The Man in the Mud

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