The Inkslingers - The Season 5 Showdown!

dawnsfire wrote:Why look, it's April--the hiatus is finally over And there will be new Inkslingers to write!

I know the King will be timely as ever--however, I might be posting late, as in Friday, due to relatives arriving for Easter. But looking forward to taking on the yoke once more!

Finally is right!

I.can't.wait!

dawnsfire wrote:Why look, it's April--the hiatus is finally over And there will be new Inkslingers to write!

I know the King will be timely as ever--however, I might be posting late, as in Friday, due to relatives arriving for Easter. But looking forward to taking on the yoke once more!

Ah yes, my Queen is, as always, most correct in these matters. And while I shall endeavor to carry one as she greats kith and kin, I shall mourn her absence until I see her 'Slinger posted - honestly I think the best part of this is reading what the other saw since my industrious Queen's hawk like vision is so keen to catch the things I miss.

On the down side, man, it's only been what...two months? Where'd the time go...


RM

InkSlinger - Season 5, Episode 14

Now with 100% fewer Spoilers!

The Bones on the Blue Line

Okay the long, long, long hiatus from hell is OVER! Thank GOD! I can't believe that time could move that slow, what was it, eight weeks? Ten? Yeesh. Serious Bones withdrawl here and we finally get a new show. The first show back is one that contains the infamous Page 187 and the sexy scenes have all the boys a talking. It's an episode that looks at friendship and relationships as well as love, life, and how we live it more than it looks at the case itself.

The Case
A freak earthquake cuases watermains to break flooding a subway station and throwing a train carrying Sweets off it's tracks. The flood washes out the partially skeletonized remains of a body that hits the window of emerges out of the overflow. Sweets, who was a passenger on the train, finds himself dealing with post traumatic stress from both the accident itself and the sudden death of the young man (a cancer survivor) he was chatting with before the derailment. Meanwhile Booth & Brennan rally the troops to deal with the skeletal remains of a victim identified as Martin Aragon, a "Scribe" (a professional ghost writer). Through the course of their investigation Booth and Brennan discover a love triangle as well as more than one person with an axe to grind who'd like to see Aragon dead.

First is a bankrupt sandwhich shop owner, Stewart Bonder, who blamed the victim for the loss of his store. But once he's eliminated as a suspect the tide turns murky, and all clues point to a love triangle between Transportation Cop McKenna Grant (played by the estimabel Clea DuVall), subway station manager Colin Casey, and pawn shop owner Eddie Ceraficki. In the end we discover that McKenna killed Aragon because his letters, written at the behest of Casey, were why she broke up with Eddie, the man who she realized too late was her soulmate.

Compounding things for our team is the release of Brennan's new book, Bone of Contention, that has everyone talking about the hot and sweaty sex scenes, and a reporter from Japan who's shadowing her for an interview back home. and the

The Characters
There was a lot of character interaction here, a lot to build on and a lot of development that begs dissection so let's begin:

Angela - On the technical side we saw Angela working her highly improbable technological mojo - hacking an IP like that? It can be done, hell I've done it, but I did so using network tools designed to do so and it still took TIME and even then, activating the cam like that? It can be done...yeah, I'll let 'em have that one. The other side of Angela that came out though was one we haven't seen in some time, Angela the loyal friend. She helps Brennan as a sounding board/beta reader for her novels and offers suggestions for what Booth calls, the good stuff (Sex, smutt, and fluff). Angela is adamant that she merely suggests that it's Brennan who actually writes the material, and it's that insistence that is proof of her true friendship IMO.

Hodgins - Jack is the man, not just for his formidable forensic skills that gave us the polymer coated glaser rounds, the "rat-poop" time line, or the small piece of leather from McKenna's shoe that ultimately would lead to her confession, no as good as Hodgins was at that, it was his other skills that garnered the most attention. Seems Booth isn't the only one who knows his way around the boudior. Pg 187, oh Hart, when will you let us know what was on that sucker?

