The Inkslingers - The Season 5 Showdown!

Shelly wrote:Haha, Sera, I'm going to admit that I actually wikipedia'd the spelling for Langly to make sure I got it right, and they gave me -ley! Touche though. I love it when the philes come out of the wood work!

Rob, I'm suprised that episode disturbed you so much! I think it was banned for a few years because all that incest stuff was just too much for TV at the time. Sera's right though, you missed alot of good ones! You should catch up some time, you won't be disappointed, I promise!

Spoiler:

dawnsfire wrote:Ewwww!

THX1138 wrote:

Shelly wrote:Haha, Sera, I'm going to admit that I actually wikipedia'd the spelling for Langly to make sure I got it right, and they gave me -ley! Touche though. I love it when the philes come out of the wood work!

Rob, I'm suprised that episode disturbed you so much! I think it was banned for a few years because all that incest stuff was just too much for TV at the time. Sera's right though, you missed alot of good ones! You should catch up some time, you won't be disappointed, I promise!

Honestly I was good through 99% of that sucker, not loving it but dealing, and then the final scene happened and you can hear the deformed mother (with just the one arm - no other limbs to speak of) encouraging her even more deformed son while they're having sex. Knowing what they're doing and that she's hoping to get pregnant by him so they can continue the family blood line? Yeah. I signed out after that.

RM

dawnsfire wrote:Hodgins--puts on a fantastic mask, doesn’t he? But he’s not the same guy who sat down on Sweets’ couch last season and ranted about hating everyone. His actions in the diner fooled me, but perhaps he didn’t quite believe it until later when he saw them acting in such a light, loving, normal way. That said, he enjoyed the shooting test far too much--not that I blame him. *sniff* Poor Hodgins. But Sweets was right--it really is only time that can cure him, if he lets it, and then he’ll always have this little soft mushy place in his heart for her and for them, because it was good, after all (at least in his mind, considering earlier discussions).
Anybody else notice that he’s the only who’s taken the classic “lie down on the shrink’s couch” pose?
Pity they didn’t return to his conspiracy aspect here--between the aliens and the illegal dump, there should have been plenty for him to dig into. Instead, they focused on his scientific skills (and I begin to wonder if some of that is legitimately detectable) and his emotional ride.

dawnsfire wrote:Sweets--The diner staff called him “Doc” and “Lance,” and I’m trying to remember if they’ve ever addressed Booth or Brennan by name.

dawnsfire wrote:BadI don’t understand why his gun was attracted to the MRI. Magnets, yeah, but are they really that strong? This falls into bad if they got it wrong, good if they got it right (cool effect, if a little overdone).

THX1138 wrote:I would like to apologize for the lateness of this post, but my laptop chose to lock up on me right before I was going to hit save and I lost the damn thing. UGH.

The Case
While Cam's busy running about trying to figure out who's positive pregnancy test she's holding (My bet was on Daisy, I lost), the mysterious Mr White locks the team in the Medico Legal Lab with orders from the GSA to find out how an even more mysterious set of remains ended up dead.

Nah, I was sure it was Ange--and that it would be false. Should have made that bet--I could use the cash!

Booth, ever distraught that someone other than him is terrorizing his team of squints, colludes with Hacker to break in and find out what's going on.

Once inside we are treated to a mystery wrapped in an enigma and tied up in a riddle...no, it's a a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma...or is the enigma...Ah screw it. Look, it's complicated but basically, they get bones that they think are JFK's but they don't know for sure because they're not allowed to touch perform any tests ON the bones themselves.

It was interesting, and I think well played. The case involved Secret Service Agents running a False Flag operation that could have been a dry run, a test, or even the real thing, so it's only fitting that our heroes don't know the answers at the end of the show. They can think they've got the evidence, but they won't ever be 100% sure, as all good conspiracies should be.

Hodgins - Jack Hodgins was all over this episode baby, really he and Booth were the two main characters tonight. On the science, Hodgins was solid coming up with all the information and data to prove it was Kennedy. On the conspiracy side he was in his element, though I do have a few quibbles...okay, one BIG quibble, he really was in the zone tonight. Finally, Jack Hodgins the stand-up man? Checking in. His offer to be there for Angela, even though it's not his kid? That's love baby. Unfortunately, that's also hard to watch because it's pretty obvious now that Angie doesn't love Hodgins, not like that anyway, so all he got for his effort was another crack to his already broken heart. On the up side, Hodgins bonded with Booth and Sweets and really, he needs the man time.

