Hello Bones Theory peeps,
I hope you’re all well! The inspiration for this post came from the fabulous piece Sarah did a few weeks ago about The Integrity of the Characters. I noticed quite a lot of discussion in the comments about Booth and his notorious fig tree, which got me thinking about Booth and sex. From a purely literary analysis point of view, you understand. Mostly.
Ummm, where was I?
What I was thinking is how much do we really know about ‘Booth the lover’? (Not enough is the short answer), but I decided to really think about his character and what we’ve been shown because I think this is one of the areas where we’ve only been shown tiny snippets of information – leading the imaginative viewer to fill in the blanks.
Personally, I think all blanks should be filled in like this
I’m going to take 5 examples where we’ve been shown something concrete about his sex life and talk about what I think we can take from each one.
- Booth the prude?
Throughout the show, Brennan has made a few comments about Booth being a ‘prude’ or having ‘hang ups’.
I don’t think there is any actual evidence that these things are true – there are two clear examples I can remember where Booth was dismissive or judgemental of people’s sexual choices. The first in Death in the Saddle where he was mildly (and amusingly) horrified at the idea of pony play and again in Science in the Physicist where he acted a bit superior because he didn’t agree with the relaxed attitude some of the employees / students had about having sex with each other.
In Death in the Saddle, we see his disapproval stems from the use of role playing to remain at an emotional distance from your partner. Booth said, ‘if you don’t want to engage, just stay at home and, you know…’
Death in the Saddle also gives us a simply wonderful moment when Booth and Brennan are discussing role playing and he asks her incredulously whether pony play interests her. She says no, but must admit that in ‘sexual situations’, she has ‘engaged in role playing’. The way Brennan looks at him when she says this line is pure gold. She’s so seemingly innocent, while subtly playfully aware of the effect of her words. Talk about planting a seed of an idea and leaving it to grow.
I know what I'm doing, and I'm delighting in it.
And in ‘Science in the Physicist’ he was slightly dumbstruck by the relaxed attitude of the students – (I have to agree with Booth when he said that for most people, someone bursting in with a gun would rather spoil the mood), but again, we see from his discussion with Brennan that what he’s not comfortable with is the Doctor asking Brennan out so soon after the death of his fiancé. He gives the ‘good people leave marks’ analogy, which is one of my favourite Booth speeches. This reinforces the idea that for Booth, sex is really about respecting and engaging with who you’re with.
Curious Brennan then asks him straight out, ‘so, you’re not a prude?’ and Booth laughs and says ‘moi?’ in the sexiest fashion imaginable. This is not a man who’s insecure about that area of his life.
I don't need a flashy tie or cocky belt buckle if you're gonna ask me straight out'
I’ve always found it quite amusing how Brennan has repeatedly called him prudish, because I’ve seen it as a type of goad. I believe she says it because sub-consciously, she wants him to prove her wrong. I think it used to annoy Brennan in earlier seasons that other people got to experience that side of him (Cam in particular) when she didn’t. She’s naturally curious about what it would be like, which is intensified because he’s refused to talk to her that much about it.
I don’t think Booth’s a prude at all. I just think he’s a mature man who’s quite private. I remember in an early season he said that he’s ‘a gentleman and gentlemen are discrete’. Can’t you imagine Pops instilling that in the teenage Booth?
2. He’s got a few years under his (cocky) belt
If I’m arguing that Booth is a mature and private man now, it’s not with the feeling that this has always been the case. I imagine the youthful Booth to have enjoyed the considerable advantages of his handsome athleticism. Sometimes the series has alluded to the fact that Booth is obviously a very attractive man – (Perotta asking if he works out, ‘nice car, nice bod, nice face. Nice’ in Queen bee etc) and sometimes Booth has alluded to his younger adventures himself. Him under the bleachers comes to mind, as does him dating the twins (tell me I’m not the only one who picked up on a definitely naughty undercurrent to that particular conversation!?).
Assuming we can rely on the timelines Bones has given us over the years, we know that Brennan lost her virginity at 22 and Booth at 16. We also know from an earlier episode that Booth is five years older than Brennan, which means that collectively he has 11 years more experience than her. Now, obviously this doesn’t mean very much in actual terms apart from being a fun-Bones-maths-factoid, but it sort of makes me even more aware that Booth had pretty much 20 years experience with women before he even met Brennan, reinforcing the idea that there’s probably a wealth of stories we’ve never even heard about.
3. He’s quick to fall…
I’ve already mentioned that the inspiration for this post came from seeing the comments about Booth’s behaviour under the fig tree being out of character. As far as I could tell, the main arguments about ‘fig-gate’ being out of character were;
He wouldn’t sleep with Hannah then because it seemed like he’d just met her
He wouldn’t sleep with Hannah under a fig tree because it’s a public place
He wouldn’t sleep with Hannah under a fig tree because it was the middle of a war zone (!)
