7.6 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.7 |
After a much-needed break, forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) return to the Jeffersonian Institute, along with their team of investigative "squints," for another darkly humorous season of murder, mystery, controversy and chemistry. In addition to a vast array of personal crises, ranging from Angela\'s secret pregnancy to Booth\'s new relationship with a beautiful reporter, the team tackles a complex caseload of gruesome crimes that includes facing a murderous Chupacabra, a trip to the Jersey Shore, the final return of the Gravedigger, and a vigilante sniper with a deadly link to Booth\'s past.
Starring: Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz, Michaela Conlin, T.J. Thyne, Tamara TaylorComedy | 100% |
Romance | 78% |
Mystery | 17% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Four-disc set (4 BDs)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
I’ll admit up front: I’ve never been one for episodic, procedural TV series, the kind of shows where a crime is introduced in the opening scene and solved within 45-minutes. Give me the sprawling Dickensian serial narrative of The Wire or the deep dark mystery of Twin Peaks, the evolving “mythology” of Lost or the ongoing period drama of Mad Men or Boardwalk Empire. I generally don’t want easily digestible TV short stories; I want something that sustains me from week to week and keeps me wanting more. Granted, some shows have managed to do both. The X-Files is probably the best example, balancing an overarching story with “Monster of the Week”-style episodes, and Fox has applied this same basic template to Fringe and—to a lesser extent—Bones. Of the two, Bones definitely exists more in the “week-to-week” category, but it does make concessions for a few larger storylines that play out over the course of the season, including the ever- changing relationship between its two main characters, forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and her off-and-on love interest, FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz).
Bones
Bones made the production switch from 35mm to high definition video at the beginning of season five, and the show hasn't looked back since. I think the change works well for the series; it used to be a touch too grainy—just look at some of the older clips from the credit sequence—but now the picture is as fine-edged as a scalpel and as clean as a newly disinfected autopsy table. Okay, that's a slight exaggeration, but you get my point. The episodes have been given 1080p/AVC encodes, and taken together, they're crisp and strongly colored. The image in general is plenty sharp, but you'll especially notice the level of high definition clarity in close-ups, where the actors faces are keenly defined and the details of the cadaver gore are disgustingly realized down to the smallest maggot and bit of textured viscera. Sure, you'll notice some occasional soft-ish shots, but this has more to do with slightly imprecise focus-pulling than any issue with the encode. Considering the show's subject matter, the color palette is bright and almost cheery, with well-lit interiors—this makes sense in the forensics lab—and outdoor scenes that feature vivid grass and clean blue skies. Skin tones looks healthy— besides the ample rotting flesh, of course—and black levels are as inky as they need to be while still preserving shadow detail. Noise spikes slightly during darker scenes—as you'd expect—and I spied some slight aliasing in a few episodes, but there are no egregious compression problems, no instances of overenthusiastic edge enhancement, and no overt banding or macroblocking. Bones once again looks great on Blu-ray.
Bones features the kind of DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound presentation that you expect from a procedural series—that is, one that isn't fancy but certainly gets the job done with a strong attention to detail. In other words, this is a standard made-for-TV mix, not particularly immersive or bombastic, but still thoughtfully designed. The front channels carry most of the action and are definitely punchy when they need to be, while the surrounds offer up modest ambience and occasional effects, like gunshots, outdoorsy sounds, and gross insects-feeding-on-dead-body noises. The subwoofer is less frequently called to duty, but when it is—during explosions and the like—it rumbles authoritatively. Music is usually light and complementary, but there are a few instances where it pounds along, propelling the action. Most importantly, dialogue is always clean, prioritized, and easily comprehended, with no hisses, pops, crackles, or dropouts. Each episode features optional English SDH, Spanish, and French subtitles.
This season six set contains about the same amount of bonus material as previous seasons—that is, not much—but what's here is worth checking out.
If you've been a Bones fan from the beginning, season six offers up more of what you expect from the show—fun characters, strong writing, and grisly-ass, gross-out, stomach-churning murders, solved neatly by the end of each episode. This kind of episodic, procedural TV isn't for everyone, of course, so if you're curious I'd suggest first checking out the show on Hulu, where season six is currently streaming. If you like what you see, this Blu- ray set might be worth picking up.
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