Like many procedural crime shows, Bones is a show that can be viewed by both casual viewers and avid fans alike. While the “case of the week” style premise of the series makes it easy to watch out of order, there’s a value in watching each season of Bones chronologically in order to follow the recurring story arcs and take note of the characters’ evolution. Bones shed insight into the way that the characters would mature early on in the first season’s Christmas-themed episode “The Man In The Fallout Shelter,” establishing the precedent that each holiday-centric installment would mark an important turning point in the series. As significant as “The Man In The Fallout Shelter” was, “The Santa in the Slush” embodies the mix of dark humor, compelling mystery, intimate romance, and heartwarming emotion that represents Bones at its best.
“The Santa in the Slush” Is a Christmas-Themed Mystery
“The Santa in the Slush” isn’t a Christmas-themed episode just because of its late December setting; it intertwines the holiday with the central mystery. After the body of a mall Santa, who literally went by the name “Kris Kringle,” is discovered, Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and FBI Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) begin an investigation into the employees of a “Rent-A-Santa” service to find out why he was killed. Their investigation yields unexpected results; although they initially assume that being a “Santa Claus” is merely a holiday gig for struggling actors, Booth and Brennan discover that these actors take their job very seriously. While not necessarily one of the show’s more disgusting cases, the murder at the heart of “The Santa in the Slush” is still tragic. It begs the question: who would want to kill Santa Claus?
Although it would have been easy for the episode to spend time commiserating on the murder, the death of the Santa actor ends up reinforcing why the holiday season is so important for this subculture of mall performers. Spreading holiday joy is important to them, and their genuine passion for the Christmas season inspires Booth and Brennan to treat their mission with the utmost importance. The episode also sheds light on the reality of Booth and Brennan’s profession; not every case involves a fearsome serial killer or a major court case. Working through the holidays is something that many people have to deal with, but that doesn’t make it any easier for them. While both Booth and Brennan have gotten used to dealing with death, murder, and conspiracy on a near-daily basis, it becomes more challenging to take an impersonal approach to the case that is so closely intertwined with holiday happiness.
Although the murder itself is a disturbing one, “The Santa in the Slush” also includes a lot of the quirky humor that makes Bones unique among network television procedurals. The episode featured an early appearance by John Francis Daley’s Lance Sweets, an FBI psychologist who would eventually replace Zack Addy (Eric Millegan) as a core member of the series. The interplay between Sweets and Booth adds humor to the episode, as Sweets is more expressive in his celebration of the holiday. Although Booth and Sweets were often at odds with each other early on, “The Santa in the Slush” teased the respect that they would eventually earn for each other. Daley would eventually prove that he could find the right mix of silliness and sincerity as a filmmaker with Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and he adds a similar sensibility to “The Santa in the Slush.”
“The Santa in the Slush” Shows How Booth and Brennan Deal With Holiday Blues
Beyond the case itself, “The Santa in the Slush” does a great job of drawing parallels between Booth and Brennan’s family struggles. Although there are many aspects of human behavior that Brennan finds beguiling, there’s a reason that she has less investment in the holiday season. Her father, the convicted criminal Max (Ryan O’Neal), was always on the run when she was a child, so she never got to experience what a normal Christmas celebration looks like. “The Santa in the Slush” ties in this backstory by empowering Brennan to take control of her own happiness; she ends the episode by visiting Max in jail and celebrating the holiday with her brother Russ (Loren Dean) and his family.
The holiday is also challenging for Booth, as seeing other families spend the holiday together serves as a glaring reminder of his divorce. He is only granted fleeting moments to spend with his son, Parker (Ty Pantiz), and the pressure to make the holidays worthwhile adds stress to Booth’s life. “The Santa in the Slush” is among the first episodes of Bones that deals with Booth’s complex family life and turns him into a more empathetic character. While Booth often uses humor as a defense mechanism, he gets to show a more sensitive side to his personality in “The Santa In The Slush.” Although Boreanaz had proven himself to be a more mature actor with his role in Angel, “The Santa in the Slush” marked the first instance where he was able to showcase that range on Bones.
“The Santa in the Slush” Advances ‘Bones’ Central Romance
Although Bones teased the eventual romance between its lead characters, “The Santa in the Slush” confirmed Booth and Brennan’s relationship by featuring their first kiss. While the kiss is the result of mistletoe and is initially regarded as an inadvertent error on both characters’ part, the sincerity of their emotions indicates that the embrace was far more than a Christmas blunder. Beyond the kiss itself, “The Santa in the Slush” shows Booth’s kindness towards Bones when he finds a way to bring Christmas lights to her father in prison.
