Baby in the Bough-REVIEWS - Posted by willgirl

Reviews will be posted here!

My first...from TV Squad.

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Posted Apr 29th 2008 8:40AM by Richard Keller

Bones, Booth and a Baby

Before I begin I wanted to thank Jen for handling last week's review while I was taking care of some personal matters. Unfortunately I left her with an episode that was postponed for nearly a year, causing her to ask where all of the neat stuff I was reporting on was located. Well, she got me back good as this week's episode of Bones was postponed not one, not two, but FIVE times.

This episode was supposed to air back on November 27th of last year. However, it was replaced by the show's Christmas episode and was pushed back to January 4th. Then, FOX decided to hold back all of the remaining original episodes of Bones until the week of February 22nd. When the strike was over the network made the decision to broadcast all of of the remaining new episodes of Bones starting on April 28th, then changed their mind and started the new episodes of Bones on April 14th. Finally, the first returning episode and this one were swapped.

Meanwhile, this episode aired last Christmas Day in Denmark. Damn Danish! Now you know why FOX pisses me off so much when it comes to scheduling.

Anyhoo, we finally had a chance to see the episode, and it was all good. How could it not be -- this week's installment prominently featured a baby. Whenever you have a newborn as the focus of an episode the whole mood changes. Sometimes, the mood is quite somber when it comes to the baby's mother being murdered. But, this is Bones, so the mood wasn't nearly as grim. Fact is, having a baby around really softened up most of the major characters.

Well, all except Bones. Being her usual self, Temperance initially took on the task of taking care of baby Andy in the clinical fashion that she takes on when examining a rotting corpse. As the episode continued she warmed up to Andy enough to start having fun with him rather than fearing every cry that emanated from his mouth. By the time that she gave Andy to the dead mother's friends (a hanky moment if there ever was one) she was truly sad that she would no longer be watching the little boy.

Brennan also softened up when it came to the economic plight of Huntsville, West Virginia, which must have been right over the Maryland border because Booth and Bones were traipsing back-and-forth to the town several times (no high gas prices in the Bones universe, it seems). At first, she was of the belief that when it's time for a town to die, it's time for a town to die. This didn't make some of the citizens of Huntsville too happy with her. Like her attitude with Andy, Temperance eventually softened up and realized that there are some causes to be saved. Thus, the reason that she used a good portion of the seven-figure advancement on her next book to help pay for a new bridge that would return the city back into a stretch of road open to tourists.

One more thing about Bones: there was one scene where you really saw the fury and anger that Dr. Brennan could express when provoked. It was when she encountered the murderer of baby Andy's mom. After giving his little explanation of why he did what he did, Bones grabbed him by his shirt, slammed him against a chain link fence, and growled that he was a son of a bitch. It's very rare that we see this side of the mild-mannered, analytical Dr. Brennan. When it does rise up, it can be a bit surprising to viewers.

Over to Special Agent Seely Booth. Booth is so cute, isn't he? He's all macho on one hand, but he'll turn away in embarrassment when someone (Bones) mentions breast feeding or teets. To him, and apparently other men that surround Booth, this talk is a bit awkward coming from a woman. Nevertheless, that didn't stop him from helping out with the care of baby Andy. Fact is, Bones went to him quite frequently at first to have him change a diaper and other routine baby tasks. He also became quite attached to the orphaned child, even going so far as to say that the baby was 'our Andy' to Bones instead of just saying 'Andy'.

Moving on to the Squints. The only interaction this week was between Angela and Jack amidst a discussion about having babies. Angela mentioned that she wanted to have a million of them (uh, better start know and take a lot of fertility drugs). Jack wasn't so sure he wanted a million children at first -- maybe one or two -- but then decided that he would be more than willing to have as many children as Angela wanted. It didn't matter if she became one huge pile of goo after having all of those children because he would still find her sexy. And, if she got wide that would just be more of her to love. Of course, that little smirk of his told the audience that he was just joking.

Now to this week's mystery. Poor Biff Tannen! First Marty McFly knocks him down to size, and then he embezzles money from the tire recycling plant and kills Andy's mom to cover it up. Didn't he learn anything after running into that manure truck? It was pretty much a given that he would be the murderer since he was a pretty familiar face. But, it was still an interesting mystery since Bones, Booth and the Squints had very little to go on at the start other than the safety desposit key.

Ank, that's the one nitpick I had with this week's episode: Andy swallowing the safety-deposit key. That was the fastest swallow done by a newborn that I have ever seen, which made the mystery a little less plausible. Would a newborn be able to swallow something like that when they could barely grasp it in their hands? And, wouldn't the sharp edges of the key have torn up his little baby parts as they scraped along the sides of Andy's throat and intestines? I could see it being much more of a problem than they made it to be.

Next week on Bones -- the trial of Max Keenan.

