5x08: So there was the time when my mom almost killed Booth's Pops.
5x08: So there was this time my mom almost killed Booth’s Pops
No, I’m not kidding about this.
She was driving around the square in Horn Lake, MS, sometime in the early 1980s, in a Grenada. If you do not know the Grenada, it is what my mother charitably describes as a “land yhacht.” It is giant and awful and terribly of-the-moment at the time.
Anyway.
She was driving this around the Horn Lake, MS, square, and all the sudden, there is a man on her hood.
Better known as Pa Walton.
Who is Ralph Waite.
Who is Booth’s Pops.
He was there filming a movie, some made-for-tv bullshit, because really, why the fuck else would you even be in Horn Lake? He looked at her, pissed off as hell, and you know, you can’t blame the guy. He walked it off, though.
So that’s the time my mom almost killed Booth’s Pops. She called me tonight to tell me she’s glad he survived.
ME TOO.
(In other news, which you should probably know, when I pulled up to my apartment this evening, THERE WAS AN OPEN BAR IN THE LOBBY. No. I’m serious. I don’t know why or how I earned such a great gift, but there it was. This post brought to you by the free Absolut in the FUCKING LOBBY. )
(Also-also: This one, I do not think, brings the funny such as others. I got a little sappy during this. You are forewarned.)
1. B-B-S at the diner. I am already happy with where this is going.
2. I’m on the fence on that green top thingy Brennan has one. On one hand, you know, that’s going to make boobs look awesome. But I tried on something like it the other day, and I just couldn’t get past the ruffles.
3. Sweets: Shrimp?
Brennan: I imagine Booth used to be shorter.
Sweets: Oh (with the best reaction ever. I have mentioned it before, but I am saying it again: Sweets is so winning at life this season. He understands that this is the obvious explanation, but he’s going to give Brennan this one).
4. OMG, BOOTH’S POPS MAKES HIS FIST BUMPS EXPLODE (I must research getting my grandmother to do this; my cousins would die over it next week at Thanksgiving). The man already has my heart. Before he even speaks words.
5. HE WILL OWN MUCH MORE OF IT LATER.
6. This is time for me to reveal how I think about the Booths.
a. Booth is Booth. He is the definitive Booth. The Booth for All Seasons. Booths will come and go, and he will remain the Boothy-est of them all (thanks for that, Brennan).
b. Jared is, as Angela explained, Booth Lite. Like Bud Lite, he tastes like a remembrance of the real thing, but he doesn’t have the full flavor. They are somewhat like each other (and really, in CMitML, there’s this moment where Booth and Jared laugh at the same time walking up the steps to the platform in the Jeff, and they really do seem like they’re sharing a mannerism, and it’s just so damned WELL DONE), but Jared? Only pales in comparison to the original.
c. Parker is Baby Booth. He is Booth cuteness turned up to 11, with his mop of RebeccaBlonde!curls and Booth-esque charm. He’s our adorable tyke of a Booth.
d. Hank? BOOTH EMERITUS. The guy could teach a class on Boothinomics, holds a Ph.D. in Boothology, and used to be Chancellor of Booth State. Also, I always thought his first name should be Ransom, but clearly, I’ve had to let that go. He is the Booth of experience and wisdom. He is the only Booth that the Boothy Booth will listen too. THAT WILL BE OH SO IMPORTANT LATER.
7. So, Booth Emeritus meets Brennan, and is immediately charmed. “You weren’t kidding,” he says to Booth.
“There’s this woman I’m working with now.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“You’ve got that tone.”
“What tone? I don’t have a tone.”
“You like her.”
“I don’t, actually. She’s incredibly bossy and won’t listen to anyone but herself, and she always wants to drive the damned car and if she doesn’t shut up about wanting a gun soon-.”
“No. Seeley, I know you. You like her. She’s pretty, isn’t she?”
“I…Pops, I don’t know what that would have to do with-“
“Knew it.”
“Pops, it’s not that way.”
“I don’t think so.”
8. Brennan: What did you tell him? Booth: Nothing.
DUDE. I WANT THIS CONVERSATION. I tried to write a reimagining of it above, but alas, I really don’t think I can hit what it must have been. Because it had to be somewhere along the lines of “she’s really pretty” because it’s something Hank can comment upon immediately, but it cannot be, “I’m so in love with her it hurts,” because it becomes apparent that Booth hasn’t told Hank that yet.
9. I love that Sweets gets constant ribbing. “Where’d you get your M.D., a Cracker Jack box?” Booth and Brennan have laid off a bit, but Hank is going after that shit like woah. And Sweets, to his credit, is a good sport about it.
10. This is the part where I talk about how Jared is a total shit. There’s his brother, having brain surgery. Booth says that Hank had triple bypass three months ago. So Booth and Hank were down for the count around the same time. And where the blue fuck was Jared? GALAVANTING THROUGH INDIA. If I pulled some ridonculous shit like that, my family wouldn’t let me live it down…oh, ever. So go fuck yourself, Jared, you selfish prick.
11. “He’s family, Bones. Nothing trumps family. You remember that.” Because he loves you. You remember that episode where GG told Booth that he was building a life, a family around Brennan. Yeah? I do, too.
12. I actually did find this murder interesting. The mystery was pretty well-crafted because the remains were unique. You can tell how excited Brennan is about it, because it’s not something she sees all the time. You can see the excitement because she’s working a very different sort of case. Thanks for that, Show.
13. “Woosh. Flammah.” Booth. Hi. That face you made right there? Where you’re sort of arguing and being cute at the same time? If you could do that, I don’t know, in my bed for the entire evening, I would be pretty fucking stoked about it.
14. And Brennan thinks it’s cute! Look at her!
Brennan: That’s absurd, Booth.
Booth: Oh, really? Then, what happened?
Brennan: (sort of smirking) I have absolutely no idea. (and how often have we heard her say that? HOW ABOUT NEVER.)
15. A note from the credits: When they show Booth walking around the sewer in that FBI jacket with the combover? I don’t think there will ever be a time I don’t totally find that attractive. In the most severe way. Yes.
16. I love the way the Team works together on this one. They all seem so stoked about this mystery.
17. Clark: Booth is a good man.
Even Brennan is intrigued, because even she, in her ineptitude, is still pretty happy that Clark is showing this sort of emotion. I think that’s a really nice and subtle way of showing her growth.
Clark: I called mine Gramps.
O’Brien: I called mine Poppie. And I’m going to make you read about it below (unless you skip it).
18. Pops gets a little lost, and while Booth is trying to get him, the Redheaded Real Estate Agent Who I Thought Was the Killer Because She Seemed Like a Shader shows up, and can I get a witness on this: I wanted to hit that bitch in the face.
19. O’Brien is salty today, BTW.
20. NICKNAME CONVO FTW. A few notes:
a. Angela? Episode 8, and still, no stool in front of those screens. I hope she doesn’t get Haglands because of this.
b. Angela: I bet Booth’s cute with his grandpa.