Cam - Doing her best to herd cats once again, her pathology skills were nominally useful, though as always it's managing the squints themselves that proves to be her biggest job. I did enjoy her jelly moments with Hodgins - I don't care what HH plans for Jack and Angela, his true soulmate is that tight little package of a boss, Cam Saroyan.


Sweets - The Squintstory was really a duck tail, with Sweets struggling for the first time to really deal with the reality of death and life. Struck by the capricious nature of fate, how easy life can be lost, and how much of his young life he's already wasted, Sweets is obviously off kilter for most of the episode as he attempts to work through his issues by throwing himself into the case and avoiding Daisy. His solution in the end, to stop waisting time and marry Daisy, is what we expected and yet they still make it feel orgininal and Daisy's acceptance is sweet enough to be almost squee-worthy.

Daisy Wick - Daisy wasn't that annoying. a nice carry over from ANatBM, and she was able (with only a few slips) to focus on her job despite her desire to be there for Sweets who was struggling with his bout of PTSD. Her forensic skills were key to helping ID the victim so quickly, but it's her perusal of Brennan's new book and the social interaction that drive her character this time out and sadly it's here where I'm lease interested in her.

Riku Iwanaga - Rarely do I include a bit player in the character list, but Riku was Brennan's shadow, and in many respects she served as both the greek chorus and one of HH's little FU's to the fan base. If Kathy & Andy are Booth & Brennan, then Riku is the shipper in all of us. Of course the fact that she's persistently annoying, continually assumes facts not in evidence, and writes whatever she wants no matter what Brennan, Booth, or Angela say, tells us more about what HH thinks about his shipper fans than it does anything else.

Booth
On the cop side, Booth 2.0 was on his game, in fact he'd sorted through his leads and was already looking at McKenna when the evidence presented itself. He used trickery, intimidation, deceit, and all the other cop tools to work his way through the suspect list. What I found interesting was his comportment when it came to handling McKenna when they knew she was guilty. I expected Booth to feel some sympathy for her, or even compassion since her problem, loving someone and losing them, was something he would understand, and yet his cold detatchment, even contempt for her, struck a real chord in me. We saw Booth at the beginning of the season uncertain, vulnerable, maudlin and even morose as he contemplated his love for Brennan and what he'd lost in waking from the coma. I think we're seeing a more jaded Booth, a more cynical, less forgiving man who see's McKenna's mistake as one he could make. She threw aside Edie for the idea of Colin, an idea that ultimately proved false. Her mantra, I should have been happy with what I had, has become Booth's mantra. He's been telling himself all season to be happy with what he has, what he sees here is what happens if you try for more. McKenna tried for more, and lost it all. Booth chastened seems resolved now to try for nothing to risk nothing.

His relationship with Brennan is also interesting here, he has no compunction coming over to her house late at night when she's wearing nothing but an extremely sexy looking bathrobe (oversized and threatening to slip open? Sexy) but the tender/sweet moments we're so used to seeing are gone. Instead we have friendly banter, and yes, she's beautiful and yes, he's handsome, but I felt no spark between them tonight, nothing more than normal anyway, except for their brief exchange outside the Founding Fathers. More interesting was Booth's compassionate concern for Sweets, he obviously empathized with the young man and he took care to watch out for him. Booth can't help but care for his team, and it shows the growing bond he feels with Sweets.

Brennan
Brennan's skills as a forensic anthropologist are well displayed, her discovery of the blow back pattern and the trace evidence in the wound led them to the kill zone where the evidence that would hang McKeena was found. Still her desire to emphasize the science was overshadowed by her interplay with Riku. Riku's insistence on focusing on what Brennan would call, the "ephemera", of the book was obviously annoying, but when Brennan gets confirmation from Booth - in the form of his surprise - that it's the ephemera that people really care about, it forces her to re-evaluate her realtionship with Angela as it pertains to her writing. Yet through out this case we also see Brennan's maturing emotional side, she shows obvious concern for Sweets, she tolerates Daisy's intemperance because of it, she even points out that when it comes to PTSD, Booth is the one Sweets should listen to. Brennan is so much more now than she was five years ago, and it comes through in the little things we see in this episode.