...and my second...this time from TV Guide.

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Bones
by Sandra Kofler

Read Episode Recap: "The Baby in the Bough"
Sometimes, I tell ya, this show acts like it really wants to be a sitcom. It wasn't rocket science that Bones' idea of mothering went from "How about some visual and auditory stimulation?" to "You don't know what they'll do with him there, we can't take him back yet, it's better here!" There’s always the funny mishap, then the true life lesson is learned. I'm not complaining. I love the comedy in this show, even when it borders on cheesy (Brennan shoving the pacifier in Booth’s mouth in the last scene?). It just makes me wonder if this crew really ain't all that different from the likes of the Cosbys. Just with dead bodies and like, science and stuff.

The baby came into the picture after it was found, literally, up in the bough of a tree at the site of his mother's fatal car crash. Rock-a-bye lucky baby in the treetop. After fetching the youngster from the treetop, Bones found a mysterious key in the child's diaper bag and clumsily left it out near him and was swallowed by him. So this is how the squints wound up taking care of a baby for an entire episode. Clever, clever. I was wondering from the promos how they were going to work that little detail out. But since he swallowed evidence from the case, B&B had to stand by their little man waiting for the key to come back around. Why do I have a feeling that digging through baby poop is no big deal for this team? They see a lot worse.

In the process, the crew found out that the baby was named Andy, his charred remains of a mother was Meg, and they came from a poor West Virginian town where Meg worked in a tire recycling plant to make ends meet in lieu of the baby's daddy not being around to help. There she worked under the plant's manager and with visiting company accountant who was also now missing and was known to flirt it up with Meg.

Andy's dad, who was never really a suspect, showed up at Meg's trailer looking for some grub, and I was hoping a shower, when B&B found him and took him into custody. The suspects kept tricking in, but the team couldn’t find any evidence to link any of them to Meg’s death.

Once Andy delivered his diaper surprise and the key was retrieved, it was found to open up a safe deposit box at a bank, where B&B found a gun whose serial number was scratched off, bone and brain fragments stuck in its barrel and male DNA left on its trigger. The team deduced that either Meg was an accomplice or a witness to another crime, and that’s how she came to have the gun. The bone and brain were found to belong to the accountant, but it wasn't until B&B revisited the tire recycling plant for clues that they realized the missing accountant's body could easily have been chopped up and turned into mulch. Miraculously (and with a little science) finding the mulch bag with the accountant’s finely chopped remains, B&B knew their culprit was the plant manager. He'd been embezzling money from the already economically depressed plant, and the accountant learned of the discrepancy on the books and was going to report him. He killed the accountant to protect himself, but not before Meg saw what had happened, and so became a victim herself.

So the lesson tonight was really just “human greed is bad”. Don’t steal from the people who depend on you for economic stability, and don’t kill innocent people to protect yourself when your scheme goes wrong. That’s just common sense, y’all. Instead, do as Bones did and rebuild a broken bridge in a small town with your extra money so that other people can have a better life! Too bad we don't all make Jeffersonian-caliber money. Speaking of giving better lives, did anyone else half-expect Bones to want to keep the baby in the end? I knew she wouldn’t really, but it was clear that this little person had actually made a space in her controlled, overly logical heart ("There was a baby in that car, you son of a bitch!"). Just once, I would love to see a passion play from her for someone, anyone, some sign that she really needs someone. I don’t expect this show to end any time soon, but if I never see Bones really love someone outside her immediate family, I think I’d really be sad for her despite her giant brain and perfect bone structure.

This episode was long-awaited, and again I'm not really sure why it was skipped over. Maybe it works as a better transition into the next episode? I was just excited to see the entire team at work once again, doing what they each do best to solve crimes. The season started out so energetic, balancing its weekly murder fare with the Gormagon puzzle and Angela's ex-husband's story line, and I loved seeing all the characters so involved. I don't feel like it's been quite the same since. The rest of the season has been a little more uneven, for which we might blame the writers' strike. Hopefully next week's trial for Bones' dad will prove to turn it all around.

Quotes

•Bones: "just because I have breasts doesn’t mean I have magical powers over infants."
•Bones, with a stuffed toy: "Elephants are not purple, this is wrong."
•Angela to Hodgins, on the baby: "Get used to it. I want like a million of these."
•Bones: "Phalanges, phalanges, phalanges! Dancing phalanges!"
•Booth not saying "breasts."
•Booth: "That is right, people. I am a constant surprise."

Third one - from Zap2it blog.

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Bones' and the bouncing baby boy

By Sarah Jersild

April 28, 08:05 PM

This episode of Bones was cotton candy -- sweet, fluffy and insubstantial. It wasn't bad, but there wasn't much to it. Our heroes find themselves in possession of an adorable wee kidlet; hilarity ensues. I don't quite buy the rationale for Bones and Booth having to take care of the kid -- and take it to various potentially dangerous crime scenes -- but the episode had enough funny moments that I'm willing to overlook that particular narrative stretch.

