The Wannabe In the Weeds - REVIEWS - Posted 12/05/2008 03:35:01 PM

Turi ray of sunshine

Posted 12/05/2008 03:35:01 PM


Willi should be finding some reviews and those will be posted here.

marymageli

Posted 13/05/2008 01:39:51 AM


Here is the first I always go for - from TV Squad. First let me post it...and the others I find.

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Bones: The Wannabe in the Weeds

Posted May 13th 2008 12:15AM by Jen Creer


This was a very lighthearted and playful episode, particularly after the gravitas of last week's trial. Not only was it a great send-up of FOX's sister show, American Idol, making light fun of the show and its contestants, but there was also a lot of joking around and funny moments, reminiscent of the best of Bones' first two seasons with the Squint Squad. It was nice to see them back in full force this episode. Simultaneously, there were plenty of clues from the beginning of the episode about what was going to happen. But I'll talk about that in a minute. Can we talk about Eric Millegan first? Did you know that he actually is a cabaret singer, and he has an act in LA, as well as a Broadway history pre-dating the show?

We have all of the pieces of the crime very quickly (except the head, ha ha). Before I get into the clues, let's talk for a minute about the humor from the beginning: Cam says she has brain matter, so the victim must have had a head, which is funny because presumably he had a head because he was a person, and not just because there is brain matter at the scene. Brennan's glee at finding the head in the mower's grille just exemplifies that fact that this is not a heavy-duty crime. The victim was an ass who stole money, disturbed his neighbors, made fun of his clients, and had delusions of grandeur. Even his name was funny: Tommy Sour. Nobody really seemed to care that he was dead: Except Pam.

From the minute they interview the artist, they have motive (the noise) and method (Bone makes a big show of admiring the artist's sculpture, which is held together with the same kind of wire that was used to kill the victim alter). So, even though we don't know yet that we have all of the pieces, the rest of the episode is window dressing, used to introduce us to Pam, the catalyst for the climax of the episode. So to speak.

Here is where Dr. Sweets comes in handy. His analysis identifies Pam as both manipulative and dangerous. He warns Booth openly about Pam, and Booth is dismissive. Booth even laughs off Pam's socks gift later, when, as an FBI agent investigating her in a murder, I am pretty sure he cannot accept gifts. For Booth, who reads people like books usually, it was unusual for him not to see Pam more clearly when she wanted to see him without Bones. However, it is plausible that Bones tends to make people uncomfortable.

There were so many nice moments in the episode: Zach talking about how buff he is. Zach breaking out into song in the lab. Booth busting the fake talent agent, who was drawing cartoons in his notebook. And probably the best part of all, when Brennan got up and sang, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." Wait. Temperance Brennan did what? She spent a lot of time talking about the open mic night and the need for people to have affirmation. Was her singing, as Sweets would put it, Presentational (ego-driven) or Relational (trying to make the audience feel something)? Cold, rational Temperance Brennan got up and belted at an open mic? Is this true to her character, or is the show starting to jump the shark?

Actually, I would love to have seen the open mic become a showcase for Zach, and have that become a new sub-plot, even though they established that Brennan's mother had a high opinion of her performance of that song. Perhaps that set up was enough, paired with Brennan's obliviousness about other people's perceptions of her, to make her performance believable. Believability aside, even though part of my brain was sounding alarm bells, I still enjoyed it.

And, of course, the real reason for Temperance to sing was revealed when Pam The Stalker showed up to see her new true love Booth. "Who will love me now?" Booth's placing his hand on her shoulder was an answering response, and Sweets was absolutely right to mutter, "No, don't touch her." Perhaps Pam should have been Tommy's killer, considering how easily and fast she was willing to fire that gun. She was trying to eliminate Brennan, and Booth took the bullet for her. Whoa! Even though I knew Pam was scary and dangerous, I didn't expect that. And how BAD-ASS was it when Brennan picked up Booth's gun and shot and killed Scary Pam? Nobody messes with her man. Nobody.

