Confessions of a Rabid Bones Fan
It’s not yet been a full 24-hours so I’m not sure I should go swimming in Bones speculation and analysis yet, but I can’t resist. While chatting with friends on Twitter this morning I realized once again that I love Bones because it’s a thinking person’s show when it’s at its best. I was then quickly slapped with the thought that because of this thinking, it’s the show most likely to get me a first class ticket to being cell-mates with Zack or the dude who managed to make Brennan believe he was a real doctor. Either way, I’m forced to make a few confessions.
Confession #1: I didn’t cry.
I need to preface this by saying that after Signs in the Silence I cried. It hit some personal notes close to home and even on rewatches I was teary. So when dear friends who’d seen this one at the Paley Center said they cried I braced myself for the worst. I am spoiler free so I had no clue whose heart that bullet would pierce. It was eerily reminiscent to me of the emotional gamut I ran back when Pain in the Heart aired. My heart froze as the haunting music played and I breathed a sigh of relief when Hodgins was shown first, because it eliminated him as the target (he was also the first implicated as Gormagon and I remember being relieved then too).
It wasn’t until my second watching that I realized the building Broadsky was dangling behind was the Medico-legal lab, nor did I pick up on Vincent foreshadowing his death just moments beforehand; the squinterns are always the victims and he says he can presume he'll be dead soon as Brennan grabs him for her latest demo. I did immediately know once the thermal imaging came up who was going to bite it.
The death scene itself was fabulously acted all around. David, Emily, and Ryan all brought their A-game and it really was a fitting/touching way for him to go. It didn’t, however, move me to tears, not even the second time when my hubby wasn’t around and my house was silent. It’s not that I’m cold-hearted, or that I’m like Brennan and compartmentalize either. It’s not even that I don’t like Vincent.
On my scale of squinterns, VNM is somewhere between Wendell- my favorite- and Fischer (who himself is slightly above Daisy most of the time). He is - or rather was - the closest in personality to Zack in that he was a kind of shrimp of a guy who really REALLY didn’t know how to connect with the world. Zack hid in logic, VNM hid in facts(Zack was also known to spout odd facts). Both doomed squinterns also had an intense desire to please Brennan and both wanted nothing more than to be her intern. (In Sweet’s thoughts on the Bones iPad app, it’s revealed that VNM’s mum wanted him to study at Oxford but he wanted to work for Brennan) Also (though this probably means nothing other than that I’ve watched End in the Beginning far too many times) they are the two characters who discover the revolver hidden in VNM’s things at the nightclub in the coma dream/book.
In the end I think I didn’t cry because even though it shook things up, it won’t change the opening credits next season. Sure, Ryan’s name won’t pop up every so often like it has the past two years but the absence won’t be as starkly apparent as it was going into Season 4 without Zack. I also didn’t cry because this death of a squintern who was so much like Zack was needed; but more on that later, back to confession.
Confession #2: I could care less whether B&B did the deed or not that night.
Here’s the thing, just like in episode 100, change was needed. This season, the double Bs have managed to survive their 7th month-long hiatus, Booth’s hookup, and Brennan’s breakdown. In Blizzard they took their first baby step by being honest enough to admit neither of them were ready even though both of them were willing. In the episodes since then, they’ve been slowly slipping back into that quasi-dating thing they had going on before 100. I can easily see that had VNM not died, leaving Brennan bereft of her favorite squintern once again (as Brennan is such an advocate for the truth I don’t believe this is something she made up just to placate VNM in death). There had to be a catalyst. This was a very suitable one given the show’s history : it mirrors Pain by making her confront the fact that Booth is mortal at the same time she has to cope with the loss of a beloved squintern.
This time, however, we aren’t left with the camera fading as she leans on Booth’s shoulder, but rather panning out as she crawls into Booth’s bed (her words! Not mine!). Despite the writing credit going to Carla Kettner (who fascinated us in her offering of Photo earlier this season) Hart Hanson’s grubby paw prints are all over the bedroom as the clock struck 4:47am. The beginning of Booth and Brennan as a couple begins not with the storm, but with her knock and if you’ve seen EITB and BITE as many times as I have you’re already very familiar with the significance of that time.