I’m going to play devil’s advocate with each of these arguments:
He wouldn’t sleep with Hannah then because it seemed like he’d just met her…
Ahh yes. But it strikes me that this is something of a double-standard. In the 100th we saw that Booth was very keen to sleep with Brennan not long after meeting her and had she not put the brakes on, he definitely would have. I’ve seen arguments since that we’re glad they didn’t because then they’d be missing the depth of emotion and connection they have now, but I’ve never seen anyone say that they’re glad they didn’t because it would have been out of character for him to do so on account of the fact he had only just met her.
Oh boy, am I in trouble...
He wouldn’t sleep with Hannah under a fig tree because it’s a public place…
Well, I can’t say I know much about the fig tree population of Afghanistan but I’m willing to bet they found a private spot. This is still Booth we’re talking about afterall. However, thanks to Truth in the Lye, we do know that Booth and Rebecca had ‘maybe not for you’ sex while on a stake out, which inherently suggests a location outside their respective apartments.
Grrrrr
He wouldn’t sleep with Hannah under a fig tree because it was the middle of a war zone (!)
You got me. This one is a tad ridiculous. But perhaps no more ridiculous than falling in love with a war correspondent in a war zone in the first place. I call ‘let’s-make-it-sensationalist’ writing on that one.
The above three points made me think that daft locations aside, we do rather hold Booth to different standards depending on whether we approve of who he’s doing it with. I’ve read enough fan fiction to know that there is a segment of the audience who wouldn’t mind one jot if, and when, B&B get together they get their groove on in pretty much every location we’ve ever seen on Bones. Similarly, I know there are viewers who would feel they’d betrayed the dignity of their positions if they made like Hodgela and got it on everywhere (Incidentally, at least unusual / unlikely spots aren’t exclusively Booth-ed – Cleopatra’s bed!? Tut tut.)
4. Hello Tessa, meet Hannah
I was thinking about how we’ve seen how Booth behaves in relationships a grand total of twice in six years (I’m not including him and Cam, although I thought they were sexy and (with hindsight!) kind of adorable in their own way, I did think Truth in the Lye was a one-off the first time I saw season 2 and was surprised a few episodes later when they were like, ‘oh yeah – those two who have barely spoken in 4 episodes? They’re a couple’)
So anyway, him and Tessa. Him and Hannah. Are there any parallels? I couldn’t think of many to start with, before a very important character trait jumped to the forefront of my mind. Nooners! Haha. But seriously, in season 1 Man in the SUV we see a lovely shot of DB coming out of what we assume is his bedroom putting his shirt on to answer the door to Brennan. A bed-head Tessa appears a moment later pretty much only wearing one of Booth’s shirts (I still think she could have at least covered her bra up, but hey this is about Booth’s supposed prudishness not mine!). It’s not clear what time of day it is, but considering Brennan is at the lab in the scene before and a scene later they’re at the FBI discussing the victim ID (and Booth’s still wearing the shirt we saw him put on) I’m going to take an ‘intuitive leap’ and say it’s day time.
Oh yeah, baby, this is how I roll.
Fast forward six seasons and Booth and Hannah are making up for lost time at his apartment in his lunch hour. He gets out of bed and puts his shirt on (while holding one of his socks and with his dice on the bedside table – awesome!) A coincidence I’m sure, but still an example of his behaviour remaining consistent over the years.
Check me out, I still got it!
As a side note, I just watched a few scenes of SUV to find out what time of day it was, and was struck by how far these kids have come. Can you even imagine the fallout if they’d finished the scene with Hannah in the way they did with Tessa? He opens the door to Brennan and Hannah appears from the bedroom wearing nothing but his crisp, white shirt. It makes me shudder to think of it 🙂 But it proves without a doubt that we have come a long, long way since then – what was played for humorous tension in season 1 would have been soul-wrenching in season 6.
5. Two people occupying the same space…
Don't screw this up, don't screw this up, don't screw - damn she's beautiful, what was I saying...?')
And here we get to the crunch. The reason I think we hold him to such a high standard and the root of the disappointment sown at the bottom of that fig tree. You promised us more Booth. Two people becoming one, breaking the laws of physics. How is it possible that the man that said that, eventually had sex with someone other than Brennan under a fig tree in a war zone? But I think the answer is in the truth of that. Someone other than Brennan. I think what I’ve seen more than anything while looking back and thinking of ‘Booth the lover’ is that while there’s things he’s said and done and alluded to, none of it was with her.
I feel like over the years, Bones has given us a few gifts or hints of what might be in their future. ‘Eventually’ is one of them, and this moment is another. Maybe having sex with Hannah under that fig tree wasn’t out of character. Maybe having a woman turn him down and go on to become his partner, friend and great love is more out of character. But maybe also the making of him. He’s become someone else’s standard and in the end, I suspect that will make all the difference.
