When I learned of the “Bones” and “Sleepy Hollow” crossover event scheduled on FOX, I was excited my little sleepy heads; very excited. What a great Halloween treat. Bones Brennan vs. Ichabod Crane! Two FBI crime teams working together with one little itty-bitty discrepancy; one of them is not from this time period.
Bones: S11 E5: The Resurrection in the Remains
Did you know the “Bones” series is loosely based on the life and writings of novelist and forensic anthropologist, Kathy Reichs who is also one of the producers of the show? The bigger question is, how do you combine two shows that are as different as night and day? “Sleepy Hollow” deals with the supernatural and “Bones” is a modern day crime show that uses the science of DNA to solve crimes. What would bring the two teams together?
The crossover starts off with the husband and wife team of Dr. Bones Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and Special Agent Booth (David Boreanaz) called to a crime scene where a woman’s body was found by two guys were preparing for a big Halloween bash. The bigger surprise is the metal coffin near the body. Inside is the 200-year-old headless man in British military garb.
In real life, a forensic expert would have to wait days and sometimes weeks to get all the results back, but by the time our “Sleepy Hollow” dynamic duo Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie) and Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) show up on the scene at the Jeffersonian, Bones and her team have already identified the girl; Sarah Lippmann, medical student. But, who is the dead officer? The headless man is General Howe, an old enemy of Ichabod Crane.
There are a few comic references to Ichabod’s clothing which Ichabod accepts begrudgingly, but the episode focuses on the two bodies and why they were found together. While Bones’ team uses modern technology to sift through the evidence to learn the identity of the soldier, Booth and Abbie try to find the person who killed Sarah.
The interactions between Bones and her staff with Ichabod are funny and I liked that the writers chose not to overdo the tired ‘fish out of water’ with Crane. Crane uses his knowledge of American History and Latin to decipher the book of spells found in Sarah’s locker. Sarah was interested in the afterlife. Something Crane is an expert on and something Dr. Brennan does not believe in. Luckily, Brennan’s team locate Howe’s missing skull among the anatomy class trash.
Conclusion
Since this part of the crossover focused on the science part of the investigation, it was fun to see how Bones and her forensic experts solved the murder case. When I worked at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, we were preparing for a traveling exhibit on DNA. Wanting to arm my staff and volunteers with accurate information on how the science of DNA was used to solve crimes, I requested and was given a tour of the brand new (at that time) Police Forensic Unit.
Using evidence found on the girl, Booth and Abbie are able to find her killer. When a letter that was written by General Washington’s secretary, a certain officer named Ichabod Crane, is found in the Jeffersonian archive requesting that Howe be buried in Sleepy Hollow, Dr. Brennan becomes suspicious. Although Dr. Brennan doesn’t accept Crane’s explanation that the similarity between his and the signer’s signature is similar due to heredity, she is forced to ship Howe to Sleepy Hollow. On the whole I liked the interaction between Crane and Brennan the most. They are both brilliant people, who have their own methods to solve a crime. One uses science and the other uses the supernatural realm. Good match.
Sleepy Hollow S03 E05: Dead Men Tell No Tales
While a van delivering General Howe’s body to Sleepy Hollow is hijacked by Pandora, Crane is at a bowling alley celebrating Halloween with Abbie, Jenny and Joe Corbin. Crane is attracted to the pretty Zoe Corinth, but he hasn’t moved past the flirting stage yet and before he gets the chance he receives a call that Howe’s body is missing. Abbie’s boss is working on a big case dealing with stolen artifacts from around the world and wants her as part of the project.
Pandora brings the General back to life. It seems Howe has a mystical stone that gives him the power to raise a zombie army that is buried at a nearby mausoleum which is unfortunate for a few teenagers hanging around the cemetery. When Abbie and Crane investigate the cemetery, they realize that the zombie army can’t be destroyed with guns. They need to find Howe’s primal tomb and that means a trip back to Washington.
Crossover Part Two
There is only so much you can learn from the history books and right now, Crane has a bone specimen and Brennan has the equipment to locate Howe’s primal tomb. When the evidence points to the Capitol Building, there is no stopping Brennan from wanting to be part of the investigation. While our foursome search for Howe’s tomb in the basement of the capitol, Jenny and Joe are trying to track down a man named Nevens.
Conclusion
Brennan and Booth get a taste of colonial-know-how when they learn that General Washington used Greek fire aka napalm to destroy the British zombie army and Crane gets an idea on how to destroy Howe without burning down Sleepy Hollow.
In the end, everything works out with Crane and Abbie luring the General and his zombie army into a trap. While Abbie has to explain to her boss why her sister Jenny was seen with an accomplice of the man he’s investigating, Crane calls Zoe for a date.
Tonight’s crossover was fun, and hopefully, it will bring up the ratings for both shows. I wasn’t sure if the crossover would work, but it did and maybe it’s because the main characters for both shows are so damned quirky and, mixing history and science is cool. Should Fox do another crossover? I’d watch it. Will you?
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