That said I must address the rather maladroit manner in which they continually referenced Angela's input into Brennan's writing, capped by the exceedingly annoying manner in which Riku intimated that Brennan shouldn't take credit for "other's" work, really rubbed me wrong. One of the things Brennan's character has always had going for her is the fact that she's an award winning novelist and she couldn't really be that cold and detached if she was writing all those steamy sex scenes. The sudden pronouncement that, oh, by the way, it's really Angela who's behind the hot steamy sexy part of the novels serves only to devalue Brennan's accomplishments and diminish her character over all. I am deeply disappointed that HH & SN would think this was remotely a good idea.


Scene of Note
Hodgins and Angela. when he confronts her about Pg 187. Hodgins continual reference to "that thing that he does" was more than a little amusing (and intriguing), as was the busting he gave Angela. The look on her face when he recomends she sleep only with men who can't read or "You'll never get rid of me." was quite telling. For those of you old enough to remember, this little bit was very referential of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry's "Move" was stolen because Elaine shared it with her boyfriend. I do sorta wish they'd been more explicit, because I do this thing with my tongue (well it also invovles my lips, teeth and a pinch) that I've gotten good feedback on, but a guy's always looking to add to his collection of...things.

Brennan and the Reporter at the Founding Fathers - it was cute and telling. Riku as the chorus echoes the sentiments many shippers espouse and Brennan continues to pound her head against the wall by emphasizing the science. When Brennan tries to sneak a peek? That's just cute as hell.


End In The Beginning Moments:

• Hodgin's comment about Daisy's fecal skills echoes her first case with the team - The Man in the Outhouse.
  
• Brennan's repeated series of disasterous interviews with Riku echo her abortive TV interviews in The Woman in the Car and The Woman in the Aiport.
  
• Rats in the subway tunnel having stripped the remains are a throwback to the rats in The Woman in the Tunnel.
  
• Brennan herself references her lack of a gun permit owing to the events in the Pilot.
  

Quotable Quotes - The Cowboy BeBop Edition

Brennan: Angela helps me with those scenes.
Booth: What?
Brennan: Angela helps me.
Booth: Page 187?
Brennan: Angela...though I am anxious to try it.

Brennan: Why are you only asking about things that mean nothing?
Riku: Those are the things that mean everything.

McKenna: I should have been happy with Eddy, I should have been happy with what I have.

Brennan: Why is he allowed to carry a gun after being arrested on a concealed weapons charge

Booth: Let me see the gun please...Nuh-uh-uh-uh-uh Don't want any sudden movements, no mistakes.
Riku: That is very sexy. Big Andy with a gun, protecting Kathy.
Brennan: no no no no he is not andy and I am not kathy...its even more exciteing when he shoots someone with it. It is Booth. And impressive, he never misses.
Riku: Andy sometimes misses.
Brennan: Yes! See.


Fun Facts
The hullabaloo is supposed to be over Brennan's 2nd Book right? WRONG! It's about her third book. So far Brennan has written three books that we know of: Bred in the Bone, Bone Free (We see it dedicated to Booth in The Woman in Limbo), and Bone of Contention. Brennan herself comments on that when handing the check to Angela.

Hodgins avoiding Cam by claiming a "Personal Priviledge Point of Order" is cute but a jumbled mess and a woman like Cam would be all over it - He's attempting to quote "Robert's Rules of Order" and claim a Point of Personal Privilege. Robert's Rules of Order are often used in organizational meetings to keep large groups on point and keep the discussion from drifting. A point of personal priviledge is tantamount to claming veto, vary rarely used. It would have been a better scene if Cam had shot back "Objection to the consideration of your motion. Dr Hodgins, come here now." 'Cause for all us government geeks that would have just rocked.

