Yeah, I don't think Hart thought it through. He thought he covered his bases well enough after the writers' strike break by throwing in a couple of scenes where Zack told everyone he's stronger than he looks -- as if that's enough to show he's somehow forgotten that he once said if anyone ever presented a devious yet logical argument that made sense to him, he'd still go to Brennan or Angela or even Hodgins first before making up his mind -- but I don't think it was enough to make up for mistakes like the ones you point out. I think he should have stuck with his original plan, and killed off Zack as a victim of Gormagon, OR he should have concentrated on other stories and waited until Season 4 to finish off the Gormagon story arc so that he had enough time to dedicate to doing it well and in a way that made sense. It was too big of a story arc to just throw together half-assed like he did. A lot of people were really unhappy with the outcome of the Season 3 finale, myself included, and sadly, I don't think Hart's work in Season 4 in any way made up for those errors in judgment.
I think he made it worse when he backtracked and said Zack didn't actually kill anyone, and I hated that he didn't really follow through with the emotional fallout of Zack's choices. We had one great scene with Hodgins in Sweets' office, talking about how angry he was, but beyond that, not much. Instead, Hart made it into a big joke, what with all the revolving interns. As entertaining as some of them were, I would have appreciated seeing the rest of the team more affected by the loss of their colleague. Brennan being out in the field so much made no sense. She barely let Zack do complicated skull restructuring when he was her intern -- for her to let the newbies run the lab (with Cam, whose expertise is not with bones) while she was out and about with Booth all the time made no character sense to me. I would have thought she'd have been more possessive of her lab and everything that went on there, especially since Zack's behaviors slipped by her unnoticed and I'd think she'd want to ensure that that never happened again.
And I agree, should never have been. It just doesn't work. It was the biggest mistake of the series, and while HH has tried to kind of sweep it under the carpet, it still looms over the series. It's too bad. You don't throw carefully constructed characters to the wind just for shock value.
*nods* Very much agreed, on all points.
I do think he made it worse by backtracking, though. He'd already made a bad choice by going with the 'Zack as apprentice' idea when he didn't have enough time to make it thoroughly plausible. If he was going to go bold and do something that ridiculous with one of his main characters, then he should not back down from that choice. I hated that choice, but I think he made it even worse by what he did with "Purple Pieces." It was like he said, oops, never mind, we take it back, Zack didn't kill anyone, everyone happy now?
Well, that diminishes the power of the scenes Brennan had with Zack, in the hospital. It diminishes the anguish we all felt for Zack. It makes the whole plot pretty much pointless, especially because Hart didn't bother to follow through with it after that big 'didn't actually kill anyone' reveal. Zack's not actually guilty of murder but apparently that's not a big enough plot point to tackle in any way during the new season. Instead, they wasted so much time on wacky antics and over-the-top humor. I hated the Season 3 finale, but I had hoped (I was so sure) that Hart would come back and do justice to the characters, really fix what he hadn't had time to commit to or organize previously. Instead, it was like he just dumped it all in the garbage and said, 'Good enough. Let's move on to something more fun.'
All this said, though, I think the writers' strike had a terrible effect on numerous shows, not just Bones. I think most shows out there would have been better off ending their seasons abruptly pre-strike than in attempting to come out of hiatus for three or four episodes in hasty and clumsy ways.
That would have been a smart option, yes, definitely agreed. But I do think that the writers' strike isn't a good enough reason for Hart's choices anymore. Lots of other shows struggled because of the writers' strike, but many of them also came back in their next seasons -- or even right after the strike was done -- and they managed to do their characters right and sort out their stories. Some even came back better and more focused than ever.
Hart's worked on some terrific shows. He's been around long enough to know better, and I confess I'm tired of the writers' strike coming up as some sort of free pass that forgives Hart's every choice. He made some mistakes. I'd rather he quit getting defensive about it, and instead find some strong, smart ways to move on and do right by the show he created. I believe the guy who wrote such fantastic episodes as "Man in the Fallout Shelter" and "Woman in Limbo" could do that.
I think he made it worse when he backtracked and said Zack didn't actually kill anyone, and I hated that he didn't really follow through with the emotional fallout of Zack's choices. We had one great scene with Hodgins in Sweets' office, talking about how angry he was, but beyond that, not much. Instead, Hart made it into a big joke, what with all the revolving interns. As entertaining as some of them were, I would have appreciated seeing the rest of the team more affected by the loss of their colleague. Brennan being out in the field so much made no sense. She barely let Zack do complicated skull restructuring when he was her intern -- for her to let the newbies run the lab (with Cam, whose expertise is not with bones) while she was out and about with Booth all the time made no character sense to me. I would have thought she'd have been more possessive of her lab and everything that went on there, especially since Zack's behaviors slipped by her unnoticed and I'd think she'd want to ensure that that never happened again.
It just didn't work for me.
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*nods* Very much agreed, on all points.
I do think he made it worse by backtracking, though. He'd already made a bad choice by going with the 'Zack as apprentice' idea when he didn't have enough time to make it thoroughly plausible. If he was going to go bold and do something that ridiculous with one of his main characters, then he should not back down from that choice. I hated that choice, but I think he made it even worse by what he did with "Purple Pieces." It was like he said, oops, never mind, we take it back, Zack didn't kill anyone, everyone happy now?
Well, that diminishes the power of the scenes Brennan had with Zack, in the hospital. It diminishes the anguish we all felt for Zack. It makes the whole plot pretty much pointless, especially because Hart didn't bother to follow through with it after that big 'didn't actually kill anyone' reveal. Zack's not actually guilty of murder but apparently that's not a big enough plot point to tackle in any way during the new season. Instead, they wasted so much time on wacky antics and over-the-top humor. I hated the Season 3 finale, but I had hoped (I was so sure) that Hart would come back and do justice to the characters, really fix what he hadn't had time to commit to or organize previously. Instead, it was like he just dumped it all in the garbage and said, 'Good enough. Let's move on to something more fun.'
All this said, though, I think the writers' strike had a terrible effect on numerous shows, not just Bones. I think most shows out there would have been better off ending their seasons abruptly pre-strike than in attempting to come out of hiatus for three or four episodes in hasty and clumsy ways.
That would have been a smart option, yes, definitely agreed. But I do think that the writers' strike isn't a good enough reason for Hart's choices anymore. Lots of other shows struggled because of the writers' strike, but many of them also came back in their next seasons -- or even right after the strike was done -- and they managed to do their characters right and sort out their stories. Some even came back better and more focused than ever.
Hart's worked on some terrific shows. He's been around long enough to know better, and I confess I'm tired of the writers' strike coming up as some sort of free pass that forgives Hart's every choice. He made some mistakes. I'd rather he quit getting defensive about it, and instead find some strong, smart ways to move on and do right by the show he created. I believe the guy who wrote such fantastic episodes as "Man in the Fallout Shelter" and "Woman in Limbo" could do that.
My opinion, of course. Your mileage may vary. ;D
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