Letter to Bones
This is a letter I wrote and posted to Bones the week before "The Bones on a Blue Line", after I was really fed up with the LONG hiatus that we all went through. Just think of it as a fan ranting :)
xxxxooooOOOOooooxxxx
Dear BONES Production Team,
I’m writing to express my opinions and feelings towards what is happening with your show, Bones, this season. I feel, as a loyal fan of the show, it is my duty to let you know what I think of the various aspects of the show, in particular the storyline, the direction, and the scheduling.
I’d like to start with a little background on myself and my history of watching Bones. I’m from Australia, so you can rest assured that the popularity of Bones has reached the other side of the world. I saw my first episode of Bones on TV here in Australia in November 2008, and within one month I have seen every episode from the Pilot to the last episode aired before the 2008 Christmas hiatus, which I believe to be Episode 10, “The Bone that Blew”. After that, I joined in the rest of the Bones fans in waiting patiently for the new adventures which Bones takes us on every week. In April 2009, not long before the end of Season 4, I joined Twitter, firstly with the idea of following the tweets by Hart and Stephen Fry, but soon after I found a large group of fellow Bones fans who I’ve shared countless precious moments with, as we suffered through the summer hiatus together. We entertained ourselves with all things Bones related - any spoilers, articles, interviews, promos that were released, as well as games and quizzes on Bones, and even participating in an online Bones scavenger hunt. It’s fair to say I’m a big fan of the show.
To be honest, I have been disappointed with what has aired so far in Season 5. Like many Bones fans, I wish for a happy ending for the Booth-and-Brennan relationship and part of my drive for wanting to see the next episode is to see how their relationship will develop. With all the hype that has been generated before the Season 5 premiere on how this is the season that Booth is wooing his Bones (especially the various interviews - BBC radio interview, various interviews on FOX news programs - showing David Boreanaz saying so), it is only logical that the Booth and Brennan “shippers”, as we like to call ourselves, such as myself, have high hopes to see something happen between them this season. However, after the big bang that was the premiere, “Harbingers in a Fountain”, my excitement for “what’s next?” has slowly turned to disappointment. This sense of disappointment is not completely targeted at how the relationship between Booth and Brennan has developed so far (although you can’t blame us for being disappointed at your insistence at continuing the unresolved sexual tension between them, which I personally believe is getting to the point of ridiculous and illogical), but rather at the fact that you have not lived up to, or even attempted to live up to, the hype that was generated before the season started. So far, what I’ve seen in Season 5 included very little, if any at all, of Booth wooing Brennan, which was I guess you could call a catch phrase in the promotion for Bones before the season started. There has been no progress at all in the relationship between Booth and Brennan. True, there have been plenty of innuendos, long looks (or “eyesex”, as we like to call it), various conversations about love between Booth and Brennan, and so on. But all of these have been present in the show since earlier seasons and I see no significant difference to how their relationship has developed further since the end of Season 4. No major issues between Booth and Brennan have been tackled so far in the season - where is the discussion on the baby issue, the similarities between Booth’s dream and Brennan’s book and their impact on their relationship? As a viewer, I feel I have been cheated, since, up till now, the development in the Booth and Brennan’s relationship has not lived up to what has been promised. When a company advertises that its product has certain functions which could not be delivered, it is called “false advertising”. How different is the pre-Season-5 hype to false advertising when the hype hasn’t been delivered? And with only eight episodes until the season ends, I am having great trouble to see how this promise can still be delivered, especially with the rumours we as fans have heard for the upcoming episodes. So, I am disappointed that the development of the Booth and Brennan relationship in Season 5 of Bones has not lived up to its promise.