The tooth lens thingy Brennan talks about? It's real. It's a modified osteo-odonto keratoprosthesis procedure (MOOKP). The MOOKP has only been performed some 600 times and is only done in extreme cases where the cornea is scarred but the rest of the eye is more or less healthy.


Shameless Product Plug
Angela's testimonial for the Toyota Sienna - it's subtle little things like that, that make one long for the halcyon days of the Colgate Comedy Hour when such crass commercialization was less obvious.


The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The GOOD - Sweets Duck Tale was engaging, heart felt, and thoroughly interesting. For once I think the real story was not the case or whatever was happening between Booth & Brennan, it was what was going on specifically with Sweets. It was well done and it's the kind of thing that we rarely see on shows short of "a very special episode"

The BAD - Booth spent time in Japan, has a good friend who's a Japanese cop, has tat's that are Japanese Kanji on his wrists, but he has difficulty understanding a reporter speaking with a slightly exagerated Engrish accent? Yeah. Not buying it.

The UGLY - Riku as the Greek Chorus. HH has done it in the past, give his critics a big middle finger in the show and done it by making that middle finger a part of the show, but this time he went to new lengths to make a statement. Right back at'cha buddy.

The case work was solid, Miss Wick wasn't annoying, the partners did their thing and Angela got paid:
[Only admins are allowed to see this image]

Continuity was decent, a few quibles with regard to character issues and Brennan's book:
[Only admins are allowed to see this image]

Overall watchability? Above par, for sure, a nice way to ease us back into the last 8 Eposides:
[Only admins are allowed to see this image]

This was a decent, if unremarlable episode, but what saves it from true mediocrity is Sweet's Duck Tale. Definitely worth a second watch for that alone.


RM

I could barely understand the writer at times - Booth having a Japanese cop friend and tattoos hasn't anything to do with being able to understand (or not understand) the writer.

SnoopGirl wrote:I could barely understand the writer at times - Booth having a Japanese cop friend and tattoos hasn't anything to do with being able to understand (or not understand) the writer.

I disagree, and my point wasn't just that he has a friend who's a Japanese cop or the tattoos, but that he spent time in Japan. In girl on the mask he shows himself familiar enough with the language to use appropriate greetings on the phone, and from Ken's story he was well aquainted with the idiosyncracies of Japanese face/honor culture (as shown by his deportment when he was there), so I find it hard to believe a man who's more than a passing familiarity with the culture and the language would find it hard to follow Riku's questions when, despite the thick Engrish accent, I had no difficulty at all. YMMV but to me it was cheap cultural schtick and it didn't fit him at all.

RM

dawnsfire wrote:[color=indigo]Notes from the Book

Bone of Contention is apparently Brennan’s third book; presumably the same one Booth caught her dumping in Perfect Pieces last season. Bit of a gap there…Bred in the Bone was written and published pre-series (probably in that year before the Pilot), and Red Tape, White Bones (do I have that right?) was written during S1--see Boy in a Bush and Woman in Limbo (as Bone Free)--and released in S2, Bodies in the Book. I really would have expected this to be #4, based on her previous pattern.

Ahh, Red Tape, White Bones! Thank you my Queen I knew that Bone Free sounded off, but I recalled it from Woman in Limbo so...yep, Red Tape, White Bones it is. I too would have expected her to have cranked out another book - wonder what kept her? Maybe she's already got one in the pipe and there were delays on the release of this one for other reasons...One wonders.

I'll comment more on your most excellent review later My Queen, ta' for now!

RM

In Bodies in the Book, the second body is found in a tank filled with rats because that is how the victim in the book was killed. Here, Brennan corrects her interviewer by stating it was weasels. What?

I thought that at first too, but when I rewatched the episode I realized that Riku said that the "rats" were in Bred in the Bone, and then Brennan corrected with saying they were weasels. So I guess there were weasels in the first book and rats in the second ( red tape, white bones.) Although why the journalist didn't just mention the rats from the second book I have no idea.....

dawnsfire wrote:

THX1138 wrote:

SnoopGirl wrote:I could barely understand the writer at times - Booth having a Japanese cop friend and tattoos hasn't anything to do with being able to understand (or not understand) the writer.

