Enter your search terms Web curledupdvd Submit search form	BONES: THE COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON Actors: Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz, Michaela Conlin, T.J. Thyne, John Francis Daley   Distributor: 20th Century Fox DVD release: 11 October 2011   Runtime: 1000 minutes (6 discs) Format: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Features: Aspect ratio 1.78:1, Audio tracks (English - 5.1 Dolby Surround), Subtitles (English SDH, Spanish, French), Audio commentaries ("The Doctor in the Photo," "The Blackout in the Blizzard"), Extended episodes ("The Daredevil in the Mold," "The Bikini in the Soup"), Gag reel, The Visual Effects of Bones , "The Killing" pilot episode Bones, season six, launches a little differently. The main players are scattered to the four winds, leaving only boss-lady Cam in the lab, virtually hanging herself and her career on national television. Caroline Julian, federal prosecutor extraordinaire, calls the troops back to rescue Cam from herself. They've finally learned that together, they are the best team there is. Back home, they work to solve a case with a missing child, and a child's skeleton, save Cam, and get back to the Jeffersonian. "So you people come back from the far-flung corners of the earth out past the outer suburbs of Timbuktu and you solved the case in a shake?" The rhetorical question is from Caroline, lawyer for the wonder team, and a perfect example of the amusing yet serious scripting. More often than not, those lines are carried off with completely authentic sarcastic grace. That very first episode is full of secrets, and lies, and reacquainting. Bones and Booth are very happy to see one another, with hugely restrained undercurrents of thoughts left unsaid. Angela confides in Bones, sharing the news that she is pregnant-and that she hasn't even told Hodgins yet. By the end of the third episode, nearly everyone knows of Angela's pregnancy, but Hodgins is out of the loop. Sweets and Daisy try to find even footing again, after Daisy all but broke up with him before she left with Bones for the year. It's all deliciously messy. "The Couple in the Cave" is bittersweet, both the case and Brennan's (Emily Deschanel) impressive emoting. In "The Shallow in the Deep," the humanity of the Jeffersonian team comes out, and it is humbling and moving. "The Blackout in the Blizzard" has a basic breakdown by the actors, illuminating things that might be missed. If the most poignant, outrage-inspiring chapter is "The Signs in the Silence," then "The Hole in the Heart" is the most wrenching. In Heart, the music is particularly well chosen, with arrangements vaguely reminiscent of unwanted battle and words telling of the raucous emotions that go along with it. "Keep the Streets Empty for Me" by Fever Ray couldn't have been a more perfect choice. There are twenty-three episodes in season six of Bones, and not one of them is unworthy of watching. One of the few real plot holes is the dropping of the storyline with Sweets (John Francis Daley) and his slightly loony Daisy (Carla Gallo) - it's a plot device to get Booth to propose to Heather, then poor Daisy is not heard from again. The huge issue Cam is fighting for in the first episode is never spoken of again, though she is taught a morality lesson by her seventeen-year-old daughter. There is actually very little about Angela and Hodgins' baby, but the little bits tucked in here and there are warm and happy. Michaela Conlin, as sweetly stubborn and artistic Angela, and T.J. Thyne, as 'bug and slime guy' Hodgins, do a great job of emulating warmth, chemistry and joy. It's heartwarming to enjoy a beloved character's pregnancy; it's not fun to follow cheap clichés. The multi-episode arc scare adds unnecessary drama. These are small annoyances that are more than made up for with the intricate and beautiful tales woven through the catch-the-bad-guy murders. Dr. Cam manages to be all gooey, to the point of sweet disgust, while dating toward the beginning when all is sparkles and rainbows-though her romantic sideline is dropped, too. There are still plenty of little tidbits to enjoy. Angela's dad (amusingly played by ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons) popping in here and there to intimidate Hodgins is always good for a laugh. As for the mains, their banter reads much like flirting, though neither Brennan nor Booth would admit to it as such. The interpersonal relations in the lab