Bones’ Dr. Jack Hodgins, expertly portrayed by T.J. Thyne, is about as colorful a character as they come. Exuberant, creative, forthright, curious, and humble despite his frequent claims of being King of the Lab, is our Captain Jack.
The quirky entomologist adds a flavor to the Bones proceedings without which the comedy-drama-crime-science-romance might not be as damn good as we know it to be. Hodgins is the source of a great deal of verbal and physical humor as he conducts outrageous and brilliant experiments with the squint of the week, makes puppy-dog eyes at Angela, pays homage to Dr. B, charmingly manipulates Cam, and attempts to measure up to Booth. He may not be tall and dark, but Hodgie is sponge-worthy gorgeous and as romantic as they come. Remember his first date with Angela on the swings and his ‘Be My Love’ message spelled out in glowing shrimp? Can I get an Amen, Boneheads? Amen!
The Jeffersonian is No Stranger to the Power of Conspiracy Theories
Never has the word ‘conspiracy’ zoomed so scorchingly through the Bones universe as it has in the second half of season nine when The Avengers shine a light on suspected wrongdoings by the FBI, CIA, DOD and SEC, the big government power mongers who have been lining their pockets on the QT while expecting the rest of the country to MYOB. Did you catch that? The Ghost Killer was just the tip of the ice berg and Hodgins’ conspiracy theorist mindset is an enormous part of what blew that hot mess of putrefaction open.
Bones Quotes: The 43 Sweetest Things Booth Has Ever Said to Brennan >>>
Aren’t All Conspiracy Theorists Crackpots?
So, how do you navigate the terrain of the unbelievable to solve horrific murders when you are a team of empiricists, government employees, and scientists? You need someone brilliant. Someone with imagination. Someone with outrageous ideas. Someone who has always been fascinated with how things work and how things can go very, very wrong when weak people are tempted by power and fortune. You need a conspiracy theorist. But aren’t all conspiracy theorists crackpots? Yes, they can be. Think of the 12 million Americans who believe the United States is run by shape-shifting lizard people, or the millions who believe NASA faked the moon landings. Yowsa, those people have been drinking way too much funky Kool-Aid, right?
However, as Bones’ Dr. Jack Hodgins will tell you, ‘Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean the world isn’t out to get you.’ What does that mean? It means there is usually a sliver of truth, just a seed of reality that spurred the wild accusations people like to speculate about in conspiracy circles. As a result, it’s a challenge to tell who’s a loony-tune and who’s actually figured out the truth surreptitiously hidden by the powers that be, right?
Just the Facts, Ma’am
Hodgins is a known conspiracy theorist, but how do we know he’s not wacky-cracked like the other tinfoil hat-wearing suspicious? Any Bones aficionado could enumerate the sanity-supported blessings of our favorite forensic entomologist/botanist/mineralogist/chemist/palynologist using all their fingers and toes. However, despite his abundance of sexiness/brilliance/humor Jack possesses we’ll only be focusing on seven reasons.
Reason #1: He’s Certifiably Brilliant
Yes. Yes, he is. He was top of his class and the youngest in the Academy of Physical Sciences. He was a Rhodes scholar and has doctorates in entomology, botany, and geology/minerology. By the way, in case you weren’t familiar with the word ‘palynologist’ in the section above describing Jack, Wikipedia describes palynology as ‘the analysis of particulate samples collected from the air, water, or from deposits including sediments of any age which provide clues to the life, the environment, and energetic conditions that produced them.’ Spot on, when it comes to the King of the Lab, right? If that weren’t enough, he’s trusted by the most brilliant forensic anthropologist in the world … and that’s saying something.
Bones Season 9 Finale Recap: Booth is Targeted by Assassins >>>
Reason #2: He Is Pro-America
Though it may not seem that way, Hodgins is pro-America all the way. He’s grateful for the freedoms American citizenship provides. However, where Booth’s first allegiance is to his country, Hodgins’ first commitment is to the United States Constitution and the right to free speech. In his own words, “The highest form of patriotism is to be skeptical of the official truth.” The man revels in his right to have a say. That’s American.
