MAKING BONES ABOUT IT

For this week's entry in her "Is It Just Me?" for the TV Guide Blogs, Rochell Thomas wonders why the new head of the Jeffersonian Institute's Forensics department wasn't able to follow along with what Zack was describing about the dead body found at a train crash site:

"Jagged edges to the breaks. Small fragments. Lack of circular or radiating fracture...," Zach says, going on and on.

"What does that mean?" Cam asks.

"That this man was dead for several hours before the train hit him," Bones answers.

Um, this may be a small thing, but shouldn’t new super-expert Cam have known that?

It could be that Dr. Camille Saroyan did know that. I'm betting she knew exactly what he was saying. What she was hoping to accomplish was getting Zack to say the exact same thing, but in terms a lay person would understand. That way Zack would one day be acknowledged as being ready to appear before a jury to give testimony.

(It was apparent from this episode, and if I'm not mistaken, in at least one episode last season, that Zack doesn't do well under scrutiny while sitting in a witness box.)

Too much technobabble and you're going to lose the jury. Dr. Saroyan understood that. And she also understood that badgering Zack about the way he relays information wasn't going to help the young scientist.

So she used this subtle way to help Zack through the process, hoping it would simplify his reply with layman's terms.

Unfortunately, blunt, clueless Bones jumped in and answered for him.

This would be a good example why Saroyan got the job as the department head and not Bones. Dr. Brennan lacks the inter-personal skills needed for the position.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby