The Shallow in the Deep/The Babe in the Bar
*waves* After dealing with endless weeks of sick kids, spending a night in the hospital with my baby boy, and surviving the holiday weekend with my parents (I do love my family, don't get me wrong), I'm finally back and ready to peer into the two eps I haven't yet covered. At first I was going to do separate entries, but the thing of it is, these two share a few characteristics so I may as well hit the two birds with one stone before the new episodes come and I'm behind again.
First - which I'm sure all of you are WELL aware of by now - is that neither of these episodes featured Hannah. At least in physical form. They also featured victims who were, essentially, thieves: one stole identities via credit card, the other swiped corporate secrets. Both also drew a bit of fan criticism on Twitter for Booth's snippy-ness toward Brennan(more on that later). For all of the similarities, however, they were received in two totally different ways.
It's always interesting for me to read what the critics from major blogs/review sites have to say after the episodes air because rarely do they have the same flavor you get hanging around Twitter (mostly because Twitter is a petri dish for ideas/rumors/speculation to germinate for better or for worse). For "Shallow" the two worlds DID collide, however. Fans and critics alike noted that the old "spark" (whatever the heck that is) was back and better than ever. The opening scene with Booth creaking and cracking followed by Brennan listing every injury we've known of from the pilot to the present was well-loved as was the way Sweets, Brennan, and Booth handled the cougars and cubs. Also, "Shallow's" phenomenal B-story revolving around Cam and the slave ship was extremely well-received. The difference in "Shallow" from the rest of the season, according to both fans and critics, was the lack of Hannah.
But here's the thing: as I said, one of the things these shows have in common is no Hannah. And if "Shallow" was welcomed with open arms, "Bar" was rebuffed with raised fists and shaking heads. So what was the difference? Was it really that Hannah was given only a passing mention in "Shallow" where in "Bar" she's used as a scapegoat for Booth to avoid his friends? Is the cast chemistry that weak that one person can upset the balance and the absence of that person makes it all better?
I think we do ourselves - and the show - a disservice by answering yes to either of those questions. There will be some who disagree by the time I'm done, but if you've gotten this far, at least hear me out.
The true reason for one being praised while the other left a bad aftertaste, I believe, is the following: "Shallow" reminded us of what Bones can be at its best, where "Bar" reminds us what our current reality is in a post-100th episode world actually is. There are still a few things to fix. "Shallow" also had a lot more heart to it than "Bar" did. It had a foster kid that gave us some more background on Sweets (though I wish that Bren would have at least gotten a mention for her time in the system), and a truly heart-crushing Cam story as well. We got to see B&B doing their crimefighter-duo thing in both, but for some reason (maybe because she stuck her finger IN HIS MOUTH and hooked him like a fish) I liked the way they worked together better in "Shallow" (though "Bar" had Yowsa and a high-five).
Of course, it didn't help "Bar's" cause that, for the second time this season, the last five minutes were so jaw-dropping in what was said/done that Twitter was set ablaze. I was stunned that Booth skipped out on such a big event to be with Hannah and I have to admit, that night I was not a happy camper. I was disappointed in him because A) it seemed shallow and B) he let Brennan lie for him. Then I gave it a few days and watched it a few more times and I realized a few things:
1) Just before the "text heard round the world" B&B are strolling along and Brennan personifies love(which is big in and of itself, please let's not lose sight of that in all the hubub) and calls it an "idiot." The timing is too close to be coincidental.
2) Booth talks about how the killer fell for a fake and there is talk about how one can do that. Again, I don't think it's a leap to say that means something in the bigger Bones picture.
3) Booth automatically assumes she won't accept his premise so he tries to dismiss the conversation entirely.
4) BRENNAN is the one who drags sex into the equation. Booth just goes along with it and to me it seems like he's looking for an easy out and takes advantage of it.
5) Brennan, who told him in 100-past that all she would help him with was uncovering THE TRUTH, offered to LIE for him to THEIR FRIENDS. Folks, shut the front door because if that isn't change, I don't know what is. The closest she's come is when she rationalized the truth for him in Pudding and even there, there was the slightest possibility it could still be the truth. Now, she's offering to flat out lie for him, thus proving her words to dear Gordon Gordon in "Dirt" about being willing to do anything for Booth weren't just for show.