A large part of my love for Bones is the case that is investigated and solved in every episode. I am a fan of criminal procedural dramas, in particularly the ones with cases that are investigated. So it was this element of Bones which drew me to watching the show in the first place. In Seasons 1 to 3, I feel that there is a great balance between the case and the people aspects of the show, and the cases are unique enough to engage my attention, even with cases from other shows running through my mind as well, while the characters and their happenings bring a lighter atmosphere to the show. However, it is of my opinion that in Season 4 onwards, the case aspect of the show has given way to the people aspect such that more attention has been placed on what is happening to the characters in the show. A part of this is due to the rotating interns, a great idea which I have thoroughly enjoyed and I love the characters that have been brought in (my favourite intern: Mr. Nigel-Murray). But I also feel that the case aspect of the show has not engaged my interested like it did in the earlier seasons and has not been on par with the people side of the show. More often than not, when I watched the Seasons 4 and 5 episodes, I have squeed, “Oh my God”ed, and laughed over the interactions with the characters, but when it came to the case, my usual reaction has been “meh” more than “wow”. It just feels like the case side of Bones has fallen into a predictable rut, the unique spark which drew me to first watching Bones and later falling in love with it has gone dull. Bones has always prided itself as a character-driven show, but lately, without a good balance of the character stories and case elements, it is losing the shine off the “cri-“ part of its “crimedy” status. And when combined with a storyline involving Booth and Brennan that has been a significant element in the character stories this season and has not lived up to its promise, as described earlier, I find myself losing some enthusiasm on what will happen next.
On top of the storyline and lack of lustre in the case aspect of the show, scheduling in this season has proven to be a hindrance to my enjoyment of the show as well. When I first started watching Bones, I could watch episode after episode, develop a rhythm of watching the show which maximised my enjoyment of it, until I have caught up with the rest of the world on the adventures of Booth, Brennan and the Squints in the early episodes of Season 4. So my regular weekly Bones watching experience has only started after the Christmas hiatus in Season 4. Because there was at least one episode of Bones being aired every week or fortnight, this set a good rhythm that I found to have enhanced my Bones-watching experience with minimal interruptions, which allowed the story to flow from one week to another while the previous episodes were still somewhat fresh on my mind. On the other hand, looking at this season, so far there has been three hiatuses already - one small one during the October baseball finals, one during Christmas, and the other we’re currently experiencing in March. This has severely disrupted my enjoyment of Bones because, with a huge gap of two months in the most recent hiatus, I now will have to re-watch the previous episodes so that my mind can remember what happened before this upcoming episode, otherwise there might be nuances which I might not recall and that will diminish the fun of watching the show. I understand this hiatus is unavoidable, but I would have rather the episodes to start airing in April instead of January after the Christmas hiatus, and the remaining episodes in the season be aired on a regular basis. In my opinion, a longer hiatus is better than two shorter hiatuses as I’d prefer a smooth ride to the end of the season, instead of a start-stop jerky ride.
I would also like to bring up the fact that FOX decided to make the video clips on Fox On Demand (FOD) only available to US viewers. As I am accessing FOD from an Australian server, I have been unable to view any of the new clips since the beginning of the year. I understand this is a restriction across the board on all FOX shows, not just on Bones, and I also understand if we non-US viewers cannot watch the full episodes because of copyright reasons, but to not be able to watch these little snippets of the show which, I remind you, used to be available for viewing, even on the other side of the world, I find this utterly discriminatory. If due to proprietary reasons, these video clips cannot be viewed by us on FOD, perhaps an alternative is to release these video clips on the FoxBroadcasting channel on YouTube or on the official Bones Facebook account, where everyone would be able to enjoy them?
Another aspect that I’d like to bring up, which is less show-related, is Hart Hanson’s comments on the 2009 ComiCon regarding that the fans don’t want to see Booth and Brennan together. I would like to say I have NEVER heard there was a poll put out to all the Bones fans to collect this opinion and if a poll wasn’t conducted, then Hart’s comment was not fans’ opinion at all. If the opinions of fans are desired, then let the fans speak for themselves in the form of a poll or a survey, instead of misrepresenting our opinions with those of your own. And also, audience present at the ComiCon panel do not necessarily represent the average Bones viewing audience, much less fans. I believe many of those present at the panel were fans of other shows, who might have never seen the show Bones. Therefore I fail to see what relevance their “put your hands up if you want to see Booth and Brennan together” opinions are to the views of the real Bones audience.
I apologise for the length of the letter, but I feel, as a fan of the show, I should express my personal opinions towards your show, or we fans like to think of it as “our show”, Bones. The above-mentioned points are just my own opinions, but from my various discussions with other Bones fans, I believe these reflect some of the views of other fans as well, although I do not claim to speak their minds. I love the show, and I would like to see it continue so I can see what adventures Booth, Brennan and the Squints are up to week in, week out. I hope that my opinions help to make this happen.