Cam - Not really the good soldier type! Good lord if Cam keeps this up she'll be encroaching on Brennan for a place in my heart. Seriously I love Cam, in a professional "Atta girl" kind of way, I really do, but nights like tonight make me pine for the feisty vixen. Seems Booth isn't the only one who has trouble with authority figures, and our Bronx bombshell was out in force, running her lab, monkey wrenching the Secret Service, worrying about Michelle and still finding time to worry about Angela and Booth. The woman was amazing.

Sweets - Sweets is a junior member of the team in almost every way but we get to see him really step up tonight. Playing Robin to Booth's Batman (I guess that makes Hodgins Nightwing?), Sweets fills the role of sidekick well, supporting Booth's and Hodgin's plans and even planting seeds of distrust in the Secret Service agents working around the lab. Still comments like "That's a lot of blood to have on your hands" show our little duck has a ways to go to really understand Booth.

Wow. The noble and inherently self destructive side of Booth's personality was on a roll tonight! First, got to love why he needs to be in there - there his people. Second, we know the man has skills, and while I'm an adherent to the Zapruder theory that Oswald had 8 seconds to shoot, not 5, the fact that Booth nailed two dead on shots in under 2 seconds? The man is freaking AMAZING! That said, no respect for spooks? Check. No respect for authority when it's abused? Check. No tolerance for anyone threatening his team? Check. Serious bad ass? Double Check. Now what have we learned about Booth this episode, aside from the obvious like his ancestral relation to John Wilkes Booth? Well his knowledge of black bag operations and how these agents work isn't the kind of thing you pick up from casual contact.

PURE CONJECTURE HERE: At some point in his past, intimated since S1 I might add but now we can almost say for certain, Booth was a Gov't operative. Probably at the end of his Ranger career, prior to or at the start of his FBI career, he was loaned out to State or DOD-MI, but whoever he worked for, he was a spook. Why do I say that? Because only a former spook can hate spooks that much, and Booth knew each and every trick they were going to pull before they did, he knew they're game plan inside and out, that's not being a good agent, that's being an experienced operative.

Interesting, Brennan has worked enough classified Government cases that she doesn't even question the what or why of Mr White's sudden appearance, she just goes with the flow. Still, when the enigmatic Mr White tries to stop Brennan from finding the truth she doesn't hesitate to break all the rules. For her the truth is paramount...unless it involves Booth. We saw tonight the consummate scientist in Brennan, the woman who wouldn't stop the quest for truth even if it meant defying the US Government. We also saw the woman who is a friend and, someday, lover, who is willing to set aside her deepest held beliefs for the one man she's said she'd do anything for. People use those words often, she means them. She's still learning what it means to be emotionally intimate with Booth - and yes, I meant it that way. They're relationship, while not what we'd like it to be, is a very intimate one on many levels, and Brennan is gamely venturing into uncharted territory when she deals with Booth on things like his ancestry (JWB), his patriotism (The JFK Assassination), and what it means to be them. Yet this season we've seen her put forth a real effort, she's taking the risks now that she wouldn't even contemplate last year or the year before. It's amazing to watch because every week it's new for her and us, this is what makes the character so compelling and Emily Deschanel is simply amazing in this role.

Scene of Note
Booth and Hacker in the diner, Hacker's assessment that Booth is not only the better agent. Priceless. His estimation that Booth is also the better man? Priceless. His nod to the fact that Booth's character is one of the major stumbling blocks to him getting a shot at Temperance? Again, priceless. That scene gives me warm fuzzies every time I see it.

Booth's three part take down of Mr White and his two wingmen. The Secret Service guys never saw him coming, and it just goes to show not only what a bad ass Booth is, but the difference between Special Ops training and Secret Service training. SSA's are trained to protect and take down threats using minimum force, SpecOps are trained to kill.

Hodgins: (To Cam) Was that you? Who knew you could yell like that.
Brennan: She scared the guards.
Hodgins: I find that so hot!
Cam: That's all for you.

Mr White: How'd you get past the guards?
Booth: Sniper training. They trained me to walk really, really quietly.
Mr White: You are now restricted to the building of course.
Booth: Damn. Who saw that coming?

I bow to your superior knowledge re: the Kennedy assassination. Most informative, and it certainly gives another dimension to this episode.

dawnsfire wrote:Proof in the Pudding

OK, conspiracy theorists have been hard at work on this one. We’ve all seen the promos and know some of the issues. Actually, this is the kind of case I was hoping for…oh, not the specifics, but something beside find dead body-slash-murder victim and solve. This was not ordinary by a long shot.