I disagree, and my point wasn't just that he has a friend who's a Japanese cop or the tattoos, but that he spent time in Japan. In girl on the mask he shows himself familiar enough with the language to use appropriate greetings on the phone, and from Ken's story he was well aquainted with the idiosyncracies of Japanese face/honor culture (as shown by his deportment when he was there), so I find it hard to believe a man who's more than a passing familiarity with the culture and the language would find it hard to follow Riku's questions when, despite the thick Engrish accent, I had no difficulty at all. YMMV but to me it was cheap cultural schtick and it didn't fit him at all.

RM

What he said!

Watched it again (start to finish) and yes Booth's reaction was a cultural schtick. She was still very hard to understand at times. At least she was a "bad" as that intern who had the fake accent. I didn't understand one word he said with the accent. Maybe I need my ears checked .......

THX1138 wrote:Angela - On the technical side we saw Angela working her highly improbable technological mojo - hacking an IP like that? It can be done, hell I've done it, but I did so using network tools designed to do so and it still took TIME and even then, activating the cam like that? It can be done...yeah, I'll let 'em have that one. The other side of Angela that came out though was one we haven't seen in some time, Angela the loyal friend. She helps Brennan as a sounding board/beta reader for her novels and offers suggestions for what Booth calls, the good stuff (Sex, smutt, and fluff). Angela is adamant that she merely suggests that it's Brennan who actually writes the material, and it's that insistence that is proof of her true friendship IMO.

I'll admit I wondered about how easy she got in--it almost sounded like an accident. I wondered more about her ID'ing the precise location, though.
I'll agree about the friend part--while I did talk about how they ultimately rally 'round Brennan and her writing, and it's Angela's turn (as opposed to Booth)--she hasn't displayed these vibes for a while.

Hodgins - Jack is the man, not just for his formidable forensic skills that gave us the polymer coated glaser rounds, the "rat-poop" time line, or the small piece of leather from McKenna's shoe that ultimately would lead to her confession, no as good as Hodgins was at that, it was his other skills that garnered the most attention. Seems Booth isn't the only one who knows his way around the boudior. Pg 187, oh Hart, when will you let us know what was on that sucker?

The 12th of never! As someone else has pointed out--only on cable and so we're stuck. I imagine there will be a lot of M-rated fics exploring this. *gives the King a fixed look, sweet smile*

Sweets - The Squintstory was really a duck tail, with Sweets struggling for the first time to really deal with the reality of death and life. Struck by the capricious nature of fate, how easy life can be lost, and how much of his young life he's already wasted, Sweets is obviously off kilter for most of the episode as he attempts to work through his issues by throwing himself into the case and avoiding Daisy. His solution in the end, to stop waisting time and marry Daisy, is what we expected and yet they still make it feel orgininal and Daisy's acceptance is sweet enough to be almost squee-worthy.

Daisy Wick - Daisy wasn't that annoying. a nice carry over from ANatBM, and she was able (with only a few slips) to focus on her job despite her desire to be there for Sweets who was struggling with his bout of PTSD. Her forensic skills were key to helping ID the victim so quickly, but it's her perusal of Brennan's new book and the social interaction that drive her character this time out and sadly it's here where I'm lease interested in her.

They were the center of the tale, and it was done right. No icky scenes, nothing weird (as opposed to tearing off his shirt). Just a young man questioning his life and his girlfriend, anxious to be there for him, but uncertain of how and crowding the limits a little. Her chat with Hodgins though, about p187, made him look ahead and led to that fun little moment with Angela, so I can overlook it. Plus it was completely in character for her!

Riku Iwanaga - Rarely do I include a bit player in the character list, but Riku was Brennan's shadow, and in many respects she served as both the greek chorus and one of HH's little FU's to the fan base. If Kathy & Andy are Booth & Brennan, then Riku is the shipper in all of us. Of course the fact that she's persistently annoying, continually assumes facts not in evidence, and writes whatever she wants no matter what Brennan, Booth, or Angela say, tells us more about what HH thinks about his shipper fans than it does anything else.