Brennan: (lights up like Christmas) His grandfather calls him Shrimp. Booth seems to like it, which I don’t understand.
Angela: It makes Booth feel loved.
Brennan: (possibly cottoning on?) So the moniker is a sign of affection.
Angela: Very good, Brennan. You never had a nickname?
Brennan: (and this? You guys? OH). Oh, just what Booth calls me. Just…just Bones. (And she looks so, so cute about it. A shrug, a smile that she clearly can’t stop. That’s what the name has become to her, a name she thought she’d hate forever, but can’t, because it’s from him, and maybe what she doesn’t know, or maybe what she does, is that every time he says it, what he means to say is “I love you” but the words don’t come out quite right)
Angela: (the look on her face? I love Angela, because she always gets it)
c. That modeling thing? Is awesome? Y/Y?
d. I know Angela went to art school or whatever, but she also must have been some super computer genius dork person, too, and she’s just this walking dichotomy. A contradiction of talent and brains and she can make you laugh and laugh and laugh. Hodgins sees the 3-D model, and swear to God, he can feel his heart stop, because there she is, and there he is, and there they both are but they’re not. He gives her a fragment of information, and she turns it into an entire rainbow. He’s still so in love with her that he can actually hear it ringing in his ears in the mornings, sometimes, when he forgets that she’s not asleep beside him.
e. Also, dude, who the hell wears their work vest to do the do? That shit is not normal.
21. Everything always happens in the car. I fucking love the car conversations, and this one between Booth and Hank does not disappoint. Booth tells Hank that he’s glad he’s here, and he means it. He does. God, this show just finds more and more ways to make Booth seem so, so good. Thanks, Show.
22. Hank: And don’t worry. If you ever need a little privacy with the bone doctor, I’ll make myself scarce.
Booth: All right, thanks, Pops, but there’s nothing going on between us.
Hank: Are you gay? (and let’s remember; this is the second time Booth has been asked this. Max asked him in Season 4, in reaction to Booth’s saying no to the question, “Are you sleeping with my daughter?” You’ve got to love when the parentals are even shipping you with your co-worker/one of your besties. IT’S NOT COMFORTABLE. Not that my mom has ever done that…ever…except when she does)
Basically, Hank reveals himself to be the GREATEST OF ALL B/B SHIPPERS, after like 15 seconds, because, and here’s the refrain, he is the only Booth, nay, the only person, who Booth might actually listen to.
23. Hank: Go keep America safe. LOVES IT.
24. Also, you know that when Booth is his Pops’ age, he would totally walk into a store and be running the show in like 5 minutes. Clearly, it is a very Boothy trait to want to be in charge, and to actually take charge. Booth might think this is all his Pops being a little nutty now, but wait until he’s 75 or 80, and Parker is having to keep him from harassing police officers who aren’t doing their jobs right or something while Brennan is trying to talk her way past police tape because those remains look SO INTERESTING and Booth’s trying to tell the cops, “Do you know who I am? Do you know who SHE is?” and Parker is calling his sister (because Booth and Brennan are SO destined to have a girl if they ever do this baby thing) and he’s saying, “I can’t deal with these people because they are insane.” This is the future, people, it is to come to pass and some stuff.
25. Woman: Where would I find fertilizer for azaleas?
Hank: Aisle Four.
Booth: *headdesk*
O’Brien: I’M TELLING YOU, BOOTH, THIS MAN IS SO, SO YOU.
26. DOUBLE MURDER! See, I told you this one was interesting!
27. Is this all the same day? Because Brennan is wearing the green thing again, and Hank’s still wearing the cardigan/shirt combo. That’s a lot of investigating in one day.
28. Hank: I like her. She’s got balls.
Brennan: Well. Ovaries, actually.
Hank: All right, you’ve got a pair of steel ovaries.
Brennan: Thank you.
Booth fears this soon-to-come-to-pass unholy alliance. He’s pretty sure he’s owned by Brennan, and he’s pretty sure that his Pops could get him to do anything, so if the two of them combine? He’s fucked. He knows this. He fears it.
He’s also going to have to get over it because it is SO happening.
29. DO YOU REMEMBER THAT TIME BRENNAN AND HANK TALKED ABOUT HOW BOOTH FREAKS OUT ABOUT SEX A LITTLE BIT? I do.
30. And Booth’s face just shows the evidence of his fear of this terrible twosome.
31. I love this conversation so much. Hank opens up to Brennan, because he inherently knows, this is the person for Booth. This is the person who keeps his secrets, the person who will keep this one of mine.
It was like a weight off his chest. The most incredibly relief.
He had only met this girl a few hours before. And she was still a girl to him, so bright, so young. He’d heard Seeley talk about her, but it always seemed like when he mentioned her, he was leaving something out, that he wanted to say more, but didn’t.
That was the way Seeley always was. There’s was always more going on than met the eye.
As soon as he saw her, he understood.
She was pretty. Very pretty, but that wasn’t all. The girl was honest, and forthright. Seeley had mentioned before that she was awkward, but Hank knew that was just what was on the surface. He saw the way she knew his grandson, the way they moved around one another, they way she took Seeley’s french fry, didn’t ask, just took it, and that Seeley didn’t look surprised or even smile at it. This was routine, and it was their lives, and they were already together and didn’t know it.
So when he tells her, it was my fault, it was something I did, she doesn’t try to convince him that he is the perfect grandfather, or that anything was better than it actually was. She just lays her hand on his wrist. He does not know that this is something Seeley taught her about, but it does not matter; the ways they have bled into each other, like different paint colors on fabric, they do not matter.
He trusts her, with this, and with the most precious thing he has, that he has ever had.
He trusts her, and that’s all that matters.
32. Also, if Show actually had this whole thing planned out, with Booth’s Pops when Brennan told Booth that her granddad got her out of the foster care system all the way back in S1, Show would get a gold star. I wish Show were on my speed dial, or possibly my facebook friend, so I could write on Show’s wall, or maybe poke Show. I love Show so much.
33. Hi Meg’s roommate. I want your pretty hair. You also talk about Club Jiggle. The brisket thing? THAT SHIT IS WEIRD. Booth can’t even handle that brisket shit. He is not okay with it, and honestly, Booth? Me, either. Brisket and sexi tiems do not go together. I think since you think that, Booth, and I think that, we should be having some sex. FYI.
34. That reconstruction of the fibula thing is BAD FUCKING ASS TO THE MAX, Y’ALL. Wendell and VNM lead the race for fave interns, but Clark? He’s the most like Brennan. He can really do some serious focus motherfucking shit, and you’ve got to give him some props for that. Also, he gets to wear the blue coat because he’s a doctor, and I MISS ZACK.
35. Brennan: But Hank said you love cake.
Booth: I usually do, but are we staying on point here?
Brennan: Well, we were talking about cake weren’t we? Oh! He’s making you grilled cheese tonight, by the way.
Booth: Oh really?!