Spoilers aren't purple.

Brennan and Booth are called to the scene of a crispy corpse in a car that ran off a rural road. While they're poking at charred flesh, Booth hears something -- a baby crying. The baby is in his car seat, up in a tree. Neat trick! Brennan also finds a key in the diaper bag, which the baby promptly swallows. Due to chain-of-custody requirements, Booth and Brennan now have to keep the kid until the key comes out the other end.

Poking around a nearly dead West Virginia town reveals that the baby is Andy, his mom was Meg and (thanks to Angela's facial reconstruction picture) Meg is our corpse. Meg worked at the only business still going in the area, a place that turns tires into playground mulch. She had a husband, but he was a drunk who was in and out of jail, and left Meg before Andy was born. When Booth and Brennan go to check out Meg's trailer, they find the wastrel husband rooting through her things, but he's too dumb to have committed the crime. Also he has an alibi, but I'm going with too darn stupid.

The squints discover that that Andy is on seizure medication, and that Meg was suffering from bone deformities that probably caused her debilitating pain. She didn't have any painkillers in the house, and her boss says she worked harder than most of the men at her physically demanding job. A couple of Meg's coworkers say a sleazy accountant from corporate headquarters was hitting on her before they both disappeared. Could he be the killer?

Andy finally produces the key, which goes to a safe deposit box in a nearby bank, which holds a gun that had been fired recently. The bone fragments and brain matter they find on the gun belongs to the missing accountant, who also had evidence that someone was embezzling from the tire recycling plant. Meg's boss had been skimming -- he knew it was only a matter of time before the plant shut down, and he wanted a nest egg. He killed the accountant, Meg witnessed the crime and tried to blackmail her boss, and the bossman killed her.

Brennan and Booth
The crime itself was secondary to the Brennan, Booth and Baby moments. Brennan is hysterically (and believably) uncomfortable around the baby at first, while Booth goes into practiced daddy mode. You gotta love a man who can change a diaper with such aplomb. Of course, Brennan eventually becomes smitten with the kid, and refuses to warehouse him with the state when he finally releases the key. It was glorious to see Brennan start to unbend and play with Andy, sneaking a zerbit on his neck and wiggling her fingers while chirping "phalanges!"

However, a little of that goes a long way, and I'm glad they set it up so Andy goes to Meg's friends, a childless couple who had cared for him while Meg was working. But Brennan's time with Andy, and the couple who adopted him, prompted her to use her seven-figure book advance to rebuild a bridge that connected the town to "the scenic route," despite an earlier speech about how towns, like organisms, sometimes just die.

Highlights, thoughts and odds and ends:

* Brennan, when Booth tries to hand the baby off to her: "Just because I have breasts doesn't mean I have magical powers over infants!" Amen, sister.
* Brennan is in typical clueless mode at first with Andy: "Elephants are not purple. This is wrong," she tells him when she finds his toy. Later, when talking about how she got Andy new clothing, she says: "I sent an intern, who apparently loves bears, which in reality would devour a small child." True, but not exactly the point.
* I really did appreciate that they didn't immediately have every woman on the show clutch at her ovaries and announce she wanted kids. Sure, Angela said she wanted "a million of these," but Cam was happy to appreciate the cuteness and then hand the kid off. I just wish Cam hadn't announced that she didn't want kids because it would mess up her figure. Sigh.
* Brennan gets a seven-figure advance for her books? Yowza!
* Booth, when Brennan asks him what he does with his money: "I use it, for food and rent." But he's happy to suggest ways from Brennan to spend her cash, namely on a 103-inch plasma and a house on the river.
* Booth, when he picks up on the reason Hodgins is doing something before it has to be spelled out: "That is right, people. I am a constant surprise!"
* Fun science fact: Rubber floats. Bone doesn't.
* Baby Andy has rickets. More vitamin D for you, young man!

The reviews are not overly excited which fact must tell something. We get criticism like the storyline being sometimes cheesy and unbelievable. I might be wrong, but I personally do believe both writer's strike and FOX's schedule (or better: reschedule) are to be blamed. There had been too much expectations for the eppie; if there hadn't been this ridiculously long hiatus, the eppie could have fit nicely into the storyline.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the eppie. Just not excited about it. I was laughing at the end myself, yet I did feel something was missing which I couldn't catch at that time. Not sure I have found my source of discomfort, and to tell the truth, I don't want to know. Here is a piece of advice: give them some angst and bitter-sweet moments since their feelings toward each other seem to be more revealed when they experience some sort of distress - this is one of the reasons I am looking forward to Verdict in the Story. Plenty of angst and uneasiness. Can't wait!

Here's EW's review:

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