That’s why after endless hours of wrestling with the “did they/didn’t they” question in my mind I decided it doesn’t matter and I don’t care. Whether you pitch your tent in the camp that says they did have sex [based on the clock, her smirk, funeral eye sex, etc] or that they merely slept huddled together in the safety of each other’s arms that night [based on the fact that Brennan is literal and would’ve told Ange flat out if there was sexin’ vs. mere comfort going on; the theory that Hart is a romantic and ergo, ipso, facto, Colombo, Oreo he was going for emotional intimacy over physical for now; and the prevalent wish of fans to be peeping Toms during B&B’s first go-around] you can’t deny several things:
A) There’s been a paradigm shift. I firmly believe Booth and Brennan are an official couple now. If it hadn’t been for VNM, either Brennan would’ve been dead(because Booth handed her the phone), or Booth would be dead (for answering the call and handing his phone to Brennan to track it). With six years of near-miss after near-miss, this is the one that sticks. I think they realized they’ve wasted enough time and that THEIR time has now come.
B) Brennan made the first move. Let’s face it, after the many times he’s gambled and lost, Booth was not about to reach out to Brennan physically. Yes, he invites her over, but it is Brennan who knocks on his door, Brennan who sits down on his bed, and Brennan who asks if she can stay. It’s also she who weaves her arm in his at the very end as they walk away from the “funeral.” This action on Brennan’s part is the aspect of this episode that satisfies me the most. Just as I’ve argued before that he had to make the move in 100, she had to here. And did. Hallelujah!
C) They now share a new level of emotional intimacy. Like I said in point A, I’m pretty sure these guys are going to call this thing a relationship now, but regardless of what label they slap on it (and whether or not the deed was done) they’ve crossed a threshold. I haven’t decided if it’s a stretch to say Booth dealt with his anger/control issues fully between this week and last, but I am certain Brennan has given up the last of her imperviousness. I don’t know if it’s a stretch to say that after the crying there was touching, which led to sexing, but either way they woke up the next morning more intimately connected than they ever have been before.
Those three things are all I need. Sex scenes often don’t carry the emotional weight others do. Long, drawn out dialogue over issues they both know exist can lead to fans misconstruing meanings and twisting words. I do love that it’s not spelled out for us, as a certain level of ambiguity is needed, and I’m not fully persuaded one way or the other though my first reaction last night was that the tears led to comfort sex. In the end it doesn’t matter: They’re finally on the same page at the same time so now the game is truly afoot and the possibilities of where this goes from here are endless.
Confession #3: This episode isn’t my favorite of all time.
In case you hadn’t figured it out, I’m a Bones snob. While I am more than willing to watch every episode at least twice and give it the benefit of the doubt whether it deserves it or not, when it comes to making lists of my favorites it’s tricky. There are roughly 10 episodes I would say are phenomenal and among those there are three or four that are the best of the best. Last night my nagging thought was that I must be odd. While others raved at it being the BEST EVER or SERIES TOPPER, I was reticent. Yes, for all of the reasons and more this episode is layered; yes the acting, writing, and directing was top notch (save for the phony pull-back from the crane, I’m sorry :P); and yes, it successfully wrapped up the serial killer arc in a satisfying manner by shooting Broadsky without adding to Booth’s mountain of guilt. But the best?
Different people have different criteria for what makes a “best” episode. Some like to laugh, some cry, some think, some all three. Most like to identify and empathize with the victim or with how the main characters cope with what the case forces them to confront. A rather boisterous and noisy segment of the fan base like to have a huge shift in the Booth and Brennan relationship; while another group prefers a strong ensemble performance to subtly reflect what’s going on with B&B. I like all of those things. They are all good, admirable things. Traces of each one can be seen in this episode.