Reason #3: He Values Evidence Over Theory
Despite his colorful suspicions, the entomologist can accept when one is proven wrong by cold, hard evidence. Case in point: The mythical Chupacabra which proved to be a hoax in “The Truth in the Myth.” While Jack enjoys the boyish fantasy of aliens and the romance of coffers of gold hidden by pirates, he knows when a supposition has been debunked. #PiratesAreStillReal
Reason #4: He Really Does Solve Crime
I dare you to name one episode where Hodgins’ contributions haven’t been a crucial part of solving a case. I dare you. Despite being buried under ground with Dr. B, locked in jail with Angela, passed out in an alley newly tattooed with Angela’s face, or in the hospital participating in the birth of his child, Hodgins has made crucial contributions to all 189 episodes except the coma dream episode where he played a writer.
We’ve put together a slideshow of 19 of Hodgin’s Most Outrageous Conspiracy Theories. Fascinatingly, Captain Jack was spot on with a good number of those!
In the gruesome serial killer case involving Gormogon, it was Hodgins who was critical in identifying the whole underground cannibalistic Illuminati team that was killing off government officials and others, while eating them for dinner. He was also the one who mentioned “Spring Cleaning,” the maintaining of secret files on Americans, that lead the team to uncovering the nasty past of Assistant District Attorney Heather Taffet, the Gravedigger.
Perhaps the most impactful Hodgins’ contribution to date was in the season nine finale. It was the entomologist’s intimate knowledge of how conspiracy theorist Wesley Foster would have protected and hidden all of his evidence against the FBI, the McNamara’s, and everyone else involved. It was Hodgins who knew there must be a hidden file it was Hodgins who knew there must be a hidden file with all of Foster’s notes in it.
Reason #5: His Life is Grounded in Reality
This may sound like a simple reason, but it’s a powerful one. Hodgins holds a respected position at the most famous forensic lab in the country. He has a stable marriage with a wonderful wife and a healthy son. He’s able to maintain friendships with his peers without them orchestrating an intervention for him over his conspiracy theory hobby.
Top 10 Hodgins Moments >>>
Reason #6. He Puts His Money Where His Mouth Is and He Fights for What’s Important to Him
A lot of crazy people are just a bunch of hot air. Hodgins gave up his fortune to save the lives of school children he’d never met. When Wendell lost his scholarship, Hodgins chipped in behind the scenes (along with others) to get it back for him. When he found out he has a brother he chose to pay for his care on his own without help from Booth and Brennan.
Another area where he shows his loyalty is in his courageous protection of those he loves. I’m not saying crackpots aren’t courageous. I’m just saying that Dr. Jack knows when it really is time to fight. He physically attacked Pelant, almost killing him. He had the cojones to hide a piece of evidence against the Gravedigger. Maybe not a good idea, but man is he committed. These are one a few examples, I’m sure you have more.
Reason #7: Hodgins Has Every Right To Be Suspicious
So, how does a brilliant guy like this end up with such outrageous suspicions? Well, consider that throughout his entire life his parents, the people he trusted more than anyone else in the world, were hiding an enormous secret from him. All. His. Life. Somewhere in Hodgins’ subconscious he knew there was something not right about the life he was living. Never did he suspect what it really was … but the instinct was there. Thank goodness for that, because without his crazy conspiracy theories loads of cases might never have been solved.
Hodgins Is No Fool
There you have it, folks. As Booth said in “Aliens in a Spaceship,” when “It was all of us. Every single one. You take one of us away and you and Hodgins are in that hole forever. And I’m thankful for that.” It takes every single one of those big beautiful brilliant brainiacs to do what the Bones team does. Today we’ve just discussed one of them … and we didn’t even get to talk about how amazingly romantic Hodgins is (one of my favorite topics), but we’ll save that for another day.
The evidence is clear, Dr. Jack Hodgins, the forensic entomologist/botanist/mineralogist/chemist/palynologist, friend, colleague, father, lover, and husband portrayed by T.J. Thyne on FOX’s hit comedy-drama-crime-science-romance, Bones, is No Fool.
(Images courtesy of FOX)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
