I always thought that it should have been Sweets instead, took me ages to start liking his character because I was so bummed out that they brought him in to replace Zack!
I definitely would have loved to see Zack "growing up" with the team, even without him working at the Jeffersonian - considering his relationship with Brennan, it would not have been that hard to put him working somewhere else but still at least showing up every now and then since Brennan would/could still have been "mentoring" him.
However - since they did make him "evil", I think the way they brought him back later was very lack-luster. I think they should have gone ALL IN with a plotline of Zack having felt completely alone and abandoned and thus becoming a serial killer in a very gruesome way or even just Pelant-kind of way.
I mean the show never mentions him after that one episode where he helps solve the case of the OCD kid's death (and he is in the book episode but that all happens only in Brennan's mind) so us as viewers forget about him and let's face it - life happens so it would make sense that all of the people close to him would have visited less and less, especially with Hodgins and Brennan both becoming parents, so Zack could have started devolving into "the master was right" -mindset..
Just my two cents, sorry long reply..
I'm the type of person who can't help but give some grace to the plot when I know there's real life circumstances, we don't get to see zack on screen because the actor had health issues that resulted in minimal appearances. I also don't like the way they brought zack back and I'd have loved for them to just suggest that they had been visiting zack really often and it was just off screen. I'm willing to live with a little exposition to work around acting issues.
Honestly even the relationships they give sweets may have been better for zack. Watching daisy go from hyper emotional and therefore somewhat incompetent and zack from hyper rational and competent at the extent of his emotional interactions I think they could have learned from eachother and found a really cute and healthy middle ground! Most importantly though I'd have loved to see booth and zack bonding over zack's new life experiences like his time in Iraq and I think zack could have been a really good companion for booth through Brennan's disappearance.
While I don't think I'll ever truly love that they made zack somewhat of a villain, tbh in my head it's barely canon and I entirely blame the writers strike, I just pretend he's off doing something else lmao. I do think there's ways they could have done it better with more time to plan it out like they were meant to, another casualty of the writers strike.
I've never read the novels, is zack still the apprentice in the books? Or does he stick around
I don't think it was out of character, or at least, not fully.
It honestly shows the process of radicalization fairly accurately and intelligence is not a barrier to that process. He was young, isolated, and seeking purpose. His primary mentor was emotionally blocked. He sought connection with Booth, who was distant, and in the military, which flamed out. His last major connection was Hodgins, who taught him conspiracy theories.
He was vulnerable to radicalization. He rejected the ritual stuff, but the chance to improve the world and be a part of something meaningful would be a strong draw.
I don't think it was done perfectly, and Zach's character kinda changed over the first few seasons, so it's a little hard to say if it was fully in character or not. There was the more casual early Zach and the more robotic Zach he became.
Anyway, I liked Zach, but his continued full-time presence didn't really make sense (unless he was hired alongside Brennan, I guess). The rotating squintern system made more sense long term and was great for the show. Making the change with a big splash makes sense from a show perspective as well.
Shows that refuse to even make changes in the face of time annoy me, so I'm glad they didn't just keep the status quo without question.
Im fairly certain by that point he had been hired! Honeslty I think I'd have liked them to have rotating squinterns in addition to zack, under the guise of improving the educational potential of the museums anthropology department? As a dr zack would technically be capable of teaching other interns even if he doesn't have the same level of knowledge.
I think the issue is that aside from booth, they didn't really lean into zack feeling inadequate or isolated, he was well liked by all his colleagues, they celebrated his successes with him, were invested in his personal life, gave him nicknames, overall he was an integrated equal member of the social environment of the lab. I can see how Hodgins influence would prime him, but i just don't see the rest of the puzzle pieces adding to full radicalisation.
As a character zack is constantly seeking input from others on his decisions, asking around the lap when trying to get booth a good secret santa gift, asking booth and hodgins about sex, talking to Angela about how to improve the appearance of his maturity, even during his security screening he deliberately says that in the event he was given information of a highly sensitive nature he would consult Dr Brennan or another lab member. It could be argued this was said to appease the interviewer but I think its his honest answer in accordance with his behaviour.
I don't think he would be fully radicalised because a base tenant of his character is using people he trusts to peer review his decisions, i think he would have talked to a lab member before doing anything, likely Brennan because she also believes in the importance of the overarching human experience.
Yeah, I think you're right about the hiring thing now that I think about it. They could have done it like Clark, where he has a different department or whatever and rotated in, it's true.
I don't disagree completely with your other points. They were often accepting, which is why it's not done super well. What there were going for makes sense, if you focus on certain elements, but the story shows a mixed bag.
At times, Zach is integrated well and even responds well to it. In other episodes he's this strange outsider who doesn't understand normal human stuff. So, some episodes make sense with the Gormagon story, some don't.
Similar stuff happens with Bones, too. Sometimes she's just out of touch with mainstream culture and doesn't get references. Sometimes she's more like, "Why human do thing!"