But the BEST for me is one that can do most or all of that and stand apart on its own. It’s one that I can show my husband - who casually watches - and not have him crying along with me. One I can show my sister - who never watches - and pique her enough to ask to borrow my whole collection. One that mom would enjoy watching with me though she has no desire to watch the show ever again. Maybe that’s asking a little much of a mere 45-minute show that must also compete in the harshly competitive climate of network TV, I don’t know. Hart once said that’s the trouble with expecting art from a medium that by nature is a popularity contest at its root.
The reason this one doesn’t quite make the cut as the best - or even my top three - is that for everything it is, it’s dependant on the rest of the season and the series to show how great it really is; how important it will be in the overall narrative. There are far too many loose ends in regards to B&B for me to be able to fairly judge it and rank it right off the bat. And for all the hype that surrounded it I just can’t bring myself to say it lived up to or exceeded my expectations. My friend Smurfs put it best by saying “It was great but not as great as I was told it was.”
So what?
There are other things I wrestled with like the importance of answering the call (it’s mentioned in the other two sniper episodes and brain twin GcatsPJs points out that in Goop the patsy answered the call and in EITB, Jared’s cell phone GPS is what gives him away); the importance of collateral damage (in all three sniper episodes). I wonder why Sweets has so little faith in Brennan’s goodness both at the beginning and end of this episode, though I get that Cam was lashing out from her own pain just like she did after Zack’s betrayal. I want to go back and compile a list of all of the references from EITB and other episodes because it’s like a gold mine in there.
More than anything I want it to be next Wednesday or early Thursday morning so that the Canadians can share their finale bacon with me and I can see where this journey takes us next. There are an infinite number of possibilities, coupled with the extra challenge of shooting around a pregnant ED (keep using Booth’s sweatshirt, guys, it’s sexy as all get out). I can’t wait to see them undercover again and to learn the fate of the Hodgela baby. I want to know if HH is going to be evil and leave us wondering all what went on in that bedroom or if the promo is right and we’re about to get thrown a wicked curveball the likes of which will sent us into a fannic (fan-panic) of epic proportions. I want to see Max and wonder if that wily devil will ferret out the truth. I want to see what liberties this new couple takes with one another while undercover and how guarded they are amongst their friends.
Basically I want what I want at the end of every Bones episode: more Bones.
How about you?
Confession #1: I didn’t cry.
I need to preface this by saying that after Signs in the Silence I cried. It hit some personal notes close to home and even on rewatches I was teary. So when dear friends who’d seen this one at the Paley Center said they cried I braced myself for the worst. I am spoiler free so I had no clue whose heart that bullet would pierce. It was eerily reminiscent to me of the emotional gamut I ran back when Pain in the Heart aired. My heart froze as the haunting music played and I breathed a sigh of relief when Hodgins was shown first, because it eliminated him as the target (he was also the first implicated as Gormagon and I remember being relieved then too).
It wasn’t until my second watching that I realized the building Broadsky was dangling behind was the Medico-legal lab, nor did I pick up on Vincent foreshadowing his death just moments beforehand; the squinterns are always the victims and he says he can presume he'll be dead soon as Brennan grabs him for her latest demo. I did immediately know once the thermal imaging came up who was going to bite it.
The death scene itself was fabulously acted all around. David, Emily, and Ryan all brought their A-game and it really was a fitting/touching way for him to go. It didn’t, however, move me to tears, not even the second time when my hubby wasn’t around and my house was silent. It’s not that I’m cold-hearted, or that I’m like Brennan and compartmentalize either. It’s not even that I don’t like Vincent.
On my scale of squinterns, VNM is somewhere between Wendell- my favorite- and Fischer (who himself is slightly above Daisy most of the time). He is - or rather was - the closest in personality to Zack in that he was a kind of shrimp of a guy who really REALLY didn’t know how to connect with the world. Zack hid in logic, VNM hid in facts(Zack was also known to spout odd facts). Both doomed squinterns also had an intense desire to please Brennan and both wanted nothing more than to be her intern. (In Sweet’s thoughts on the Bones iPad app, it’s revealed that VNM’s mum wanted him to study at Oxford but he wanted to work for Brennan) Also (though this probably means nothing other than that I’ve watched End in the Beginning far too many times) they are the two characters who discover the revolver hidden in VNM’s things at the nightclub in the coma dream/book.