In some ways, it's a rip-off because they aren't going to kill off Booth. Of course he is still alive. So, I hope there is a purpose behind this, like this makes Brennan realize the depth of her feelings for Booth. You can bet your bottom dollar Sweets is going to have a lot to say about the fact that Booth stepped in front of a bullet for Brennan-- and then Brennan shot Pam without hesitation. You can also be sure that Booth will say that it was a combination of training, instinct, her protecting his partner, and Brennan will say that Pam still had the gun so it was self-defense. None of it had anything to do with deeper feelings they might harbor for each other... Yeah, riiiiiiight. But we'll see. I could be completely wrong. What do you think?

marymageli

Posted 13/05/2008 01:47:01 AM


Next one - Zap2it review.

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'Bones', Idols and the psycho stalker

By Sarah Jersild

May 12, 07:27 PM

Bones decides to rid the world of American Idol also-rans, which makes me giggle with unseemly glee. OK, what really happens is some Idol rejects show up as singers at an ultra-competitive club open mic night, and one of them ends up a particularly gnarly corpse, but I like my first interpretation better.

Play Spoiler Man.

Our Corpse of the Week is found mangled in the tall grass after being run over by a thresher or some such bit of landscaping equipment. He used to be Tommy Sour, an amateur singer, professional physical trainer, and all-around cheeseball. He'd been pissing people off for a long time.

First suspect: Pam, a client of Tommy's who seemed to think they were engaged. As Tommy called her "Fat Pam," I'm guessing attraction wasn't mutual. She brings an album of long-lens pictures to the interrogation, and she immediately sets off Sweets' psycho-stalker alarms. Booth, alas, doesn't know what he's getting into -- he shows Pam something other than complete contempt, which to Pam is tantamount to a declaration of love. Just like that, the obsession is transferred. She starts tailing Booth, insisting she meet him without Brennan, giving him gifts, and laughing off any attempt he makes to inject some professional distance into the situation. Creepy!

But creepy doesn't equal killer (in this case, at least) -- she was in Florida for when Tommy was killed, planning their wedding. Yikes.

Brennan and Booth turn to the club where Tommy sang for more suspects. A rival singer faulted him for stealing his signature song on talent scout night, but after they had words, rival guy stayed in the bar all night while Tommy was being killed. Booth figures out that the talent scout isn't what he seems -- he's actually a guy the club manager club hired to put on a suit and look scout-y, thus luring good singers and generating more liquor sales. While skuzzy, this, too, isn't motive, since Tommy was too dim to figure the scam out.

He was not too dim to hit on good-looking women. Maybe a jealous guitar-playing boyfriend? After all, Tommy's neck was slit by some sort of non-serrated edge, and a guitar string would fit the bill. But Guitar Man isn't jealous of Tommy hitting on his girl -- he just hates Tommy because he bilked a friend of his out of $50,000 to self-produce a CD. That friend is his boss at the gym, who has just fled the state, but he turns out to be in the clear, too -- he was just running for creditors, and Tommy dead means Tommy will never pay the money back.

That leaves the neighbor, an artist who has Grinch-like objections to the noise, noise, Noise, NOISE! The sound of Tommy's alarm ringing drives him around the bend, but the sound of Tommy constantly singing was worse. One night, he just lost it and tried to scare Tommy by attacking him with a clay-cutting wire. As Tommy was completely baked, and that wire was meant for, you know, cutting, the neighbor accidentally severed Tommy's jugular, killing him. Oops.

Booth and Brennan
As usual, Booth and Brennan are fabulous together, which is not something you want to do in front of a psycho stalker. I even liked their conversation in the diner when Brennan admits that she acknowledges Booth has superior expertise in some matters, then ruins it by brining up her fabulously successful writing career. Hee!