Brennan: Yes, I’m invited. (“invited” said in a very unBrennan-esque sing-song like manner)
36. Hank. You sly dog. You are such a match maker. No, really, I might be changing your name from Booth Emeritus to Chuck Woolery.
37. Nah, not really. Emeritus is just an awesome title. I want to be a Something Emeritus someday. Because it means that you’ve gotten older, but you’re still awesome. I want to be a Badass Emeritus or whatever. That would be so cool.
38. Booth takes the convo from personal stuff back to the case, because that’s what he does. Show talks a lot about Brennan’s ability to compartmentalize, but Booth? That guy has got compartmentalization down to a science. He wouldn’t like to think about it that way, but he keeps a lot at the back of his mind with work. He flips a switch, and he’s FBI guy. That’s just how it is. So, ultimately, it’s not that Brennan compartmentalizes her feelings, so they stay apart - it’s that they are BOTH compartmentalizing. Can anyone else say VICIOUS CYCLE?
39. So, this conversation about Hank’s Kumiden? This is what it is like in actual real world type shit. The way Brennan acts, Booth’s reaction, Hank’s…they are all spot on. Brennan feels comfortable enough, with both of them, to assert her expertise in what is truly a touchy situation, a moment even she has to recognize is uncomfortable because it is so serious. It’s a really good moment, I think, for character development.
40. Also: IT’S A REALLY GOOD MOMENT FOR LEATHER JACKETS. Because Booth is wearing the Jacket again (perhaps you remember, from last week’s recap, that I decided it is a proper noun? Much like MagLites and Italy?). God. Damn. Fuck. Me. Naked.
41. Can this virtual mold stuff even happen? Whether or not it can, it’s damned inventive.
42. AND HERE’S A TRULY AWESOME MOMENT IN THE CAR:
Hank: There’s nothing wrong with big women; your grandma had some jam in her jelly.
O’Brien: Jiminey Cricket.
…
Brennan: Some smart stuff.
Hank: Is she always like this?
Booth: She always has the facts, Pops, always.
Hank: You should go on a game show; you’d clean up.
Booth: (with the most Boothy face of Boothy faces…seriously, I love it when he makes that little boy/adorable/full of cheer face) I tell her that all the time, but she’s already loaded.
Hank: She’s got talent, charm, beauty, money…and you’re just friends?
Booth: OMG FACE OF OMG WTF.
Brennan: OMG FACE OF PREACH IT TO THE CONGREGATION BOOTH EMERITUS (no, really. Brennan looks way, WAY more than amused)
Hank: I didn’t raise you very well.
Booth and Brennan: OMG FACES OF WOULD IT BE INAPPROPRIATE TO DO IT IN FRONT OF YOUR POPS.
Best scene…ever? Maybe?
43. And we’re putting this one down in the books:
That time B/B went to Club Jiggle with Hank?
Was the first time, at least in my memory, that not undercover, Booth hasn’t told someone who asked, “So, you two, you’re together?” that they are “just partners.”
In fact, he puts his arm around Brennan’s shoulders, and tells the woman, oh yeah, we’re together. And Brennan?
GOES ALONG WITH IT.
I know Booth was trying to evade being hit on, but STILL. I’m saying. It must be noted.
44. Then there’s this totally great moment: Booth watches Pops while Brennan watches him. It’s nice, and it’s like this, now. There have been many times in the past that Booth has watched her, but he does not know the ways, and times, she has watched him.
Too many times in a hospital bed, for starters.
But this time is better than that. Booth is smiling, in this very sincere way. She is getting better with people, but Booth? Is not people. He’s Booth and she understands his smile. He is happy, and he’s also a little bit sad, because this is something he doesn’t know how to handle, this thing with his Pops. She will help him, will be with his Pops everyday if that’s what it takes, because it’s Booth, and-
Well, there’s not anything she wouldn’t do for him.
But right now, while he’s smiling, it’s okay for her to smile, too, because he really is sort of beautiful when he smiles, and this moment makes her love him just a little bit more.
Not that she’s going to tell him that.
45. Redheaded Bitch: Dude or whatever can’t sell his house while it’s a crime scene.
Brennan: Neither can you (Brennan just owned that woman. OWNED HER)
RhB: That was nasty.
Booth: But it was true. (tagteam ownage…FTFW)
46. This moment with Clark.
Oh, Clark.
So, this is the part about my Poppie.
And you can skip this, if you don’t want to indulge my maudlin talk her. Skip to 47, if you want. But I think I want to say this.
Clark: He never got to see what I became. What I do…it’s for him.
My mom and dad split up before I was born, not because of me, but for a lot of reasons. She moved back to her home town, a small, small town in Mississippi, and I grew up next door to two amazing people: Grammie and Poppie, my mother’s parents.
Grammie lives with my mom now. She is 83, and Irish, literally from Ireland, and she taught me how to curse, and she can drink you, me, and an entire ship of sailors under the table. She is sometimes an unrelenting bitch, but God help me, I love her more than life itself.
And there is Poppie.
He was my dad. For all intents and purposes, he was my dad, and I love him like what I think you’re supposed to love your dad like. He taught me about baseball and history (he loved history). The older I got the more we would talk about so many things. He was funny. Not just haha, oh that’s hilarious, funny, but clever. He had an incredibly dry wit that I hope I picked up a tenth of. He had these polyester PJs that he loved. I can still hear him, in my head, his gravely Southern voice; it sounded like ice in a glass of whiskey, but deeper. He loved Ole Miss. He worked in intelligence in World War II. He would always lose his pens, and one Christmas, I found all the pens in the house, wrote “Poppie” on the side with a Sharpie, and he loved it. My Mother always gave him Old Spice. He would give me a dollar when I showed him my report card. There are a million things I’m leaving out that you should know, that everybody should know, but I remember this clearly: He was proud of me, so proud.
He died when I had been 13 for three days.
Everyone said that it wasn’t a surprise, that he was old, that he wasn’t always in the best of health. I was shocked, but my mother was falling apart, and my Grammie was a hot mess, and I’ve been told a time or two that I can flip that switch and do what needs to be done instead of getting upset, so that’s what I did. I cleaned my house, I cleaned Grammie and Poppie’s house, I talked to mourners, I went back to school, and I still am the only one who can go over to my grandparents house without having a huge emotional break. Their house sits like a shrine, next to mine, and it’s sad, because I love that house so, so much. My childhood is that house.
There are times when something will remind me (not of him, because I think of him every day), remind me of the way he laughed or smiled or SOMETHING, and I will be upset, and then I will put it back in that box.
So, when I saw this, when Clark says, “He never got to see what I became,” I think about the fact that yesterday was the first day I got to stand up in court and say I represented the United States, something I’ve wanted to say since before I can remember, and I didn’t get to tell him about it. I’d give anything to tell him about it.
And that’s the thing with Clark.
47. Brennan tries to go by her gut, and when she says, “It’s not satisfying,” it’s clearly satisfying. She could be more satisfied, of course, but this will have to do for now, because it’s probably inappropriate to do it in the FBI breakroom.