And I was interrupted in this…my landlord came a’knocking on the door. Can’t really ignore him, after all. *pouts*

Case

Booth leaves the lab, and Cam finds a positive pregnancy test in the ladies’ room--one which only Cam, Brennan, Angela--and Michelle--use. A little far fetched, perhaps, considering there are several feminine lab techs, or would it be like the executive restroom? And obviously Daisy hasn’t been on the rotation recently, either… Anyway, Cam’s worried about who might have left it behind, since she’s foster mother to a 16 year old girl.

In the middle of her agonizing, a bunch of MiB (Men in Black, aka government goons) officially from the General Services Administration and headed by a Mr. White, come into the lab with a casket. They seal off the lab with a nifty looking machine and deactivate the platform’s alarms. Those in the lab (oddly enough--only Brennan, Cam, Angela, Hodgins, and Sweets, not one low level tech) are locked in until sunrise. Why sunrise? Why not 7am? Seems an odd way of phrasing it in this day and age, unless someone‘s been reading too many vampire stories. Anyway…they are told they have to find cause of death, but not to concern themselves with identity or anything other than that. Hmph. They didn’t do that much research, did they? Knew enough to wait until Booth was gone, but not much else--or they would have known some of this wouldn’t fly.

Not a traditional casket, bones are clean, and there is a small case of samples. None of which are to be marked, probed, used up, etc. Huge hole in the skull, odd markings, evidence of bullet wounds and a heck of a lot of other damage from illness and broken bones. Brennan sneaks a small bone (part of the coccyx, if I’m not mistaken) away to compare to previously dated bones in Limbo while Hodgins looks over the samples. He comes to a rather startling conclusion--this is the skeleton of John F. Kennedy! This is bigger than anything else he’s looked at before and he's frankly floored.

Eventually further evidence comes in supporting this: Angela’s facial reconstruction bears a certain resemblance, the person died about 1963, pink wool, etc, etc. And there are rumors that authorities want to exhume Kennedy’s body so it can be examined with today’s superior forensic methods.

In the meantime, the MiB are prowling and getting in the way and Booth gets alarmed when Sweets tells him what’s going on. He gets stopped in the garage, talks to Hacker about support, then breaks into the lab, shooting out the glass door. No doubt the others are glad to see him, of course, but White and his guys aren’t. And now he’s stuck in the lab as well--something Hacker can use, but takes his sweet time doing.

Booth is the lone holdout to the notion that this is JFK’s skeleton; not a surprise, considering how many times he’s defended the government to Brennan and Hodgins. But he is willing to work an experiment; firing an exact replica of Lee Harvey Oswald’s rifle to see if it could be done. (Does the Smithsonian have one of those, btw?) They sneak around and get the rifle, pull a fast one on White to get him to permit the basic experiment and Booth makes the shot, proving in his mind that there was only one gunman that day in Dallas. The others aren’t so sure, based on another bullet hole, coming from a different direction.

After sulking a bit, Booth comes back to help Brennan. He causes a huge diversion by picking a fight with the goon squad while she makes a break for it with two bones. In a final test, involving the pudding of the title, she shows that one bone has a condition JFK was never listed with, thus relieving Booth’s mind. Hacker breaks in, just too late to do anything.

Booth--took it on the chin in this one. We got some confirmation about him and his past that has been mostly hinted at and certainly speculated about…his connection to John Wilkes Booth as well as why he feels he must trust the government. But he was Agent Extraordinaire, and I don’t just mean the diversion/fighting at the end. Sneaking past the guards and breaking into the lab (he’s a sniper) was just one of the things he offered. I truly enjoyed his trying to annoy White and his goons--mostly because it worked! But how many pairs of handcuffs does he normally carry?
Even though we haven’t actually seen it on the screen, this is the second time they’ve referred to private, non-work-related, conversations between the partners, and oddly enough, both references fall into an episode with Hacker. The egg/meatloaf thing and now John Wilkes Booth. At least she didn’t say it in front of others, this time--and if he hadn’t already been so worked up, he would have appreciated that.
And damn, did he look good firing that rifle!

