Bones

A couple weeks ago, I realized that the title of the show Bones has a sort of dual meaning.  Primarily, it refers to the physical remains that the scientists examine in the lab in order to solve murders (and it also signifies Dr. Temperance Brennan, whom Special Agent Seeley Booth calls Bones because she deals with these remains), but it could also have a more figurative application.  In an-other sense, bones can mean "the basic design or framework," and this matches the aim of the characters in a crime procedural:  they sift through the evidence and suspects, eliminate irrelevant data, and ultimately discover the bare truth.

Bones - S1E9 - "The Man in the Fallout Shelter"

Back in November, I started over in re-watching Bones so I could follow along with the Boneheads podcast (although I've never caught up to the podcast's current episode).  Last week, I watched "The Man in the Fallout Shelter" (S1E9) and noticed some significance in the framing.

During a video call near the beginning of the episode, the Jeffersonian team and Agent Booth receive details about the possible biological contamination to which they've been exposed.  Although they're all in the same room, only one or two characters are visible in each shot, and throughout the scene, every character is shown alone at least once:

These shots illustrate the characters' isolation, both generally (they're all confined to the lab) and individually (each character is now unable to spend Christmas with those he or she had planned to spend it with).

Later, there's a shot whose composition seems meant deliberately to contrast with these.  In a rather artificial arrangement (as if posed for the camera's benefit), the characters are sitting on one side of a table, so that they're all viewed more or less equally:

Instead of the separation of the previous shots, there's a sense of togetherness here, and this also matches the plot:  during this time of confinement, the characters have learned more about each other and grown closer.

Additionally, multiple aspects of this shot (the framing, the characters' positions, and its presentation of a meal) resemble Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper:

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Bones - S8E15 - "The Shot in the Dark"

Over the last few years, I've been slowly re-watching Bones.  Recently, I watched "The Shot in the Dark" (S8E15) and noticed a detail that's not particularly significant but that does provide a subtle connection between this episode and previous episodes that deal with Dr. Brennan's relationship with her mother.

After Dr. Brennan is shot, she has a number of visions in which she sees her mother.  In some of these, she's wearing a dolphin necklace:

In two previous episodes, Dr. Brennan comments on her mother's love of dolphins.  In "The Woman in Limbo" (S1E22), when her mother's remains are found in the Jeffersonian, she remarks, "I remember this belt buckle.  I borrowed it without asking.  First day of high school.  My father had it specially made for my mother because she loved dolphins."

In "Stargazer in a Puddle" (S2E21), she points out a drawing of a constellation in a murder victim's home and says, "This one's Delphinius [sic], the dolphin.  It was my favorite when I was a child.  My mother and I both loved dolphins, so that was something that we shared."

The dolphin necklace that she's wearing in this episode is never commented on, but it does provide a link to these earlier, related episodes.