48. And the fact that she and Hank are, like, texting each other or whatever and having OMG moments or whatever on their cellies? FOR THE FUCKING WIN, PEOPLE. She looks so excited at the prospect of dominoes, and dinner, and telling Booth that Hank says shut up. Booth is again terrified, but also pleased, at this new development, and O’Brien? Well, I think this is likely how things would go in the Booth/Brennan household when Hank calls.
Booth: Hey, Pops! How’s it shakin’? Oh. You want to talk to Bones.
Brennan: Hi, Hank! Oh…really? No, he did. Yeah, he is. I know. He’s being such a…HA!
Booth: What is he saying about me?
Brennan: What? Nothing, Booth. Oh, yeah, he’s just being nosy.
And it would pretty much go on like that.
49. I love that Booth also starts picking up on saying, “I don’t think so.” It’s subtle, but a nice touch. Sometimes, you’re around someone you know really well, and you start to pick up the things that they do, they way that they talk, especially when that person is someone who has the ability to influence you a great deal. Nice.
50. This part about the fire? GOD. Way to wreck me, Show. Way to totally wreck me. Booths are these solid, steady, strong men, and the fact that Hank needs help has got to be killing him, and the fact that Booth can’t give it has got to be killing him, and they both just HATE this. I hate this, because they both do it so well, and I just feel bad for the both of them.
51. Can I have Brennan’s purple coat, by the way?
52. I also love Sweets right here. Basically, anytime you see Sweets this season? I sort of love him so, so much. The thing about Sweets this year: He’s learned to shut his damned mouth, that people are far more likely to teach you something about themselves when you’re not trying to tell them what they feel. Also, could Sweets’ ability to deal well with Pops be linked to his adoptive parents being older people? Is that continuity I smell in the ether?
53. Continuity smells like the half a box of Wheat Thins I had for dinner, btw.
54. Booth: Pops’ll think I don’t love him.
Brennan: Really?! (I love that Brennan cannot even believe this idea)
And here’s the thing about Booth.
His father would hit him. Not just hit him, but beat the unholy shit out of him. His mother left him. His brother couldn’t even show up when he almost died…like 8 times. The mother of his child? Well, don’t get me started on the stupidity of turning down Booth.
His Pops? That’s the only person who ever truly, consistently looked out for him. Booth is, therefore, not used to this type of thing, and as much as Brennan, fears that those who love him will leave him. He can feel it deep, deep down, this fear, in his stomach, in his very blood. Brennan runs from love, to shield herself. Booth runs to it, tries to immerse himself in it if he has to, even if that means giving up his work, because he’s trying so hard to cling to it, convinced that it will leave him.
These are opposite reactions to the same problem.
SHOW. If this is what you mean to tell me, you are very much amazing.
55. If I were that roommate? I’d bring that bitch back to life just to kill her again. That shit was NOT COOL.
56. More science badassery. I really love the way the Squints work this case. They are like a puzzle; you need every piece to make out the picture. Can I get a witness on this Squint love? Because I don’t know why, but this episode in particular is really impressive to me on that front.
57. Angela: That’s so sweet.
Oh, Angela. You’ve so gone to the dark side. You totally dorked out there for a minute. It’s okay. I mean, it had to happen eventually, right? You couldn’t always just be cool and OMG GROSS or you would have quit this shit long ago.
58. Hello Booth in your plaid shirt in and grey tee in which you could possibly get sweaty doing some yard work then come back in the house…um, this is the X-rated part. Talk amongst yourselves.
59. Hank tells Booth he’s going back. They both know Hank’s doing this for Booth, but he’s doing it for himself, too. At the very least, I hope that Hank is hittin’ it in his golden years.
60. OMG IF THAT’S TRUE, HANK’S SEX LIFE IS BETTER THAN BOOTH’S.
61. You see, Booth? YOU SEE?! This is why we had to have a whole episode about your penis.
62. At the retirement community, Hank gives Brennan and Booth “Ye Olde Talk of the Wise Old Person.”
63. To Brennan: Would you please move on with this? I’d like more greatgrandchildren, and look at him over there. Hold him and love him and don’t give me that bullshit about how you are clueless and whatever because you love him, you crazy girl, and now you hug me.
64. Also, when the shot pans over to Booth, standing with his hands in his pockets, this is the most Angel moment I’ve ever seen on this show. To me, he looks the most Angel-y I’ve ever seen him. Does anyone else feel that?
65. To Booth: Stop this shit and get a move on, because you love her, and let’s stop screwing around about that. Also, don’t crush me; I’d like to breathe again.
66. What’d he say to you? Nothing. What’d he say to you? Nothing. Definitely not about how we’re in love and need to get it together.
67. He’s going to do what it tells him. And he’s going to start right now.
68. Did you see it?
69. That right there?
70. I’ll run it back for you.
71. Booth: I like that thing around your neck. It looks really good.
Brennan: You’ve seen it before.
Booth: I don’t think so.
72. That, my friends, was the first shot.
73. This is how Booth sees it.
According to Gordon-Gordon, his problems with shooting? They’re solved if Brennan is around.
And Gordon-Gordon is right; with Bones there, there’s nothing he doesn’t think that he can’t do. Catch the bad guy, raise a son, help his Pops.
With her, there’s nothing he can’t do.
Except Get the Girl.
And this is where his Pops comes in, because his Pops? Might be getting older, might be a bit more forgetful, may have lost a step or two.
But.
The old man is still the best man he’s ever met. The smartest, in the ways that count.
He always told him: listen to your heart.
Another smart man told him: the heart chooses what it chooses.
His heart chose her.
His heart sees the target, has seen it for a long, long time. She has been in his crosshairs, and he keeps on letting her slip away.
Until:
“I like that thing around your neck. It looks really good.”
This is the first shot, and it hit its mark.
74. Booth always hits his mark when he tries.
75. And you guys? He’s officially trying. That one line proves it to me.
76. Lastly, DID YOU SEE WHAT I MEANT ABOUT THE AWKWARD?! He’s smirking a little, saying that thing about the necklace, but y’all, Seeley Booth has WAY better lines than that, and he knows they won’t work on her. This is how it starts, little comments, not constant at first but steady, so damned steady, and he will run this race til it’s won. The rest of the season? I predict we will see, at least once an episode, Booth make some little move to advance this whole deal. It’s going to be bit by little bit, but I’m so ready for it. The most important part of this was getting Booth on the ball, and baby, he’s there. Gordon-Gordon had him PRIMED by the time Hank got to him.
77. GAME ON: Week 1 Report. ALL SYSTEMS MOTHERFUCKING GO.
Next week: We have Thanksgiving, but they did show the clip for the new one the week after Thanksgiving, and I do have to say something about it. I feel I have a fiduciary duty to prepare you for something. Booth is going to reach levels of hot that surpass even the three-piece suit. I shit you not. You should prepare yourself. I’ve never seen someone actually get hotter because they keep adding clothes to their person (though in a very technical/temperature sense, of course they will be physically hotter), but BOOTH FOUND A WAY.
