'Bones' Hits 150 Episodes With Experiment in Storytelling

FOX

Viewers tuning into Monday's episodes of Bones without proper warning probably were caught a little off guard.

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Showrunners 2012: 'Bones'' Hart Hanson and Stephen Nathan

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The series' 150th outing, "The Ghost in the Machine," featured some rather unconventional camerawork, with all of the events of the hour transpiring from the point of view of the victim du jour.

Characters came in and out of shots, nearly all of which took place at the Jeffersonian, while the silent narrator, a teenage boy, watched his 2-year-old death slowly solved. Creator and co-showrunner Hart Hanson penned the episode, which technically was part of the extra four episodes ordered last season that had to be standalone stories.

STORY: Showrunners 2012: 'Bones'' Hart Hanson and Stephen Nathan

"I had a tough time getting out of the skull's point of view," Hanson recently told The Hollywood Reporter, counting it among his most difficult experiences writing the show outside of the season-six death of Vincent Nigel-Murray (Ryan Cartwright). "[Stephen Nathan] had a hard time cutting it, and they had a tough time shooting it."

Shooting it required a few field trips for the skull. Brennan (Emily Deschanel) took it out of the office to study the remains from home, Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) carried it on walks around the lab, and Booth (David Boreanaz) even brought it on the road, allowing for one of the series' signature car conversations.

"I painted myself into quite a stylistic corner," said Hanson. "Everybody had to help me out."

Everybody included Cyndi Lauper, who reprised her role as psychic medium Avalon Harmonia. Her announcement that the victim was still in the room -- and had unfinished business -- coaxed the rest of the Jeffersonian gang into talking to the skull.

Share your opinions on "The Ghost in the Machine" in the comments below. Did the experiment work for you?