material for Bones and never sat down to watch an episode, odds are you saw the storage bins containing skeletal remains. They were prominently featured throughout the series and made for an interesting set piece. The only problem with these bins is that they were each backlit by a lighting system that made no practical sense whatsoever.
Why would you need to light storage bins containing anything other than your awesome G.I. Joe collection?
It's clear the series producers threw this together for a purely aesthetic appeal, but when you are talking about a series that is meant to deal with science and practicality in a methodical manner, this small detail is rather silly.
CAM'S ENDING
When a popular television series consisting of a dozen or more important characters comes to a close, fans are often left wondering what happened to everyone. In most cases, Bones handled this well by indicating what each character would be doing, but not for everyone.
One of the characters whose story arc never received a satisfactory conclusion was Cam. We all know that she finally married Arastoo and was happy in her love life, but we never got the answer as to what her plans were professionall. Would she return to the Jeffersonian or not? When the show concluded, she was taking six months off to begin raising three teenage boys from foster care. There was no indication if she would return to her career or not and this left a lot of fans wondering what could happen to her.
THE NUMBER 447
If you were paying close attention across the entire series, you may have noticed the number 447 showing up every now and again. This began in season four and continued until the end. Throughout eight seasons, fans eagerly awaited some explanation of what these numbers might mean, but when the finale rolled around, there wasn't much in the way of satisfaction.
There was little more than a throwaway line in the finale, which left fans wondering what it could mean.
Ultimately, that answer was given by the producers and writers of the series. The numbers were simply an indication that something important was about to happen in the lives of the characters. No further explanation was given in the show, which makes this something that failed to add up by the series conclusion.
FORENSIC SCIENCE IS SPED UP SIGNIFICANTLY
This may be nitpicking as you aren't going to find a procedural drama on television dealing with forensic science that gets this right. Because the show has to maintain a sense of drama over 42 minutes of programming, the reality of "time" has to be thrown out the window. Bones addressed this issue like most series; it simply ignored the reality of how long it actually takes to do forensic science. What might actually take months in real-time, the crew in Bones managed in minutes.
To its credit, Bones was able to handle this in a seamless way that didn't take away from the drama or keep the story from unfolding. It's one of those things that doesn't make sense if you know anything about DNA analysis, but the audience lets it go because the show is so entertaining.
THEY NEVER CONFIRMED BRENNAN HAD ASPERGER'S SYNDROME
For many who are familiar with Asperger's Syndrome, it was pretty obvious that Dr. Brennan was afflicted with the condition. This longtime fan theory was eventually revealed to have merit when Hart Hanson, the series creator confirmed everyone's suspicions.
Hanson revealed that he based the development of the character on a friend of his with Asperger's Syndrome.
Dr. Brennan exhibited many stereotypical traits from the very first day she showed up, which begs the question, why wasn't it addressed in the show? The simple answer was that it would have changed the tone of the show and the network didn't want to move it in that direction. That's unfortunate, even if it is understandable.
BRENNAN KNEW LITTLE ABOUT HER OWN CULTURE
One of Dr. Brennan's quirky traits that remained a joke throughout the series was her nearly complete lack of knowledge regarding American culture. This was funny, but odd considering she grew up in America.
In some ways, this made sense seeing as she was more focused on the people who had died long ago from other cultures. She was something of an expert when it came to the mating rituals of a culture that no longer existed, but couldn't understand how to relate to the people around her. Some of this might go back to her undiagnosed Asperger's Syndrome, but it doesn't make much sense when you look closely enough. She didn't know who Michael Jackson was, which is like not knowing who Superman is. It was funny, but it didn't make a lot of sense.
THE TEAM WAS TARGETED WAY TOO OFTEN BY CRIMINALS
Television shows and especially procedural dramas like Bones have to maintain a sense of conflict or the series will get boring very fast. Would we tune in every week to watch them solve a crime if there was no danger, conflict, or event coming up? Probably not.
The problem is that the series ran for 12 seasons, which meant it needed to keep adding new threats to the team, time and time again.
The end result was a group of people who were targeted by psychos and nut-jobs far more than reasonably possible. What really doesn't make sense about this was the lack of Federal protection they should have received given their close relationship with the FBI. Under normal conditions, these people would have all been under protective custody for most of the series.
ANGELA'S BABY SURVIVED
Season 12 saw the bombing of the Jeffersonian, which was apparently something the producers had wanted to do for a long time. Whatever their reason for doing so, blowing up a building with a bunch of people in it is always going to raise questions about the survivors.
For Angela, the primary concern wasn't so much about her, but her recently announced pregnancy. Both she and her husband, Hodgins, survived the bombing, but given the level of trauma suffered, Angela's baby's survival doesn't really add up. Angela got banged up pretty badly and thrown about, as one does in a television show featuring a large explosion. Thankfully, she and the baby were OK, even if it doesn't make sense.
BOOTH'S LINEAGE TO JOHN WILKES BOOTH IS QUESTIONABLE
Seeley Booth's family remained somewhat murky through the first three seasons, but he eventually opened up about the people closest to him. One of the familial relationships that Booth really didn't enjoy discussing was his connection to John Wilkes Booth, the man who took out Honest Abe. Booth carried a lot of shame throughout his life for having a relation to the man who took out his favorite national leader, but his relation doesn't exactly add up when you look at the facts.
John Wilkes Booth had no children, which means Seeley isn't a direct descendant of the infamous actor.
If he shared a lineage with Booth's brothers, Edwin and Junius Brutus, that wouldn't explain his disdain for his family name. It's a loose affiliation at best, but an interesting characterization of Seeley either way.