Yours faithfully,
Jane Hung
xxxxooooOOOOooooxxxx
If you do read this, please feel free to let me know what you think :)
xxxxooooOOOOooooxxxx
Dear BONES Production Team,
I’m writing to express my opinions and feelings towards what is happening with your show, Bones, this season. I feel, as a loyal fan of the show, it is my duty to let you know what I think of the various aspects of the show, in particular the storyline, the direction, and the scheduling.
I’d like to start with a little background on myself and my history of watching Bones. I’m from Australia, so you can rest assured that the popularity of Bones has reached the other side of the world. I saw my first episode of Bones on TV here in Australia in November 2008, and within one month I have seen every episode from the Pilot to the last episode aired before the 2008 Christmas hiatus, which I believe to be Episode 10, “The Bone that Blew”. After that, I joined in the rest of the Bones fans in waiting patiently for the new adventures which Bones takes us on every week. In April 2009, not long before the end of Season 4, I joined Twitter, firstly with the idea of following the tweets by Hart and Stephen Fry, but soon after I found a large group of fellow Bones fans who I’ve shared countless precious moments with, as we suffered through the summer hiatus together. We entertained ourselves with all things Bones related - any spoilers, articles, interviews, promos that were released, as well as games and quizzes on Bones, and even participating in an online Bones scavenger hunt. It’s fair to say I’m a big fan of the show.
To be honest, I have been disappointed with what has aired so far in Season 5. Like many Bones fans, I wish for a happy ending for the Booth-and-Brennan relationship and part of my drive for wanting to see the next episode is to see how their relationship will develop. With all the hype that has been generated before the Season 5 premiere on how this is the season that Booth is wooing his Bones (especially the various interviews - BBC radio interview, various interviews on FOX news programs - showing David Boreanaz saying so), it is only logical that the Booth and Brennan “shippers”, as we like to call ourselves, such as myself, have high hopes to see something happen between them this season. However, after the big bang that was the premiere, “Harbingers in a Fountain”, my excitement for “what’s next?” has slowly turned to disappointment. This sense of disappointment is not completely targeted at how the relationship between Booth and Brennan has developed so far (although you can’t blame us for being disappointed at your insistence at continuing the unresolved sexual tension between them, which I personally believe is getting to the point of ridiculous and illogical), but rather at the fact that you have not lived up to, or even attempted to live up to, the hype that was generated before the season started. So far, what I’ve seen in Season 5 included very little, if any at all, of Booth wooing Brennan, which was I guess you could call a catch phrase in the promotion for Bones before the season started. There has been no progress at all in the relationship between Booth and Brennan. True, there have been plenty of innuendos, long looks (or “eyesex”, as we like to call it), various conversations about love between Booth and Brennan, and so on. But all of these have been present in the show since earlier seasons and I see no significant difference to how their relationship has developed further since the end of Season 4. No major issues between Booth and Brennan have been tackled so far in the season - where is the discussion on the baby issue, the similarities between Booth’s dream and Brennan’s book and their impact on their relationship? As a viewer, I feel I have been cheated, since, up till now, the development in the Booth and Brennan’s relationship has not lived up to what has been promised. When a company advertises that its product has certain functions which could not be delivered, it is called “false advertising”. How different is the pre-Season-5 hype to false advertising when the hype hasn’t been delivered? And with only eight episodes until the season ends, I am having great trouble to see how this promise can still be delivered, especially with the rumours we as fans have heard for the upcoming episodes. So, I am disappointed that the development of the Booth and Brennan relationship in Season 5 of Bones has not lived up to its promise.
