5x14: Brought to you by Bad Timing
It is funny that this recap ended up the way it was. When I first started it on the night that the episode originally aired, I fully intended to finish it that night. The theme, when I started it, was "bad timing," as it was concurrently a filler episode and the "Winter Finale" (bet HH didn't know about this Winter Finale shit when they laid out this episode), and because the episode prominently featured a Toyota in a week in which we all learned that Toyotas...well, you should probably get yours checked out, just in case.
Anyway, then I was struck by an evil sinus infection, followed by journeys to the north, and all in all, the escapades I was involved in during the almost three weeks since I started this recap include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. That Time I Gave Blood Then Had A Sinus Infection And Had to Go to Walgreens to Get My Medicine and an Old Man Cut in Front of Me in Line So He Could Buy KY Jelly and It Freaked Me Out.
2. That Weekend I Decided to Be More Like Robin Scherbotzky and Have Adventures With Scotch.
3. The Party Where I Sort Of Almost Met The Waitress From Always Sunny.
4. The Night That Ended With a Six-Foot-Seven Drag Queen in a Bright Green Prom Dress in My Apartment, Through No Actions of My Own (His Name Was John).
5. Lost came back on.
My life, lately, has been about bad timing. So, with that, I bring you this, the very late recap of "The Devil in the Details."
Disclaimer: Mental illness is a serious issue, and I respect and feel for the people who live with it and the people who love them. It’s not funny, or mockworthy; it is sad. The fact that someone can be robbed of their personality, their faculties, their very sense of self by a genetic slip of fate is worse than unfortunate. It is heart-breaking. Or, as Brennan would say, heart-crushing.
That said, people, I’ve got a recap herein. If you feel at any point that I get out of line, I encourage you, call me out, and know that I am sorry, but like many people, I will do a whole lot for a cheap laugh, and sometimes don’t realize I’ve crossed the line.
1. First we start with a Priest, and William, an altar boy. The Priest tells William, “Let’s not keep God waiting.”
2. Then, William really wishes he had.
3. And this is the first instance of bad timing in this episode: Having a possible demon in the church when a service is coming up is never good timing, whether said demon is burned like a bad batch of KFC or not.
4. I’d also like to take this opportunity to possibly mildly offend some of you by saying, I think that Catholic men are really, really hot. I’m not just talking about Booth, here. I’m talking about all of them. They’ve got this wonderfully overdeveloped sense of morality, combined with this badass underdeveloped sense of rebellion that desperately wants a chance to break out. They are good boys who want someone to give them permission to be a little bit bad. Not too bad, but just a little.
5. Am I possibly over generalizing? Mayhaps. Will I maybe go to Hell for it? There’s every chance. Is it worth it?
6. Just look at Seeley Booth in a three-piece suit, and tell me it’s not.
7. Anyway.
8. That might have been Bad Timing #2.
9. And blah, blah, blah, the victim has horns. Ho-hum.
10. In case you haven’t noticed yet (and if you haven’t, what show have you been watching? And what recaps have you been reading?), the murder on Show is always an opportunity for character growth. They find a dead bride on cardboard, and it starts as an allegory for Brennan’s views on marriage, and ends with Brennan deciding that she wants to understand love. The dead President on the lab table starts as the source Booth’s greatest fear, but ends as Brennan’s greatest gift. Show uses its victims for its own devices, rather than the other way around. Show usually feels like to me that it’s decided where the characters are going to go, and the crime is just a way to get there. This is why more people care about Show than care about, say, CSI (according to recent raitings which I hope continue to occur).
11. Anyway, somewhere on a soundstage in California in D.C., Brennan drives-
12. Wait.
13. A second.
14. Brennan. Is driving.
15. Booth is complaining. Okay, that’s normal.
16. Except.
17. He’s not-
18. You guys.
19. YOU GUYS.
20. He’s not complaining about her driving. He’s complaining about his soon-to-be proximity to her in a church. Which, you know, can’t blame the guy, because you know what Brennan has in a church?
21. Say it with me.
22. It’s the theme of this episode:
23. Bad Timing.
24. Anyway, Brennan is driving and Booth’s not complaining about it, which convinces me more than ever that he’s decided to make a concerted effort to sleep with her, I don’t know, maybe this decade (an improvement over the previous one), because as we all know, BOOTH LIKES TO DRIVE.
25. Brennan prattles on about the joys of what I presume to be her new Toyota, and again, seriously, get out your shot glasses, and drink, because:
26. BAD TIMING.
27. For those of you unaware, Toyota is currently undergoing a massive recall, and they aren’t looking too hot about it, either. CNN reports that they had to be pressured into it. So, Brennan, while I think it’s awesome that your car has automated cruise control or whatever, you might want to watch out for that, since it seems that Toyota is having a serious issue with their accelerators as of late. And by “serious issue,” I mean, “the damn things are getting STUCK, which could make you run into some stuff at high speeds. And make you not live.”
28. On a serious note, if you drive a Toyota, and you haven’t done so, please check out your car. Google it. Call your dealer. Whatever. Do it for yourself, and the people you drive with and around.
29. And thus ends O’Brien’s PSA (O’Brien drives a Ford Taurus, by the way, and is still annoyed they have Booth drive a Sequoia when the FBI buys GMCs).
30. Brennan: You’re afraid that if God strikes me with lightning, you might get hit?
Booth: Yeah, I’m usually standing right beside you.
O’Brien: I find this far more adorable than I probably should.
31. Brennan: The accelerator is not voice-activated; it’s foot-activated, like a normal car.
O’Brien: Except for when it’s not.
32. You see what I’m saying about Bad Timing?
33. Brennan realizes that Booth is joking, and he smiles, and she smiles, and they’re sort of adorable. Also, do you notice they have ED wearing her hair up quite a bit this season? Is that just me?
34. Five seconds into the church, and Brennan offends a Priest. Booth freaks out that there are horns on the victim, which, really, that shit’s freaky. Brennan is, of course, fascinated. That’s all, really. Just fascinated. And this is one of those moments when Booth’s shit is even more freaked, because Bones just sees this as fascinating, and he’s in love with her, and he’s also just peed himself a little.
35. Or at least he almost did.
36. At the lab, Cam finds this shit freaky, too. And it results in one of my favorite Brennan lines of the season:
Cam: I just don’t want to end up hovering above my bed, with my head spinning around 360 degrees.
Brennan: That would not only be impossible, but fatal.
37. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
38. Okay, it’s moments like this where I just love Brennan’s cluelessness. I think its height is in “Baby in the Bough” with, “Elephants are not purple. This is wrong,” and, my personal favorite, when Booth says, “Ah, so you’ve bought him some clothes?” and Brennan responds, “Well, I sent an intern, who apparently loves bears, which in reality would devour a small child.” Maybe I’m just crazy, but that shit, to me? COMEDY GOLD. When my boyfriend watched BitB with me while we were studying for the bar, after that, all we’d have to do is throw out the “devour a small child” line, and we were in hysterics.
39. On the platform, newly American!sounding Arastoo continues to smolder with his dead sexiness. He says things, and talks about his religion, mixed in with the stuff about the tail (which reminds me of Dudley in Harry Potter), and by the way, this tail stuff? It’s pretty strange. I’m just saying. Anyway, Arastoo holds his ground, despite Brennan’s less-than-thinly-veiled yet also less-than-overt scoffing at his religion.
40. Hodgins tells us that the horns come from coral, and we learn that the coral assimilated with the guy’s skull…and y’all, it’s just weird. I know, the guy is mentally ill, but SHIT. That had to HURT. And you know someone has done this before. You know they have. Show is smart, and inventive, but this horn thing, while strange, is probably not novel. I’m a little squicked, I must admit.
41. Angela, dear, wonderful, sweet Angela shows up to tell us she’s found the victim. Not to diminish what you do, Ange, but really? This week? I probably could have found him after about 15 second on Google. Maybe even on AltaVista (remember AltaVista? In the early days of the internet? It still exists, I checked).