So, what do you guys think? Was it out of character for Booth to have sex under that fig tree? If so, why? Does anyone actually think he’s a prude rather than just private? How curious do you think Brennan is? Have we, the audience, moved the goal posts on him in terms of what we expect depending on which woman he’s involved with? Do you think they’ve waited too long to get Booth and Brennan together in the sexual sense? Are they as hot now as they were in seasons 2/3? Do you still see sparks or would it be ‘weird’ to see passion between them now?
I’ve missed some cracking moments out – ‘ploughing the field’, ‘I do fine’, ‘part of me was’, I laugh during sex!’, ‘sex is never free and easy’, so even though I know it’s a hard subject Bones Theory friends (ahem), it’d be great if you helped a gal out and weighed in with your thoughts! Keep it clean please… 🙂
Bones Theory 
May 5, 2011 at 7:40 am
I think there’s ample evidence that young Booth got around quite a bit. A different girl under the bleachers each week! But when speaking of these girls, he always remembers their names, something Brennan points out as the difference between a cad and…well, Booth!
I do think Booth is more private than prude. He doesn’t talk about it, because he’s grown up since those high school days.
As for the fig tree – well, he gets a pass from me on that. He was lonely and heartbroken and probably just desperate to be loved. Here comes this beautiful woman who is offering him affection, which he hasn’t had in probably a very long time. It’s understandable given the situation. And it might be out of character for 39 year old Booth, but not for the teenage Booth.
Which is why I think that his eagerness to continue a relationship with Hannah had to do, in part at least, with wanting to retroactively correct the fig tree situation. Having sex with a stranger under a fig tree and never seeing her again is one thing – having the fig tree incident be the amusing anecdote about how you met your girlfriend or wife is another.
May 6, 2011 at 12:32 am
You just immediately made me feel 100x better about the Hannah thing. I haven’t been one of the raving lunatics over it (sorry raving lunatics! no offense!) but, it has bothered me. And now it all makes sense. Because Booth is totally the kind of guy who would get so gung-ho about making what should have been a one night stand into something that he could be morally comfortable with that he would build a whole, “serious as a heart attack” relationship around it. Not that I dont think he developed feelings for Hannah, but there had to be some catalist for him to engage in a relationship with someone other than Brennan.
May 5, 2011 at 7:42 am
This is a great post. I once said something similar about the way Booth was acting with Hannah; asking if all of these people complaining about it being OOC would be saying that if he were doing those things with Brennan instead. Everyone just ignored me to keep complaining. Hah! 😀
I do think that Booth is not a prude. That in the past he really wasn’t comfortable discussing sex so casually with Brennan because he wanted to have sex (or make love if you & he prefer) with Brennan and so was uncomfortable having that brought up at all (uhm yeah).
I do think that Booth’s speech in Saddle set some pretty unrealistic expectations in the minds of many; like that Booth would never have sex unless it was making love unless it was true love.
I’ve also seen many say that when Booth said “I do fine.” that he was lying. I’m not so sure of that. I just think we never saw him with anyone after Cam because it really wasn’t pertinent to what was happening on the show. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t happening.
And yes what we saw with Tessa would seem to indicate that the things with Hannah (PDAs and such) weren’t really so out of character. And as for that scene in SUV; Tessa was so staking her claim on Booth coming out of the bedroom dressed like that. She definitely heard Brennan’s voice at the door and wanted to make sure this woman knew Booth was taken. Why else come out in just his shirt, opened to reveal her underwear. Oh yes he was definitely doing something there that she wanted to keep for herself. 🙂
May 5, 2011 at 7:49 am
I’ve never thought of Booth as a prude re: sex. At least, not with sex itself. I think he is prudish about talking about it in Brennan’s blunt, direct terms (and thank you, Brennan, for being clear and straightforward, I say!).
Booth is like many people in that he is more comfortable with talking about sexual exploits in abstract ways, with euphemisms and sometimes more crude ways. I see a societal norm that indicates avoidance of direct sex talk (in the U.S. we do have the expression, ‘it’s not polite to kiss and tell’ – a variation of Sophia’s quote about Booth being a gentleman and being discreet).
I’m betting I’m not alone that in addition to your suggestion that Brennan is curious that we can add Angela saying, in Con Man “That’s just a creepy way of having sex with a Booth without having sex with the REAL Booth.” (And then we have Cam’s reaction to further that societal norm of speaking so forthright about sex) as something more to add to Brennan’s store of things that would pique her curiosity about Booth’s NON-prudish ways.
May 5, 2011 at 7:50 am
Like your post, this is an interesting topic. I think Brennan considers Booth a prude because he doesn’t like to talk about body parts. Since she deals with body parts all of the time, she thinks he is prudish or just squeamish when it comes to talking about the anus or womens body parts. She may think him on the prudish side when it comes to talking about sex when others are around; but, she knows he will talk to her about sex when they are alone. Like you said, he is a private man.
