The Bones Episode With The Most Viewers Was A Fiery, Kidnapping Nightmare

Before the streaming wars reinvented cable yet somehow made it worse, television series didn't need to be ratings giants to enjoy a long life. In point of fact, shows that attracted a consistent audience tended to survive long after whatever pristine new series executives had counted on becoming their next breadwinner inevitably faltered partway into its soon-to-be-short-lived run. (My sympathies to "Terra Nova.") 

"Bones" was one such series for Fox. Despite the network's baffling efforts to sink Hart Hanson's modest procedural dramedy, the show was quick to draw a loyal crowd that followed it anywhere Fox thought to move it (even the dreaded Friday night "death slot"). In fact, the series actually peaked in terms of immediate viewership after just 11 episodes (out of 246!) with season 1's "The Woman in the Car," which aired on February 1, 2006, to an audience of roughly 12.64 million viewers and double the number of eyeballs. Later episodes would come within striking distance, with season 2's "The Girl in the Gator," in particular, racking up 12.57 million viewers. Still, "Bones" owed its success to reliability above all else.

What's interesting about "The Woman in the Car" is that it's not the most "Bones" episode, nor is it one of the show's wilder up-to-bats or a cheeky exercise in synergy like its "Family Guy" crossover. No, the episode is, above all else, what you might call dependable when it comes to giving those watching at home their money's worth. In a way, it only feels appropriate that a show as unassuming as "Bones" would reach its ratings high-point not by swinging for the fences, but by throwing with confidence and landing a lucky strike. (I know I switched from a baseball to bowling analogy there, but let's keep going.)

On "Bones," the question was never whether the heroes would eventually catch their killer(s) red-handed, it was how, exactly, Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and FBI Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) would combine their respective powers of brains and heart, Captain Planet-style, to save the day. In "The Woman in the Car," the duo — still in the platonic stage of their relationship — find themselves investigating a case involving a heavily-burned corpse in an equally-toasted vehicle, the victim's abducted child, and an estranged spouse who instantly invites suspicion. Without giving the game totally away for those who've never watched it, let's just say it takes both some reasoning on Bones' behalf and Booth going with his gut (that and his experience in the Special Forces) to foil this grisly criminal scheme.

"The Woman in the Car" was written by Noah Hawley, then but a humble writer, story editor, and producer on the series who had yet to earn his showrunner bonafides with the darkly funny thrills of "Fargo" and the surreal intensity of "Legion." Meanwhile, "Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers" and "Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid" director Dwight H. Little called the shots, which explains how we ended up with a fiery kidnapping nightmare that certainly falls on the more horrifying side of the spectrum. "Bones" was a constant balancing act between zany hijinks and grave melodrama, so you needed more intense chapters like this one to counter the sillier installments (like the time Bones and Booth went undercover as horny Canadian circus performers).

As for which episode has been streamed the most? Your guess is as good as mine, but I hope all you Boners (or Boneheads or whatever you prefer to be called) out there have taken the time to fully appreciate Deschanel dorking it up on the dance floor.