42. And, no, Hodgins, you can’t call him “Hell Boy.” The dude is dead. Let’s not be an asshole about it. His name is Neil.
43. Booth interviews the victim’s - you know what? No. Neil. I’m calling him by his name, just to say fuck you to Hodgins, because I don’t think I really dug that Hell Boy comment (though it’s actually a pretty decent movie) - Neil’s family, a brother and a mother. It seems like they were in a pretty tough situation, and when I found out later that the brother did it, I wasn’t surprised. I mean, it felt like the writers maybe didn’t entirely know what to do with it, and Booth would have looked at the brother more to begin with, since he said he visited the place…anyway. We’ll get to that.
44. Cam shows off her sniffer knowledge, knowing the smell of gangrene instantly. Where’s Angela to say “Ewww” when you need her?
45. In Brennan’s PRODUCT PLACEMENT SUPER CAR, Sweets talks about interning at a mental health facility. Booth argues that, perhaps, Neil was possessed. Sweets calmly informs Booth that he spoke to the hospital, and Neil “didn’t show any signs of demonic possession.”
46. Okay, so…is this a thing? Like, do mental health professionals actually use “demonic possession” as a diagnosis for stuff? I’m not judging, I’m seriously asking: is this in the DSM-IV? Does anyone know? Because I’d like to read that.
47. Brennan mockity-mock-mocks, because she is working a case in both the worlds of religion and psychology, and she feels superior.
48. Brennan. I’m just saying. There’s this guy, at the hospital? And he’s going to own you later. And I’m going to like it. And you’re going to deserve it. And you’re going to know that you deserve it, and I will be proud of you, because that will be character growth, but until then, I’m going to admit: I’m going to be a little bit mad at you. I love you, but come on.
49. Sweets: “I’m an excellent loony bin crazy ass sifter.” I swear that’s the most hilarious thing you’ve ever heard if you hear it out of context. I’m just going to start saying it on the random
50. Look! It’s Jeremy Goodwin Will Bailey Dr. Copeland! Seriously, Joshua Malina will always have a place in my heart for being on two of my favorite shows of all time: Sports Night and The West Wing. TWW is probably the only show in the world I like more than Bones (okay, maybe Buffy, too…because, you know, BUFFY), but seriously, if I could ever write one sentence as good as Aaron Sorkin’s worst, I would count myself lucky. Will Bailey went through some douche-y-ness on TWW, but that was hardly Malina’s fault, as Sorkin left the show fairly soon after the character was introduced, thus causing the spiral that was Season 5…it’s best I not get into it, as I might start to cry (again). He’s in one of my favorite scenes in TWW history (and, thus, TV history), in “Inauguration Day: Over There” when he, Toby, Charlie, and Danny are standing in the snow, in the street, in tuxes, and Josh is throwing snowballs at Donna’s window. I could watch that scene for hours.
51. (O’Brien admits that, after writing #50, she went to YouTube and tried to find that scene, but could not. And then she ended up watching YouTube scenes from West Wing for 15 minutes. Dammit, smile952 .)
52. (And then I found the scene after all. God, this show. It’s not just Show. It’s SHOW.)
53. (And I watched that scene from SHOW, and I was instantly spun into this feeling of amazing and wonder and it reminds me why I became a lawyer and GOD if you haven’t watched TWW, then you’re missing out on pretty much the best TV experience of your life.)
54. (I’m done, now.)
55. (Probably.)
56. (And that might have been bad timing, too.)
57. Dr. Copeland exhibits surprise that Sweets is…you know, not the pizza delivery guy, and is actually a legit Doctor Person with degrees and everything.
58. I feel you, Sweets. I am a lawyer who is often confused with being a high school senior/the babysitter.
59. In the arts and crafts room, Or The Art That Might Have Happened If Van Gogh Continued to Descend into CrazyTown and Didn’t Die So Young (VanGogh!bad timing - Drink!), an angelic-looking girl tells the group that she is…an angel. Of course she does. Show is absolutely nothing if not straightforward when it comes to its symbolism, and I’m telling you, I appreciate that. I watch Lost when I want to be confused. When I watch Bones, I don’t want to be confused; I want Brennan and Booth to have sex. I’m in no way confused about that.
60. Sweets: “Oh, I buy it.” I love that for some reason.
61. Also, it’s totally freaky that Angel Girl has made the crucifixion painting. Brennan, of course, asks, “Are you confessing to murder?” Even after four and a half years, Brennan’s still hoping to be the first one to figure something like that out. It is somewhere between unbelievable and adorable, and I’m leaning to the side of adorable, and I think….
62. Yeah.
63. I think it’s time for this.
64. For us to have this talk.
65. Dear People Who Read This,
My view on Show, of which I am a well-noted lover: Show? Is a TV SHOW. It’s for entertainment purposes only. Does it rock my face off? Yes. Does it sometimes vary in quality? Well, yeah. Sometimes, I vary in quality, too. For instance, I’d say that there are days I’m batting 1.000, and then days like today, where I feel that I’m more batting .285. However, do I freak out like a child about Show? Um, YEAH.
My point in all of this is the following: there are people, apparently, who get really pissed off at Show. I have to tell you, I think this is a waste of time. You don’t like an episode? Dude, that’s cool. I mean, this episode, for instance. It’s…fine. It’s not the worst ever or the best ever, but I’m not going to get too worked up about it, even if it WERE the worst ever. What I’m saying is that there are enough things in the world to be pissed off about (poverty, substandard education, homelessness, the Earthquake in Haiti (and you can still donate to the Red Cross! They take money all the time!), the fact that I only make 79 cents for every dollar a man makes, the fact that people still judge others because of the color of their skin, or who they fall in love with). I mean, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have the right to scream, “I’m leaving the fandom!” and storm off in a huffy LJ rage…I’m simply saying that it’s incredibly childish and annoying. There’s certainly a place for good-natured debate and dislike (i.e., “I’m not thrilled with the way this is going,” or, “I haven’t really been into this season,” or “That episode was kind of a piece of shit, except for the parts where I was thinking about Booth naked, wait, that was the whole time.”), but if you really just love bitching about a TV show, if you are truly so hacked off that you actually feel the need to lose your mind about it, Christ, get some damned perspective. Embrace the fact that Show sometimes gives you an ephemeral, yet still real, feeling of joy, sometimes makes you laugh, sometimes makes you cry, and forget the rest, because the rest is well and truly bullshit.
If you don’t want to read my stuff anymore because I’ve said this…well, you probably wouldn’t like me if you met me, anyway, so I’m not too upset about it. Honestly, I’m not too upset about the topic of this open letter, either, because I generally try to stay away from the bitching, but enough people have mentioned the discontent and enmity of others enough times in comments that I feel I have been handed a soap box, and dammit, I’ve always wanted to be taller, so I’ve never met a soap box I didn’t like.
Sincerely,
O’Brien
66. Was that also bad timing? Whatever.
67. We’ve got to have a moment on Brennan’s trench coat. Since this episode aired, I’ve been on a wild goose chase for a trench coat of that same form and fashion. I love that she’s taken the top and buttoned it backwards instead of across, creating lapels. I have tried this on the coats I have tried on since. It looks best on the $200 one I found at Banana Republic, and it has taken everything I have to keep me from buying it.
68. AND IT IS SO, SO PRETTY.
69. Brennan, Booth, Sweets, and Will Bailey (you have to know that I really don’t give a damn what his actual character name is in this show; it matters not) talk over who is going to interrogate Angel Girl (side note: do you think every time DB hears the word “angel” that he sort of looks around? Like, is that word invariably changed to him, or not? I think I would maybe have a thing about it. I’m just saying), the consensus being the Brennan should definitely not be in there, what with her denial of faith and angels (THIS WILL BE IMPORTANT LATER).