I am not sure it was out of character for Booth to hit it off with Hannah in a war zone. He was lonely, he wasn’t sure if he would ever partner up with Brennan again, let alone ever get her to commit to him, so Hannah was someone he needed. The fig tree sex sounded more like Hannah’s idea of fun; but, you can bet, it would have been in an enclousre or a somewhat private place. Booth isn’t a kid and knows that public sex would be wrong.
The extra years that Booth has on Brennan when it comes to sex may not really mean anything. Like someone said yesterday, I think both Booth and Brennan are pretty vanilla when it comes to sex. Brennan may have actually had more partners since she doesn’t put any personal feelings into her affairs and Booth does. He seems to stay with someone for quite awhile when he hooks up, Brennan not so much. I was under the impression that Sully and her professor were the longest affairs she had, I could be wrong though.
I think that some of us do put Booth on a pedastal when it comes to love because we love the speeches he makes about love and “eventually”. He does have certain ideas about crappy sex and what love should look like. His idea of love can border on fairy tale love; but, it is so romantic and it does put stars in our eyes when he talks like that. It is hard not to hold him to a higher standard.
In my opinon, it is not too late for Booth and Brennan to get together romantically. They have been through some major ups and downs in their relationship; but, this has allowed to see whay life would be like without each other in their lives and that is one thing I don’t think they can bear. They need and want each other. They just need to trust each other. They fear the risk it would take to become partners in love as well as partners in friendship; but, I think they are slowly working that out.
May 5, 2011 at 7:53 am
Three main points I took from your post:
1. “In Death in the Saddle, we see his disapproval stems from the use of role playing to remain at an emotional distance from your partner.”
–Well said. Booth is by no means a prude. He is also a gentleman like you said, and doesn’t kiss and tell. Beyond that, he sees intimacy in that act that solidifies relationships. Booth is more a “making love” guy than a “sex” guy. He sees great meaning in that, which adds to keeping him and Brennan apart because neither wants to “go there” because they know (“I know”-ahh sigh) it would open up an emotional connection between them. So Booth is not a prude, he just isn’t a “ho”. (Sorry, I just saw Sleepless in Seattle last night!)
2. “But it strikes me that this is something of a double-standard. In the 100th we saw that Booth was very keen to sleep with Brennan not long after meeting her…”
–I think that’s to realize that they are different. Booth is willing to go there because he senses something between them from the beginning (“I knew. Right from the beginning…I’m that guy. Bones, I’m that guy. I know.”) Booth KNOWS this is the real thing, that his other relationships were not THE relationship…so when he met Brennan, his other rules were out of the window 🙂
3. “You promised us more Booth. Two people becoming one, breaking the laws of physics. How is it possible that the man that said that, eventually had sex with someone other than Brennan…”
–Right there. Someone other than Brennan. Nothing is as special as what he has with Brennan, so he was able to get with Hannah so quickly was because he was rebounding from Brennan. He was not emotionally invested Hannah, he was trying to force a relationship to get over Brennan. And I think that Brennan really knew that, even though it hurt her to see them together. Booth is a guy of principles which is why we love him (oh, and he’s not bad to look at either!).
So basically, Booth has some principles for how he lives life, but in the context of Brennan, that goes out the window. He wouldn’t sleep together on the first date (if its not Brennan). He wouldn’t “fig tree” (if it was Brennan).
So all that to say, no its not out of character. I think all that makes him very much IN character. His partnership/relationship with Brennan is real. It throws all the rules of love out the window. Its all about what’s “theirs” (ours). It does make me squee to read your excellent post (and screencaps of Booth!!!) and think about how differently he does act with Brennan. They are the center. Sigh. 🙂
May 5, 2011 at 8:06 am
First, thank you for the pic from Truth in the Lye. ;-D… (The dots represent drool.) Somehow I managed to read and understand the rest of your essay. ;-D
I, for one, have never given that fig tree a second thought, except to say that I don’t give it a second thought.
To me it’s almost: what happens in a war zone stays in the war zone — unfortunately she didn’t. ;-D
The poor guy’s heart had been crushed. He probably felt a teensy weensy bit guilty about leaving Parker. As far as we know, he hasn’t had sex in ages. Beautiful war correspondent says, “Come on, soldier boy.” What do you expect the guy to do? The one thing that Booth is not is a saint; he’s a very human man, which is a big part of his appeal. Hannah by his own admission made him feel lovable again.
Furthermore, it was a war zone and that, to me, gives him a free pass. In a war zone, whatever you can do that makes you feel loved/wanted, reaffirms life, gives you a moment “away” from the war zone, etc. is ok by me. Especially given that he was beholden to no one at that point. His heart may still have belonged to Brennan, but at that point, he wasn’t even sure if he’d ever see her again let alone think there might still be hope for them as a couple. It’s clear in Mastodon that he’s not sure she’ll even want to work with him again.