Brennan--I would have thought she was as much of a rule-breaker as Cam and Hodgins, and as it turned out, she is, if quieter. And she enjoys being part of some sort of deception, even though she is officially against it--that rattle of scientific jibber-jabber (and how real was some of that, anyway? Did the job, regardless) was a little like being undercover for her. She’s getting better at that, too--it wasn’t as forced as say, when she put the kneecaps on the silver skeleton back in Knight on the Grid. And despite the faux pas of mentioning Booth’s ancestry, she was considerably more sensitive to his needs, especially once Cam explained.

They’ve kept her lack of knowledge of pop culture in place, but she should have known who Michael Jackson was! My sister (who is younger than Brennan is supposed to be) remembers the “Thriller” video from when it first came out; I’m sure Russ would have watched it and it strikes me as the kind of thing big brother would use to try and freak out little sister with.
And she’s in a dry spell sexually--no wonder she didn’t have a lot of sympathy for Angela before. But maybe that contributed to her seeing Booth in the reconstruction?

I would say this was classic Booth and Brennan overall--interactions, behavior, skills, etc, with just enough of recent developments.

Hodgins--full blown conspiracy mode here and might we add it’s about time! This is Conspiracy Numero Uno, the big one, the main event, and if he hadn’t been neck-deep in it, I would have asked Rob to contact his…people (speaking of conspiracies). Great look on his face as he realized exactly what he was likely to be holding--he loves it, but doesn’t expect to be in the middle of it. And the stuff about secret passages in the Jeffersonian is another plus. Once in a while this info is useful. And he has guts to take on even Booth or mystery men when he truly believes in what he’s saying.

Outside of all this, on a personal level, he made the sweetest offer any man could make to a woman who dumped him by offering to help Angela with the presumed baby, since Wendell is a lowly grad student who might not be able to materially provide for them. He also states he still loves her. Later, after it comes out that it’s a false positive, he is downright uncomfortable and I think he regrets showing so much of his emotions. I don’t think he lied and he does still feel something, but wishes he hadn’t said so. But there are indications of some new rapport between them…a development I’m not too sure about.

Cam--torn between concerned mom and worried boss here, something that is happening more and more. Part of the territory, I guess, but this was not a time for divided attention. Good thing Angela confessed before she called Michelle, though, since matters are delicate enough between them as it is. She and Hodgins were a perfect match in defying the Man this episode, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Also worthy of mention is her explaining Booth’s desperate desire to believe in the government to Brennan and Sweets in terms they can grasp. I honestly think Brennan hadn’t quite grasped it up to then, and it certainly shed light on his frustration over the ancestral issue for her. And Cam realizes that, too, based on her parting words to Brennan outside the diner.
Her defense of the team is a truly Cam-moment (“Tell your bosses we don’t do half-truth here.”) and from the beginning that has been her strength.

Random Impressions

I liked them all lined up at the counter near the end, while discussing what had just happened. And speaking of line-ups, the ladies covering their ears as Booth takes his shot was pretty nice, too.

Fanfic elements: Booth feeding Brennan because she won’t eat otherwise, the nearly empty lab…I presume it was near end of day, but still. Also Brennan’s current dry spell regarding men and Booth’s past, as well as Sweets not having Booth’s complete file--I’ve seen that in a story or three as well.

dawnsfire wrote:We need to stop having problems in tandem, you know that, right?

Nah, I was sure it was Ange--and that it would be false. Should have made that bet--I could use the cash!

Yep--another of these vague ones, but somehow it sits a little better than the flashdrive in Bond/Boot--perhaps because it is a classic conspiracy theory?

He's been getting quite a bit of man time this season, and often with Sweets and a third party to be named. Last time it was Fisher; this time Booth. Of course I enjoy the latter more than the former. Curious to see how he handles Wendell from here out, speaking of male-bonding--they were doing pretty well until last epi.

I know Booth said that, but I must have missed it somehow--where exactly?

Seeing sniper Booth is pretty cool, and while he was angsty, it was the right kind, and he managed to realize it was somewhat self-serving in time (not that everyone doesn't deserve a chance to wallow). As for the part about "his people," it hasn't been hammered home so hard in a long time (if ever) that they are his team, and you screw with them at your own risk. We knew it, and the team knew it (think last season when Perotta said "my people" and was immediately corrected), but here it was a major theme.
You compared him to Batman earlier--and in true superhero style (maybe not Batman in all of his incarnations), he was witty while confronting the bad guys. Always fun.

True. But she didn't lie. It was more of a presentation and emphasis on different facts. So while there was no solid truth here, no matter how hard she looked, she still managed to present something that was just as valid as their main theory (hypothesis?) in deference to his feelings. That sensitivity is certainly worth mentioning. And in other circumstances, I don't doubt that she would lie until her tongue turned black for him. Not to him. Never to him.