70. Brennan: I have to admit, it’s eerie that when I move, she follows me as if she knows exactly where I am.
Okay. Who cares what comes after this. The only important thing is that Booth’s hand is in his pocket, and Brennan has grabbed his elbow.
It’s a subconscious thing, you know.
For her to grab him like that.
She doesn’t even know she’s doing it.
He doesn’t even know she’s doing it.
But Sweets does.
Sweets always knows.
The book is sitting in the top drawer of his desk. It’s ready, and better than being ready, it’s right. He had it all wrong last spring, before he met Dr. Wyatt, before she wanted a baby, and he almost died. It was all less than a year ago, and yet, it feels forever away.
And that’s because so much has changed. He understands that Brennan and Booth are like binary stars in the solar system, revolving around one another, their gravity so great that nothing else can sustain being around them long enough to touch them. But they’re all still drawn to it, all of them, because they are so bright and strong.
It’s been more than a year than he thought of them as only patients, and mere months since he realized that he thought of them better than friends, and more like parents.
He misses his parents.
He thinks they would probably like Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth. He thinks they would laugh at them; his parents got together when they were older, too, and that’s why they adopted him at their age….
Seeing Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth together, it’s what he thinks it might have been like for his parents, when they were figuring out that they loved each other. Because that’s what they’ve been doing, all along - figuring out they loved each other. They actually started loving one another so long ago, and it feels sad to think about it, sad that people can love each other, and waste so much time on denying it.
He promises himself every day, when he kisses Daisy awake, his lips pressing to her breathless and always surprised mouth, that he will not waste time.
He will not waste time.
Seeing her grab his arm is what it takes. It’s small, and no one else would care about it, because it’s just another in a line of moments, but he feels like he’s got to do something. Enough of the prodding, and questioning; he’s done with it. He’s not going to waste anymore time about this.
Because he doesn’t want them to waste anymore time about this.
And that’s when Sweets decides to publish the book.
71. Brennan is entirely uncomfortable with the Angel Girl looking at her. Booth and Sweets roll into the interrogation room. Angel Girl tells them she killed Neil with her invisible spear.
72. See! Brennan was right! She was trying to confess!
73. In what I must assume is the patient commons/hang out room-type place, Brennan talks with an intelligent-sounding man named Philip, who introduces himself as a doctor.
74. Of course he’s a patient. And here, Brennan gets the first taste of her Lesson for the Episode (because Brennan has to sometimes be taught a lesson, and people, Will Bailey is the man to do it).
75. Also, Brennan’s kinda freaked that she thought she had stuff in common with a crazy person. Cause, you know, that would make you feel a little weird.
76. At the Jeff, HotArastoo (Harastoo? No. That doesn’t work. Look, he’s freaking hot) tells Cam he looks into the eyes of the devil every day.
77. Bad timing (because in this day and age, everything about that whole situation is always going to be bad timing).
78. Cam freaks, and we’re coming back to it, I swear.
79. Genius Angela (and I’m sorry Brennan, the way she can work her gizmos, read stuff from art, AND NEVER SIT DOWN THAT’S RIGHT SHOW I HAVE NOT FORGOTTON, means that she’s a genius) does a reveleo charm (I know it’s not really magic, but COME ON) on Angel Girl’s painting, and finds that there’s a painting within a painting (or, if you will, something else behind the whatever, possibly high atop the thing). Turns out the nice nurse guy we met earlier is shown being not so nice.
80. Back at Will Bailey’s Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor Hut (Daily Special: The Bingo Bob), B/B stop the kindly nurse. Kindly Nurse shows his knowledge of 4th Amendment car search case law. Booth shows Kindly Nurse a sign, and does a little dance on Kindly Nurse’s 4th Amendment rights by pointing to the sign, which is found on the side of the guard station door that Kindly Nurse probably never really paid attention to. Sorry, Kindly Nurse. Being awesome? That’s just how Booth rolls.
81. Kindly Nurse has tons of weird weapons, and a cacophony of drugs, including heroin.
82. Kindly Nurse headsteeringwheels.
83. Yeah. It’s a thing. Don’t act like you haven’t done it, too.
84. Also, do you know why he’s headsteerwheeling?
85. BAD TIMING. We find out later he’s not even the killer, but you don’t want to be making drug runs while the feds are checking out your facility. I’m just giving y’all a heads up on that one.
86. Kindly Nurse explains that the weapons are “weapons of a true master.” I snort-laughed. I did.
87. Turns out Kindly Nurse was taking Neil’s meds to give to homeless people who needed them, got Neil heroin, and tried to help out a lot of people, but dude, you broke, like, a shit ton of laws.
88. Yes. That’s my official legal opinion. That he broke a lot of laws. That’s what you and I get for 21 years of schooling and a lifetime of payments to Sallie Mae (that bitch).
89. Booth speaks the truest, and, honestly, most awful words in the law game: “It doesn’t matter what I believe. It matters what I can prove.”
90. I could mini-fic about that, but it would end depressing me about my profession. Also, doesn’t that sound oh-so Brennan-ish? That believe takes a back seat to proof? (O'Brien Note: Upon review and thought, while I think that sentence is sort of awful, there's also some good in it, if you look at it in an absolute way, i.e., Proof = Truth = Justice. I think that's how Brennan operates, or at least that used to be how she strictly operated in the past. I don't know. I'm getting sleepy.)
91. I don’t know if you read the prior recap, but I talked then about how this season isn’t just about how Booth’s changed Brennan. Really, Show has been about that from the start. But this season, we’ve really gotten to see how Brennan’s changed Booth. Watch a prior season episode, and Booth doesn’t seem nearly as controlled at times as he does now. He can at least put on the face of a pragmatic rationalist. I don’t think he’s turned into that guy, but seriously, this is interesting to watch.
92. Cam is so freaked by HotArastoo’s comment about “looking the devil in the face every day” that she actually wants Hodgins to do an experiment. How Cam got from “maybe Arastoo wants to off us all” to “if Hodgins does an experiment with him, I’ll know if he wants us dead,” I will never, ever know, but I think it might actually make Hodgins King of the Lab? Yes?
93. Arastoo breezes in, talks about the devil loosing “as he always must.” Cam and Hodgins decide that they don’t want to be looked upon as the Great Satan, which, you know, me neither, but Arastoo? Really, you guys? See, I can’t be sure if I’m cool with how Show has handled Arastoo or not. On one hand, Show depicts honest reactions from people who are intelligent but still appear to have prejudices, and then they confront those prejudices, and learn that they are being assholes. I support Show in this. On the other hand, it still feels douche-y. Show, don’t be a douche. No one likes a douche. Except, of course, for another douche.
94. At the hospital, Brennan mocks psychology AGAIN (Hi, Brennan? This is Dead Horse. Would you mind not beating me anymore, and-oh, here comes Will Bailey. I’ll shut up now.). Will Bailey does that which Sweets really can’t do, really because the kid’s not old enough (for once, I’m on that train, too), and tells Brennan to GTFO…except he talks about honor and stuff, and I’m telling you, Joshua Malina could sell me just about anything when he’s talking like that. He also points out that Brennan didn’t actually apologize, but maybe it’s the “best she can manage.”
95. Brennan got SMOKED.
96. Also, I don’t think I ever noticed - he’s not very tall, is he?
97. Then all hell breaks loose (even though this is probably a day in the park for Will Bailey, compared to what else he has to deal with), Philip is asking for the “special drugs,” and Brennan finally says sorry, and people, she meant it. She really, really did. (Say it with me on Brennan’s earlier comment: BAD TIMING.)
98. And somewhere, and Angel gets its wings. Or DB looks broody in a leather jacket. It’s all the same, really.
99. By “the same,” I of course mean “miraculous.”
100. Hodgins hits himself in the head with nunchucks; HotArastoo works those babies like he was made for them, and I mostly just want to make out with HotArastoo. Long story short, the nunchucks didn’t kill Neil, and mostly, I’m convinced the whole nunchuck thing was just so the writers could see T.J. Thyne play with nunchucks, then laugh at him.
