April 30, 2013 by estherlou
Bones (TV series) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I have been watching ”Bones” on Netflix for a couple of months now. It began in 2005 and is still running in prime time. I started at the beginning of the 142 episodes they had. It is a fascinating show, but many times, very gory, and quite disgusting. I always look away after that first split second view of a decomposing body. Some are okay to look at, but many are melting, or skin is falling off the bones, or it is covered in various forms of bugs etc.
It is the forensics that are compelling. To use new and modern “toys”, my word for machines to test and deduce from skin, bone, fabric, blood, and water samples is incredible. And of course, I like “cop” shows and to know that this was based on a real life forensic anthropologist just adds to the story.
Today, I watched an episode that was not gory. Police found a deaf girl covered in blood in an alley. They used forensics to test the blood on her, the debris etc. to find out where she had been and to try to discover what had happened to her. They discovered through portable x-ray or cat scan equipment that the girl had been repeatedly abused and beaten starting at age 3. They found her ‘parents’ only to discover they were the abusive parents and not her biological parents. They got the girls permission to pull a wisdom tooth and tested it to find out where she had been raised and where she had lived as a baby. It was a wonderful use of forensic science to tell this story and to have a happy ending. Just fascinating…