Scene of Note
Booth and Hacker in the diner, Hacker's assessment that Booth is not only the better agent. Priceless. His estimation that Booth is also the better man? Priceless. His nod to the fact that Booth's character is one of the major stumbling blocks to him getting a shot at Temperance? Again, priceless. That scene gives me warm fuzzies every time I see it.

I have a hard time deciding how serious he's being here...I really think he's hoping Booth will play the modesty card or something and deny it.

Booth's three part take down of Mr White and his two wingmen. The Secret Service guys never saw him coming, and it just goes to show not only what a bad ass Booth is, but the difference between Special Ops training and Secret Service training. SSA's are trained to protect and take down threats using minimum force, SpecOps are trained to kill.

Oh, yeah, baby! Great scene! Nothing to add to that assessment.

I bow to your superior knowledge re: the Kennedy assassination. Most informative, and it certainly gives another dimension to this episode.

RM wrote:PURE CONJECTURE HERE: At some point in his past, intimated since S1 I might add but now we can almost say for certain, Booth was a Gov't operative. Probably at the end of his Ranger career, prior to or at the start of his FBI career, he was loaned out to State or DOD-MI, but whoever he worked for, he was a spook. Why do I say that? Because only a former spook can hate spooks that much, and Booth knew each and every trick they were going to pull before they did, he knew they're game plan inside and out, that's not being a good agent, that's being an experienced operative.

Dawn wrote:Fanfic elements: Booth feeding Brennan because she won’t eat otherwise, the nearly empty lab…I presume it was near end of day, but still. Also Brennan’s current dry spell regarding men and Booth’s past, as well as Sweets not having Booth’s complete file--I’ve seen that in a story or three as well.

DBCrazy wrote:

RM wrote:PURE CONJECTURE HERE: At some point in his past, intimated since S1 I might add but now we can almost say for certain, Booth was a Gov't operative. Probably at the end of his Ranger career, prior to or at the start of his FBI career, he was loaned out to State or DOD-MI, but whoever he worked for, he was a spook. Why do I say that? Because only a former spook can hate spooks that much, and Booth knew each and every trick they were going to pull before they did, he knew they're game plan inside and out, that's not being a good agent, that's being an experienced operative.

This is really cool to read! That's a spin on all of this that I would've never had a clue about. BTW, in this context, what's a spook?

Bones: What took you to Guatemala? Eco-tourism?
Booth: I went down to shoot somebody through the heart from fifteen hundred feet.

Booth: Cause I used to do this kind of work.
Bones: Rescuing people?
Booth: Or being the person they needed to be rescued from.

dawnsfire wrote:Characters

Brennan--quintessential Brennan. Blunt, focused, demanding the truth on even minor levels (her comments to the re-enactors), and apparently inconsiderate in her treatment of Vincent. The tone in her voice was a little different, but that’s much the way she treated all of the interns in their first appearances last season. I thought her a little unfair about the mark from the actual cause of death. He saw it, even if he didn’t know what it meant. He’s still an intern or grad student, and as his employer/professor, is supposed to guide him. Still too close to Zack? But it doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the season. And in the end, even though she tried to hide it, she did approve of him.

That said, her confusion with Booth’s sudden reversal was good, and her digging for an answer was in character. He’s become her lodestone for matters of the heart and family and no doubt it would make her question a lot, starting with her relationship with Max and Russ, if he had stuck to it. Max would have killed Booth if that had happened.

And she’s definitely turned around on the subject of love and marriage. Fine, yes, her needing a reason in Goop and her well-qualified toast tonight are not exactly ringing endorsements, but for her--they represent a major reversal. And I hope Booth noticed.
Nice to see her still working in the lab, that deep absorption. I think it wasn’t that she didn’t want help, I’m not entirely sure she knew VNM was outside.

Booth--still the over-protective big brother. So locked into that mode, he’s not listening to anything anyone else is saying, including Brennan’s understandable confusion about why he seems to be backing away from some very long-held beliefs on love, family, and forgiveness. It takes her laying it out in plain English, making the comparison between her/Max and Jared/Padme and what he told her then and what he’s saying now, to make him think. He still struggles with it at the end, because it’s closer to him (his brother), but I think he’ll manage to overcome it.

