Bones 4.01 & 4.02 Yanks in the U.K.

[Sinkwriter72]

I'm Sinkwriter over there, so you should be able to find the lengthy post I wrote to that site, after this week's episode. I think you might find it entertaining.

I just wish I could understand. I really want to understand why they're approaching things in this manner. Is it a network decree? Is it something they really think is going well? I thought the balance they had was so much better in seasons 1 & 2. What brought about this drastic change?

Maybe I wouldn't be so frustrated if I understood their thought process. Or maybe it would only frustrate me more, I don't know. All I know for sure is I wish they'd get back to the balance they had -- cases, character development, emotional follow-through and teamwork -- because that was something really impressive to watch.

It's got to frustrate the actors. I can't imagine that it doesn't. Or maybe I'm crazy.

[English Al]

I too have now seen the first 3 (or two if you like) episodes. I have to echo the disappointment. By the end of the first episode I was wondering whether I was actually watching an episode in England, or just an American idealisation of England. I know which it is.

The storyline was very below par and I was grateful when ep 3 started and they were back in the states...more on that in the other thread though.

As for Jack and Angela...Again I echo: "What the hell?"

It just seemed like the writers knew they had to split them up (for what reason I don't know) and did it in the most simple of ways. I hope TJ and Michaela were unhappy with the script when they read and filmed it.

Deeply troubling stuff.

[ThyneAlone]

Hi Al, yes, I have been able to watch this again twice, as Sky gave us the first UK broadcasts. I fully agree with you. England was a bit of a stereotype, wasn't it? Lucky they didn't come up your way, it would have been all flat caps and unconvincing accents. It did all look very lovely, though, I concede. Hubby is an expert on the military and commented on the many ways in which the guardsman's dress and rank were wrong, but I don't think the majority of English viewers would have noticed that.

Btw, I swear this will be the last time I go on about the way the dialogue sounds, but...did you notice that amazing line poor Indira Varma had to work with: "I'm British first, a cop second and a woman third".

I don't know anyone, local or otherwise, in the UK who ever refers to him/herself as British! English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, even European, but never British, it sounds so odd. And a cop? A great many of my friends and relatives are in the force, and they really don't think of themselves as 'cops' (or bobbies!). They're police officers. The slang names for them tend to be criminal-bestowed; the 'filth' and stuff like that. Cops says 'US' to me quite loudly.

[skftex]

You know, I've never thought about it before, but having known a good number of policemen..even in the US "cops" is something that other people outside of the police force call the policemen. I can't think of any of them that I knew that didn't say when asked their profession that they were "police officers". So it wasn't only a bad saying for a police person to say in the UK, I think it was a bad saying all together in the world of law enforcement...US or UK.

Sharon

[ThyneAlone]

That's a really interesting cultural observation, Sharon! I would never have known that. Sloppy writing then basically. Screenplay should be transparent really, a vehicle for the story, so it does bring you up short when someone says something that sounds 'wrong' rather than like regular conversation. It's a real skill to make people sound natural in TV drama.