Interesting take. Good Lord, I would hope we aren't that annoying!

Booth
On the cop side, Booth 2.0 was on his game, in fact he'd sorted through his leads and was already looking at McKenna when the evidence presented itself. He used trickery, intimidation, deceit, and all the other cop tools to work his way through the suspect list. What I found interesting was his comportment when it came to handling McKenna when they knew she was guilty. I expected Booth to feel some sympathy for her, or even compassion since her problem, loving someone and losing them, was something he would understand, and yet his cold detatchment, even contempt for her, struck a real chord in me. We saw Booth at the beginning of the season uncertain, vulnerable, maudlin and even morose as he contemplated his love for Brennan and what he'd lost in waking from the coma. I think we're seeing a more jaded Booth, a more cynical, less forgiving man who see's McKenna's mistake as one he could make. She threw aside Edie for the idea of Colin, an idea that ultimately proved false. Her mantra, I should have been happy with what I had, has become Booth's mantra. He's been telling himself all season to be happy with what he has, what he sees here is what happens if you try for more. McKenna tried for more, and lost it all. Booth chastened seems resolved now to try for nothing to risk nothing.

While I didn’t quite take in Booth’s expression, I noticed Brennan seemed more compassionate, listening to Officer Grant. She didn’t offer comfort, as she sometimes does, but I wonder if something there struck a chord. (and not necessarily romantic)

His relationship with Brennan is also interesting here, he has no compunction coming over to her house late at night when she's wearing nothing but an extremely sexy looking bathrobe (oversized and threatening to slip open? Sexy) but the tender/sweet moments we're so used to seeing are gone. Instead we have friendly banter, and yes, she's beautiful and yes, he's handsome, but I felt no spark between them tonight, nothing more than normal anyway, except for their brief exchange outside the Founding Fathers. More interesting was Booth's compassionate concern for Sweets, he obviously empathized with the young man and he took care to watch out for him. Booth can't help but care for his team, and it shows the growing bond he feels with Sweets.

Nice reference!

That said I must address the rather maladroit manner in which they continually referenced Angela's input into Brennan's writing, capped by the exceedingly annoying manner in which Riku intimated that Brennan shouldn't take credit for "other's" work, really rubbed me wrong. One of the things Brennan's character has always had going for her is the fact that she's an award winning novelist and she couldn't really be that cold and detached if she was writing all those steamy sex scenes. The sudden pronouncement that, oh, by the way, it's really Angela who's behind the hot steamy sexy part of the novels serves only to devalue Brennan's accomplishments and diminish her character over all. I am deeply disappointed that HH & SN would think this was remotely a good idea.

Not sure I buy this (though absolutely about Riku--but I think I might disagree with her if she said the sun comes up in the east!). Actually, I have wondered from time to time how Brennan could write such good relationships etc, considering how badly she does in the real world with people, emotions, and pop culture. NOT questioning her ultimate heart and the depths of feelings she does have, mind you, just her ability to display them--or use them in her writing. Because Booth’s right about why most people read, and if she mangled that, then she wouldn’t be a best-selling author. Heck, her first book wouldn’t have been even accepted, much less published!
I repeat, however, her ability to take Angela’s “suggestions” and reminiscences and turn them into gold is an indicator of how good she is. My favorite reviews are the ones that compliment me on striking the right note, even when I have no personal experience with the matter at hand.

End In The Beginning Moments:

• Hodgin's comment about Daisy's fecal skills echoes her first case with the team - The Man in the Outhouse.
  
• Brennan's repeated series of disasterous interviews with Riku echo her abortive TV interviews in The Woman in the Car and The Woman in the Aiport.
  
• Rats in the subway tunnel having stripped the remains are a throwback to the rats in The Woman in the Tunnel.
  
