I think they broke the suspension in my car of disbelief.
I am usually able to watch Bones with a certain levity when it comes to technical/scientific oversights. I'm really not sure why, since it is the technical/scientific oversights that keep me from watching other procedural shows (aside from my general disdain for current television trends.)
I suspect my mad crush on Emily Deschanel may have something to do with it.
Or perhaps it is because Bones reminds me of shows like Star Trek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer -- it is far enough "out there" (eg. away from actuality) than I can comfortably disregard any "science" practiced within the show. I suppose that means I classify it as a sci-fi/fantasy show, in the loosest terms. Being classified as such allows the show, in my odd little mind, a generous amount of leeway.
"The Man in the Cell" took that leeway out for a drunken spin and returned it with the headlights smashed.
I feel like there's both missing information and massive oversights in this episode. Namely: where did the bone dust and the heart come from? The knee-jerk assumption would be that they came from Christine Epps, but there's two major problems with that hypothesis. One, collecting such a clean specimen of bone dust to leave for Brennan would require both time and equipment that Epps shouldn't have had. At least, we are never lead to believe that he has an underground lab somewhere and a good several hours alone with his late wife's body.
Second, when we finally see Ms. Epps' body, there is absolutely NO deformity to the chest. Not only that, but she has her clothes on, neatly arranged and not a speck of blood on them. I'm not a medical examiner, but I have enough knowledge of anatomy and forensic pathology to assure you that there is no way to extract someone's heart and put the body back together so perfectly with clothing unless you are a medical examiner trained in funeral services/mortuary science in a proper facility with the proper equipment, at least three hours of free time, and a helper. Epps had neither the skill, the equipment, the helper, nor the time to cut through Christine's chest, extract her heart relatively undamaged (don't even get me started on the scissors bit,) put her body back together AND put her clothes back on (and let's not forget the pressure device and capsule he planted on her.)
The only other person in the show who dies, from whom Epps might have taken the heart and bone dust, is the firefighter. That argument is so preposterous I won't even bother trying to generate premises for it.
Even with all the evidence going against the inital supposition (that the heart and bone dust came from Christine Epps,) I would have been willing to believe it if the writers had just taken 30 extra seconds to write a line into the script affirming that that supposition is the correct one.
I'm okay with the fact that watching Bones and deriving any enjoyment from it requires a serious suspension of disbelief. But this episode had already stretched that belief to a breaking point with the capsule, and had a huge oversight that could have been fixed with one simple line of technobabble. I am disappointed that the writers were too lazy to produce it.
EDIT: Thanks, whoever tagged this for me.
I suspect my mad crush on Emily Deschanel may have something to do with it.
Or perhaps it is because Bones reminds me of shows like Star Trek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer -- it is far enough "out there" (eg. away from actuality) than I can comfortably disregard any "science" practiced within the show. I suppose that means I classify it as a sci-fi/fantasy show, in the loosest terms. Being classified as such allows the show, in my odd little mind, a generous amount of leeway.
"The Man in the Cell" took that leeway out for a drunken spin and returned it with the headlights smashed.
I feel like there's both missing information and massive oversights in this episode. Namely: where did the bone dust and the heart come from? The knee-jerk assumption would be that they came from Christine Epps, but there's two major problems with that hypothesis. One, collecting such a clean specimen of bone dust to leave for Brennan would require both time and equipment that Epps shouldn't have had. At least, we are never lead to believe that he has an underground lab somewhere and a good several hours alone with his late wife's body.
Second, when we finally see Ms. Epps' body, there is absolutely NO deformity to the chest. Not only that, but she has her clothes on, neatly arranged and not a speck of blood on them. I'm not a medical examiner, but I have enough knowledge of anatomy and forensic pathology to assure you that there is no way to extract someone's heart and put the body back together so perfectly with clothing unless you are a medical examiner trained in funeral services/mortuary science in a proper facility with the proper equipment, at least three hours of free time, and a helper. Epps had neither the skill, the equipment, the helper, nor the time to cut through Christine's chest, extract her heart relatively undamaged (don't even get me started on the scissors bit,) put her body back together AND put her clothes back on (and let's not forget the pressure device and capsule he planted on her.)
The only other person in the show who dies, from whom Epps might have taken the heart and bone dust, is the firefighter. That argument is so preposterous I won't even bother trying to generate premises for it.
Even with all the evidence going against the inital supposition (that the heart and bone dust came from Christine Epps,) I would have been willing to believe it if the writers had just taken 30 extra seconds to write a line into the script affirming that that supposition is the correct one.
I'm okay with the fact that watching Bones and deriving any enjoyment from it requires a serious suspension of disbelief. But this episode had already stretched that belief to a breaking point with the capsule, and had a huge oversight that could have been fixed with one simple line of technobabble. I am disappointed that the writers were too lazy to produce it.
EDIT: Thanks, whoever tagged this for me.