Episode 10: The Santa in the Slush (w/ Halle Kiefer)

Fire up your Punkey Pong cabinets everyone, because TV critic Liz Shannon Miller is going to try to beat our high score while we talk about Bones season 5 episode 9, The Gamer in the Grease! We also stand in line for the movie Avatar, which I am sure we will all do again when the sequel comes out, whenever it comes out.  S05E09: The Gamer in the Grease on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/watch/bd4e0a82-dfb1-4864-b448-f670e61307fc LIZ SHANNON MILLER ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/lizlet

This week, bona fide TV professor Myles McNutt visits the Zone to talk about the sweeps week madness that is Stewie Griffin’s guest appearance in Bones season 4 episode 25, The Critic in the Cabernet. You’d think it would be tough to land emotional beats with the help of a raunchy cartoon baby, but Bones manages to pull it off somehow! S04E25 The Critic in the Cabernet on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/watch/11692c7e-73a8-40c9-a741-7730682e345c MYLES MCNUTT ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/memles

This week, TV Guide editor and serious Bones-head Kelly Connolly travels with us to Comic-Con to solve the murder of a booth babe who tried to make money off of a rare prop sword. The Princess and the Pear is our first season 4 episode, so we also talk about the series of interns who replace Zack for the rest of the series, and get one step closer to figuring out why we're so obsessed with Bones. S04E15 The Princess and the Pear on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/watch/854e6e09-7d5f-4c30-b12e-07659df54412 KELLY CONNOLLY ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/_kellyq

This week, the Jeffersonian gang gets just a LITTLE too gleeful when a man who seems a LOT like Santa Claus turns up dead. Another entry in Bones' "explore a subculture, kind of" episodes, season 3 episode 9 The Santa In The Slush explores the seamy underbelly of the freelance seasonal mall Santa racket. Caroline does a workplace harassment. Brennan's family is also there. TV writer and podcaster Halle Kiefer joins us to break it all down!  S03E09: The Santa in the Slush on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/watch/1179c5c7-f1a0-4a51-85cf-ba677fc352a8 HALLE KIEFER ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/HalleKiefer RUINED! A HORROR MOVIE PODCAST: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ruined-with-alison-leiby-and-halle-kiefer/id1528202364

This week, actor and Bones guest star Tom Lenk joins us to tell us about the show’s haunted audition room, and to talk about Bones season 3 episode 4, The Secret In The Soil! This is the first episode to feature a certain boyish psychologist who is determined to figure out Booth and Brennan’s weird relationship. It’s also got maggots, lemonade, and Tasha Yar. S03E04: The Secret in the Soil on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/watch/2065dbe3-2c68-4f4a-8058-f293ab57413a TOM LENK ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/tomlenk

This week, reporter and fact checker Caitlin Cruz joins us in the zone to splash around in the Bones season 2 finale, Stargazer in a Puddle! Caitlin knows as much about the show Bones as the character Bones knows about bones, and we benefit greatly from her series-spanning knowledge as we discuss Brennan’s family, Angela’s dad, and how we feel about a pre-Modern Family Eric Stonestreet’s turn as a sarcastic DC beat cop.  S02E21: Stargazer in a Puddle on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/watch/6431776f-6d0d-4b47-a0e3-2da3864cf600 CAITLIN CRUZ ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/caitlinrcruz

This week, The Ringer staff writer (and The Finder enjoyer) Michael Baumann joins us for a journey through Seely Booth’s troubled subconscious in Season 2 Episode 13, The Girl in the Gator. Stephen Fry is here too! And Alex Winter from Bill & Ted, as the sleazy proprietor of a Girls Gone Wild-esque franchise! The fact that a gator is involved is honestly the LEAST remarkable part of this episode. S02E13: https://www.hulu.com/watch/8d799c2d-358b-4aee-9c73-ff326ddfcf1d Michael Baumann on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MichaelBaumann

Screenwriter and culture writer Alanna Bennett gets buried alive with us this week as we talk about the season 2 stunner Aliens in a Spaceship. Bones and Hodgins get buried in a car in a quarry by a recurring serialized villain, and it's up to Booth and our lab pals at the Jeffersonian to figure out where they are and dig them up before they run out of air! We also discuss character ships, the show's indefatigable pleasantness, and Time Bees.  BONES S02E09: https://www.hulu.com/watch/fb13e0b8-d7cf-4c58-9e16-14d3395852bb ALANNA BENNETT ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/AlannaBennett

Writer and producer Josh Gondelman visits the Zone today to talk about the riveting first season finale of the show Bones, in which we discuss Brennan's family, why it's so easy to talk this much about the show Bones, and the finer points of carny licensure.  BONES S01E22: https://www.hulu.com/watch/990b4220-8327-4a9b-a79f-76f3a033d691 JOSH GONDELMAN ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/joshgondelman

This week, writer Danielle Nussbaum joins us in The Bones Zone this week to discuss Season 1, Episode 19: The Man in the Morgue. This episodes takes us on down to New Orleans for a highly apocryphal exploration of the local voodoo scene. Brennan also ends up... accused? Implicated? In a crime herself. Features Giancarlo Esposito as A Guy Who Totally Didn't Do Any Murders. BONES S01E19: https://www.hulu.com/watch/1c443373-a547-4598-8eb0-3260e59ac3b6 DANIELLE NUSSBAUM ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/daniellenuss