I worry about this third season of “Bones.” Maybe it’s the influence of pessimism and snark emanating from the Television Without Pity forums, but I’m increasingly annoyed by this season of Bones.

Last night’s episode, “Player Under Pressure” was originally set during season 2, but was postponed because of the Virginia Tech massacre (the episode revolves around a college basketball player who was murdered on campus. And maybe it was a respect thing which is totally cool, but after finally seeing the episode, I couldn’t really see any similarities between that horrible event and the plotline of the episode, but whatever.) It was nice to finally get to see the episode, but it served to highlight the glaring inconsistencies between the two seasons.

Almost everything this season seems to be played for laughs. Angela’s mysterious Fiji husband she married on a drunken holiday, Hodgins and Zach fighting over ‘King of the Lab’ titles, Booth going from hardened military sniper turned FBI agent dealing with a gambling problem to a big old goof complete with pratfalls and hokey facial expressions, Brennan and Booth forced into “couples” therapy for reasons I have yet to figure out and their shrink played by a 23 year-old guy who stays up at night playing video games?

Where is my, dare I say it, broody Seeley Booth who feels like he can’t have a relationship without putting that woman in danger? Where is Brennan’s all-night sessions in the lab rebuilding a shattered skull and studying bones trying to get them to give up their secrets?

Having said all of that, there are wonderful comedic moments that i love about the show and I’ve pretty much always labeled Bones as a lighter forensics show. Davis Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel are able to add layers to their characters with a seemingly throwaway line. In, “The Man in the Morgue,” Bones walks into a friend’s house calling his name. His name is Graham. So she’s yelling, “Graham? Graham?” and Booth mutters under his breath, “Cracker.” - Hilarious stuff!

So it’s not that I don’t like the comedic moments on the show. And I’m happy Boreanaz is getting to play something else besides a broody vampire. But I miss the balance the show was able to find in its freshman season between the broody and the funny. I think the show has lost that.

The first new “Bones” is on tonight (a new night, fyi.) The show has not aired since either late November or early December (I’d have to check my DVR to be sure. Either way it’s been a long damn time.) Admittedly, I got into this show because of the draw of David Boreanaz. I finished the last season of “Angel” and wanted more Boreanaz so I Netflixed “Bones.” And surprisingly, I found myself enjoying it. I say surprisingly because I’m not really one for the forensics shows. I prefer character-driven shows whenever possible.

But “Bones” turned out to be a character-driven forensics show and so I was a happy girl. Even if the show did squick me now and then. It’s full of corpsy-goodness. Wet, burnt, mutilated corpsy-goodness. *shudder*

Tonight’s episode is called “The Man in the Mud” and involves the remains of a professional motorcycle racer found in, well, mud. The team has to find the killer while Bones and Booth’s shrink forces them into a double date situation.

Now, the mud thing sounds pretty nifty. The double date thing seems, to put it bluntly, forced. The show has always fluctuated between gritty drama and campy humour and sometimes they pull it off, and sometimes they stretch their credibility. They’ve done it moreso in this third season when the most idiotic reason ever was contrived for getting Booth and Bones to kiss. Don’t get me wrong - I want to eventually see those two crazy kids get together as much as the next B/B shipper - but I want it to evolve naturally. I don’t want it shoved down my throat just because it’s what the writers think we want and it’s their way of giving us what we want without committing to a love story arc.

They used a crusty, feisty attorney who is friends with Booth and Bones to get all Puck-ish at Christmas and basically blackmail Bones into getting Booth to kiss her. It was stupid and I wish they hadn’t done it. But what’s done is done and I was hoping they’d spend what little time they have left after the writer’s strike to develop and solve the far more interesting Gormogon killer story arc. But judging by tonight’s evident foray into the romantically absurd, I don’t think I’ll get my wish.

But I’ll watch, because at the end of the day, I’m shallow and can at least stare all googly-eyed at David Boreanaz