A large part of my love for Bones is the case that is investigated and solved in every episode. I am a fan of criminal procedural dramas, in particularly the ones with cases that are investigated. So it was this element of Bones which drew me to watching the show in the first place. In Seasons 1 to 3, I feel that there is a great balance between the case and the people aspects of the show, and the cases are unique enough to engage my attention, even with cases from other shows running through my mind as well, while the characters and their happenings bring a lighter atmosphere to the show. However, it is of my opinion that in Season 4 onwards, the case aspect of the show has given way to the people aspect such that more attention has been placed on what is happening to the characters in the show. A part of this is due to the rotating interns, a great idea which I have thoroughly enjoyed and I love the characters that have been brought in (my favourite intern: Mr. Nigel-Murray). But I also feel that the case aspect of the show has not engaged my interested like it did in the earlier seasons and has not been on par with the people side of the show. More often than not, when I watched the Seasons 4 and 5 episodes, I have squeed, “Oh my God”ed, and laughed over the interactions with the characters, but when it came to the case, my usual reaction has been “meh” more than “wow”. It just feels like the case side of Bones has fallen into a predictable rut, the unique spark which drew me to first watching Bones and later falling in love with it has gone dull. Bones has always prided itself as a character-driven show, but lately, without a good balance of the character stories and case elements, it is losing the shine off the “cri-“ part of its “crimedy” status. And when combined with a storyline involving Booth and Brennan that has been a significant element in the character stories this season and has not lived up to its promise, as described earlier, I find myself losing some enthusiasm on what will happen next.
On top of the storyline and lack of lustre in the case aspect of the show, scheduling in this season has proven to be a hindrance to my enjoyment of the show as well. When I first started watching Bones, I could watch episode after episode, develop a rhythm of watching the show which maximised my enjoyment of it, until I have caught up with the rest of the world on the adventures of Booth, Brennan and the Squints in the early episodes of Season 4. So my regular weekly Bones watching experience has only started after the Christmas hiatus in Season 4. Because there was at least one episode of Bones being aired every week or fortnight, this set a good rhythm that I found to have enhanced my Bones-watching experience with minimal interruptions, which allowed the story to flow from one week to another while the previous episodes were still somewhat fresh on my mind. On the other hand, looking at this season, so far there has been three hiatuses already - one small one during the October baseball finals, one during Christmas, and the other we’re currently experiencing in March. This has severely disrupted my enjoyment of Bones because, with a huge gap of two months in the most recent hiatus, I now will have to re-watch the previous episodes so that my mind can remember what happened before this upcoming episode, otherwise there might be nuances which I might not recall and that will diminish the fun of watching the show. I understand this hiatus is unavoidable, but I would have rather the episodes to start airing in April instead of January after the Christmas hiatus, and the remaining episodes in the season be aired on a regular basis. In my opinion, a longer hiatus is better than two shorter hiatuses as I’d prefer a smooth ride to the end of the season, instead of a start-stop jerky ride.
I would also like to bring up the fact that FOX decided to make the video clips on Fox On Demand (FOD) only available to US viewers. As I am accessing FOD from an Australian server, I have been unable to view any of the new clips since the beginning of the year. I understand this is a restriction across the board on all FOX shows, not just on Bones, and I also understand if we non-US viewers cannot watch the full episodes because of copyright reasons, but to not be able to watch these little snippets of the show which, I remind you, used to be available for viewing, even on the other side of the world, I find this utterly discriminatory. If due to proprietary reasons, these video clips cannot be viewed by us on FOD, perhaps an alternative is to release these video clips on the FoxBroadcasting channel on YouTube or on the official Bones Facebook account, where everyone would be able to enjoy them?
Another aspect that I’d like to bring up, which is less show-related, is Hart Hanson’s comments on the 2009 ComiCon regarding that the fans don’t want to see Booth and Brennan together. I would like to say I have NEVER heard there was a poll put out to all the Bones fans to collect this opinion and if a poll wasn’t conducted, then Hart’s comment was not fans’ opinion at all. If the opinions of fans are desired, then let the fans speak for themselves in the form of a poll or a survey, instead of misrepresenting our opinions with those of your own. And also, audience present at the ComiCon panel do not necessarily represent the average Bones viewing audience, much less fans. I believe many of those present at the panel were fans of other shows, who might have never seen the show Bones. Therefore I fail to see what relevance their “put your hands up if you want to see Booth and Brennan together” opinions are to the views of the real Bones audience.
I apologise for the length of the letter, but I feel, as a fan of the show, I should express my personal opinions towards your show, or we fans like to think of it as “our show”, Bones. The above-mentioned points are just my own opinions, but from my various discussions with other Bones fans, I believe these reflect some of the views of other fans as well, although I do not claim to speak their minds. I love the show, and I would like to see it continue so I can see what adventures Booth, Brennan and the Squints are up to week in, week out. I hope that my opinions help to make this happen.
Yours faithfully,
Jane Hung
xxxxooooOOOOooooxxxx
If you do read this, please feel free to let me know what you think :)