BONES/SLEEPY HOLLOW Crossover: L-R: TJ Thyne, Tom Mison, Emily Deschanel and Michaela Conlin ©2015 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Patrick McElhenney/FOX
The Bones/Supernatural crossover may be the weirdest crossover ever – yet never oversteps the boundaries of either show. It begins with the Bones (FOX, Thursdays, 8/7C) episode The Resurrection in the Remains and concludes with the Sleepy Hollow (FOX, Thursdays, 9/8C) episode Dead Men Tell No Tales.
Although the integration of each show’s characters into the others’ continuity is fun, the crossover is a bit of a cheat insofar as it is not one story told in two parts, but rather two stories with a single link (characters aside) between them.
The Resurrection in the Remains finds Booth (David Boreanaz) and Brennan (Emily Deschanel) working a murder case with an unusual aspect – two bodies in the same place. One is a thirty-year old woman who has been dead about a day; the other is a headless Redcoat of about fifty who died during the war for independence.
FBI Agent Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie) and historical consult Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) come to DC because they believe the headless body to be a certain character only to find out that he is someone else – possibly someone worse.
While Crane searches the Jeffersonian for relevant clues and Booth and Mills dig into the woman’s background, Brennan and the squints do their forensic magic.
BONES/SLEEPY HOLLOW Crossover: L-R: Guest star Tim Mison and Emily Deschanel ©2015 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Patrick McElhenney/FOX
Dead Men Tell No Tales finds Pandora (Shannyn Sossaman) reanimating the headless corpse (rejoining the head and all) for her own fiendish purposes while Crane and Mills are taking part in a Halloween bowling tournament – where Crane has a flirty moment with Zoe (Maya Kazan).
When they learn that the body never arrived, they discover that Sleepy Hollow is about to have its own zombie apocalypse unless they can find body’s original burial site – in DC. Enter Booth and Brennan.
The Resurrection in the Remains stays firmly in the Bones world – even though Brennan is faced with a seeming impossibility in regard to Crane and a certain document signed by George Washington. Dead Men Tell No Tales remains equally as firmly in the Sleepy Hollow realm – the part Both and Brennan play introduces them to the element of unexpectedly sophisticated technology that frequently plays a part in the Sleepy Hollow world, though Brennan’s encounter with Greek Fire has her calling it an early form of napalm.
Where the crossover is the most fun is in the interaction of the characters – Crane and Booth impress each other with their intelligence, though she remains steadfast in her belief in science; Booth and Mills, being FBI agents working in a non-magical set of circumstances, make an effective team – plus they have an unexpected link that plays well.
A second arc featuring Jenny Mills (Lyndie Greenwood) and Joe Corbin (Zach Appelman) and their investigation into his father’s past doesn’t intersect the Crane/Mills arc, but is also well done.
Both episodes are well written and thoroughly enjoyable, though Bones fans may find it a little more difficult to appreciate the Sleepy Hollow ep if they’re not already familiar with the show.
Final Grade: B