And, I most decidedly agree with you on your final point. I was never bothered by the fig tree incident, but I suspect that a lot of the negative response was simply that it wasn’t Bones. But, I agree that the fact that it wasn’t Bones is also why it doesn’t matter. He knew from the beginning that Brennan was special. Once they didn’t do the horizontal polka that first time, he had a chance to take the time to learn exactly how special she is. Once he figured that out, it could never be casual with her. He would have his dalliances with women like Rebecca and Cam, but it was never going to be serious with anyone other than Bones.
From that perspective the incident under the fig tree becomes another dalliance. But, Bones had crushed his heart and left him with no hope, so he now could become serious with someone else. I’d also point out that it only became serious when Hannah showed up in DC, something he had no reason to expect.
In short, the incident under the fig tree (that’d make a great mystery novel title, BTW) wasn’t out of character. It was the result of circumstances — especially the circumstances of the war zone and Bones’ rejection of him as a man and apparent abandonment of their partnership.
May 5, 2011 at 8:17 am
I’m so happy to know I’m not the only one who is okay with the fig tree incident. Booth shouldn’t have been expected to remain celibate for the rest of his life, in hopes Brennan might change her mind.
And I don’t fault Booth for taking “No, I can’t. Date someone else, I’m dating someone else, oh I’m going to another country for a year” as a no, and not just Brennan playing super duper hard to get. We, the omniscient audience, know Brennan was lying to herself, but Booth only knows the Brennan who tells the truth, no matter how painful. He accepted her “no” and tried to move on.
Brennan understands it; she doesn’t blame him, and neither should we.
May 5, 2011 at 12:49 pm
Exactly. This is precisely why all the Booth bashing has really bugged me.
May 5, 2011 at 6:20 pm
No issues with the fig tree here. Only issue is that it came home with him and we had to see it… I’d fig tree Booth if I had the chance…
May 5, 2011 at 8:14 am
I think that whether or not you think Booth is a prude depends on how you define “prude.” (Which is different from asking what the definition of IS is. hehehe)
Moving along . . . For me, the more defining moment for my opinion of Booth’s attitude toward sex is how he reacted when Brennan was dating Mark and Jason, and she wasn’t even having sex with both of them! Booth apparently is a serial monogamist and that is his vision of ‘correct’ dating. That Brennan could date more than one man at the same time horrified him. Yea…prudish much?
That attitude is particularly interesting when you compare it with how he reacted to Angela and Roxie – he’s okay with same-sex relationships as long as they’re monogamous same-sex relationships, apparently.
So, yea, I think Booth is a little bit of a prude. And based on his reaction to pony play, not very experimental. It’s one thing to ask Brennan to play librarian with him, another to engage in fetish behavior.
Of the two, I’d bet Brennan might have more varied experience, because she would look at the encounters as a learning experience. Booth is more the in-love-with-love type, and would be negative about anything outside the norm.
May 5, 2011 at 8:23 am
I think Booth’s issue with Mark and Jason was
1) It was Brennan. Booth made a good show of acting merely amused, not jealous when he finds Mark in her apartment, but when Brennan asks what Booth wants, he immediately and Freudianly answers “MY PARTNER!”
2) She was using those guys, and lying to them both. They didn’t know about each other, and they sure didn’t know they were each assigned a role in Brennan’s life. Jason had no idea she never planned to sleep with him, Mark had no idea she never planned to be seen in pubic with him.
I’m with Booth on that one, and if it makes me a prude, so be it. Brennan was reprehensible in that situation and deserved the dumping she got from both men. My only problem with that episode was Booth telling her that Mark & Jason just didn’t appreciate her. Um…maybe they didn’t appreciate being used?
I love Brennan, I really do, but her behavior in that episode was inexcusable.
May 5, 2011 at 8:26 am
That’s my only problem with her dating Mark and Jason, that she wasn’t honest with them about it. I’m not sure why she wasn’t – that seemed unBrennan-like to me.
And I agree – being dumped by both of them was justified.
May 5, 2011 at 8:29 am
Barbara, your first point is hilarious and right on. Its because it was Brennan. His Brennan. He had a touch of the jealousy going on there that she was hanging out with other guys…but then he also was kind of disappointed in her treatment of them. I’m not sure if I can be that critical of Brennan though, it was a while ago, and she was still learning interpersonal relationships from Sweets and Booth. Now, years later, she would not do that. But she had to learn about social contracts and things first, it was part of her growing experience as a person.
(and you wrote “pubic” instead of “public”…now who’s Freudian? hehe 🙂
May 5, 2011 at 8:36 am
Well…since I do like Brennan, really, I do…I can theorize that she is constantly struggling with the new perspective Booth keeps shoving into her previously well-compartmentalized life.
It all comes to a head in Cinderella in the Cardboard, when she shows up at Booth’s apartment in the middle of the night (psst. Booth, when a woman turns up at your door saying she desperately wants to believe in love, put down your box of wheat thins and kiss her already!)