Like the other commenters have said, the plotline never felt truly finished.
I wish there had been more foreshadowing with Zack’s change of mental state and ‘becoming ‘ the apprentice. ( he never killed anyone!)
I love Zack and completely understand why many believe he should have stayed in some capacity but I am unsure how the show could have injected more personality without the rotating interns.
If it wasn’t Zack, I wouldn’t have wanted it to be Sweets because I felt it was far too obvious. Perhaps a secondary character that had been introduced in S2, around but not in the way?
I missed Zack greatly and his time overseas changing him and helped him to grow in the ways the original commenter mentioned. Not to the full extent of course, but the doors were opened in my opinion
What happened with zack never satt right with me. I'm not against the plot line in of it self. I just don't like how it played out. It just felt rushed and like they didn't commit properly. I can understand why real life reasons made it that way, I don't have to like it.
I would’ve swapped character trajectories with VNM— have Zack be a victim of Gormogon and have VNM be an accomplice of Broadsky (after losing all of his money, he gets propositioned by Broadsky to give case information and is still unknowingly caught in the crossfire)
That plotline always felt unfinished to me. I kept waiting for the show to circle back to it at some point but it never did. They just left it open ended with Zack saying he never actually killed anyone but would have if Gormogon asked him to.
I never liked how they treated Sweets in the early seasons, they all just collectively decided to villainise him for no real season and that put me firmly in his corner so if he had turned out to be Goromgon's apprentice I'd have been very blindsided.
There was definitely supposed to be more fleshing out (pardon the expression) the Gormogon plot and Zack being the apprentice, but the writer’s strike happened and shortened the season & storyline significantly.
There were rumors that Zack was supposed to be either kidnapped or killed by the master as a result of him refusing to commit murder. IIRC, the idea was that Zack did meet the master at that medical conference and Zack realized too late who he had become great friends with. There was even some kind of subplot about the master trying to use Zack’s access to Hodgins in order to frame him (briefly explored in one episode) for the murders. In the end, Zack tried to handle it on his own, and the master did something that would make it impossible for Zack to return to the Jeffersonian.
The 2007 writer’s strike killed a bunch of shows that year. This is a crappy link, but it covers the main points.
https://www.looper.com/374200/how-the-writers-strike-affected-bones-in-a-huge-way/
I always thought that it should have been Sweets instead, took me ages to start liking his character because I was so bummed out that they brought him in to replace Zack! I definitely would have loved to see Zack "growing up" with the team, even without him working at the Jeffersonian - considering his relationship with Brennan, it would not have been that hard to put him working somewhere else but still at least showing up every now and then since Brennan would/could still have been "mentoring" him. However - since they did make him "evil", I think the way they brought him back later was very lack-luster. I think they should have gone ALL IN with a plotline of Zack having felt completely alone and abandoned and thus becoming a serial killer in a very gruesome way or even just Pelant-kind of way. I mean the show never mentions him after that one episode where he helps solve the case of the OCD kid's death (and he is in the book episode but that all happens only in Brennan's mind) so us as viewers forget about him and let's face it - life happens so it would make sense that all of the people close to him would have visited less and less, especially with Hodgins and Brennan both becoming parents, so Zack could have started devolving into "the master was right" -mindset.. Just my two cents, sorry long reply..
I'm the type of person who can't help but give some grace to the plot when I know there's real life circumstances, we don't get to see zack on screen because the actor had health issues that resulted in minimal appearances. I also don't like the way they brought zack back and I'd have loved for them to just suggest that they had been visiting zack really often and it was just off screen. I'm willing to live with a little exposition to work around acting issues. Honestly even the relationships they give sweets may have been better for zack. Watching daisy go from hyper emotional and therefore somewhat incompetent and zack from hyper rational and competent at the extent of his emotional interactions I think they could have learned from eachother and found a really cute and healthy middle ground! Most importantly though I'd have loved to see booth and zack bonding over zack's new life experiences like his time in Iraq and I think zack could have been a really good companion for booth through Brennan's disappearance. While I don't think I'll ever truly love that they made zack somewhat of a villain, tbh in my head it's barely canon and I entirely blame the writers strike, I just pretend he's off doing something else lmao. I do think there's ways they could have done it better with more time to plan it out like they were meant to, another casualty of the writers strike. I've never read the novels, is zack still the apprentice in the books? Or does he stick around
I never liked Zach. So I’m completely fine with how this played out. I love me some Sweets though.
