ADDY PREY

There are MAJOR spoilers regarding the season finale of 'Bones'. If it makes a difference to you and you haven't seen it yet, please channel surf to your next destination......

And so it goes....
In this week's season finale of 'Bones', an original character made his last appearance on the show. Unlike the season finales for 'CSI', 'NCIS', and 'House', in which regular characters were killed off, Dr. Zack Addy turned out to be the apprentice to the serial killer Gormogon. He got a plea deal in exchange for his help in catching his master: Zack was going to be institutionalized for a long, long time......

The door is somewhat open for him to one day return, but I don't see it happening. Even though he didn't partake in the cannibalism or the creation of the silver skeleton, Zack did murder the lobbyist for his master. (I liked that the bone part taken from the lobbyist was his jawbone - jawbone of an ass? - and especially that they didn't hammer that joke home.)

Having committed the murder, how could the producers ever justify bringing Zack back into the Jeffersonian fold? At least not on a full-time basis. However, I could envision Eric Millegan returning on a recurring basis. Dr. Temperance Brennan could visit her former protege in the sanitarium, perhaps to pick his brains on some aspect of a case that eludes her.

Although I'm not much for reviews here at Inner Toob, I wasn't happy with this turn of events - and not just because I like the character and actor. Actually, I blame the writers' strike, even though that was necessary. The back end of the season was truncated; had the writers been able to get about three more episodes in before season's end, they might have been able to delve into how deeply the Iraq experience affected Zack, which made him vulnerable to the persuasive tutelage of Gormogon.

Now, I wrote that all up on Thursday morning while doing laundry. Around 3:15 this afternoon, I found these pertinent segments of an interview Matt Roush of TV Guide conducted with Hart Hanson, creator of the show:

TVGuide.com: Some have speculated that the strike-shortened season chipped away at what could have been a better build-up to the Gormogon arc, laying the foundation for Zack's motivation — such as post-traumatic stress.
That's very good, yes. Initially the plan — and things go through so many iterations — was that we would find that Zack was either the apprentice to the Gormogon, or that he was approached by the Gormogon, rebuffed the offer, and then was killed. Any number of scenarios were explored. But coming back from the strike, we only had two episodes to set things up, and this presented the maximum bang for our buck — "Let's shock everyone" — and that seems to have worked to an extent. I am delighted for our show, and for Eric Millegan, that some people are furious.

TVGuide.com: Anything else you want to say about the finale and Eric's status with the show moving forward?
Eric was a consummate pro about it, and he hated keeping it a secret. He was really worried that his fans would turn against him. But we have not seen the last of him. He won't be in every episode, but Zack has certain talents we can use in a "Hannibal Lecter" kind of way. We can go visit him and he can look at stuff. If my voice sounds light right now, it's because the decision was not made lightly. But we've got to do what we've got to do.

By the way, I am glad that Zack Addy got committed to a mental institution rather than being sentenced to prison, even if he did commit murder. A pretty boy like Zack would never survive in prison - not without a lifetime supply of "Oops! I Crapped My Pants" brand of adult diapers!

BCnU!
Toby OB