In the end I think I didn’t cry because even though it shook things up, it won’t change the opening credits next season. Sure, Ryan’s name won’t pop up every so often like it has the past two years but the absence won’t be as starkly apparent as it was going into Season 4 without Zack. I also didn’t cry because this death of a squintern who was so much like Zack was needed; but more on that later, back to confession.
Confession #2: I could care less whether B&B did the deed or not that night.
Here’s the thing, just like in episode 100, change was needed. This season, the double Bs have managed to survive their 7th month-long hiatus, Booth’s hookup, and Brennan’s breakdown. In Blizzard they took their first baby step by being honest enough to admit neither of them were ready even though both of them were willing. In the episodes since then, they’ve been slowly slipping back into that quasi-dating thing they had going on before 100. I can easily see that had VNM not died, leaving Brennan bereft of her favorite squintern once again (as Brennan is such an advocate for the truth I don’t believe this is something she made up just to placate VNM in death). There had to be a catalyst. This was a very suitable one given the show’s history : it mirrors Pain by making her confront the fact that Booth is mortal at the same time she has to cope with the loss of a beloved squintern.
This time, however, we aren’t left with the camera fading as she leans on Booth’s shoulder, but rather panning out as she crawls into Booth’s bed (her words! Not mine!). Despite the writing credit going to Carla Kettner (who fascinated us in her offering of Photo earlier this season) Hart Hanson’s grubby paw prints are all over the bedroom as the clock struck 4:47am. The beginning of Booth and Brennan as a couple begins not with the storm, but with her knock and if you’ve seen EITB and BITE as many times as I have you’re already very familiar with the significance of that time.
That’s why after endless hours of wrestling with the “did they/didn’t they” question in my mind I decided it doesn’t matter and I don’t care. Whether you pitch your tent in the camp that says they did have sex [based on the clock, her smirk, funeral eye sex, etc] or that they merely slept huddled together in the safety of each other’s arms that night [based on the fact that Brennan is literal and would’ve told Ange flat out if there was sexin’ vs. mere comfort going on; the theory that Hart is a romantic and ergo, ipso, facto, Colombo, Oreo he was going for emotional intimacy over physical for now; and the prevalent wish of fans to be peeping Toms during B&B’s first go-around] you can’t deny several things:
A) There’s been a paradigm shift. I firmly believe Booth and Brennan are an official couple now. If it hadn’t been for VNM, either Brennan would’ve been dead(because Booth handed her the phone), or Booth would be dead (for answering the call and handing his phone to Brennan to track it). With six years of near-miss after near-miss, this is the one that sticks. I think they realized they’ve wasted enough time and that THEIR time has now come.
B) Brennan made the first move. Let’s face it, after the many times he’s gambled and lost, Booth was not about to reach out to Brennan physically. Yes, he invites her over, but it is Brennan who knocks on his door, Brennan who sits down on his bed, and Brennan who asks if she can stay. It’s also she who weaves her arm in his at the very end as they walk away from the “funeral.” This action on Brennan’s part is the aspect of this episode that satisfies me the most. Just as I’ve argued before that he had to make the move in 100, she had to here. And did. Hallelujah!
C) They now share a new level of emotional intimacy. Like I said in point A, I’m pretty sure these guys are going to call this thing a relationship now, but regardless of what label they slap on it (and whether or not the deed was done) they’ve crossed a threshold. I haven’t decided if it’s a stretch to say Booth dealt with his anger/control issues fully between this week and last, but I am certain Brennan has given up the last of her imperviousness. I don’t know if it’s a stretch to say that after the crying there was touching, which led to sexing, but either way they woke up the next morning more intimately connected than they ever have been before.