101. You know how sometimes, you’ll write/say a word a lot, and it stops looking like an actual word to you? That just happened to me and nunchucks.
102. Poor Sweets. Even Philip the Patient mocks Sweets’ age. And he’s not the killer, btw.
103. And this is really the part of the episode where I start thinking about my boyfriend’s theory, which I am fairly certain he stole from somewhere on the internet, which states that if a well-known actor is guest-starring on a procedural, that person is likely the Killer of the Week. While this is usually true, I’d like to thank you, Show, for simply making Will Bailey a good guy trying to do his job instead of a killer. It warms my heart so.
104. At the Jeffersonian, HotArastoo proves to be a better man than any of them, by not only noticing Cam’s discomfort, but not judging her for it, and explaining away any concerns he may have caused her. Because he’s just sort of perfect, I’m telling you.
105. And he tells you, too. He tells you a heartbreaking (crushing) story about how he loves his country. We learned that he served in Iraq as a translator, and that he had to kill a man to save his life, and probably the lives of others. We learn that the man he shot had a family, because Arastoo looked for ID. We learn that Arastoo’s faith is something that gives him strength.
106. Basically, we learn that Arastoo, in addition to being hot, is really an incredible person. And again, I have to tell you, Show does this like no other, taking an infrequently used character and turning him into someone you really do care about, someone memorable. Dammit, Show. Just…dammit.
107. Cam, to her credit, fesses up. And that’s why I like Cam, too. Because she’s the type of person who admits her faults.
108. Sweets: “There’s a guy in Ward 4 who believes he’s Thomas Edison.” We learn that Neil was electrocuted, and that it likely happened in the basement. Sweets is…of no help. Whatsoever.
109. And I’ve gotta say this: does it feel a little bit like Sweets has been shoehorned in a lot this year? B/B aren’t going to therapy anymore (and why they aren’t, I have no idea. Is it because Sweets finished the book, or the bureau no longer finds it beneficial, or…what? Is there something there we don’t know? Is this just a dropped plot point? Could it be that the higher ups now think Sweets is too close to them to be objective?), so it seems like they try to find ways at times to fit him in, instead of its being natural. He helps them investigate/interview, sure, but sometimes, it feels forced in there. I don’t know. I love Sweets.
110. They go to the basement;afaoij’eaij
111. Jacket.
112. Jacket and FBI T-Shirt.
113. Ofaj3p9fa8upa98he;nk
114. My computer shorted out. From the drool. Give me a sec to wipe it up.
115. Okay. All better.
116. (GOD THAT MAN IS HOT.)
117. Sweets shows off the iPhone flashlight app, and I find this a good time to mention Haiti (again). I read an article about how a guy was stuck in an elevator in a collapsed building for 5 days, and saved his life using a First Aid app on his iPhone, and setting the alarm for every 20 minutes so he wouldn’t fall asleep and go into shock. That is just incredible. There really is “an app for that.” And by “that” I mean “saving your life and lots of other cool shit.”
118. They inspect the set up, piecing together Neil’s life in the basement. The poor guy, “Welcome to Hell” was written on the wall. How sad.
119. At the Jeff, Angela works her magic dooey, while Brennan posits that, perhaps, Neil wasn’t wearing his boots when he was shocked (yeah, I said “dooey” and “posits” in the same sentence. That right there is pretty much how I roll, full time). Sweets gets jiggy with some drug lingo that I’d never heard before (which is really hardly shocking; I'm not exactly a drug person, in case you couldn't tell). Brennan works her own observational magic, noting that because Neil was left-handed, he couldn’t have tied his shoelaces the way they were found (does anyone else notice that there have been a few references to dominant hands this year as major clues in the investigation? I don’t think this has any real significance; I just find it interesting).
120. With this in mind, Sweets thinks aloud that the shoes were tied by someone who cared for him. Someone responsible for him. That’s heartbreaking, too.
121. I totally wanted to work with my shoelaces after this.
122. In the end, it’s the brother. And that’s terrible. I kind of thought for a second that it would be the mother, but whatever. I don’t know why they didn’t pursue the brother sooner, but HH and Co. needed a filler episode, so…there you go. The whole point of it was the end, anyway. And I’m telling you, it makes it sort of worth it.
123. Here we go.
Brennan: I need to ask you something.
Booth: Are you going to ask me about God and the Devil?
Brennan: Yes.
Booth: You’re going to ask me how God can place such a burden on good people.
Brennan: No, I’m going to ask you how you can still believe in a kind god after a case like this.
Booth: Is my faith shaken? Yeah. It is.
Brennan: It is?
Booth: Yeah. I’ll go home tonight and lie in my bed and toss and turn, and I’ll beat myself up. I’ll question everything.
Brennan: Will you get your faith back?
Booth: I always have in the past.
Brennan: So you have faith that you will retain your faith. Why?
Booth: Because, Bones…the sun will come up, and tomorrow’s a new day.
Brennan: I know that feeling.
Booth: Really.
Brennan: Uh huh.
Booth: You know what it feels like to get your faith back.
Brennan: When I see effects and I am unable to discern the cause, my faith in reason and consequences is shaken.
Booth: Then what happens?
Brennan: Two plus two equals four. I put sugar in my coffee, and it tastes sweet. The sun comes up because the world turns. These things are beautiful to me. There are mysteries I will never understand, but everywhere I look, I see proof that for every effect, there is a corresponding cause. Even if I can’t see it. I find that reassuring.
Booth: And life is good again.
Brennan: Life is very good.
Booth: Yes, it is.
124. You know, I would fic about this moment, but I kind of like the way it just...ends. It seems easy and comfortable.
125. Oh, hell. I can’t help myself.
126. He doesn’t sleep that night.
He doesn’t sleep that night, or the next, or the next.
But it’s not about the case.
Of course it’s not. If it were, I wouldn’t be telling you about it, would I? I try not to waste your time on trivialities, and-
Well.
I’m going a bit off course with that rant. Just another case of bad timing.
He lays awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling. The lights are off, and he hears the heat running and a stray siren in the background. He tosses, he turns, he beats himself up, but it’s not for any the reasons he told her.
It is, as you might have guessed, because of her.
Because she asked him to be the father of her child. Because she wrote a book about marriage and babies, then ran off to Guatemala. Because she says that what happens between us is ours, because she trusts him, because she believes in love. Because she believes, and that’s more than he ever thought was possible.
She’s always been more than he ever thought was possible.
He tosses, he turns, he beats himself up, but it’s not for the reasons you think. It’s not because of doubt.
It’s because he knows.
He knows.
This is the person he’s always wanted, even when he didn’t know it. This is the person he fell in love with, even before he recognized it. This is the person he dreams about, thinks about; this is the person that he wants, which is better than need. Need is something that can be crippling; there’s weakness in it, to need someone else, something else, like an addiction (and Booth has been down that road, he has, and he doesn't ever want to walk it again) and honestly, it’s just not that romantic. You need oxygen. You need water and food and sleep. Those are things you don’t have a choice about. But the person you love? Should be the person you want. They should be the person who you make a concerted choice to love, because loving someone isn’t just a thing that happens, but it’s an action, it is affirmative, it is something that you do.
He does love her. He does.
She is the person he’s always wanted.
Now, he knows that he’s the person she wants, too.
But it all still feels like bad timing.
And that’s why he can’t sleep.
Okay, look. We're in the white water here, kids. Keep paddling. Come April 1, we've got eight straight episodes ahead of us, and I've just seen the title for the S5 finale, and...yeah. I'm so down with this. Until then, I'll be working on some FlashBackRecaps, perhaps writing fic, and waiting (im)patiently for y'all to write some stuff as well. On a side note, tempertemper77 has been hosting the Great Big Bones Surviving the Hiatus Re-watch on her journal. I haven't had the time to post, but it certainly looks like a lot of fun! So, if you're just dying, check that out.
