Emily Deschanel and David Boreanez were the heart of Bones as Dr. Temperance Brennan and Special Agent Seeley Booth, but just as important were the so-called “Squints,” the team of scientists who worked under Brennan at the fictional Jeffersonian Institution’s forensic science lab. The team also included “Squinters,” a rotating group of interns who worked with Brennan on various cases at the lab. These supporting characters were so essential to the show that Emily Deschanel broke down in tears when saying goodbye to the “Squinters” in the season finale.
In the series’ first episode in 2005, Agent Booth used the term “squints” to refer to Brennan and her team, a term that would remain in use throughout the show’s 12 seasons until its finale in 2017. explanation that:
“It was a term I’d never heard before I started the pilot. […] [The scientists are] I always squint my eyes when I look at the paper, always squinting while thinking in my head what I would do if it was a dead body. […] It is certainly a real word, they use it.”
But where did the word come from? Who exactly uses it? As it turns out, Boreanez was right when he said “squints” is a “real word,” because the word comes directly from the real-life detective who lent his expertise to “Bones.”
The origins of Bones’ strabismus
Though “Bones” balanced its macabre themes with a lighter tone throughout its run, it was still a police drama focused on forensic anthropology, forensic archaeology, and the inner workings of the FBI. That meant the writers often had to use technical jargon to give the impression that Seeley Booth, Temperance Brennan, and her team of “Squints” actually understood what they were doing. Luckily, the show had the expertise of real-life anthropologist Katherine Joan Lykes, author of the 23-book “Temperance Brennan” series that inspired “Bones.”
Dr. Reikes, who still holds a board certification from the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, also served as a producer on the series, wrote several episodes, and even made a cameo as a professor in the Season 2 episode “Judas on a Pole.” But while Reikes was essential for the anthropology elements, Bones’ writers needed some law enforcement expertise. In “Bones: The Official Companion Book,” executive producer Barry Josephson recounted the research series creator Hart Hanson did early on in the show, which led to the discovery of the term “squints.” Josephson explains:
“Besides the information from Cathy [Joan Reichs]Hart worked with a detective named Mike Grasso, and Mike was the one who called scientists “squints.” So the Squints became something really unique for us. Who are the Squints? And how do you define them as scientists? You always need a little bit of a sense of humor in the job.”
Mike Grasso is a former LAPD detective who actually served as a technical advisor to the department during the show’s run, and the term “squints” is arguably one of his greatest contributions.