But anyway …I tend to think Man in the Outhouse was one last stab at proving her old way of doing things – biological urges and intellectual urges neatly divided – was perfectly fine, so there Booth, neener neener.
On a side note, I think it drove her insane when Booth said “I do fine.” She hates that she doesn’t know about his sex life.
May 5, 2011 at 8:27 am
We had this conversation in Tough Man In The Tender Chicken:
Sweets: You combine your ‘don’t get in between women’ rule and ‘like sisters’ observation, you know what I come up with? You dated sisters.
Booth: Alright, identical twins. It was all wrong.
Sweets: No, it’s all right. Allllll right.
That may be why Booth is so insistent that people should only date one person at a time. Experience told him that it was a bad idea.
May 5, 2011 at 8:31 am
Especially if he did what Brennan did, and wasn’t honest about it. Really, that’s the problem. Not the non-exclusive dating, but lying about it.
Ask Nixon. Or Clinton. Or Bruce Pearl. Or Jim Tressell. If the lie doesn’t get you, the cover-up will.
May 5, 2011 at 9:00 am
Lenora, with the printing of that dialogue, you just totally helped me with my own personal (and unrelated) “I don’t know what that means” moment. I have been totally mis-hearing/reading/understanding that bit of convo for a very long time… and now I GET IT. So thank you (even if you now don’t know what this reply to your comment means)!
May 5, 2011 at 8:53 am
Great post and great replies; I agree with just about everything that has been said about Booth and Hannah and the value he places on “making love.” I do believe however, that he is a bit of a prude, and that “moi, a prude” is a form of protesting too much. As a Catholic raised in what appears to be a fairly religious household (Pops, or his mom probably) there are things that are not discussed, or that are made to seem, well, not right. I should know, coming from such a household myself. Not that sex is considered wrong, or that he doesn’t enjoy it, just that pleasure in and of itself is never made to be the goal of the act-an idea that Brennan would have found silly until recently. A spiritual connection evidenced by marriage, and then children is the goal. And some things are deemed to be downright shameful, which is why apart from being the consummate gentleman that he is, he’s unwilling to discuss certain things. Stewie, anyone? I do think this plays a role in how he views things, especially as he became more mature, but I would agree that his primary take on sex is wrapped up in love and responsibility. That’s why he was so hard on the kid that got all the girls pregnant and why he felt so strongly about marrying Rebecca, the mother of his child. This doesn’t mean he was a saint growing up or that he’s incapable of having some fun, a la Cam, but only if someone doesn’t get hurt in the process.
Regarding his love life after he broke up with Cam, I have the certainlty that he didn’t have any. I know things have often been omitted from mention on the show yet they must happen (the characters do shower, shop for groceries, get their hair cut) but I believe romantic entanglements have generally been shown to us because they are so important to the story of these two getting closer to each other. Booth doesn’t seem like a paid sex guy, and any longer-term arrangement would certainly have come up at some point like it did before. Besides, him needing Brennan as his pretend village and telling Sweets “I do fine” I believe is shorthand for “I’m not getting any, because I’ve set my sights on Bones and that would be an emotional betrayal of our relationship.” Hannah was all about a heart-crushed guy living in a moment-to-moment situation, and doesn’t seem at all out of character to me, particularly since he was so excruciatingly good to her when she showed up in D.C. He didn’t want what they had shared to be only about an empty act, so I think he overcompensated for it and made himself believe that he was reallly in love. Booth is too far along at this point to ever revert to the Cam no-strings-attached type of relationships. And him and Brennan? After 6 years they may be moving more cautiously as they get closer together, but IMHO, still as rivettng as ever. That courtship is gonna be smokin’ hot, without a doubt!
May 5, 2011 at 9:07 am
I’m not sure I buy that Booth is a prude because he’s Catholic. If that was true, wouldn’t his having many sexual partners without the benefit of marriage be a sin? I’m not Catholic, but I am a Christian, and I know that in my church that is wrong…so if Catholics interpret that the same way, isn’t he sinning with every encounter? I’m more inclined to say his “prudishness” (is that a word?) is more due to his beliefs about love, making connections, intimacy and relationships. He does have a pretty traditional mindset of having a nuclear family with wife and kids, him in the role of protector (though he is open to Brennan’s independence and spirit) and to him, the physical expression of love is the thing that ties couples together, they bond. So he place a high importance on that. But I don’t necessarily think its a religious-prude thing, otherwise, wouldn’t he abstain till marriage?
May 5, 2011 at 9:58 am
Well, Catholics take a lot that comes from Rome with a grain of salt; sometimes we’re in the “10 items or less” checkout line. I know few C’s (actually, none) that have abstained from sex prior to marriage-but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t stay in the back of your mind as not the very best thing to do. Besides, I think that many of Booth’s sexual encounters when he was younger go to self-esteem issues. His strenghts as he sees them are his athleticism, his size and his looks-so he went for things that he was good at, including getting the girls. It was another way of validating his worth induring a not-so-happy time (not to mention gettting affection), one that he again resorted to with Hannah. But I totally agree with you that his primary motivation in “making love” is exactly that, making love.