Anyway, then I was struck by an evil sinus infection, followed by journeys to the north, and all in all, the escapades I was involved in during the almost three weeks since I started this recap include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. That Time I Gave Blood Then Had A Sinus Infection And Had to Go to Walgreens to Get My Medicine and an Old Man Cut in Front of Me in Line So He Could Buy KY Jelly and It Freaked Me Out.
2. That Weekend I Decided to Be More Like Robin Scherbotzky and Have Adventures With Scotch.
3. The Party Where I Sort Of Almost Met The Waitress From Always Sunny.
4. The Night That Ended With a Six-Foot-Seven Drag Queen in a Bright Green Prom Dress in My Apartment, Through No Actions of My Own (His Name Was John).
5. Lost came back on.
My life, lately, has been about bad timing. So, with that, I bring you this, the very late recap of "The Devil in the Details."
Disclaimer: Mental illness is a serious issue, and I respect and feel for the people who live with it and the people who love them. It’s not funny, or mockworthy; it is sad. The fact that someone can be robbed of their personality, their faculties, their very sense of self by a genetic slip of fate is worse than unfortunate. It is heart-breaking. Or, as Brennan would say, heart-crushing.
That said, people, I’ve got a recap herein. If you feel at any point that I get out of line, I encourage you, call me out, and know that I am sorry, but like many people, I will do a whole lot for a cheap laugh, and sometimes don’t realize I’ve crossed the line.
1. First we start with a Priest, and William, an altar boy. The Priest tells William, “Let’s not keep God waiting.”
2. Then, William really wishes he had.
3. And this is the first instance of bad timing in this episode: Having a possible demon in the church when a service is coming up is never good timing, whether said demon is burned like a bad batch of KFC or not.
4. I’d also like to take this opportunity to possibly mildly offend some of you by saying, I think that Catholic men are really, really hot. I’m not just talking about Booth, here. I’m talking about all of them. They’ve got this wonderfully overdeveloped sense of morality, combined with this badass underdeveloped sense of rebellion that desperately wants a chance to break out. They are good boys who want someone to give them permission to be a little bit bad. Not too bad, but just a little.
5. Am I possibly over generalizing? Mayhaps. Will I maybe go to Hell for it? There’s every chance. Is it worth it?
6. Just look at Seeley Booth in a three-piece suit, and tell me it’s not.
7. Anyway.
8. That might have been Bad Timing #2.
9. And blah, blah, blah, the victim has horns. Ho-hum.
10. In case you haven’t noticed yet (and if you haven’t, what show have you been watching? And what recaps have you been reading?), the murder on Show is always an opportunity for character growth. They find a dead bride on cardboard, and it starts as an allegory for Brennan’s views on marriage, and ends with Brennan deciding that she wants to understand love. The dead President on the lab table starts as the source Booth’s greatest fear, but ends as Brennan’s greatest gift. Show uses its victims for its own devices, rather than the other way around. Show usually feels like to me that it’s decided where the characters are going to go, and the crime is just a way to get there. This is why more people care about Show than care about, say, CSI (according to recent raitings which I hope continue to occur).
11. Anyway, somewhere on a soundstage in California in D.C., Brennan drives-
12. Wait.
13. A second.
14. Brennan. Is driving.
15. Booth is complaining. Okay, that’s normal.
16. Except.
17. He’s not-
18. You guys.
19. YOU GUYS.
20. He’s not complaining about her driving. He’s complaining about his soon-to-be proximity to her in a church. Which, you know, can’t blame the guy, because you know what Brennan has in a church?
21. Say it with me.
22. It’s the theme of this episode:
23. Bad Timing.
24. Anyway, Brennan is driving and Booth’s not complaining about it, which convinces me more than ever that he’s decided to make a concerted effort to sleep with her, I don’t know, maybe this decade (an improvement over the previous one), because as we all know, BOOTH LIKES TO DRIVE.
25. Brennan prattles on about the joys of what I presume to be her new Toyota, and again, seriously, get out your shot glasses, and drink, because:
26. BAD TIMING.
27. For those of you unaware, Toyota is currently undergoing a massive recall, and they aren’t looking too hot about it, either. CNN reports that they had to be pressured into it. So, Brennan, while I think it’s awesome that your car has automated cruise control or whatever, you might want to watch out for that, since it seems that Toyota is having a serious issue with their accelerators as of late. And by “serious issue,” I mean, “the damn things are getting STUCK, which could make you run into some stuff at high speeds. And make you not live.”
28. On a serious note, if you drive a Toyota, and you haven’t done so, please check out your car. Google it. Call your dealer. Whatever. Do it for yourself, and the people you drive with and around.
29. And thus ends O’Brien’s PSA (O’Brien drives a Ford Taurus, by the way, and is still annoyed they have Booth drive a Sequoia when the FBI buys GMCs).
30. Brennan: You’re afraid that if God strikes me with lightning, you might get hit?
Booth: Yeah, I’m usually standing right beside you.
O’Brien: I find this far more adorable than I probably should.
31. Brennan: The accelerator is not voice-activated; it’s foot-activated, like a normal car.
O’Brien: Except for when it’s not.
32. You see what I’m saying about Bad Timing?
33. Brennan realizes that Booth is joking, and he smiles, and she smiles, and they’re sort of adorable. Also, do you notice they have ED wearing her hair up quite a bit this season? Is that just me?
34. Five seconds into the church, and Brennan offends a Priest. Booth freaks out that there are horns on the victim, which, really, that shit’s freaky. Brennan is, of course, fascinated. That’s all, really. Just fascinated. And this is one of those moments when Booth’s shit is even more freaked, because Bones just sees this as fascinating, and he’s in love with her, and he’s also just peed himself a little.
35. Or at least he almost did.
36. At the lab, Cam finds this shit freaky, too. And it results in one of my favorite Brennan lines of the season:
Cam: I just don’t want to end up hovering above my bed, with my head spinning around 360 degrees.
Brennan: That would not only be impossible, but fatal.
37. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
38. Okay, it’s moments like this where I just love Brennan’s cluelessness. I think its height is in “Baby in the Bough” with, “Elephants are not purple. This is wrong,” and, my personal favorite, when Booth says, “Ah, so you’ve bought him some clothes?” and Brennan responds, “Well, I sent an intern, who apparently loves bears, which in reality would devour a small child.” Maybe I’m just crazy, but that shit, to me? COMEDY GOLD. When my boyfriend watched BitB with me while we were studying for the bar, after that, all we’d have to do is throw out the “devour a small child” line, and we were in hysterics.
39. On the platform, newly American!sounding Arastoo continues to smolder with his dead sexiness. He says things, and talks about his religion, mixed in with the stuff about the tail (which reminds me of Dudley in Harry Potter), and by the way, this tail stuff? It’s pretty strange. I’m just saying. Anyway, Arastoo holds his ground, despite Brennan’s less-than-thinly-veiled yet also less-than-overt scoffing at his religion.
40. Hodgins tells us that the horns come from coral, and we learn that the coral assimilated with the guy’s skull…and y’all, it’s just weird. I know, the guy is mentally ill, but SHIT. That had to HURT. And you know someone has done this before. You know they have. Show is smart, and inventive, but this horn thing, while strange, is probably not novel. I’m a little squicked, I must admit.
41. Angela, dear, wonderful, sweet Angela shows up to tell us she’s found the victim. Not to diminish what you do, Ange, but really? This week? I probably could have found him after about 15 second on Google. Maybe even on AltaVista (remember AltaVista? In the early days of the internet? It still exists, I checked).
42. And, no, Hodgins, you can’t call him “Hell Boy.” The dude is dead. Let’s not be an asshole about it. His name is Neil.