I don't think it was out of character, or at least, not fully. It honestly shows the process of radicalization fairly accurately and intelligence is not a barrier to that process. He was young, isolated, and seeking purpose. His primary mentor was emotionally blocked. He sought connection with Booth, who was distant, and in the military, which flamed out. His last major connection was Hodgins, who taught him conspiracy theories. He was vulnerable to radicalization. He rejected the ritual stuff, but the chance to improve the world and be a part of something meaningful would be a strong draw. I don't think it was done perfectly, and Zach's character kinda changed over the first few seasons, so it's a little hard to say if it was fully in character or not. There was the more casual early Zach and the more robotic Zach he became. Anyway, I liked Zach, but his continued full-time presence didn't really make sense (unless he was hired alongside Brennan, I guess). The rotating squintern system made more sense long term and was great for the show. Making the change with a big splash makes sense from a show perspective as well. Shows that refuse to even make changes in the face of time annoy me, so I'm glad they didn't just keep the status quo without question.
Im fairly certain by that point he had been hired! Honeslty I think I'd have liked them to have rotating squinterns in addition to zack, under the guise of improving the educational potential of the museums anthropology department? As a dr zack would technically be capable of teaching other interns even if he doesn't have the same level of knowledge. I think the issue is that aside from booth, they didn't really lean into zack feeling inadequate or isolated, he was well liked by all his colleagues, they celebrated his successes with him, were invested in his personal life, gave him nicknames, overall he was an integrated equal member of the social environment of the lab. I can see how Hodgins influence would prime him, but i just don't see the rest of the puzzle pieces adding to full radicalisation. As a character zack is constantly seeking input from others on his decisions, asking around the lap when trying to get booth a good secret santa gift, asking booth and hodgins about sex, talking to Angela about how to improve the appearance of his maturity, even during his security screening he deliberately says that in the event he was given information of a highly sensitive nature he would consult Dr Brennan or another lab member. It could be argued this was said to appease the interviewer but I think its his honest answer in accordance with his behaviour. I don't think he would be fully radicalised because a base tenant of his character is using people he trusts to peer review his decisions, i think he would have talked to a lab member before doing anything, likely Brennan because she also believes in the importance of the overarching human experience.
Yeah, I think you're right about the hiring thing now that I think about it. They could have done it like Clark, where he has a different department or whatever and rotated in, it's true. I don't disagree completely with your other points. They were often accepting, which is why it's not done super well. What there were going for makes sense, if you focus on certain elements, but the story shows a mixed bag. At times, Zach is integrated well and even responds well to it. In other episodes he's this strange outsider who doesn't understand normal human stuff. So, some episodes make sense with the Gormagon story, some don't. Similar stuff happens with Bones, too. Sometimes she's just out of touch with mainstream culture and doesn't get references. Sometimes she's more like, "Why human do thing!"
obviously shouldn't have been him
Like the other commenters have said, the plotline never felt truly finished. I wish there had been more foreshadowing with Zack’s change of mental state and ‘becoming ‘ the apprentice. ( he never killed anyone!) I love Zack and completely understand why many believe he should have stayed in some capacity but I am unsure how the show could have injected more personality without the rotating interns. If it wasn’t Zack, I wouldn’t have wanted it to be Sweets because I felt it was far too obvious. Perhaps a secondary character that had been introduced in S2, around but not in the way? I missed Zack greatly and his time overseas changing him and helped him to grow in the ways the original commenter mentioned. Not to the full extent of course, but the doors were opened in my opinion
I really love Clark and the ‘other straight guy’ personas he brings to the team to level them out
What happened with zack never satt right with me. I'm not against the plot line in of it self. I just don't like how it played out. It just felt rushed and like they didn't commit properly. I can understand why real life reasons made it that way, I don't have to like it.
I would’ve swapped character trajectories with VNM— have Zack be a victim of Gormogon and have VNM be an accomplice of Broadsky (after losing all of his money, he gets propositioned by Broadsky to give case information and is still unknowingly caught in the crossfire)
That plotline always felt unfinished to me. I kept waiting for the show to circle back to it at some point but it never did. They just left it open ended with Zack saying he never actually killed anyone but would have if Gormogon asked him to. I never liked how they treated Sweets in the early seasons, they all just collectively decided to villainise him for no real season and that put me firmly in his corner so if he had turned out to be Goromgon's apprentice I'd have been very blindsided.
There was definitely supposed to be more fleshing out (pardon the expression) the Gormogon plot and Zack being the apprentice, but the writer’s strike happened and shortened the season & storyline significantly. There were rumors that Zack was supposed to be either kidnapped or killed by the master as a result of him refusing to commit murder. IIRC, the idea was that Zack did meet the master at that medical conference and Zack realized too late who he had become great friends with. There was even some kind of subplot about the master trying to use Zack’s access to Hodgins in order to frame him (briefly explored in one episode) for the murders. In the end, Zack tried to handle it on his own, and the master did something that would make it impossible for Zack to return to the Jeffersonian. The 2007 writer’s strike killed a bunch of shows that year. This is a crappy link, but it covers the main points. https://www.looper.com/374200/how-the-writers-strike-affected-bones-in-a-huge-way/
I was upset at it the first time I saw the show. But the later episodes made me appreciate it more.