• Brennan herself references her lack of a gun permit owing to the events in the Pilot.
  

Missed half of these! One thing to address though is the waffling over whether Brennan’s got a gun permit or not. Yes, Booth denied her in S1--Man on Death Row--because of the events in the Pilot and she gave him grief for about a year before going off and getting that cannon. Which she held onto for about another year and apparently gave it up for good after Mummy. But is she licensed or not--or are we talking about concealed?

Brennan: Angela helps me with those scenes.
Booth: What?
Brennan: Angela helps me.
Booth: Page 187?
Brennan: Angela...though I am anxious to try it.

Please, Booth’s “Really?” was the best thing in this scene--how could you leave it out?

Brennan: Why are you only asking about things that mean nothing?
Riku: Those are the things that mean everything.

This felt as though it should be more significant, but I’m beginning to agree these little digs/hints are getting old.

Shameless Product Plug
Angela's testimonial for the Toyota Sienna - it's subtle little things like that, that make one long for the halcyon days of the Colgate Comedy Hour when such crass commercialization was less obvious.

*snicker* Not that I haven’t made my own comparisons to the days of yore!

In reference to the gun, I think she has a regular permit ( otherwise I'm sure Booth would have made her get rid of that gun long before Mummy) , but I think what she wanted was an FBI permit to carry an FBI issued weapon while she was out in the field with Booth.

Finally getting in here!! I watched the show while in the Show Discussion thread Thursday night and felt I missed out on quite a lot. ( I thought I could type without looking, but apparently I do watch the letters appear in the reply box.) So I rewatched it this evening, after I'd come in here to read these! I know, I cheat.

To me this episode was about Booth, more than it was Brennan. Brennan learned something about what people see as important and gave her friend credit in the 25% cut. But what seemed important to me was Booth. His demeanor during the whole show seemed very different than who Booth has been. I don't know if I'd call it somber or serious or something else, but it was definitely different.

Did anyone else wonder why Booth called Angela? I did. Brennan already told him; why does he feel the need to verify it? I think Brennan's revelation shifted something in Booth's universe. I wish I could place it.

Getting back to Booth's demeanor. Rob said something about him identifying with the cop, and that he won't be risking anything, that he'll be happy with what he has. I disagree. I think that's one option, but when he looked over at Brennan when she said that, it didn't feel like he was giving up. And there are other possible responses presented here as well.

- The kid killed on the train who was going to go out and live life!
- Aragon's secret letters to his partner. Don't know if Booth saw them, but we know Sweets did.
- And the copy getting a 2nd chance with Eddie, helping with the lawyer, calling her his soulmate.

Booth and Brennan's at the end, talking soulmates and fate,

Spoiler:

Thanks, y'all. It's been so long since we've had an episode this almost felt like old times getting to listen to your takes on the episode!

On regards to the booth thing....I sort of feel like Booth believes he IS the andy in her books. Deep down he believes (or at least holds on to the hope) that brennan really writes about him and her. SO...when he found out she didn't write the sex scenes, it sort of threw him off and all that hope was sort of dashed. If she wasn't the one writing it....then...the books and the characters would be meaningless. Remember in previous seasons they've stuck the point home that "writers reveal part of themselves in their work" I think booth honestly believes it. I think he called angela out of desperation to figure out if it was really her writing it or not. I don't think it had anything to do with credit at all as brennan assumed. That's just my take on it.

Even though Angela gives her little tid bits and ideas, it's still brennan writing it. Which means that deep down inside, (as we've known) she has these feelings and can use them for fictional characters but not herself. At the end booth seemed sort of antsy and almost desperate to see her. He could have easily called her on the phone to tell her about the lawyer but he went there anyway. I definitely don't see him as a man giving up.

Booth has deff replaced angela as the best friend as someone mentioned before.

"live life to it's fullest... people should do that more often, moment to moment day to day, but they don't."