43. Booth interviews the victim’s - you know what? No. Neil. I’m calling him by his name, just to say fuck you to Hodgins, because I don’t think I really dug that Hell Boy comment (though it’s actually a pretty decent movie) - Neil’s family, a brother and a mother. It seems like they were in a pretty tough situation, and when I found out later that the brother did it, I wasn’t surprised. I mean, it felt like the writers maybe didn’t entirely know what to do with it, and Booth would have looked at the brother more to begin with, since he said he visited the place…anyway. We’ll get to that.
44. Cam shows off her sniffer knowledge, knowing the smell of gangrene instantly. Where’s Angela to say “Ewww” when you need her?
45. In Brennan’s PRODUCT PLACEMENT SUPER CAR, Sweets talks about interning at a mental health facility. Booth argues that, perhaps, Neil was possessed. Sweets calmly informs Booth that he spoke to the hospital, and Neil “didn’t show any signs of demonic possession.”
46. Okay, so…is this a thing? Like, do mental health professionals actually use “demonic possession” as a diagnosis for stuff? I’m not judging, I’m seriously asking: is this in the DSM-IV? Does anyone know? Because I’d like to read that.
47. Brennan mockity-mock-mocks, because she is working a case in both the worlds of religion and psychology, and she feels superior.
48. Brennan. I’m just saying. There’s this guy, at the hospital? And he’s going to own you later. And I’m going to like it. And you’re going to deserve it. And you’re going to know that you deserve it, and I will be proud of you, because that will be character growth, but until then, I’m going to admit: I’m going to be a little bit mad at you. I love you, but come on.
49. Sweets: “I’m an excellent loony bin crazy ass sifter.” I swear that’s the most hilarious thing you’ve ever heard if you hear it out of context. I’m just going to start saying it on the random
50. Look! It’s Jeremy Goodwin Will Bailey Dr. Copeland! Seriously, Joshua Malina will always have a place in my heart for being on two of my favorite shows of all time: Sports Night and The West Wing. TWW is probably the only show in the world I like more than Bones (okay, maybe Buffy, too…because, you know, BUFFY), but seriously, if I could ever write one sentence as good as Aaron Sorkin’s worst, I would count myself lucky. Will Bailey went through some douche-y-ness on TWW, but that was hardly Malina’s fault, as Sorkin left the show fairly soon after the character was introduced, thus causing the spiral that was Season 5…it’s best I not get into it, as I might start to cry (again). He’s in one of my favorite scenes in TWW history (and, thus, TV history), in “Inauguration Day: Over There” when he, Toby, Charlie, and Danny are standing in the snow, in the street, in tuxes, and Josh is throwing snowballs at Donna’s window. I could watch that scene for hours.
51. (O’Brien admits that, after writing #50, she went to YouTube and tried to find that scene, but could not. And then she ended up watching YouTube scenes from West Wing for 15 minutes. Dammit, smile952 .)
52. (And then I found the scene after all. God, this show. It’s not just Show. It’s SHOW.)
53. (And I watched that scene from SHOW, and I was instantly spun into this feeling of amazing and wonder and it reminds me why I became a lawyer and GOD if you haven’t watched TWW, then you’re missing out on pretty much the best TV experience of your life.)
54. (I’m done, now.)
55. (Probably.)
56. (And that might have been bad timing, too.)
57. Dr. Copeland exhibits surprise that Sweets is…you know, not the pizza delivery guy, and is actually a legit Doctor Person with degrees and everything.
58. I feel you, Sweets. I am a lawyer who is often confused with being a high school senior/the babysitter.
59. In the arts and crafts room, Or The Art That Might Have Happened If Van Gogh Continued to Descend into CrazyTown and Didn’t Die So Young (VanGogh!bad timing - Drink!), an angelic-looking girl tells the group that she is…an angel. Of course she does. Show is absolutely nothing if not straightforward when it comes to its symbolism, and I’m telling you, I appreciate that. I watch Lost when I want to be confused. When I watch Bones, I don’t want to be confused; I want Brennan and Booth to have sex. I’m in no way confused about that.
60. Sweets: “Oh, I buy it.” I love that for some reason.
61. Also, it’s totally freaky that Angel Girl has made the crucifixion painting. Brennan, of course, asks, “Are you confessing to murder?” Even after four and a half years, Brennan’s still hoping to be the first one to figure something like that out. It is somewhere between unbelievable and adorable, and I’m leaning to the side of adorable, and I think….
62. Yeah.
63. I think it’s time for this.
64. For us to have this talk.
65. Dear People Who Read This,
My view on Show, of which I am a well-noted lover: Show? Is a TV SHOW. It’s for entertainment purposes only. Does it rock my face off? Yes. Does it sometimes vary in quality? Well, yeah. Sometimes, I vary in quality, too. For instance, I’d say that there are days I’m batting 1.000, and then days like today, where I feel that I’m more batting .285. However, do I freak out like a child about Show? Um, YEAH.
My point in all of this is the following: there are people, apparently, who get really pissed off at Show. I have to tell you, I think this is a waste of time. You don’t like an episode? Dude, that’s cool. I mean, this episode, for instance. It’s…fine. It’s not the worst ever or the best ever, but I’m not going to get too worked up about it, even if it WERE the worst ever. What I’m saying is that there are enough things in the world to be pissed off about (poverty, substandard education, homelessness, the Earthquake in Haiti (and you can still donate to the Red Cross! They take money all the time!), the fact that I only make 79 cents for every dollar a man makes, the fact that people still judge others because of the color of their skin, or who they fall in love with). I mean, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have the right to scream, “I’m leaving the fandom!” and storm off in a huffy LJ rage…I’m simply saying that it’s incredibly childish and annoying. There’s certainly a place for good-natured debate and dislike (i.e., “I’m not thrilled with the way this is going,” or, “I haven’t really been into this season,” or “That episode was kind of a piece of shit, except for the parts where I was thinking about Booth naked, wait, that was the whole time.”), but if you really just love bitching about a TV show, if you are truly so hacked off that you actually feel the need to lose your mind about it, Christ, get some damned perspective. Embrace the fact that Show sometimes gives you an ephemeral, yet still real, feeling of joy, sometimes makes you laugh, sometimes makes you cry, and forget the rest, because the rest is well and truly bullshit.
If you don’t want to read my stuff anymore because I’ve said this…well, you probably wouldn’t like me if you met me, anyway, so I’m not too upset about it. Honestly, I’m not too upset about the topic of this open letter, either, because I generally try to stay away from the bitching, but enough people have mentioned the discontent and enmity of others enough times in comments that I feel I have been handed a soap box, and dammit, I’ve always wanted to be taller, so I’ve never met a soap box I didn’t like.
Sincerely,
O’Brien
66. Was that also bad timing? Whatever.
67. We’ve got to have a moment on Brennan’s trench coat. Since this episode aired, I’ve been on a wild goose chase for a trench coat of that same form and fashion. I love that she’s taken the top and buttoned it backwards instead of across, creating lapels. I have tried this on the coats I have tried on since. It looks best on the $200 one I found at Banana Republic, and it has taken everything I have to keep me from buying it.
68. AND IT IS SO, SO PRETTY.
69. Brennan, Booth, Sweets, and Will Bailey (you have to know that I really don’t give a damn what his actual character name is in this show; it matters not) talk over who is going to interrogate Angel Girl (side note: do you think every time DB hears the word “angel” that he sort of looks around? Like, is that word invariably changed to him, or not? I think I would maybe have a thing about it. I’m just saying), the consensus being the Brennan should definitely not be in there, what with her denial of faith and angels (THIS WILL BE IMPORTANT LATER).
70. Brennan: I have to admit, it’s eerie that when I move, she follows me as if she knows exactly where I am.
Okay. Who cares what comes after this. The only important thing is that Booth’s hand is in his pocket, and Brennan has grabbed his elbow.