Brennan talks about when she was a young teen, her mom told her she did a better version of "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" than Cyndi Lauper herself. Everyone scoffs -- moms are supposed to say things like that. Booth decides to let Brennan show off and signs her up to sing said song at the open mic night. Brennan can in fact sing, and is completely adorable bouncing and twirling around the stage. Booth gets out his lighter and is chair-dancing along, which psycho stalker Pam sees. She decides to put a stop to this unseemly event by pulling a gun on Brennan. Booth sees her and jumps in front of the bullet. Brennan jumps from the stage to cradle Booth, shoots Pam in the throat, and yells at Booth to hang on as he fades out of consciousness.

Highlights, thoughts and odds and ends:

* Look, I know Booth getting shot is supposed to be horribly dramatic, but realistically, there's no way in hell he's going to die. It would kill the show. So it seems like manufactured drama rather than earned drama, you know? My editor disagrees -- he doesn't think the show isn't trying to get people with "Will Booth die?", but instead thinks it's more a matter of people tuning in to see what it does to the characters and to Booth and Brennan's relationship. I get that, but I still think it's a cheap ploy. What about you?
* That said, Pam was creepy as hell, and seriously bad news. Booth was remiss not to spot that.
* Brennan is an amazing shot. The way she quickly scooped up Booth's gun and shot Pam through the hollow of her throat was pretty awesome. Her next open mic
* performance selection can be Filter's "Hey man, nice shot."
* Sweets! I do love him, and hope he doesn't turn out to be Gorgamon's minion. It's entirely too much fun watching him (literally) poke at Brennan, and be (metaphorically) poked at in turn by Booth and Brennan together. And hey, I'm betting the two of them are going to need some serious therapy soon!
* A favorite Sweets quote: "Mocking will not change my opinion. I've been mocked many, many times before. [Beat] That... didn't come out right."
* There's something adorable about Booth and Sweets sniggering over a "cut the cheese" reference.
* Zack bursting into song was a bit squicky to me. I'm glad the guy can sing, but there's a time and a place, you know? Zack, of course, does not. And Angela -- stop encouraging him!
* Zack actually had some good moments tonight. He details his exercise regimen to Cam, then says "I'm deceptively strong." "I'm deceived," replies Cam.
* I can't help but think that Fox was encouraging the dread corporate synergy with this episode -- "Hey, let's combine Idol with Bones!" -- and the writers decided to have some fun with it by making the Idol an egotistical ass who craved attention. But perhaps that's just me...

libster

Posted 13/05/2008 04:00:46 AM


oh what im confused youtube the eisode
booth cant die and Bones and Booth belong together make them be together
I dont know who fat Pam is but she is evil

CheeseBK

Posted 13/05/2008 04:21:00 AM


libster, there are already vid-links (marymageli posted them) not youtube so far, but the second link works pretty well!

libster

Posted 13/05/2008 08:07:35 AM


ok ta. i think my computer is too slow for that ill check it out at uni. thanks CheeseBK. Cnat believe Booth got shot.

marymageli

Posted 13/05/2008 08:22:28 AM


The following is TVGuide's recap.

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Episode Recap: "The Wannabe in the Weeds" by Sandra Kofler
I have nothing witty in my repertoire to help me talk about Booth getting shot tonight by a crazed stalker, his life jeopardy, only one episode away from the season finale. It's like I'm worried, even. Logically, I don't believe they could kill off his character and just wash their hands of it, but what if we have to wait until next season to find out how he's doing? That's what I'm really afraid of.

For a show based on a forensic anthropologist who doesn't buy into psychology, tonight's episode certainly waded deep into those Freudian waters. Seeing Sweets and Brennan battle it out in a verbal Debate Of The Smartypantses was strangely educational, and dare I say Brennan seemed to have learned something from Sweets' kind of analysis despite her protestations. This ep was huge on motivations; why we do the things we do, what drives us to irrationality, how our needs come to play in our behavior. And then they put singing, oh yes, at the center of it all. Zack sang us a dirge and didn't seem to mind the crowd of eggheads who stopped to ogle his pipes. And Brennan? Despite her oft-over-seriousness, she got down with that Cyndi Lauper song at the end of the episode. I love that this show finds room for that kind of pure fun. Well, until somebody gets shot. The scene went from party joy to Bones trying to keep Booth alive as he's staring blankly at the ceiling. Totally overwhelming.

