TV Bender

Zach and Temperance are helping a local church figure out which skeleton is which and what grave they belong in after a water main break messed up their graveyard. Father Matt is happy to provide the burial records to speed things up, but old Father Grumpy says he’s in charge of the records and blah blah crochity blah. He barks at Brennan and Zach to respect the sacred ground. Zach finds a skull that’s out of place and it looks like the person died of a blow with a blunt instrument. Brennan: “Your sacred ground just became a crime scene.”

After Angela composits a sketch of what the man looked like, the church community recognizes the man as another Father who just disappeared one day leaving behind a note saying he was leaving the priesthood. Father Grumpy yet again cops an attitude. I’m seriously surprised no one murdered him. Eventually they figure out that the Father was poisoned and then hit by the blunt object and Father Matt is now the target of poisoning. All roads lead to Father Grumpy, but his reaction to the news of the poison leads Boothe to the church administrator. Raised by Father Grumpy, she poisoned both Fathers because Father Grumpy suspected the first one of touching an altar boy and didn’t like Father Matt.

Meanwhile, Brennan and Boothe fight the entire episode. They think it’s because of their different views on religion but the therapist, who Boothe eventually convinces Brennan to talk to, says they’re both afraid that Brennan didn’t go with Sully because of her ties to Boothe. Which is totally true, but he fudges some explanation that Brennan can’t lead a purposeless life at the moment.

And while that’s going on, Hodgins and Angela are going at it like rabbits when he asks her to move in with him since his closet is already half full with her things. Angela isn’t sure why, but she doesn’t want to at the moment. Angela has Brennan take her to the therapist, who advises her to wait until her closet is 30% Hodgins things. And she calls him on his crap theory that Brennan didn’t stay because of Boothe.

Good episode. I thouroughly enjoyed it. Nothing stood out to me has great or worthy of attention, but nothing stood out as bad either. Father Grumpy kind of grated on my nerves a bit with his strictness, but that’s about it.

Bones is new tonight. Take a look!

Criminal Minds fans get a repeat of “Sex, Birth, Death” tonight which, if you haven’t seen it, definitely tune in because it’s probably the best episode ever. Seriously. I’m not kidding. Watch it. If not for my spectacular reccommendation, then to blow Lost out of the water. You KNOW you’re sick of JJ Abrams not knowing what the hell he’s doing.

Bones is finally back with an enjoyable and slightly unpredictable episode. Temperance Brennan’s new book, Red Tape, has hit the shelves and the bestsellers list. But as her publisher Elen pesters her to do more interviews and book signings, Brennan and Boothe are called away to the marina to investigate a dead body. The victim was bound to an anchor with red tape and fed to the crabs. Just like the first of three victims in Red Tape.

Both Boothe and Sully are concerned for Brennan’s safety. She refuses their help and throws herself into the case, feeling guilty that her book has caused this to happen. Just like in the book, two more people (one of which is Elen) show up dead, bound with red tape and fed to animals. Since the M.O.s are different for each victim, Brennan wants to treat them as three seperate murders, but the best suspect they have for each victim has a solid alibi.

And here’s where the twist comes. I had the perp pegged as Elen’s twitchy, diabetic assistant. The camera seemed to focus on him whenever he was in the scene and he controlled the circumstances under which Elen’s body was found, which people who plan a murder do. It turns out there were actually three killers; the suspects from each victim killed another person for the other guy so the guy would have an alibi. Awesome, right?

Throughout the episode, Brennan pushes Sully away because she’s afraid that it won’t work out and Sully’s rethinking his relationship with her. Angela tells Temperance to enjoy what she and Sully have right now and Boothe (BOOTHE!) gives Sully a pep talk and tells him not to let her push him away. They make out and all is right with the world. Or not, as we see Boothe sigh and walk away.

It’s the middle of the regular TV season, so I thought I’d give a brief overview of my thoughts on the shows I will be covering and their current plot lines. FYI: A brief review of each episode will be posted the day after the epiode airs with the exception of Numb3rs, which will be posted on Mondays.

Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars is the only linear drama I will be covering. All the rest are your standard procedurals. I really like how the three mysteries formula is working; it keeps the show fresh and we don’t get any filler episodes. My suspect for Mystery 2: The Return to O’Dell’s Cave is Tim the TA. Also? LAMB IS DEAD. I’M GOING TO GO CRY IN A CORNER NOW, THANKS.

Bones
Bones isn’t a great procedural - in fact, one might even call it mediocre - but it’s entertaining nonetheless. I like that they’re going somewhere with the whole Booth/Brennan romance thing and adding some non-crime-related drama to spice it up a little. Although the therapist thing has got to stop. I don’t like the therapist and I think he’s crap at his job. I will elaborate on Thursday.

Criminal Minds
I. Love. This. Show. One of the things that first got me into procedurals is my personal interest in criminal psychology; I’m really more interested in the why than the how when it comes to crime and Criminal Minds is where I get my fix. My only problem with the show is that the writers have so many characters to juggle that we often get short-changed on character development with the more minor characters like J.J. and Garcia (who is my BFF). The addiction storyline with Reid bugs just a little, mostly because he’s my TV boyfriend and I can’t stand to see him hurt, but I’m waiting until this week’s episode to pass my judgement on the storyline as a whole.

CSI
Where it all started. CSI was my first crime drama. I’ve been watching it - no lie - since I was 12. Listen closely, y’all, ’cause this is the only time I’m going to say it: this is the only CSI I will be covering. Miami and New York? Crap. I will not have their sub-par excuse for crime drama taint this blog as long as I write it. That said, I like that the Vegas writers aren’t hitting us over the head with Grissom and Sara’s relationship. They’ve been very subtle and I applaud them. Greg’s civil suit makes me a bitter, angry person. He’s another one of my TV boyfriends. I would really like the writers to give Catherine, Warrick, and Nick (THANK YOU, George Eads for getting rid of that very sad pornstache and 70s hair) something interesting to do. They really feel like they’re fading into the background.

And last but most certainly not least, Numb3rs
I hate math. I really do. And yet I cannot seem to tear myself away from the adorkable math genius Charlie Eppes and his scrumptious, FBI agent brother Don. The cases are interesting mostly because you wonder what else they can solve with math. One of these days Charlie’s going to bust out an equation to find out who ate the last cookie or something. Where Numb3rs really excells is with the balance of crime and personal moments. I look forward to the Eppes family moments, which never feel gratuitous or out-of-place.

So there you have it - the line-up for the Crime Drama TV blog. I’ll see you tomorrow with some thoughts on Veronica Mars.