It’s a subconscious thing, you know.
For her to grab him like that.
She doesn’t even know she’s doing it.
He doesn’t even know she’s doing it.
But Sweets does.
Sweets always knows.
The book is sitting in the top drawer of his desk. It’s ready, and better than being ready, it’s right. He had it all wrong last spring, before he met Dr. Wyatt, before she wanted a baby, and he almost died. It was all less than a year ago, and yet, it feels forever away.
And that’s because so much has changed. He understands that Brennan and Booth are like binary stars in the solar system, revolving around one another, their gravity so great that nothing else can sustain being around them long enough to touch them. But they’re all still drawn to it, all of them, because they are so bright and strong.
It’s been more than a year than he thought of them as only patients, and mere months since he realized that he thought of them better than friends, and more like parents.
He misses his parents.
He thinks they would probably like Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth. He thinks they would laugh at them; his parents got together when they were older, too, and that’s why they adopted him at their age….
Seeing Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth together, it’s what he thinks it might have been like for his parents, when they were figuring out that they loved each other. Because that’s what they’ve been doing, all along - figuring out they loved each other. They actually started loving one another so long ago, and it feels sad to think about it, sad that people can love each other, and waste so much time on denying it.
He promises himself every day, when he kisses Daisy awake, his lips pressing to her breathless and always surprised mouth, that he will not waste time.
He will not waste time.
Seeing her grab his arm is what it takes. It’s small, and no one else would care about it, because it’s just another in a line of moments, but he feels like he’s got to do something. Enough of the prodding, and questioning; he’s done with it. He’s not going to waste anymore time about this.
Because he doesn’t want them to waste anymore time about this.
And that’s when Sweets decides to publish the book.
71. Brennan is entirely uncomfortable with the Angel Girl looking at her. Booth and Sweets roll into the interrogation room. Angel Girl tells them she killed Neil with her invisible spear.
72. See! Brennan was right! She was trying to confess!
73. In what I must assume is the patient commons/hang out room-type place, Brennan talks with an intelligent-sounding man named Philip, who introduces himself as a doctor.
74. Of course he’s a patient. And here, Brennan gets the first taste of her Lesson for the Episode (because Brennan has to sometimes be taught a lesson, and people, Will Bailey is the man to do it).
75. Also, Brennan’s kinda freaked that she thought she had stuff in common with a crazy person. Cause, you know, that would make you feel a little weird.
76. At the Jeff, HotArastoo (Harastoo? No. That doesn’t work. Look, he’s freaking hot) tells Cam he looks into the eyes of the devil every day.
77. Bad timing (because in this day and age, everything about that whole situation is always going to be bad timing).
78. Cam freaks, and we’re coming back to it, I swear.
79. Genius Angela (and I’m sorry Brennan, the way she can work her gizmos, read stuff from art, AND NEVER SIT DOWN THAT’S RIGHT SHOW I HAVE NOT FORGOTTON, means that she’s a genius) does a reveleo charm (I know it’s not really magic, but COME ON) on Angel Girl’s painting, and finds that there’s a painting within a painting (or, if you will, something else behind the whatever, possibly high atop the thing). Turns out the nice nurse guy we met earlier is shown being not so nice.
80. Back at Will Bailey’s Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor Hut (Daily Special: The Bingo Bob), B/B stop the kindly nurse. Kindly Nurse shows his knowledge of 4th Amendment car search case law. Booth shows Kindly Nurse a sign, and does a little dance on Kindly Nurse’s 4th Amendment rights by pointing to the sign, which is found on the side of the guard station door that Kindly Nurse probably never really paid attention to. Sorry, Kindly Nurse. Being awesome? That’s just how Booth rolls.
81. Kindly Nurse has tons of weird weapons, and a cacophony of drugs, including heroin.
82. Kindly Nurse headsteeringwheels.
83. Yeah. It’s a thing. Don’t act like you haven’t done it, too.
84. Also, do you know why he’s headsteerwheeling?
85. BAD TIMING. We find out later he’s not even the killer, but you don’t want to be making drug runs while the feds are checking out your facility. I’m just giving y’all a heads up on that one.
86. Kindly Nurse explains that the weapons are “weapons of a true master.” I snort-laughed. I did.
87. Turns out Kindly Nurse was taking Neil’s meds to give to homeless people who needed them, got Neil heroin, and tried to help out a lot of people, but dude, you broke, like, a shit ton of laws.
88. Yes. That’s my official legal opinion. That he broke a lot of laws. That’s what you and I get for 21 years of schooling and a lifetime of payments to Sallie Mae (that bitch).
89. Booth speaks the truest, and, honestly, most awful words in the law game: “It doesn’t matter what I believe. It matters what I can prove.”
90. I could mini-fic about that, but it would end depressing me about my profession. Also, doesn’t that sound oh-so Brennan-ish? That believe takes a back seat to proof? (O'Brien Note: Upon review and thought, while I think that sentence is sort of awful, there's also some good in it, if you look at it in an absolute way, i.e., Proof = Truth = Justice. I think that's how Brennan operates, or at least that used to be how she strictly operated in the past. I don't know. I'm getting sleepy.)
91. I don’t know if you read the prior recap, but I talked then about how this season isn’t just about how Booth’s changed Brennan. Really, Show has been about that from the start. But this season, we’ve really gotten to see how Brennan’s changed Booth. Watch a prior season episode, and Booth doesn’t seem nearly as controlled at times as he does now. He can at least put on the face of a pragmatic rationalist. I don’t think he’s turned into that guy, but seriously, this is interesting to watch.
92. Cam is so freaked by HotArastoo’s comment about “looking the devil in the face every day” that she actually wants Hodgins to do an experiment. How Cam got from “maybe Arastoo wants to off us all” to “if Hodgins does an experiment with him, I’ll know if he wants us dead,” I will never, ever know, but I think it might actually make Hodgins King of the Lab? Yes?
93. Arastoo breezes in, talks about the devil loosing “as he always must.” Cam and Hodgins decide that they don’t want to be looked upon as the Great Satan, which, you know, me neither, but Arastoo? Really, you guys? See, I can’t be sure if I’m cool with how Show has handled Arastoo or not. On one hand, Show depicts honest reactions from people who are intelligent but still appear to have prejudices, and then they confront those prejudices, and learn that they are being assholes. I support Show in this. On the other hand, it still feels douche-y. Show, don’t be a douche. No one likes a douche. Except, of course, for another douche.
94. At the hospital, Brennan mocks psychology AGAIN (Hi, Brennan? This is Dead Horse. Would you mind not beating me anymore, and-oh, here comes Will Bailey. I’ll shut up now.). Will Bailey does that which Sweets really can’t do, really because the kid’s not old enough (for once, I’m on that train, too), and tells Brennan to GTFO…except he talks about honor and stuff, and I’m telling you, Joshua Malina could sell me just about anything when he’s talking like that. He also points out that Brennan didn’t actually apologize, but maybe it’s the “best she can manage.”
95. Brennan got SMOKED.
96. Also, I don’t think I ever noticed - he’s not very tall, is he?
97. Then all hell breaks loose (even though this is probably a day in the park for Will Bailey, compared to what else he has to deal with), Philip is asking for the “special drugs,” and Brennan finally says sorry, and people, she meant it. She really, really did. (Say it with me on Brennan’s earlier comment: BAD TIMING.)
98. And somewhere, and Angel gets its wings. Or DB looks broody in a leather jacket. It’s all the same, really.
99. By “the same,” I of course mean “miraculous.”
100. Hodgins hits himself in the head with nunchucks; HotArastoo works those babies like he was made for them, and I mostly just want to make out with HotArastoo. Long story short, the nunchucks didn’t kill Neil, and mostly, I’m convinced the whole nunchuck thing was just so the writers could see T.J. Thyne play with nunchucks, then laugh at him.