Even if the relationship between Jack Hodgins (Ty Thyne) and Angela Montenegro (Michaela Conlin) was the most compelling of Bones’ romance, Booth and Brennan proved to be a natural fit for each other. It made sense that two characters with such similar goals would end up falling for each other, and their relationship ended up making Bones a stronger series. “The Santa in the Slush” isn’t just one of Bones’ most festive episodes; it’s also one of the most romantic.
“The Santa and the Slush” Helped Shape the New ‘Bones’ Cast
One of the most controversial decisions in the history of Bones was the removal of Zack from the core group of characters after it is revealed that he was deceived into committing a crime. The choice to change the nature of his character was shocking, but “The Santa and the Slush” is one of the last truly great episodes featuring Zack as a prominent member of the ensemble. Initially, Zack had been used as little more than a counterpoint to Hodgins and was in the show mostly to insert some moments of comic relief. However, “The Santa and the Slush” reveals that he has matured over the years and now begins to resemble someone who is closer in personality to Brennan. Viewers who had been watching from the beginning know that the holiday season is a particularly exciting for Zack, as “The Man In The Fallout Shelter” had revealed that he had a fairly significant family.
“The Santa and the Slush” was also an integral episode for the introduction of Sweets, who finally graduated to appearing in the opening title cards. Given how close Sweets’ introduction to the show was in proximity to Zack’s exit, some fans may have assumed that he was intended to be a replacement. Adding a completely different character in place of a fan favorite is generally a recipe for disaster, but Sweets proved to be the most sensitive, personable member of the ensemble and became the heart of Bones moving forward. Although their relationship is often quite tempestuous, Booth does begin to show genuine appreciation for Sweets’s advice. He was such a seamless fit for the show that it made it even more baffling that he was killed in such a dark way in a later season, even if it was a decision made to appease Daley’s busy schedule as a writer and director.
“The Santa and the Slush” also helped solidify Camille as a member of the ensemble. While she had already been a part of the show since its second season, there was some distance between Camille and the rest of the characters, as her relationship with Brennan, in particular, was sometimes somewhat hostile. The notion that Camille used to be romantically involved with Booth could have led Bones to make some obvious mistakes regarding a love triangle, but thankfully, the series managed to avoid what could have been an underwhelming romantic subplot. In fact, Camille’s genuine support for Booth and Brennan marked a major step forward in the open acknowledgment of their relationship on the series.
Why Does ‘Bones’ Have Such Longevity?
Episodes like “The Santa and the Slush” are among the most rewatchable episodes of Bones, as the positive holiday themes make them perfect viewing during the holidays. Bones managed to run for an impressive twelve seasons, which is remarkable for any live-action series; even among some of the greatest drama shows of all-time, running for more than five seasons is a relative anomaly. The reason that Bones was able to resonate so profoundly was that it offered a diversity of episodes and did not conform to the trappings of a standard procedural. While the nature of the premise required some episodes to be darker, “The Santa and the Slush” showed that there was room to be heartfelt and empathetic. As the episode proves, there’s nothing wrong with being sentimental if the foundation of the writing is strong.
“The Santa and the Slush” showed that Bones was not going to just retain its status quo, and that the central characters would evolve and grow over time. It would have been easy to keep the relationship between Booth and Brennan completely consistent, but acknowledging that they would have to find a way to balance their personal and professional responsibilities made the series more interesting. Later seasons would explore the more difficult aspects of parenting and marriage, but “The Santa and the Slush” reveled in the joys of honesty and acceptance. At its best, Bones was able to cut through the complexities of the narrative structure and deliver profound, heartfelt moments of sincere emotion.
Bones is streaming on Hulu.
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Bones
F.B.I. Special Agent Seeley Booth teams up with the Jeffersonian’s top anthropologist, Dr. Temperance Brennan, to investigate cases where all that’s left of the victims are their bones.
- Release Date
- September 13, 2005
- Cast
- Emily Deschanel , David Boreanaz , John Boyd , Michaela Conlin , Tamara Taylor , T.J. Thyne
- Seasons
- 12
- Studio
- Fox
- Story By
- Hart Hanson
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