No, I’m not kidding about this.
She was driving around the square in Horn Lake, MS, sometime in the early 1980s, in a Grenada. If you do not know the Grenada, it is what my mother charitably describes as a “land yhacht.” It is giant and awful and terribly of-the-moment at the time.
Anyway.
She was driving this around the Horn Lake, MS, square, and all the sudden, there is a man on her hood.
Better known as Pa Walton.
Who is Ralph Waite.
Who is Booth’s Pops.
He was there filming a movie, some made-for-tv bullshit, because really, why the fuck else would you even be in Horn Lake? He looked at her, pissed off as hell, and you know, you can’t blame the guy. He walked it off, though.
So that’s the time my mom almost killed Booth’s Pops. She called me tonight to tell me she’s glad he survived.
ME TOO.
(In other news, which you should probably know, when I pulled up to my apartment this evening, THERE WAS AN OPEN BAR IN THE LOBBY. No. I’m serious. I don’t know why or how I earned such a great gift, but there it was. This post brought to you by the free Absolut in the FUCKING LOBBY. )
(Also-also: This one, I do not think, brings the funny such as others. I got a little sappy during this. You are forewarned.)
1. B-B-S at the diner. I am already happy with where this is going.
2. I’m on the fence on that green top thingy Brennan has one. On one hand, you know, that’s going to make boobs look awesome. But I tried on something like it the other day, and I just couldn’t get past the ruffles.
3. Sweets: Shrimp?
Brennan: I imagine Booth used to be shorter.
Sweets: Oh (with the best reaction ever. I have mentioned it before, but I am saying it again: Sweets is so winning at life this season. He understands that this is the obvious explanation, but he’s going to give Brennan this one).
4. OMG, BOOTH’S POPS MAKES HIS FIST BUMPS EXPLODE (I must research getting my grandmother to do this; my cousins would die over it next week at Thanksgiving). The man already has my heart. Before he even speaks words.
5. HE WILL OWN MUCH MORE OF IT LATER.
6. This is time for me to reveal how I think about the Booths.
a. Booth is Booth. He is the definitive Booth. The Booth for All Seasons. Booths will come and go, and he will remain the Boothy-est of them all (thanks for that, Brennan).
b. Jared is, as Angela explained, Booth Lite. Like Bud Lite, he tastes like a remembrance of the real thing, but he doesn’t have the full flavor. They are somewhat like each other (and really, in CMitML, there’s this moment where Booth and Jared laugh at the same time walking up the steps to the platform in the Jeff, and they really do seem like they’re sharing a mannerism, and it’s just so damned WELL DONE), but Jared? Only pales in comparison to the original.
c. Parker is Baby Booth. He is Booth cuteness turned up to 11, with his mop of RebeccaBlonde!curls and Booth-esque charm. He’s our adorable tyke of a Booth.
d. Hank? BOOTH EMERITUS. The guy could teach a class on Boothinomics, holds a Ph.D. in Boothology, and used to be Chancellor of Booth State. Also, I always thought his first name should be Ransom, but clearly, I’ve had to let that go. He is the Booth of experience and wisdom. He is the only Booth that the Boothy Booth will listen too. THAT WILL BE OH SO IMPORTANT LATER.
7. So, Booth Emeritus meets Brennan, and is immediately charmed. “You weren’t kidding,” he says to Booth.
“There’s this woman I’m working with now.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“You’ve got that tone.”
“What tone? I don’t have a tone.”
“You like her.”
“I don’t, actually. She’s incredibly bossy and won’t listen to anyone but herself, and she always wants to drive the damned car and if she doesn’t shut up about wanting a gun soon-.”
“No. Seeley, I know you. You like her. She’s pretty, isn’t she?”
“I…Pops, I don’t know what that would have to do with-“
“Knew it.”
“Pops, it’s not that way.”
“I don’t think so.”
8. Brennan: What did you tell him? Booth: Nothing.
DUDE. I WANT THIS CONVERSATION. I tried to write a reimagining of it above, but alas, I really don’t think I can hit what it must have been. Because it had to be somewhere along the lines of “she’s really pretty” because it’s something Hank can comment upon immediately, but it cannot be, “I’m so in love with her it hurts,” because it becomes apparent that Booth hasn’t told Hank that yet.
9. I love that Sweets gets constant ribbing. “Where’d you get your M.D., a Cracker Jack box?” Booth and Brennan have laid off a bit, but Hank is going after that shit like woah. And Sweets, to his credit, is a good sport about it.
10. This is the part where I talk about how Jared is a total shit. There’s his brother, having brain surgery. Booth says that Hank had triple bypass three months ago. So Booth and Hank were down for the count around the same time. And where the blue fuck was Jared? GALAVANTING THROUGH INDIA. If I pulled some ridonculous shit like that, my family wouldn’t let me live it down…oh, ever. So go fuck yourself, Jared, you selfish prick.
11. “He’s family, Bones. Nothing trumps family. You remember that.” Because he loves you. You remember that episode where GG told Booth that he was building a life, a family around Brennan. Yeah? I do, too.
12. I actually did find this murder interesting. The mystery was pretty well-crafted because the remains were unique. You can tell how excited Brennan is about it, because it’s not something she sees all the time. You can see the excitement because she’s working a very different sort of case. Thanks for that, Show.
13. “Woosh. Flammah.” Booth. Hi. That face you made right there? Where you’re sort of arguing and being cute at the same time? If you could do that, I don’t know, in my bed for the entire evening, I would be pretty fucking stoked about it.
14. And Brennan thinks it’s cute! Look at her!
Brennan: That’s absurd, Booth.
Booth: Oh, really? Then, what happened?
Brennan: (sort of smirking) I have absolutely no idea. (and how often have we heard her say that? HOW ABOUT NEVER.)
15. A note from the credits: When they show Booth walking around the sewer in that FBI jacket with the combover? I don’t think there will ever be a time I don’t totally find that attractive. In the most severe way. Yes.
16. I love the way the Team works together on this one. They all seem so stoked about this mystery.
17. Clark: Booth is a good man.
Even Brennan is intrigued, because even she, in her ineptitude, is still pretty happy that Clark is showing this sort of emotion. I think that’s a really nice and subtle way of showing her growth.
Clark: I called mine Gramps.
O’Brien: I called mine Poppie. And I’m going to make you read about it below (unless you skip it).
18. Pops gets a little lost, and while Booth is trying to get him, the Redheaded Real Estate Agent Who I Thought Was the Killer Because She Seemed Like a Shader shows up, and can I get a witness on this: I wanted to hit that bitch in the face.
19. O’Brien is salty today, BTW.
20. NICKNAME CONVO FTW. A few notes:
a. Angela? Episode 8, and still, no stool in front of those screens. I hope she doesn’t get Haglands because of this.
b. Angela: I bet Booth’s cute with his grandpa.
Brennan: (lights up like Christmas) His grandfather calls him Shrimp. Booth seems to like it, which I don’t understand.