101. You know how sometimes, you’ll write/say a word a lot, and it stops looking like an actual word to you? That just happened to me and nunchucks.
102. Poor Sweets. Even Philip the Patient mocks Sweets’ age. And he’s not the killer, btw.
103. And this is really the part of the episode where I start thinking about my boyfriend’s theory, which I am fairly certain he stole from somewhere on the internet, which states that if a well-known actor is guest-starring on a procedural, that person is likely the Killer of the Week. While this is usually true, I’d like to thank you, Show, for simply making Will Bailey a good guy trying to do his job instead of a killer. It warms my heart so.
104. At the Jeffersonian, HotArastoo proves to be a better man than any of them, by not only noticing Cam’s discomfort, but not judging her for it, and explaining away any concerns he may have caused her. Because he’s just sort of perfect, I’m telling you.
105. And he tells you, too. He tells you a heartbreaking (crushing) story about how he loves his country. We learned that he served in Iraq as a translator, and that he had to kill a man to save his life, and probably the lives of others. We learn that the man he shot had a family, because Arastoo looked for ID. We learn that Arastoo’s faith is something that gives him strength.
106. Basically, we learn that Arastoo, in addition to being hot, is really an incredible person. And again, I have to tell you, Show does this like no other, taking an infrequently used character and turning him into someone you really do care about, someone memorable. Dammit, Show. Just…dammit.
107. Cam, to her credit, fesses up. And that’s why I like Cam, too. Because she’s the type of person who admits her faults.
108. Sweets: “There’s a guy in Ward 4 who believes he’s Thomas Edison.” We learn that Neil was electrocuted, and that it likely happened in the basement. Sweets is…of no help. Whatsoever.
109. And I’ve gotta say this: does it feel a little bit like Sweets has been shoehorned in a lot this year? B/B aren’t going to therapy anymore (and why they aren’t, I have no idea. Is it because Sweets finished the book, or the bureau no longer finds it beneficial, or…what? Is there something there we don’t know? Is this just a dropped plot point? Could it be that the higher ups now think Sweets is too close to them to be objective?), so it seems like they try to find ways at times to fit him in, instead of its being natural. He helps them investigate/interview, sure, but sometimes, it feels forced in there. I don’t know. I love Sweets.
110. They go to the basement;afaoij’eaij
111. Jacket.
112. Jacket and FBI T-Shirt.
113. Ofaj3p9fa8upa98he;nk
114. My computer shorted out. From the drool. Give me a sec to wipe it up.
115. Okay. All better.
116. (GOD THAT MAN IS HOT.)
117. Sweets shows off the iPhone flashlight app, and I find this a good time to mention Haiti (again). I read an article about how a guy was stuck in an elevator in a collapsed building for 5 days, and saved his life using a First Aid app on his iPhone, and setting the alarm for every 20 minutes so he wouldn’t fall asleep and go into shock. That is just incredible. There really is “an app for that.” And by “that” I mean “saving your life and lots of other cool shit.”
118. They inspect the set up, piecing together Neil’s life in the basement. The poor guy, “Welcome to Hell” was written on the wall. How sad.
119. At the Jeff, Angela works her magic dooey, while Brennan posits that, perhaps, Neil wasn’t wearing his boots when he was shocked (yeah, I said “dooey” and “posits” in the same sentence. That right there is pretty much how I roll, full time). Sweets gets jiggy with some drug lingo that I’d never heard before (which is really hardly shocking; I'm not exactly a drug person, in case you couldn't tell). Brennan works her own observational magic, noting that because Neil was left-handed, he couldn’t have tied his shoelaces the way they were found (does anyone else notice that there have been a few references to dominant hands this year as major clues in the investigation? I don’t think this has any real significance; I just find it interesting).
120. With this in mind, Sweets thinks aloud that the shoes were tied by someone who cared for him. Someone responsible for him. That’s heartbreaking, too.
121. I totally wanted to work with my shoelaces after this.
122. In the end, it’s the brother. And that’s terrible. I kind of thought for a second that it would be the mother, but whatever. I don’t know why they didn’t pursue the brother sooner, but HH and Co. needed a filler episode, so…there you go. The whole point of it was the end, anyway. And I’m telling you, it makes it sort of worth it.
123. Here we go.
Brennan: I need to ask you something.
Booth: Are you going to ask me about God and the Devil?
Brennan: Yes.
Booth: You’re going to ask me how God can place such a burden on good people.
Brennan: No, I’m going to ask you how you can still believe in a kind god after a case like this.
Booth: Is my faith shaken? Yeah. It is.
Brennan: It is?
Booth: Yeah. I’ll go home tonight and lie in my bed and toss and turn, and I’ll beat myself up. I’ll question everything.
Brennan: Will you get your faith back?
Booth: I always have in the past.
Brennan: So you have faith that you will retain your faith. Why?
Booth: Because, Bones…the sun will come up, and tomorrow’s a new day.
Brennan: I know that feeling.
Booth: Really.
Brennan: Uh huh.
Booth: You know what it feels like to get your faith back.
Brennan: When I see effects and I am unable to discern the cause, my faith in reason and consequences is shaken.
Booth: Then what happens?
Brennan: Two plus two equals four. I put sugar in my coffee, and it tastes sweet. The sun comes up because the world turns. These things are beautiful to me. There are mysteries I will never understand, but everywhere I look, I see proof that for every effect, there is a corresponding cause. Even if I can’t see it. I find that reassuring.
Booth: And life is good again.
Brennan: Life is very good.
Booth: Yes, it is.
124. You know, I would fic about this moment, but I kind of like the way it just...ends. It seems easy and comfortable.
125. Oh, hell. I can’t help myself.
126. He doesn’t sleep that night.
He doesn’t sleep that night, or the next, or the next.
But it’s not about the case.
Of course it’s not. If it were, I wouldn’t be telling you about it, would I? I try not to waste your time on trivialities, and-
Well.
I’m going a bit off course with that rant. Just another case of bad timing.
He lays awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling. The lights are off, and he hears the heat running and a stray siren in the background. He tosses, he turns, he beats himself up, but it’s not for any the reasons he told her.
It is, as you might have guessed, because of her.
Because she asked him to be the father of her child. Because she wrote a book about marriage and babies, then ran off to Guatemala. Because she says that what happens between us is ours, because she trusts him, because she believes in love. Because she believes, and that’s more than he ever thought was possible.
She’s always been more than he ever thought was possible.
He tosses, he turns, he beats himself up, but it’s not for the reasons you think. It’s not because of doubt.
It’s because he knows.
He knows.
This is the person he’s always wanted, even when he didn’t know it. This is the person he fell in love with, even before he recognized it. This is the person he dreams about, thinks about; this is the person that he wants, which is better than need. Need is something that can be crippling; there’s weakness in it, to need someone else, something else, like an addiction (and Booth has been down that road, he has, and he doesn't ever want to walk it again) and honestly, it’s just not that romantic. You need oxygen. You need water and food and sleep. Those are things you don’t have a choice about. But the person you love? Should be the person you want. They should be the person who you make a concerted choice to love, because loving someone isn’t just a thing that happens, but it’s an action, it is affirmative, it is something that you do.
He does love her. He does.
She is the person he’s always wanted.
Now, he knows that he’s the person she wants, too.
But it all still feels like bad timing.
And that’s why he can’t sleep.
Okay, look. We're in the white water here, kids. Keep paddling. Come April 1, we've got eight straight episodes ahead of us, and I've just seen the title for the S5 finale, and...yeah. I'm so down with this. Until then, I'll be working on some FlashBackRecaps, perhaps writing fic, and waiting (im)patiently for y'all to write some stuff as well. On a side note, tempertemper77 has been hosting the Great Big Bones Surviving the Hiatus Re-watch on her journal. I haven't had the time to post, but it certainly looks like a lot of fun! So, if you're just dying, check that out.