He may not be a prude, but there is something about the profession of prostitution that gets under his skin. You can see it even back in S2, when he complains they came to Vegas on “the word of a prostitute,” not to mention his fury at pimps and johns (Girl in a Mask). We’ve seen bookies, loan sharks, assorted murderers, etc etc, but they don’t seem to get his back up quite so far--or even automatically.
Otherwise, his casework was solid, and I do love the man in semi-casual!

Jared--he learned a few things while in India. Sounds like he had a good trip, climbing, elephants, beating up muggers, and all that. To me, he seems like he’s more comfortable in his own skin, his role as Seeley Booth’s little brother, and their confrontation is more focused. Not as much lashing out at big brother for everything, just for things connected to the issue at hand. They’re never going to be peaceable for long periods, but can develop a better relationship if they want, and I would say they’re both willing. Much more likable this time around.

Random Impressions

Interesting that no one squawked too loudly about red bones, considering the reaction about green ones earlier this season.

The Booth brothers are on better terms from the minute Jared walks in the door until Booth lets it slip that he had a background check run on Padme. And even then, it’s not a drag-down fight, as I mentioned above. Jared’s matured and Seeley has to adjust. When Booth wonders why everyone thinks he overstepped his bounds, he doesn’t see that he violated her (their?) privacy. That is one of Jared’s issues--the other is big brother’s lack of trust. But in standing his ground, he takes a page from Booth:

You would say exactly what I’m going to say. Go to Hell.

Little more insight into their youth, too--the rat/puppy confusion (and that’s got to be a heck of a story) and the joke about Jared learning how to hotwire cars and steal cable from Booth. Which was not corrected or denied. Hmmm…

The toast echoed Con Man slightly, if only because Jared was there and Brennan does not give traditional-style toasts.

As for Padme herself, she wasn’t on screen long enough to get a really good grip on her personality, but she seems nice enough, supportive of Jared. And they’ve told each other all the questionable parts of their pasts. “No secrets.” Where have we heard these words before? Though it’s likely truer for them than B&B right now (who are also holding secrets about their respective pasts).

Spoiler:

And speaking of relationships, in the beginning of this season, the cases provided the opportunity for all these little zingers aimed at B&B; here, when relationships are such a major part (Jared & Padme, Dan & his former and current partner), there are none, except maybe for the no secrets line. But Jared wouldn’t know they’ve said that, so that was for us. And nothing about Angela and Wendell. Well, that would be too much.

And speaking of relationships--should probably touch briefly on the gay issue. Thought it was handled well, including Brennan's agreeing that it wasn't fair for them not to have the option of a civil union or marriage (fits her character, despite previous disdain for archaic rituals), and the vic’s current lover--Ziegler?--his realizing how he really felt seemed quite real to me, based on what I’ve read. And perhaps the proper level of defensiveness among some of the others too, used to the rest of the world's preconceptions. I suspect Booth, despite his aunt, may fall to some of those (at least in terms of football), but Brennan took it all in stride. When the one suspect said that gay guys hunt too, I didn’t think that was what was in her head--that was a little too calculating. She was considering how well he could use it, or even possibly remembering the days when she had hunting licenses in several states.

Fanfic? Brennan asking if Booth’s done background checks on her dates (if you do that sort of thing for people you care about). There’s been a wide assumption among us, the audience, that he has, bolstered when he told her he knew things about Hacker that a good little subordinate shouldn’t.

Good
Like I say, nice work with the Brothers Booth and Brennan’s confusion.

Bad/Questionable
They’re giving me less to complain about, but I did wonder when they went into the victim’s house and found the handyman watching TV--his reaction was peculiar to me. “I have permission to be here?” (words to that effect) Who says that to a man pointing a gun at you? Shouldn't matter if he’s dressed in a suit--if there’s no uniform or visible badge (which I couldn't tell), is that a likely reaction?

Ugly
Zip here today. Even the spiders don't quite make it…


Enjoyed the ep, fairly solid case work, some good character development, but not quite as good as last week’s, so…

[Only admins are allowed to see this image] and three quarters!

Anyone notice that Brennan’s driving Booth in the promo for next week?

Thnx4theGum wrote:Enjoyed the recaps as always and my one little note before dragging myself away from the second greatest Brennan toast since Con Man(in which she references their first meeting, ain't that a coinky-dink?) and going to bed:

The "Go to Hell" was, indeed, what comaSeeley told comaJared to do when comaJared was questioning comaBren's faithfulness or lack thereof. ComaSeeley took a swing, though It all comes back to the End in the Beginnning!

More some other time....