Angela: It makes Booth feel loved.
Brennan: (possibly cottoning on?) So the moniker is a sign of affection.
Angela: Very good, Brennan. You never had a nickname?
Brennan: (and this? You guys? OH). Oh, just what Booth calls me. Just…just Bones. (And she looks so, so cute about it. A shrug, a smile that she clearly can’t stop. That’s what the name has become to her, a name she thought she’d hate forever, but can’t, because it’s from him, and maybe what she doesn’t know, or maybe what she does, is that every time he says it, what he means to say is “I love you” but the words don’t come out quite right)
Angela: (the look on her face? I love Angela, because she always gets it)
c. That modeling thing? Is awesome? Y/Y?
d. I know Angela went to art school or whatever, but she also must have been some super computer genius dork person, too, and she’s just this walking dichotomy. A contradiction of talent and brains and she can make you laugh and laugh and laugh. Hodgins sees the 3-D model, and swear to God, he can feel his heart stop, because there she is, and there he is, and there they both are but they’re not. He gives her a fragment of information, and she turns it into an entire rainbow. He’s still so in love with her that he can actually hear it ringing in his ears in the mornings, sometimes, when he forgets that she’s not asleep beside him.
e. Also, dude, who the hell wears their work vest to do the do? That shit is not normal.
21. Everything always happens in the car. I fucking love the car conversations, and this one between Booth and Hank does not disappoint. Booth tells Hank that he’s glad he’s here, and he means it. He does. God, this show just finds more and more ways to make Booth seem so, so good. Thanks, Show.
22. Hank: And don’t worry. If you ever need a little privacy with the bone doctor, I’ll make myself scarce.
Booth: All right, thanks, Pops, but there’s nothing going on between us.
Hank: Are you gay? (and let’s remember; this is the second time Booth has been asked this. Max asked him in Season 4, in reaction to Booth’s saying no to the question, “Are you sleeping with my daughter?” You’ve got to love when the parentals are even shipping you with your co-worker/one of your besties. IT’S NOT COMFORTABLE. Not that my mom has ever done that…ever…except when she does)
Basically, Hank reveals himself to be the GREATEST OF ALL B/B SHIPPERS, after like 15 seconds, because, and here’s the refrain, he is the only Booth, nay, the only person, who Booth might actually listen to.
23. Hank: Go keep America safe. LOVES IT.
24. Also, you know that when Booth is his Pops’ age, he would totally walk into a store and be running the show in like 5 minutes. Clearly, it is a very Boothy trait to want to be in charge, and to actually take charge. Booth might think this is all his Pops being a little nutty now, but wait until he’s 75 or 80, and Parker is having to keep him from harassing police officers who aren’t doing their jobs right or something while Brennan is trying to talk her way past police tape because those remains look SO INTERESTING and Booth’s trying to tell the cops, “Do you know who I am? Do you know who SHE is?” and Parker is calling his sister (because Booth and Brennan are SO destined to have a girl if they ever do this baby thing) and he’s saying, “I can’t deal with these people because they are insane.” This is the future, people, it is to come to pass and some stuff.
25. Woman: Where would I find fertilizer for azaleas?
Hank: Aisle Four.
Booth: *headdesk*
O’Brien: I’M TELLING YOU, BOOTH, THIS MAN IS SO, SO YOU.
26. DOUBLE MURDER! See, I told you this one was interesting!
27. Is this all the same day? Because Brennan is wearing the green thing again, and Hank’s still wearing the cardigan/shirt combo. That’s a lot of investigating in one day.
28. Hank: I like her. She’s got balls.
Brennan: Well. Ovaries, actually.
Hank: All right, you’ve got a pair of steel ovaries.
Brennan: Thank you.
Booth fears this soon-to-come-to-pass unholy alliance. He’s pretty sure he’s owned by Brennan, and he’s pretty sure that his Pops could get him to do anything, so if the two of them combine? He’s fucked. He knows this. He fears it.
He’s also going to have to get over it because it is SO happening.
29. DO YOU REMEMBER THAT TIME BRENNAN AND HANK TALKED ABOUT HOW BOOTH FREAKS OUT ABOUT SEX A LITTLE BIT? I do.
30. And Booth’s face just shows the evidence of his fear of this terrible twosome.
31. I love this conversation so much. Hank opens up to Brennan, because he inherently knows, this is the person for Booth. This is the person who keeps his secrets, the person who will keep this one of mine.
It was like a weight off his chest. The most incredibly relief.
He had only met this girl a few hours before. And she was still a girl to him, so bright, so young. He’d heard Seeley talk about her, but it always seemed like when he mentioned her, he was leaving something out, that he wanted to say more, but didn’t.
That was the way Seeley always was. There’s was always more going on than met the eye.
As soon as he saw her, he understood.
She was pretty. Very pretty, but that wasn’t all. The girl was honest, and forthright. Seeley had mentioned before that she was awkward, but Hank knew that was just what was on the surface. He saw the way she knew his grandson, the way they moved around one another, they way she took Seeley’s french fry, didn’t ask, just took it, and that Seeley didn’t look surprised or even smile at it. This was routine, and it was their lives, and they were already together and didn’t know it.
So when he tells her, it was my fault, it was something I did, she doesn’t try to convince him that he is the perfect grandfather, or that anything was better than it actually was. She just lays her hand on his wrist. He does not know that this is something Seeley taught her about, but it does not matter; the ways they have bled into each other, like different paint colors on fabric, they do not matter.
He trusts her, with this, and with the most precious thing he has, that he has ever had.
He trusts her, and that’s all that matters.
32. Also, if Show actually had this whole thing planned out, with Booth’s Pops when Brennan told Booth that her granddad got her out of the foster care system all the way back in S1, Show would get a gold star. I wish Show were on my speed dial, or possibly my facebook friend, so I could write on Show’s wall, or maybe poke Show. I love Show so much.
33. Hi Meg’s roommate. I want your pretty hair. You also talk about Club Jiggle. The brisket thing? THAT SHIT IS WEIRD. Booth can’t even handle that brisket shit. He is not okay with it, and honestly, Booth? Me, either. Brisket and sexi tiems do not go together. I think since you think that, Booth, and I think that, we should be having some sex. FYI.
34. That reconstruction of the fibula thing is BAD FUCKING ASS TO THE MAX, Y’ALL. Wendell and VNM lead the race for fave interns, but Clark? He’s the most like Brennan. He can really do some serious focus motherfucking shit, and you’ve got to give him some props for that. Also, he gets to wear the blue coat because he’s a doctor, and I MISS ZACK.
35. Brennan: But Hank said you love cake.
Booth: I usually do, but are we staying on point here?
Brennan: Well, we were talking about cake weren’t we? Oh! He’s making you grilled cheese tonight, by the way.
Booth: Oh really?!
Brennan: Yes, I’m invited. (“invited” said in a very unBrennan-esque sing-song like manner)
36. Hank. You sly dog. You are such a match maker. No, really, I might be changing your name from Booth Emeritus to Chuck Woolery.
