This Is Who Bones Fans Have Crowned The Best Squintern
It's tough being a forensics expert and even though Bones protagonist Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) is certainly a woman of extraordinary talents, even the best of us need some help from time to time. Enter the interns, or as they are known around the Jeffersonian Institute, the squinterns. This rotating cast of doctoral candidates, and those otherwise looking for experience in the field, are on hand to help Brennan with her caseload and provide some excellent workplace comedic relief.
What started off as one squintern eventually turned into a dozen, who rotated in and out of duty. From the high achieving Clark Edison (Eugene Byrd) to the terminally talkative Daisy Wick (Carla Gallo), the squinterns as a collective became known as one of the things that help set Bones apart from other shows of its ilk. However, just because fans generally love the existence of the squinterns as a group doesn't mean they don't have a favorite.
In a Reddit thread simply titled "Who is your favourite intern," user mikesw1193 asked his fellow Bones fanatics to sound off in the comments with which squintern they'd choose to hire on for a full time gig. Although there were several strong contenders, one name emerged as a clear favorite: the first ever squintern, Zack Addy (Eric Millegan).
Zack Addy: original squintern and serial killer's apprentice
Each of the individual squinterns made their own contributions to the world of Bones, but few could claim to have as important a role in the history of the series as Zack. He was introduced in the very first episode of the series and spent three seasons as the only squintern on the scene. Zack was known for his lovable and awkward personality, as well as his occasional troubles with having the confidence to stand behind his considerable intellect.
In the third season, the show introduced a menacing adversary for the Jeffersonian Institute team in the form of a mysterious serial killer called the Gormogon (Laurence Todd Rosenthal). Known for his connections to the occult and the ritualistic cannibalism he participated in, the Gormogon kept our heroes on their toes while they tried to untangle the archaic rituals associated with the murders he committed. Eventually, they realize that he's not acting alone, and in a shocking revelation, Brennan and Booth realize that squintern Zack had been working with the killer as his apprentice.
Zack's sweet personality mixed with the dark secrets that later came out about him made for a complex and fascinating character arc. It's likely why many Bones fans claimed him as their favorite squintern of all time. As user trexartist said, "Zack Addy is my clear favorite. I don't really have another favorite," while passthepeas75 wrote, "Zack is my forever #1 in my heart." Even though wrenreads listed two other candidates, they still declared, "And Zack of course but i feel like he is on a different level than the others."
Now, Zack may have squeaked out ahead as #1, but there were a few others who challenged him for squintern supremacy.
The other two squinterns that fans love
Zack may be the general favorite squintern among fans on Reddit, but as several commenters pointed out, the fact that he's the original and has such an elevated role in the overall narrative of Bones gives him a bit of an unfair advantage. So, if we take him out of the running, who else do Bones-heads love?
The race to be runner-up was pretty much neck-and-neck between Wendell Bray (Michael Grant Terry) and Vincent Nigel-Murray (Ryan Cartwright). Wendell grew up in a working class family and unlike everyone else at the Jeffersonian Institute, he always had to contend with the fact that he had to work extra hard to be able to afford to follow his dream. Despite those financial setbacks, his upbringing gave him special insights into some of the cases, which helped him get noticed by his colleagues and, apparently, fans of the show.
On the other hand, Vincent is a British know-it-all who loves to rattle off factoids, and live life fast and loose. His indulgent personality set him apart from the other squinterns, as does the fact that he holds the distinction of being the only dead one of the bunch. In the season 6 episode "The Hole in the Heart” he was shot and killed by the serial-sniper Jacob Broadsky (Arnold Vosloo) after he inadvertently got in the way of Broadsky's initial target, Booth.
It's a tough superlative to have, but it beats being one of the many squinterns who didn't receive any votes on the Reddit thread. Let's have a moment of silence for them now.