Top television dramas return

by Joshua Maloni
Niagara Frontier Publications, April 17, 2008

Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz from “Bones.”
(photo ©2007 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Kwaku Alston/FOX)

“Lost” and “Bones,” two of television’s best dramas, have returned with new episodes. “Lost” co-creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Carlton Cuse, and “Bones” star and former Buffalo resident David Boreanaz spoke to the Sentinel about what fans can expect as each show heads into the season’s final stretch.

‘Lost’

Last season, “Lost” presented one of the most critically acclaimed season finales in television history. After two years of flashbacks, designed to give viewers a back-story on the stranded survivors of Oceanic Flight 815, “Lost” flashed forward at the end of season three, revealing two main characters had escaped their island confinement.

Now in season four, the show has continued to flash forward, revealing a total of six characters make it off the island. How they accomplish that feat (or accomplished, depending on the timeline) remains unclear, as does the fate of the remaining island dwellers.

Lindelof said his team of writers is conscious of fans’ expectations that this season’s final episode will continue to take the series down creative (and unexpected) pathways. He’s confident this year’s two-hour conclusion (Thursday, May 29, 9 to 11 p.m. on ABC/Ch. 7) will satisfy “Lost” viewers.

“You know, it’s tough. You can’t think of, you know, how do we outdo ourselves (compared to) last year, because last year was a one-time-only opportunity to sort of, you know, present a flash-forward as a flashback. I think people will be watching this year, sort of, you know, on the edge of their couch trying to figure out if we’re up to any shenanigans, and therefore we purposely presented the story in a more, you know, accessible way so that it’s more about what happens as opposed to some sort of, you know, smoke and mirrors that we’re trying to employ,” he said. “That being said, you know, we feel like every book of the show is a season, and therefore the last chapter has to be the best chapter because you’re bringing everything together and a lot of dramatic things are going to happen. So, as far as comparing it to past season finales, it’s going to be a much different animal. But, you know, we’re really excited about what we’ve done.”

As to flash-forwards and flashbacks, Cuse said “Lost” is building a mosaic with tiles from the past, present and future. Regardless of the timeline, the show will continue to juxtapose science and faith, as seen in the struggle between show leads Jack (Matthew Fox), a surgeon, and John Locke (Terry O’Quinn), who was wheelchair bound before being healed on the island.

“I think Locke and Jack, from right from the very beginning, represented the sort of two, kind of significant philosophical poles of the show,” Cuse said. “Jack was the ultimate empiricist and Locke was the person who kind of believed his fate and destiny were all tied up in the magic and mystery of this island; and the conflict between those two guys is really the central conflict on our show. And, you know, so, that’s a theme we continue to explore and, you know, there’s a big, kind of culmination of that that is all going to take place in the season finale.”

“Lost” airs Thursday at 10 p.m. on ABC.

‘Bones’

Grown bored with “Criminal Minds”? Tired of keeping up with all the cast changes on “Law and Order”? FOX has the solution: “Bones,” a witty, sometimes gritty, crime caper pairing a brilliant, pop-culture-challenged scientist (Emily Deschanel as Dr. Temperance Brennan) with a sarcastic, sniper-trained FBI agent (David Boreanaz as Seeley Booth).

Mysteries are tidally solved each week, offering instant viewer satisfaction. All the while, “Bones” offers those seeking something meatier an appealing, overlying storyline concentrating on Booth and Brennan in a will-they-or-won’t-they, “X-Files”-style romance.

A recent kiss between the two main characters has left fans of the show wondering if a coupling is imminent.

Boreanaz said the pair will remain partners regardless.

“I mean, I think they already are (together). I don’t think that they necessarily were ever apart,” he said. “The function of the relationship really is the function of the show in a lot of ways. These two characters drive these plot lines; they drive these shows. They put them in circumstances or in areas that they, not necessarily, wouldn’t think they would be in, and it brings them closer together as characters or it pulls them apart.”

“You know, the kiss, for example, on Christmas. You know, it was a dare and they both knew it was coming and it brought them closer,” Boreanaz said. “Obviously, it won’t affect them greatly, but they know that the kiss happened and I think it happened smartly the way they did it. I think, though, we’ll start putting ourselves into those situations and those areas, but we’re not going to go to a place where it’s completely hole nine; we’ll keep teasing and flirting with the audience. I don’t think that’s a problem at all.”

“Bones” airs Monday at 8 p.m. on FOX (Ch. 6).