37. Nah, not really. Emeritus is just an awesome title. I want to be a Something Emeritus someday. Because it means that you’ve gotten older, but you’re still awesome. I want to be a Badass Emeritus or whatever. That would be so cool.
38. Booth takes the convo from personal stuff back to the case, because that’s what he does. Show talks a lot about Brennan’s ability to compartmentalize, but Booth? That guy has got compartmentalization down to a science. He wouldn’t like to think about it that way, but he keeps a lot at the back of his mind with work. He flips a switch, and he’s FBI guy. That’s just how it is. So, ultimately, it’s not that Brennan compartmentalizes her feelings, so they stay apart - it’s that they are BOTH compartmentalizing. Can anyone else say VICIOUS CYCLE?
39. So, this conversation about Hank’s Kumiden? This is what it is like in actual real world type shit. The way Brennan acts, Booth’s reaction, Hank’s…they are all spot on. Brennan feels comfortable enough, with both of them, to assert her expertise in what is truly a touchy situation, a moment even she has to recognize is uncomfortable because it is so serious. It’s a really good moment, I think, for character development.
40. Also: IT’S A REALLY GOOD MOMENT FOR LEATHER JACKETS. Because Booth is wearing the Jacket again (perhaps you remember, from last week’s recap, that I decided it is a proper noun? Much like MagLites and Italy?). God. Damn. Fuck. Me. Naked.
41. Can this virtual mold stuff even happen? Whether or not it can, it’s damned inventive.
42. AND HERE’S A TRULY AWESOME MOMENT IN THE CAR:
Hank: There’s nothing wrong with big women; your grandma had some jam in her jelly.
O’Brien: Jiminey Cricket.
…
Brennan: Some smart stuff.
Hank: Is she always like this?
Booth: She always has the facts, Pops, always.
Hank: You should go on a game show; you’d clean up.
Booth: (with the most Boothy face of Boothy faces…seriously, I love it when he makes that little boy/adorable/full of cheer face) I tell her that all the time, but she’s already loaded.
Hank: She’s got talent, charm, beauty, money…and you’re just friends?
Booth: OMG FACE OF OMG WTF.
Brennan: OMG FACE OF PREACH IT TO THE CONGREGATION BOOTH EMERITUS (no, really. Brennan looks way, WAY more than amused)
Hank: I didn’t raise you very well.
Booth and Brennan: OMG FACES OF WOULD IT BE INAPPROPRIATE TO DO IT IN FRONT OF YOUR POPS.
Best scene…ever? Maybe?
43. And we’re putting this one down in the books:
That time B/B went to Club Jiggle with Hank?
Was the first time, at least in my memory, that not undercover, Booth hasn’t told someone who asked, “So, you two, you’re together?” that they are “just partners.”
In fact, he puts his arm around Brennan’s shoulders, and tells the woman, oh yeah, we’re together. And Brennan?
GOES ALONG WITH IT.
I know Booth was trying to evade being hit on, but STILL. I’m saying. It must be noted.
44. Then there’s this totally great moment: Booth watches Pops while Brennan watches him. It’s nice, and it’s like this, now. There have been many times in the past that Booth has watched her, but he does not know the ways, and times, she has watched him.
Too many times in a hospital bed, for starters.
But this time is better than that. Booth is smiling, in this very sincere way. She is getting better with people, but Booth? Is not people. He’s Booth and she understands his smile. He is happy, and he’s also a little bit sad, because this is something he doesn’t know how to handle, this thing with his Pops. She will help him, will be with his Pops everyday if that’s what it takes, because it’s Booth, and-
Well, there’s not anything she wouldn’t do for him.
But right now, while he’s smiling, it’s okay for her to smile, too, because he really is sort of beautiful when he smiles, and this moment makes her love him just a little bit more.
Not that she’s going to tell him that.
45. Redheaded Bitch: Dude or whatever can’t sell his house while it’s a crime scene.
Brennan: Neither can you (Brennan just owned that woman. OWNED HER)
RhB: That was nasty.
Booth: But it was true. (tagteam ownage…FTFW)
46. This moment with Clark.
Oh, Clark.
So, this is the part about my Poppie.
And you can skip this, if you don’t want to indulge my maudlin talk her. Skip to 47, if you want. But I think I want to say this.
Clark: He never got to see what I became. What I do…it’s for him.
My mom and dad split up before I was born, not because of me, but for a lot of reasons. She moved back to her home town, a small, small town in Mississippi, and I grew up next door to two amazing people: Grammie and Poppie, my mother’s parents.
Grammie lives with my mom now. She is 83, and Irish, literally from Ireland, and she taught me how to curse, and she can drink you, me, and an entire ship of sailors under the table. She is sometimes an unrelenting bitch, but God help me, I love her more than life itself.
And there is Poppie.
He was my dad. For all intents and purposes, he was my dad, and I love him like what I think you’re supposed to love your dad like. He taught me about baseball and history (he loved history). The older I got the more we would talk about so many things. He was funny. Not just haha, oh that’s hilarious, funny, but clever. He had an incredibly dry wit that I hope I picked up a tenth of. He had these polyester PJs that he loved. I can still hear him, in my head, his gravely Southern voice; it sounded like ice in a glass of whiskey, but deeper. He loved Ole Miss. He worked in intelligence in World War II. He would always lose his pens, and one Christmas, I found all the pens in the house, wrote “Poppie” on the side with a Sharpie, and he loved it. My Mother always gave him Old Spice. He would give me a dollar when I showed him my report card. There are a million things I’m leaving out that you should know, that everybody should know, but I remember this clearly: He was proud of me, so proud.
He died when I had been 13 for three days.
Everyone said that it wasn’t a surprise, that he was old, that he wasn’t always in the best of health. I was shocked, but my mother was falling apart, and my Grammie was a hot mess, and I’ve been told a time or two that I can flip that switch and do what needs to be done instead of getting upset, so that’s what I did. I cleaned my house, I cleaned Grammie and Poppie’s house, I talked to mourners, I went back to school, and I still am the only one who can go over to my grandparents house without having a huge emotional break. Their house sits like a shrine, next to mine, and it’s sad, because I love that house so, so much. My childhood is that house.
There are times when something will remind me (not of him, because I think of him every day), remind me of the way he laughed or smiled or SOMETHING, and I will be upset, and then I will put it back in that box.
So, when I saw this, when Clark says, “He never got to see what I became,” I think about the fact that yesterday was the first day I got to stand up in court and say I represented the United States, something I’ve wanted to say since before I can remember, and I didn’t get to tell him about it. I’d give anything to tell him about it.
And that’s the thing with Clark.
47. Brennan tries to go by her gut, and when she says, “It’s not satisfying,” it’s clearly satisfying. She could be more satisfied, of course, but this will have to do for now, because it’s probably inappropriate to do it in the FBI breakroom.
