# Temperance Brennan or Maura Isles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 5, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041 "2010-12-05T16:14:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041/1 "2010-12-05T16:14:05Z")
One is an improbably hot, possibly autistic forensic scientist who’s clearly in love with her pistol-packing partner, but so emotionally unaware that everyone in her life knows it but her. The other is just as hot, incredibly geeky forensic scientist who is _not_ clearly in love with her pistol-packing partner, but thanks to the Xena-Gabby vibe, no one cares. Discuss. Incidentally, though the thread lisn’t necessarily about whose hotter, I’m going to include [pictures](http://static.tvfanatic.com/images/gallery/temperance-brennan.jpg) [anyway](http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/15100000/Sasha-Alexander-as-Maura-Isles-sasha-alexander-15171707-1010-1513.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041/2 "2010-12-05T17:11:33Z")
Maura all the way. And she and Rizzoli are totally in love with each other. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041/3 "2010-12-05T17:17:03Z")
> [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](#): > > Maura all the way. And she and Rizzoli are totally in love with each other. Well, there’s “in love” and “in love.” I agree that they have a passionate attachment to one another. Yesterday I watched the [del]Boston[/del] Massachussets maraton :rolleyes: episode, and Isles’s crying when Rizzoli refused to display the ridiculous PUKE t-shirt, and Rizzoli’s reaction to said tears, was just like a pair of young lovers. But I’m still not convinced there’s a sexual element to their attraction to one another. I voted for Brennan being more compelling, but that’s only as a fictional character. Isles is much better company. In fact, one bit of support for her being in love with Rizzoli is the simple fact that she’s not married, as she’s very marriageable, and it’s hard to imagine her not having gotten multiple offers. By contrast, it’s amazing that Brennan has ANY friends. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041/4 "2010-12-05T18:28:26Z")
Both Actresses are attractive. Brennan is getting more and more annoying each season. So far I have to go with Maura, but her series is young yet. ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041/5 "2010-12-05T18:41:47Z")
Wait, what TV show/movie is this with Maura Isles? I loved those books. Google time. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041/6 "2010-12-05T18:55:12Z")
> [@SurrenderDorothy](#): > > Wait, what TV show/movie is this with Maura Isles? I loved those books. Google time. Rizzoli & Isles, on TNT. New episodes in January, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041/7 "2010-12-05T19:00:40Z")
Couldn’t stand either one of them. I’d let them fight it out and hope they both die. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041/8 "2010-12-05T22:11:51Z")
The show sucks, but I gotta go with Sasha Alexander. Of course, Angie Harmon ain’t too damn shabby neither. My personal pick between the two shows is Michaela Conlin (Angela) from Bones. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041/9 "2010-12-06T03:43:07Z")
I’ve only seen Bones, but from the wiki I see that Isles has a pet tortoise, so I have to give her props. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041/10 "2010-12-06T04:10:13Z")
I confess I had no idea who these two people are. Now that I do, the correct choice is not there. Answer is Angie Harmon. ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041/11 "2010-12-06T05:10:44Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Rizzoli & Isles, on TNT. New episodes in January, I think. Kick ass, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041/12 "2010-12-06T06:50:21Z")
No vote. I watched _Rizzoli & Isles_ once, for about 10 minutes, before I found I could no longer stand the forced, artificial banter between the two lead characters. But anyway, if we are talking about hotness, Angie Harmon is way hotter than Sasha Alexander. I enjoy _Bones_, and I can see that Emily Deschanel is quite the beauty, but for me, the \*hot \*female character on the show is clearly Angela (Michaela Conlin), although I also find her faintly creepy. Cam is pretty enough, and not creepy, but somehow I do not find her interesting. The only characters I can actually warm to are Hodgins and Booth. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041/13 "2010-12-06T17:18:45Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > My personal pick between the two shows is Michaela Conlin (Angela) from Bones. Hubba hubba! Though, it’d be danged difficult for me to choose between Michaela Conlin and Angie Harmon. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041/14 "2010-12-06T17:56:43Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Well, there’s “in love” and “in love.” > > I agree that they have a passionate attachment to one another. Yesterday I watched the [del]Boston[/del] Massachussets maraton :rolleyes: episode, and Isles’s crying when Rizzoli refused to display the ridiculous PUKE t-shirt, and Rizzoli’s reaction to said tears, was just like a pair of young lovers. But I’m still not convinced there’s a sexual element to their attraction to one another. > > I voted for Brennan being more compelling, but that’s only as a fictional character. Isles is much better company. In fact, one bit of support for her being in love with Rizzoli is the simple fact that she’s not married, as she’s very marriageable, and it’s hard to imagine her not having gotten multiple offers. By contrast, it’s amazing that Brennan has ANY friends. I’ll admit I don’t really watch _Bones_ and I don’t care for either of the Deschanel sisters, so I was already biased in favor of my **TNT** gals. Now, it’s clear no one watches _R&I_ for the plots or witty banter, but for the hotness of Sasha and Angie. I’m cool with that and i’m embracing my girlie crush on both of them. And Maura has wonderful fashion sense. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041/15 "2010-12-06T18:24:20Z")
No vote. I watch and like both shows. I find both characters compelling: Bones on how her athiesm and not flinching from the truth shapes her character; Maura on how her upbringing and education shapes her character. I have no opinion on who’s hotter. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041/16 "2010-12-06T19:05:22Z")
> [@Emily\_Litella](#): > > No vote. > I watch and like both shows. I find both characters compelling: Bones on how her athiesm and not flinching from the truth shapes her character; Maura on how her upbringing and education shapes her character. I have no opinion on who’s hotter. I will have an opinion for you on the hotness issue, if you like. Cam is lovlier than any of the others. 🙂 I also like Bones’ honestly-presented atheism (though I rather wish it weren’t coupled with her blindness to social niceties). But I also like her occasional naivete, which is partly a consequence of her Hollywood-science world view and partly a consequence of her inability to understand even her own emotional state. I was prompted to start this thread by dogfighting episode, and her reaction when she and Booth were burying the poor dog that had been executed not for its own viciousness, but for being used as a murder weapon. I despise dogs, but even I was touched. I didn’t like Bones when it started because of the bad science, but have grown to like it in reruns because of the interactions between the two leads specifically, and the main characters in general. The cases are secondary. No, make that tertiary, if even that. They’re just the excuse to put the characters together. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041/17 "2010-12-07T06:19:35Z")
Maura Isles. Tempe might kill me in my sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041/18 "2010-12-07T14:38:42Z")
Isles, by a country mile. Thought she was hotter with darker hair on _NCIS_, though. ---
**Author:** ![Iggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Iggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggins)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041/19 "2010-12-07T15:30:19Z")
I’ve been in lust with Sasha Alexander since the Dawson’s Creek days, so she always wins. I find Sasha more attractive than Angie Harmon, too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperance-brennan-or-maura-isles/563041/20 "2010-12-07T15:35:45Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > Maura Isles. > > Tempe might kill me in my sleep. Whereas there’s no danger of Jane deciding that you forgot Maura’s birthday and made her weep, and thus must die? 🆒