Faith, Reason, and Murder.

Sometime ago I was introduced to the TV Series Bones. I promptly became a devotee. The show has its downsides: sex is hardly monogamous, and there is a fair bit of gore. On the whole, it appears to be an excellent examination of Faith and Reason in the modern world. On the side of Reason there is Dr. Temperance Brennen, a forensic anthropologist who helps the FBI solve murders by identifying people, how they were murdered, and the likely suspect by the marks left on their bones (this is where the gore enters.) The lady has no patience for God, intuition, faith, or anything that cannot be empirically proved. God is a construct of primitive humanity who need the supernatural to explain what they can't. Science is the only hope for truth and security. Her partner is FBI Agent Booth, Agent of Faith: Catholic, intuitive, go-with-your-gut, compassionate. A mix between a white knight and the psychic. They get along like fire and water, and I first expected the usual, they fall in love, they have a little illicit sex, and Booth goes over to the side of God-hating Reason, but the opposite it true. Booth and Brennen grow to love each other deeply, but they love as partners, co-workers, honorable fellow knights--yet neither forgets the gender of the other. Brennen is fully a woman and fully a partner, where Booth is classically a man, makes no apology for the fact, and uses it for the best of those around him. Even more surprising, it is Brennen that bends, not Booth. Constant exposure to Booth and his love of people and faith in God forces Brennen to realize there is more than science, there is something she cannot put in a test tube that may matter more than life itself. And yet, this acceptance of a "more" does not make her less excellent at her job, rather it makes her more proficient. She moves from being a woman who finds puzzles in corpses to being a woman who has a passion for justice, one who will give her all to serve those who are in agony because their loved one is dead and they have no idea who did it, one who loves.

Lest I sound like too much of a geek, there are other merits to the show. Having had a copious experience with hospitals, I enjoy the medical jargon. It is also very witty in it's dialogue and has a nice balance of black and good humor. And thne there is Angela, but she is a discussion for another day.