May 5, 2011 at 8:58 am
Is it too late for these two, romantically? Yes, I think it is. As a viewer, I now see Booth and Brennan in more of a sibling type relationship. Looking at where they are at now, I believe their ship has sailed, the romantic connection isn’t there anymore. I don’t feel that same connection between them, that was present and strong in the first five seasons. I just don’t get the sense that Booth and Brennan are really as into each other as they used to be.
I believe that it is time for them to move on from each other. I personally would now rather see them collectively dating different people. This would be more enjoyable for me as a viewer. Instead of the show trying to force a relationship between these two, which I now think they are doing, I would rather see them go in a different direction for a while. I know it is not the popular view. I just don’t see any real spark, or intense interest coming from either Brennan or Booth at this point in season six. Their relationship isn’t what it used to be. I would rather see Brennan, with someone other than Booth. I would also prefer to see Booth with someone that wasn’t written like the character we got with Hannah. It would be much more entertaining, from my perspective. This Booth and Brennan angst has worn me out. I am ready for it to be over.
I watch this show for more than just the Booth and Brennan drama. I just wish this show put more focus on the cases, like in the first few seasons. How the entire cast first functioned when this show started, is what drew me into this show. I would rather see great interaction in the lab, with fun experiments, and less of the drawn out Booth and Brennan will they, or won’t they. I personally am ready for this season to be over. It has worn me out! I am looking forward to next season and hope there are good changes in store for the cast’s storylines, and for us the audience.
May 5, 2011 at 9:22 am
While I don’t agree with your assessment that it’s too late, you are not the only person who feels that way. There has been a palpable lack of chemistry between Booth and Brennan this season, but I think it’s deliberate and appropriate to where the characters have been. I expect to see a return to the kind of chemistry they once had, but it won’t be the same because the circumstances aren’t the same. People are never who they were two or three or four years ago, and in general, that’s a good thing.
Realistically, HH has always said the series would end with them together, and I haven’t read anything from him to indicate he’s changed his mind, so the likelihood that other partners will be introduced for them in season seven is slim.
May 5, 2011 at 9:31 am
Well said, Barbara. I also think they probably will not be getting new love interests, at least, not semi-permanent ones like Sully or Hannah. After all, Booth and Brennan have both actually admitted feelings to each other, albeit at the wrong times so far. So now they’ve each put it out there. (Booth gets a pass on Hannah since Brennan left him for Maluku with no contact for weeks and a rejection of his offer.) Now that Brennan confesses feelings to him, and they’ve burned their papers together…I don’t think you could introduce new relationships unless they both go back on that pact. And yes, it has been awkward between them because Hannah just happened. Gotta give that some time. Plus, now they don’t know how to react to each other since that wall between them is basically stripped away. They can’t pretend its an “atta girl” love anymore. So its a new world we are living in. Now instead of a wall, its a line drawn in the sand. Who will step over that line first?? I’m curious to see where they will take our beloved duo!
May 5, 2011 at 9:34 am
My concern is that the show will put Booth and Brennan together too soon, and forget about their story. The story of these two people is more important to me, than if they actually ever hook up.
May 5, 2011 at 9:34 am
Booth and Brennan are sort of like my parents. When my parents were young, everything was more emotional. They had their moments when they fought, verbally, with each other and felt passionately about their side of things. Then they would make up and be very lovable towards each other. It drove my aunts and uncles batty. When we went around them, the first question I would hear was, are they in the lovey mode or the fighty mode. This went on for many years. Then with age, came peace. They are not the passionate, emotional people they were; but, they still love each other and would do anything for each other. This doesn’t mean they love each other less. It just means the intensity is not there anymore. What you call a sibling type relationship, I call a more calm, mature relationship. Booth and Brennan have both put each other through the wringer when it comes to their personal life. Now they want the calm of a mature and relaxed relationship.
May 5, 2011 at 9:50 am
I guess I’m just bored with the direction that the show has taken the Booth and Brennan relationship. I am no longer invested in them as a couple. It isn’t why I am continuing to watch this show to see that they end up together. The will they, or won’t they aspect is what I like the least about this show now. I love the character of Brennan and I don’t like the message the current storyline is telling with her character. I feel that they are trying to change her too much. The pilot Brennan isn’t how she is now being written or acted. It isn’t so much that she is being asked to change or evolve, as that she is being portrayed and acted differently simply to tell these past few season’s stories. I don’t watch this show to moon over David Boreanaz. He has never been why I’ve tuned into this show. It is the overall Bones story, in its entirety, that draws me to it. I just wish that overall character dignity didn’t have to be sacrificed to get it done.
