Watching Bones

It’s kind of funny, I’ve started reading Kathy Reich’s books that the show Bones is loosely based upon, and I’m surprised at how different the two different Temperance Brennan characters are. It doesn’t bother me, I enjoy both the show and the books, but I enjoy them apart from each other and don’t really try to make them mesh. In an interview, Reich’s addressed the differences in the two characters.

How have fans of your books reacted to the TV series?
“Initially I got a lot of questions asking why the character of Tempe is different. I think of them as ‘Book Tempe’ and ‘TV Tempe’. Book Tempe is somewhere in her 40s, she works in the Carolinas and Canada, she’s been married and unmarried, and has had this problem in the past with alcohol. TV Tempe is 30-something, she’s in Washington DC, less sophisticated and definitely needs work on her people skills. I think of [the TV show] as a prequel, an earlier point in Tempe’s life. Once I explain that, the fans say ‘okay, that works’.

The thing that gets me about this answer - about the TV Tempe being a less mature, earlier version of the book Tempe, is that the past history is different. In the books, her parents aren’t anything like they are in the show, and I think she has a sister in the books, while she has a brother in the show. Not a big deal, like I said, but in the books, her sister is kind of immature and has a son, which Tempe plays protective Aunt to occasionally. Also, there’s the issue of having a drinking problem in the past that I just can’t seem to reconcile to the TV Tempe. It just doesn’t fit. Also, there’s the whole being married/divorced with a child thing. The TV Tempe has no interest in having children, which I’m pretty sure she’s said several times. Also, she shows great contempt for society’s view of monogamy, and thus leads me to believe it will be a long while before she’s ready for marriage…

Anyway, like I said, I enjoy both, so I don’t usually give it too much thought, but when I read Reich’s response, it just triggered a disbelief about the stages of Temperance’s character development. Oh well, I’ll still keep reading and watching - they’re both too good to set aside!