between the 'squints' are quite entertaining. The tools and experiments are cool, such as Angela's laser machine that makes 3D duplicate sets of bones. The "Angelator" of Bones yesteryear has become the "Angelatron." The characters get giddy when they play with the lab toys. In episode nine, Deschanel has a chance to really shine as an emotional actress, and she rises to the challenge (she directs some episodes now, as well as acting). The story ventures into the completely surreal, but it gives her room to reach and her character grows and changes. Seeing oneself in the deceased must be terrifying, and in Sweets's words, she over-identifies with the victim. Bones is none too happy about some of her growth. While in the car with Angela, she says, "I've spent quite a bit of time with Sweets, Booth and Hannah, who all overvalue human interaction. Some of it got on me." There is a commentary offering overlaid on this one, which sadly shines very little light on the strange convoluted story that Tempe wanders through. The night watchman (is he real or a figment of her sleep-deprived, emotional imagination?) of the Jeffersonian, guest actor Enrico Colantoni, deserves praise for his role. Booth is beautifully acted by heartthrob extraordinaire from back in the days of Buffy and Angel, David Boreanaz. He deftly manages the FBI tough-guy routine, while somehow imbuing the character with a strong Catholic background and a gooey soft heart when it comes to his child. He has a strong morality and can show such strong love in his eyes. A brokenhearted Booth is a difficult sight to behold. Boreanaz has grown as an actor, through the six seasons that he has played Agent Seeley Booth on Bones. He also directs some of the episodes now. Even the "squinterns" are given space to grow and change a bit through the season, as does Caroline Julian, in response to extreme terror. She drops her guard, shaking with emotion - that is more shocking than nearly anything else in the whole season. The incomparable Patricia Belcher just makes every scene she is in - as Caroline, she brings an extra special genuine something to her role. As Booth says of her character, "Caroline's a nice person. underneath the whole, you know, 'not nice' thing." A number of interesting characters play in season six. Heather Taffet, "The Gravedigger" creepily portrayed by Deirdre Lovejoy, makes another brief appearance. Even that brief showing sets the blood running cold. Arnold Vosloo (Imotep. Imotep.) portrays a man from Booth's past, appearing several times as a rogue assassin. Max, Bones's father (Ryan O'Neal), pops in, too. Joel McKinnon Miller, seen recently in Big Love, makes a great US Border Agent. Luke Girardi, known best from Joan of Arcadia, appears in the episode "The Feet on the Beach." In "The Finder" (the additional characters are based on "The Locator" books by Richard Greener), several new guest stars make quite an impression: Carlo Rota, Suzie Plakson, Saffron Burrows, Danny Trejo, and perhaps most exciting, Michael Clarke Duncan. In their case, they fairly take over the show, but in a most fabulous manner. Tina Majorino plays a sweet, earnest special agent. There's a clown once, and even a bronze-painted man, a street performer, who helps with a murder. Extras on the season six set of DVDs include the expected commentaries, visual effects (disgustingly wonderful!), and a gag reel. Not expected, however, is a full episode of a new Fox show called The Killing-freebies are nice. Unfortunately, this new show watches like a cheesy modern version of Twin Peaks, with a bent towards cops and politics. Bones, it ain't. The breathtaking sweeping views of D.C., often with a beautiful reflective song playing (like Toby Lightman's "Everyday") paints our nation's capital in a dazzling light. Season six is just as entertaining, as emotional, as thought-provoking and as downright smart as viewers have come to expect from Bones-all wrapped up in a nice, neat little box with a giant pretty bow in the form of a big happy bomb dropped just seconds from credits in the final episode. Beyond that, baby Hodgins is born, everyone seems to more fully grow up and find themselves, and they all save the world time and time again. All is well with the Jeffersonian crew working so hard for all of us, led by Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan and Special Agent Seeley Booth. Long live Bones!
		reviewed by Carolynn Evans
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