Meegs82 wrote:Rob, as for your Inkslinger, I agree with almost everything including bowing to you on the Brennan 2.0 discussion. She most certainly surpassed 1.75 with her toast.

The ONLY thing I don't agree with you on is that it's a forgettable episode. Was the casework lacking? Absolutely. But I think that the character growth and interactions MORE than make up for the case. Totally UN-forgettable and some of THE most important developments between our dynamic duo this season. Especially with Brennan as mentioned above in the 2.0 comment

THX1138 wrote:

Meegs82 wrote:Rob, as for your Inkslinger, I agree with almost everything including bowing to you on the Brennan 2.0 discussion. She most certainly surpassed 1.75 with her toast.

The ONLY thing I don't agree with you on is that it's a forgettable episode. Was the casework lacking? Absolutely. But I think that the character growth and interactions MORE than make up for the case. Totally UN-forgettable and some of THE most important developments between our dynamic duo this season. Especially with Brennan as mentioned above in the 2.0 comment

I'll amend my statement - it's a forgetable case, but the personal growth and the shift in the B&B dynamic is worth watching again and again - I know I've skipped over large sections of the 'case' to get to the scenes with Jared and Booth, and Brennan and Booth - and I've watched the ending about a dozen times so far. That part is TOTALLY memorable.

RM

Meegs82 wrote:

THX1138 wrote:

Meegs82 wrote:Rob, as for your Inkslinger, I agree with almost everything including bowing to you on the Brennan 2.0 discussion. She most certainly surpassed 1.75 with her toast.

The ONLY thing I don't agree with you on is that it's a forgettable episode. Was the casework lacking? Absolutely. But I think that the character growth and interactions MORE than make up for the case. Totally UN-forgettable and some of THE most important developments between our dynamic duo this season. Especially with Brennan as mentioned above in the 2.0 comment

I'll amend my statement - it's a forgetable case, but the personal growth and the shift in the B&B dynamic is worth watching again and again - I know I've skipped over large sections of the 'case' to get to the scenes with Jared and Booth, and Brennan and Booth - and I've watched the ending about a dozen times so far. That part is TOTALLY memorable.

RM

Exactly what I was thinking.

THX1138 wrote:

dawnsfire wrote:That said, her confusion with Booth’s sudden reversal was good, and her digging for an answer was in character. He’s become her lodestone for matters of the heart and family and no doubt it would make her question a lot, starting with her relationship with Max and Russ, if he had stuck to it. Max would have killed Booth if that had happened.

Her confusion about Booth's reversal was great! And you're spot on, Brennan has absorbed so much of Booth's philosophy on love, life, and family that she truly is his lodestone for those issues now. She doesn't hesitate to call him on it when he's acting hinky (love that word) and lets be honest, the whole kick under the table was pretty funny.

It was.

Booth--still the over-protective big brother. So locked into that mode, he’s not listening to anything anyone else is saying, including Brennan’s understandable confusion about why he seems to be backing away from some very long-held beliefs on love, family, and forgiveness. It takes her laying it out in plain English, making the comparison between her/Max and Jared/Padme and what he told her then and what he’s saying now, to make him think. He still struggles with it at the end, because it’s closer to him (his brother), but I think he’ll manage to overcome it.

He is still locked into that mode, and it's not just because he spent a lot of his life as the over protective big brother, it's because a large part of him resents Jared for having used and abused his good nature for years, and now, even though he's sober and growing up, Booth feels a degree of resentment that some how Jared's skating again without having to do the heavy lifting. Jared's right, if their roles were reversed Booth would have told him to fuck off or worse, but because Booth always bore the brunt for them both, because he always took the hit, paid the bill, bailed him out, he feels that Jared should have to suffer - trust me, it's a brother thing. I felt the same way about mine for three years. In the end I decided it'd be easier to just pull the plug on his death bed...I mean get over it.

He may not be a prude, but there is something about the profession of prostitution that gets under his skin. You can see it even back in S2, when he complains they came to Vegas on “the word of a prostitute,” not to mention his fury at pimps and johns (Girl in a Mask). We’ve seen bookies, loan sharks, assorted murderers, etc etc, but they don’t seem to get his back up quite so far--or even automatically.
Otherwise, his casework was solid, and I do love the man in semi-casual!