I thought that was Booth's most important line in the show, he sounded so wistful. I also think that it shows that he's not given up, and that he really does want to tell Brennan how he feels, he just can't (or won't) do it (for various reasons). Also that last scene, I almost felt like he was on edge the whole time he was in Brennan's apartment, like he went there to say something ,to "live life to the fullest" as it were, and he chickened out again.

I agree with tinkerella on why Booth called Ang, I think he called to see exactly how much input Ang had into the books, because he see's himself as Andy and Brennan as Kathy, and some of his hope rested in the idea that Brennan was writing about the two of them.

I just wanted to throw my two cents in here for what it's worth

"That said I must address the rather maladroit manner in which they continually referenced Angela's input into Brennan's writing, capped by the exceedingly annoying manner in which Riku intimated that Brennan shouldn't take credit for "other's" work, really rubbed me wrong. One of the things Brennan's character has always had going for her is the fact that she's an award winning novelist and she couldn't really be that cold and detached if she was writing all those steamy sex scenes. The sudden pronouncement that, oh, by the way, it's really Angela who's behind the hot steamy sexy part of the novels serves only to devalue Brennan's accomplishments and diminish her character over all. I am deeply disappointed that HH & SN would think this was remotely a good idea."

I kind of took this a different way. Being an emotionally connected, feeling individual doesn't necessarily mean being a gifted story teller. I am an incredibley emotional person, but by golly I could never write a novel! I don't think Angela writing these scenes devalues Brennan's at all. I think it shows us that she is human. And it finally explains how the heck Brennan could be a scientist AND a fiction writer. The answer? She can't. And that's OKAY.
My issues with Brennan being a writer have always been because math/science individuals and music/art individuals tend to naturally not share the same skill sets. (right brain v.s. left brain, yada yada). It's usually one or the other. I always found it difficult to swallow that Brennan, who's brain is so trained in the objective, the tangible, the numbers and the values, could also be a good fiction writer. So, Angela helped with the emotional componants of her story telling. Now it all makes sense. And so what? It doesn't mean that Brennan isn't a warm, feeling individual, it just means that maybe she isn't as great a fiction writer as we thought. And is that such a bad thing? The woman is a genious! But noone is gifted at EVERYTHING.
I don't think the matter of Brennan's heart is really the issue here, and I don't think it devalues her. Rather, I think it allows us to see her as imperfect, and human, like the rest of us. That she needs help sometimes just like everybody else. That she is ISN'T the best at everything, and needs a little guidance sometimes in the matters of the heart. It doesn't mean she doesn't have one.

Two things:

Kathy Reichs is a scientist and a successful novelist.

I have a problem with they way they tried to make Angela the one giving advice to Brennan on her novels.
I can't remember the exact title of the episode, and I don't have time to look it up, but it was the first or second season. It was the one where Brennan let her internet date read her manuscript. It was also the one that she found out her mother was dead, and she reconnected with her brother Russ.
Booth was jealous that Brennan let someone else read her manuscript first. He even awkwardly asks Angela about the book. As I recall, Angela acts like she doesn't know anything, and acts like she hasn't seen the book either. In the final scene, Booth sneaks a look at the dedication page and notices that the book is dedicated to him.
I can't remember the exact conversation between Angela and Booth. I guess I need to take the time to find it. Either way, I had the distinct impression then, (and that was the second book), that Angela was not involved.
Again, I find HH's continuity disappointing.
(They need to hire about 100 shipper fans, and they could straighten this show up and be winning Emmy's with the talent they have on the screen. They have some good plot lines, but ruin it with stupidity at times. I guess they figure the American public is too stupid to notice.)

I agree completely with dawn regarding The woman in Limbo and actually everything else in her post. HH has stated recently that they had written that Ang was giving feedback about the books in Season 1 and had to take it out ( for whatever reason). So they would have been writing the show based on that assumption since then, I don't really see any continuity issues regarding Angela giving feedback on the books.

wrote:
where are you, Rob? I'm fending off the hordes alone here!

Don't worry, Dawn. You're doing fine till he gets here!