So, singing — amazing how they just slipped that in. Considering they're on the same network, I guess I should be wondering what took Fox so long to make an American Idol crossover with Bones. In case their maturity fooled you, yes, two of the main open-mic singers were played my former Idol Top 12 contestants. Ace Young of Season 5 was Tommy Sour and Brandon Rogers of Season 6 was the Broadway showtunes singer that Brennan so admired. Throw in a couple of MySpace references and Fox made itself one hot self-promotion. Mr. Murdoch, I can't say I'm surprised.

OK, back to the story. Where the singing and the psychoanalysis met, therein we found crazy Pam Nunan. Nunan obsessively stalked the victim, Tommy Sour, a singer trying to make it big in the music industry who sang at a hot open mic night. Her story is a good example of what life would be like if you couldn't understand the difference between right and wrong but still had exquisite taste in attractive men. After Sour died, Nunan appeared upset, but only until the slightest kind gesture from Booth had her eyeballs turning to wedding bells for him instead. When she me him in his office and made a pass at him, did you see how forcibly he stepped back and away from her? This is a guy who sees dead bodies and follows perps with a gun regularly in hand, yet I don't think I've ever seen as frightened a look on his face as when Pam cornered him in his office with the gift of socks. I was afraid for him.

What we know of Tommy's mysterious death is he was dumped in a field, was strangled and had his neck cut, and one of his neck vertebrae had a thin sliver sliced away. And now I can't get his severed head and hangy eyeball out of my head. Great. Applause to whomever's responsible for this show's gore. I'm sure you've made your professors proud. Gold star!

The investigation into Tommy's death led Booth and Bones to these shady characters:

1. Pam Nunan, who probably had a Police song written about her, considered a dangerous person by Sweets' analysis, and highly delusional and manipulative of others for their approval. Possible disciple of Annie Wilkes.

2. Chris Calabasa, Tommy's singing competition at the open mic night.

3. Dax, mustachioed open mic guitarist with a scowl the likes to make any mother proud.

4. Jason Bergman, Tommy's boss at the gym, former business partner and sucker to Tommy's shenanigans.

5. Adam Matthews, Tommy's duplex neighbor.

Matthews was the guy who I least expected, and I'm sure I should have known better. He was found to be the murderer, having gone batty listening to Tommy polluting the ear space all day with his singing. Not an Idol fan, I take it?

Despite our conjectures last week, the hog-tied skeleton did not make an appearance. Bonus points to those of you who guessed correctly. But there's a lot from this season that's still unexplored that I can't imagine fitting into next week's season finale. We know from the previews that Gormagon will be back next week. We also haven't seen Angela's giant of a husband yet, and no real wedding for her and Hodgins. And now Booth's life is in the balance. Somehow I can't see all these things getting resolved in one episode. Because of the writers' strike, this seems to be the casualty all TV fans will be living with by the end of May — an oddly segmented season with a lot of plot crammed into only a few episodes. But I've still loved watching Bones despite the stops and starts, and have my fingers crossed for what's got to be an insane season finale. Where do your expectations stand?

From the mouths of Bones

Brennan: "Particles from the cut grass are causing his mast cells to release inflammatory mediators."
Booth: "It’s just allergies, Bones."
Brennan: "Yeah, that’s what I said."

Zack: "I’m deceptively strong."
Cam: "I’m deceived."

Sweets: "Mocking will not change my opinion. I’ve been mocked many many times before. That came out wrong."

Bones (of the lounge singer): "This guy is good!"
Booth: "Thank you, Paula."

Brennan: "Until I was 13, I wanted to be the next Cyndi Lauper."
Booth: "I’d say you were kidding, but I don’t think you know to kid."
Brennan: "The other girls and I referred to her as 'rad.'"

Brennan: "The guitar string could definitely be the murder weapon."
Booth: "Because it cut the cheese?"