University of Maryland University College ANTH 351 Professor Kendra A Kennedy
July 22, 2012
Kimmel 2 Bones season 7, episode 7, “Prisoner in the Pipes” originally aired on April 2, 2012. As the title implies, this episode revolves around the body of what is assumed to be escaped prisoner that turns up in the toilet of an unsuspecting family. The initially recovered remains are brought back to the Jeffersonian where “Bones” and her team quickly determine the victim was male and the victim’s eyeball has a lens implant. Camille examines the lens and discovers a serial number, allowing them to identify the victim as a man named Rob Lezebnick who recently In Figure 2, you can see her digital reproductions of the stabbing and how the weapon entered the body, causing the nicks in the bone and severing of the inferior vena cava. She was also able to make a 3-D rendering of the shiv used in the murder that they were able to match to a shiv in the prison. While I’m sure the technology exists, the speed at which this is accomplished is unrealistic. As a team, they are sloppy and miss many techniques that would be considered proper lab technique required by the Food and Drug Administration, Good Lab Practices, the Environmental Protection Agency, or whatever accrediting organization that would provide oversight if they were a real lab. In addition to improper lab procedures, there is no documentation done as they go through the case. There is a lot of guessing while they run tests, but at no point do they make any records of their findings. This would be required as part of the evidence process for possible legal action to be taken. Dr. Brenna, a.k.a. Bones, is supposed to be a forensic anthropologist. Her role should be in the lab as a forensic anthropologist. She should be the person examining the remains of the skeleton for law enforcement agencies to determine the identity of the bones. While early on she is in the lab, Bones spends most of the episode playing police officer. Angela’s job description would be a forensic artist. She