48. And the fact that she and Hank are, like, texting each other or whatever and having OMG moments or whatever on their cellies? FOR THE FUCKING WIN, PEOPLE. She looks so excited at the prospect of dominoes, and dinner, and telling Booth that Hank says shut up. Booth is again terrified, but also pleased, at this new development, and O’Brien? Well, I think this is likely how things would go in the Booth/Brennan household when Hank calls.
Booth: Hey, Pops! How’s it shakin’? Oh. You want to talk to Bones.
Brennan: Hi, Hank! Oh…really? No, he did. Yeah, he is. I know. He’s being such a…HA!
Booth: What is he saying about me?
Brennan: What? Nothing, Booth. Oh, yeah, he’s just being nosy.
And it would pretty much go on like that.
49. I love that Booth also starts picking up on saying, “I don’t think so.” It’s subtle, but a nice touch. Sometimes, you’re around someone you know really well, and you start to pick up the things that they do, they way that they talk, especially when that person is someone who has the ability to influence you a great deal. Nice.
50. This part about the fire? GOD. Way to wreck me, Show. Way to totally wreck me. Booths are these solid, steady, strong men, and the fact that Hank needs help has got to be killing him, and the fact that Booth can’t give it has got to be killing him, and they both just HATE this. I hate this, because they both do it so well, and I just feel bad for the both of them.
51. Can I have Brennan’s purple coat, by the way?
52. I also love Sweets right here. Basically, anytime you see Sweets this season? I sort of love him so, so much. The thing about Sweets this year: He’s learned to shut his damned mouth, that people are far more likely to teach you something about themselves when you’re not trying to tell them what they feel. Also, could Sweets’ ability to deal well with Pops be linked to his adoptive parents being older people? Is that continuity I smell in the ether?
53. Continuity smells like the half a box of Wheat Thins I had for dinner, btw.
54. Booth: Pops’ll think I don’t love him.
Brennan: Really?! (I love that Brennan cannot even believe this idea)
And here’s the thing about Booth.
His father would hit him. Not just hit him, but beat the unholy shit out of him. His mother left him. His brother couldn’t even show up when he almost died…like 8 times. The mother of his child? Well, don’t get me started on the stupidity of turning down Booth.
His Pops? That’s the only person who ever truly, consistently looked out for him. Booth is, therefore, not used to this type of thing, and as much as Brennan, fears that those who love him will leave him. He can feel it deep, deep down, this fear, in his stomach, in his very blood. Brennan runs from love, to shield herself. Booth runs to it, tries to immerse himself in it if he has to, even if that means giving up his work, because he’s trying so hard to cling to it, convinced that it will leave him.
These are opposite reactions to the same problem.
SHOW. If this is what you mean to tell me, you are very much amazing.
55. If I were that roommate? I’d bring that bitch back to life just to kill her again. That shit was NOT COOL.
56. More science badassery. I really love the way the Squints work this case. They are like a puzzle; you need every piece to make out the picture. Can I get a witness on this Squint love? Because I don’t know why, but this episode in particular is really impressive to me on that front.
57. Angela: That’s so sweet.
Oh, Angela. You’ve so gone to the dark side. You totally dorked out there for a minute. It’s okay. I mean, it had to happen eventually, right? You couldn’t always just be cool and OMG GROSS or you would have quit this shit long ago.
58. Hello Booth in your plaid shirt in and grey tee in which you could possibly get sweaty doing some yard work then come back in the house…um, this is the X-rated part. Talk amongst yourselves.
59. Hank tells Booth he’s going back. They both know Hank’s doing this for Booth, but he’s doing it for himself, too. At the very least, I hope that Hank is hittin’ it in his golden years.
60. OMG IF THAT’S TRUE, HANK’S SEX LIFE IS BETTER THAN BOOTH’S.
61. You see, Booth? YOU SEE?! This is why we had to have a whole episode about your penis.
62. At the retirement community, Hank gives Brennan and Booth “Ye Olde Talk of the Wise Old Person.”
63. To Brennan: Would you please move on with this? I’d like more greatgrandchildren, and look at him over there. Hold him and love him and don’t give me that bullshit about how you are clueless and whatever because you love him, you crazy girl, and now you hug me.
64. Also, when the shot pans over to Booth, standing with his hands in his pockets, this is the most Angel moment I’ve ever seen on this show. To me, he looks the most Angel-y I’ve ever seen him. Does anyone else feel that?
65. To Booth: Stop this shit and get a move on, because you love her, and let’s stop screwing around about that. Also, don’t crush me; I’d like to breathe again.
66. What’d he say to you? Nothing. What’d he say to you? Nothing. Definitely not about how we’re in love and need to get it together.
67. He’s going to do what it tells him. And he’s going to start right now.
68. Did you see it?
69. That right there?
70. I’ll run it back for you.
71. Booth: I like that thing around your neck. It looks really good.
Brennan: You’ve seen it before.
Booth: I don’t think so.
72. That, my friends, was the first shot.
73. This is how Booth sees it.
According to Gordon-Gordon, his problems with shooting? They’re solved if Brennan is around.
And Gordon-Gordon is right; with Bones there, there’s nothing he doesn’t think that he can’t do. Catch the bad guy, raise a son, help his Pops.
With her, there’s nothing he can’t do.
Except Get the Girl.
And this is where his Pops comes in, because his Pops? Might be getting older, might be a bit more forgetful, may have lost a step or two.
But.
The old man is still the best man he’s ever met. The smartest, in the ways that count.
He always told him: listen to your heart.
Another smart man told him: the heart chooses what it chooses.
His heart chose her.
His heart sees the target, has seen it for a long, long time. She has been in his crosshairs, and he keeps on letting her slip away.
Until:
“I like that thing around your neck. It looks really good.”
This is the first shot, and it hit its mark.
74. Booth always hits his mark when he tries.
75. And you guys? He’s officially trying. That one line proves it to me.
76. Lastly, DID YOU SEE WHAT I MEANT ABOUT THE AWKWARD?! He’s smirking a little, saying that thing about the necklace, but y’all, Seeley Booth has WAY better lines than that, and he knows they won’t work on her. This is how it starts, little comments, not constant at first but steady, so damned steady, and he will run this race til it’s won. The rest of the season? I predict we will see, at least once an episode, Booth make some little move to advance this whole deal. It’s going to be bit by little bit, but I’m so ready for it. The most important part of this was getting Booth on the ball, and baby, he’s there. Gordon-Gordon had him PRIMED by the time Hank got to him.
77. GAME ON: Week 1 Report. ALL SYSTEMS MOTHERFUCKING GO.
Next week: We have Thanksgiving, but they did show the clip for the new one the week after Thanksgiving, and I do have to say something about it. I feel I have a fiduciary duty to prepare you for something. Booth is going to reach levels of hot that surpass even the three-piece suit. I shit you not. You should prepare yourself. I’ve never seen someone actually get hotter because they keep adding clothes to their person (though in a very technical/temperature sense, of course they will be physically hotter), but BOOTH FOUND A WAY.