Those three things are all I need. Sex scenes often don’t carry the emotional weight others do. Long, drawn out dialogue over issues they both know exist can lead to fans misconstruing meanings and twisting words. I do love that it’s not spelled out for us, as a certain level of ambiguity is needed, and I’m not fully persuaded one way or the other though my first reaction last night was that the tears led to comfort sex. In the end it doesn’t matter: They’re finally on the same page at the same time so now the game is truly afoot and the possibilities of where this goes from here are endless.
Confession #3: This episode isn’t my favorite of all time.
In case you hadn’t figured it out, I’m a Bones snob. While I am more than willing to watch every episode at least twice and give it the benefit of the doubt whether it deserves it or not, when it comes to making lists of my favorites it’s tricky. There are roughly 10 episodes I would say are phenomenal and among those there are three or four that are the best of the best. Last night my nagging thought was that I must be odd. While others raved at it being the BEST EVER or SERIES TOPPER, I was reticent. Yes, for all of the reasons and more this episode is layered; yes the acting, writing, and directing was top notch (save for the phony pull-back from the crane, I’m sorry :P); and yes, it successfully wrapped up the serial killer arc in a satisfying manner by shooting Broadsky without adding to Booth’s mountain of guilt. But the best?
Different people have different criteria for what makes a “best” episode. Some like to laugh, some cry, some think, some all three. Most like to identify and empathize with the victim or with how the main characters cope with what the case forces them to confront. A rather boisterous and noisy segment of the fan base like to have a huge shift in the Booth and Brennan relationship; while another group prefers a strong ensemble performance to subtly reflect what’s going on with B&B. I like all of those things. They are all good, admirable things. Traces of each one can be seen in this episode.
But the BEST for me is one that can do most or all of that and stand apart on its own. It’s one that I can show my husband - who casually watches - and not have him crying along with me. One I can show my sister - who never watches - and pique her enough to ask to borrow my whole collection. One that mom would enjoy watching with me though she has no desire to watch the show ever again. Maybe that’s asking a little much of a mere 45-minute show that must also compete in the harshly competitive climate of network TV, I don’t know. Hart once said that’s the trouble with expecting art from a medium that by nature is a popularity contest at its root.
The reason this one doesn’t quite make the cut as the best - or even my top three - is that for everything it is, it’s dependant on the rest of the season and the series to show how great it really is; how important it will be in the overall narrative. There are far too many loose ends in regards to B&B for me to be able to fairly judge it and rank it right off the bat. And for all the hype that surrounded it I just can’t bring myself to say it lived up to or exceeded my expectations. My friend Smurfs put it best by saying “It was great but not as great as I was told it was.”
So what?
There are other things I wrestled with like the importance of answering the call (it’s mentioned in the other two sniper episodes and brain twin GcatsPJs points out that in Goop the patsy answered the call and in EITB, Jared’s cell phone GPS is what gives him away); the importance of collateral damage (in all three sniper episodes). I wonder why Sweets has so little faith in Brennan’s goodness both at the beginning and end of this episode, though I get that Cam was lashing out from her own pain just like she did after Zack’s betrayal. I want to go back and compile a list of all of the references from EITB and other episodes because it’s like a gold mine in there.
More than anything I want it to be next Wednesday or early Thursday morning so that the Canadians can share their finale bacon with me and I can see where this journey takes us next. There are an infinite number of possibilities, coupled with the extra challenge of shooting around a pregnant ED (keep using Booth’s sweatshirt, guys, it’s sexy as all get out). I can’t wait to see them undercover again and to learn the fate of the Hodgela baby. I want to know if HH is going to be evil and leave us wondering all what went on in that bedroom or if the promo is right and we’re about to get thrown a wicked curveball the likes of which will sent us into a fannic (fan-panic) of epic proportions. I want to see Max and wonder if that wily devil will ferret out the truth. I want to see what liberties this new couple takes with one another while undercover and how guarded they are amongst their friends.
Basically I want what I want at the end of every Bones episode: more Bones.
How about you?