DOLLY PARTON’S HEARTSTRINGS: These Old Bones
A Christian drama that turns suspicion into truth.
Should You Watch It?
This episode is unusually well-made television. It balances humor, drama, tears, jeopardy, plot twists, and suspense while telling a story with a strong Christian worldview. Mary’s frequent prayers, including prayers to Jesus, and her insistence that her gift comes from God give the drama a deeply hopeful center.
The setup may concern Christian viewers. Everyone calls Mary a witch, and the story includes visions, a trial involving witchcraft laws, and a woman who seems able to tell the future. Yet the writing gradually makes clear that occultism is not the point. Mary’s gift is presented as coming from God, while the characters’ deeper wounds and motives come into view.
Watch it with older children and adults, using the story as an opportunity to explain why occultism and witchcraft are wrong. The practical answer: this is worth watching for families ready to discuss those concerns.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESSet in 1944, the episode follows Mary, an old Appalachian mountain woman known as “Bones,” whose prophetic warnings challenge a powerful timber company trying to buy local property.
A young lawyer arrives to silence Mary, while a grieving boy begins working around Mary’s home and slowly opens up to her. When the timber company attacks Mary’s reputation through the law, the boy’s father agrees to defend her. The resulting courtroom battle places Mary’s gift, the community’s land, and the company’s intentions under examination.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this is exceptional television. The episode is extremely well-produced and well-made, with dramatic writing that orchestrates humor, drama, tears, jeopardy, character development, and plot twists with remarkable balance.
The courtroom scenes are full of great moments and cliffhangers. The story also creates anticipation through Dolly Parton’s introduction, which explains the episode’s connection to her songs and life before presenting its central premise. Overall, this is one of the best-crafted television dramas ever made.
The Worldview
“These Old Bones” presents a very strong, overtly Christian worldview. Mary’s prophetic gifts are presented as gifts from God, not occult powers, and she prays frequently, including in the name of Jesus. The story initially invites concern that it will support witchcraft, then refutes that expectation through its writing and resolution.
The episode also opposes the timber company’s plan to strip-mine the beautiful Tennessee village. It challenges the prejudices that Eastern lawyers bring against the mountain community. At the same time, it does not oppose free enterprise: the local people are farmers and small business owners themselves.
The story values prayer, truth, local community, defending one’s property, and compassion for people carrying grief. It also explores how reputation can be attacked and how hidden motives can eventually be exposed. Its central claim about spiritual gifts aligns with Scripture: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
<strong>
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
</strong> Very strong, overtly Christian worldview presented in the context of an old mountain woman who everyone calls a witch, with a dramatic emphasis that the woman’s gifts are gifts only from God and lots of prayer, including in the name of Jesus; <strong>
Foul Language
</strong> One very mild obscenity; <strong>
Violence
</strong> Flashbacks of a woman being chased through the woods and tackled by a man, mountain woman fires a shotgun to scare off trespassers and the police; <strong>
Sex
</strong> Flashbacks to very sketchy portrayal of a possible rape, references to an out-of-wedlock birth, and a focus on adoption, but no overt sex; <strong>
Nudity
</strong> No nudity; <strong>
Alcohol Use
</strong> Whiskey drinking; <strong>
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
</strong> Cigar and cigarette smoking, and no illegal drugs, but female lawyer takes prescription drugs for migraine headaches; and, <strong>
Miscellaneous Immorality
</strong> Lawyer attacks character of an old mountain woman, timber country wants to get rid of an old mountain woman to get everyone to sell their property, old mountain woman seems able to tell the future, children try to steal old woman’s pumpkin, mountain woman brought to trial, timber company chairman is hiding the fact he wants to strip mine the whole area, small town lawyer trying to defend against corporate lawyers, local people try to defend their property, businesses against the East Coast timber company, lying and cheating, but all rebuked and all resolved.
Talk About It
Four questions for the couch, the commute, or the couple bingeing it together.
Mary says her gift comes from God. How can we distinguish a gift from God from occult practices?
James 1:17 · Deuteronomy 18:10–12The community is pressured to sell its land to a powerful company. What does Scripture teach about justice, property, and using power rightly?
Micah 6:8 · Proverbs 31:8–9Jonah is angry because his mother died and feels that nobody understands him. How can a grieving person be met with patience and compassion?
Psalm 34:18 · Romans 12:15The story challenges prejudice against people from the mountains. Where might we be tempted to judge people by their background or appearance?
James 2:1–4 · 1 Samuel 16:7The Final Word
This is rare television: emotionally rich, suspenseful, funny, and shaped by a clear Christian understanding of spiritual gifts. Discuss the suggestion of witchcraft with younger viewers, but know that the story ultimately refutes occultism. For older children and adults, WORTH WATCHING — OLDER CHILDREN AND ADULTS.