Earlier, I promised to touch on Booth's snippy-ness of late. First of all, I think it should be noted that he's been snippy all along and can often be found cutting Brennan off or hurrying her along when he gets bored with the squinty stuff. What we are seeing in a post-100 world, however, is that Booth's willing to keep the partnership going, but he's also trying to distance himself on a personal level from her for her own good. Remember, she's the one who said she couldn't do "them" so in his mind he can stay partners with her, but he can't push her any further in the area of their feelings AND he has to keep his promise to move on.
Up until this point in the season we've seen Booth try this balancing act where it seems like he's trying to have his cake and eat it too. Now that we're moving toward the midway point in the season, I think we're starting to see that shift. He's discovering that he can't handle it as well as he thought he could, so he's closing parts of himself off to her. Thus the increase in snippy remarks, not giving her the chance to respond to his thoughts/insights, and taking the chance to bolt from a "family" event with people he's always seen as "hers."
Remember in Judas? Booth had to be dragged into the Diner to join them. He wasn't in on that squint meeting when they all told Perotta they were "Booth's People" and it seems to me that he's always tried to distance himself from them in some fashion, no matter how tight-knit they've become over the years. It may be because he feels too "dumb" by comparison, or mayhap he's just as unwilling to connect with people as Brennan used to be. The best analogy I've heard is that there was a divorce in 100 and Brennan got the squints while Booth got Caroline and Sweets. This abrupt ending in "Bar" just shows that he's trying to put distance between them and in the end I think that's sad for him. I'm anticipating more and more separation happening between Booth, Brennan, and the squints on Booth's part before this thing finally comes to a boil.
In a pre-100 Bones universe, "Bar" would've been more accepted. I believe that Booth would've teased her about all the squinty details rather than cutting her off. He would've felt free to have more fun with that "Yowsa" expression she obsessed on. A wide, goofy grin would've spread across his face at her declaration that love is an idiot, he would've stretched a lazy arm around her shoulder, they would've strolled arm-in-arm into the Founding Fathers where Booth would've rolled his eyes at the pathetic efforts and told them something cheesy like, "Never trust a squint to lie for you."
But you know what? At the end of the night, they would've gone to separate beds, with their separate feelings. Pre-100 was one big, Loooong holding pattern for these two. 100 broke that dam and now the truth is out there. She knows he wanted to spend 30, 40, or 50 years with her. He knows from that kiss just how close to the surface her feelings for him are, but ultimately, I believe he's still feeling the sting of her rejection. He thinks he wasn't enough for her and she believes she's not enough for him. She tried to protect him from herself and just as she's starting to turn a corner, he is now protecting her from those feelings he hasn't gotten over. She is trying to feel with her heart across the board, while he is compartmentalizing and rationalizing everything. It's twisted. It's ass-backward. It is so them it makes me want to hurl Hannah into the nearest war zone and lock the two of them in a room until they JUST DO IT, ALREADY!!!
And this is why I love the sixth season possibly more than any other thus far. It's making me think, and feel, and ache for these characters who I've come to love. It's giving them depth and breadth, not just for B&B but for Cam, Sweets, Angela, and Hodgins as well. Having Hannah in the mix to show us how Booth can love a strong, independent female just as she is? Yeah, that does grate like nails on a chalkboard and yet at the same time it gives us more promise for a future with B&B than anything we've gotten in the last 5 years. Because now they can't hide from their feelings. They'll HAVE to confront them, process them, and deal with them at some point. And when they do- GAH! That will be the best TV we've seen on TV in a long, LONG time.
Buckle up, folks, we've been in a roller coaster car that's climbing the steep hill(some people don't like steep hills, and that's ok, they can still like roller coasters) and my gut tells me the bottom is due to fall out at any moment. After that, logic dictates it'll be a series of ups and downs, and twists and turns, before we finally get safely back to the station and B&B figure out what all of us have known all along: He can't love anyone but her and she can't love anyone but him.
Okay, time for Gum to shut up and you to chime in. Do you agree? Disagree? Why or why not? I really want to hear from you on this one so sound in and let your voice be heard.