I get where you're coming from, but I think you miss the mark - I can explain. When I was in college I found out an ex of mine, through no fault of her own, was reduced to prostitution. She worked two jobs and couldn't pay the bills, hooking was the only way she could make the money to pay for both rent and school. I found out when I ran into her outside a club - it's not something you forget, finding out a girl you used to date is hooking. Anyway, Booth and I have very, very similar outlooks on a lot of things and I'm pretty sure his issue with prostitution on the low end isn't the girls, it's that he feels they've been forced into that life - he hates what they do, not them. Likewise his comment in Vegas wasn't neccessarily derogatory as much as it was a factual statement that the word of a prostitute isn't going to cary weight in a case like the one they were dealing with. Yes, he was dismissive, but Brennan's umbrage was largely misplaced IMO. It becomes more clear when you see how harshly he treats pimps - pimps are exploiters, he hates them for the things they do to the women, for what they represent - meanwhile the one case they had with a madame, he was polite and respectful to her - call girls aren't happy in the life, but they don't face the same problems as hookers. I think if he'd met Padme on his own he'd have liked her just fine. Her past has nothing to do with his behaviour, his past with Jared was what that was all about.

The Booth brothers are on better terms from the minute Jared walks in the door until Booth lets it slip that he had a background check run on Padme. And even then, it’s not a drag-down fight, as I mentioned above. Jared’s matured and Seeley has to adjust. When Booth wonders why everyone thinks he overstepped his bounds, he doesn’t see that he violated her (their?) privacy. That is one of Jared’s issues--the other is big brother’s lack of trust. But in standing his ground, he takes a page from Booth:

You would say exactly what I’m going to say. Go to Hell.

Little more insight into their youth, too--the rat/puppy confusion (and that’s got to be a heck of a story) and the joke about Jared learning how to hotwire cars and steal cable from Booth. Which was not corrected or denied. Hmmm…

It was interesting to get more insight into the boys background, and a good Catholic boy like Booth? yeah, he was probably stealing sacramental wine too - it's always the hell raisers that grow up to be good boys.

As for Padme herself, she wasn’t on screen long enough to get a really good grip on her personality, but she seems nice enough, supportive of Jared. And they’ve told each other all the questionable parts of their pasts. “No secrets.” Where have we heard these words before? Though it’s likely truer for them than B&B right now (who are also holding secrets about their respective pasts).

Spoiler:

And speaking of relationships, in the beginning of this season, the cases provided the opportunity for all these little zingers aimed at B&B; here, when relationships are such a major part (Jared & Padme, Dan & his former and current partner), there are none, except maybe for the no secrets line. But Jared wouldn’t know they’ve said that, so that was for us. And nothing about Angela and Wendell. Well, that would be too much.

The interesting thing here is what secrets they share - Jared's are going to be fairly run of the mill, as are Padme's I'd think. Jared was never held prisoner and tortured, Padme was never thrown in a dirt floored cell or locked in the trunk of a car. I think the secrets B&B aren't sharing are the ones that they most want to forget themselves.

And speaking of relationships--should probably touch briefly on the gay issue. Thought it was handled well, including Brennan's agreeing that it wasn't fair for them not to have the option of a civil union or marriage (fits her character, despite previous disdain for archaic rituals), and the vic’s current lover--Ziegler?--his realizing how he really felt seemed quite real to me, based on what I’ve read. And perhaps the proper level of defensiveness among some of the others too, used to the rest of the world's preconceptions. I suspect Booth, despite his aunt, may fall to some of those (at least in terms of football), but Brennan took it all in stride. When the one suspect said that gay guys hunt too, I didn’t think that was what was in her head--that was a little too calculating. She was considering how well he could use it, or even possibly remembering the days when she had hunting licenses in several states.

not just too calculating, it's the sort of pre-emptive comment I've come to expect from aggrieved gays when they think they've got you figured out. In reality I thought the gay issue was handled so well it really wasn't even an issue. As you point out the reactions of the effected parties seemed in-line with what I've seen myself among my gay friends, and I found Booth's reaction (re:football) to be inline with the preconception so many "tolerant" people have when dealing with someone like Booth. The assumption that he'd automatically have to be a bigot is bound to get his defenses up and it's something he dealt with in S4 when Angela needled him over Roxy.

Fanfic? Brennan asking if Booth’s done background checks on her dates (if you do that sort of thing for people you care about). There’s been a wide assumption among us, the audience, that he has, bolstered when he told her he knew things about Hacker that a good little subordinate shouldn’t.

I'm sure he actually did it to Brennan at least once - we know he did it to Rebecca.

True. I don't rewatch the Rebecca ones very often, but she did accuse him of that, didn't she? Truth in the Lye?