May 5, 2011 at 10:07 am
The chemistry between B&B hasn’t been the same this year because for the first part of the season Booth practically checked out on everyone not named Hannah. From ditching a party thrown by his friends to announce a pregnancy to spending one episode not even looking at Brennan – or barely looking at her – Booth was a non-factor.
That situation has changed, and I (personally) see a difference in his relationship with Brennan since then. Things are different, which only makes sense, but the undercurrent of attraction is still there.
IMO, anyway.
May 5, 2011 at 10:23 am
MJ,
My problem is that I no longer see an undercurrent of attraction between Booth and Brennan. I don’t see any sort of spark between them now at all. It isn’t even that their attraction has just mellowed between them, for me it is gone. When I now watch Booth and Brennan, I see only see two people who work together and nothing more. Even their friendship doesn’t seem the same. I see two people who no longer now don’t belong together. They just irritate and annoy each other. They aren’t fun to watch together anymore.
May 5, 2011 at 11:18 am
K–I’m kind of surprised at your feelings about B & B, obviously you are entitled and it is a valid one! 🙂
I do agree it is different between them and kind of stilted, but I still feel there is a connection. Like when they were next to each other burning those papers, they were thisclose to each other and leaning in. Then in the Finder ep, they were so casual and open towards each other. I’m still getting a good vibe from them but they are being soooo terribly cautious it is maddening for the fans…but I’m withholding final judgement until I see where they are taking this. But I still do really get an undercurrent kind of vibe from B & B.
May 5, 2011 at 9:37 am
Honestly, I was shocked by the fig tree incident and I consider it was OOC for Booth. But more in a way that he was rejected by Brennan and in a new environment surrounded by new people, then maybe he saw an opportunity to act differently and see the outcome …
I don’t think he is prudish (hey @sophia7470 : how come you didn’t put a screenshot from the bathtub ?!?! A beer cap, a comic book and more importantly a naked Booth standing in his tub?!?!?! Just asking. I am sure people around here would not have mind looking at that one too … 🙂 ). That bathtub moment clearly saying that he is not afraid to appear naked in front of her (while he was quite unconfortable being undressed by her in the Goop in the girl (which had probably more to do with him trying to control his ‘physical reaction’ to her touches than being prude about it …))
I think he is private when it comes to sex talk and maybe he likes to keep a bit of msytery on that side of him hoping that one day she may be interested enough to want to experience it herself … I do think they are both curious about what sex would be between them (ex: Booth line when they joined the circus and faked sex ‘are you always that spontaneous during sex?’ …)
While I agree with you that 6 years is quite a awful time to remain under all that steamy sexual tension, I also think that it was necessary for them to be able to be together. If I consider where they are right now on the show (more on the emotional edge) , I feel it would probably be more soft and languorous making love … But 6 years is a very long time and I think that once they start, they are going to be eager for each other (not in the Angela and Hodgins way: as I just don’t see them doing that. They are too professional I guess).
They just have to take that first step …
May 5, 2011 at 10:52 am
ha! I’m sorry Exuperance18, you make a very valid point about the lack of bathtub screenshot! Can’t believe I didn’t think of that in all the time I spent thinking of SexyTimeBooth…tut tut 🙂
Thanks to everybody for reading / commenting!
May 5, 2011 at 10:06 am
What a great post! You’ve summed up what we know beautifully.
Just a couple of comments (that someone else may have made – I’m on break from work and won’t have time to read other responses until lunch)…
While we know Booth was sexually active in his teen years, we know that even then, some connection with the woman mattered to him – enough for him to remember their names years later. That said, it seems possible to me that the reason he can speak so authoritatively in Death in the Saddle about the differences between casual sex and making love is because he’s had the former and decided it wasn’t satisfying. The reason he wants more is that he knows that less doesn’t work for him. Just a theory…
As to the Fig Tree Incident…I said this a few weeks ago and got shot down, but I’ll note it again. From listening to what people say, the two things they find hardest (or impossible) to reconcile in his character is that the man who gives the speech at the end of DitS is the same man who had thank you sex with Hannah under a fig tree ASAP after meeting her.
But assuming that the thank you sex happened immediately after he saved her life – and it is an assumption – ignores other data, both explicit and implied. I don’t think Booth lied to Brennan about having arrested Hannah – I see no reason for him to, nor any reason to assume that’s a lie when the story Hannah tells isn’t. So I operate on the assumption that both are true, meaning there are details of the beginning of their relationship we’re not told, which allows for a rather different interpretation than what many come up with.
I understand not wanting to supply details we’re not given, but think it’s critical that people realize that neither Hannah nor Booth say that the fig tree happened immediately after he saved her. So people who are insisting that’s the way it went down are still adding to what we’re told, are still interpreting what’s there in a particular direction. That’s their choice, of course.
We don’t know the details, and people are perfectly free to interpret what we *are* told however they want, including that what happened was OOC for him, and then explain it away by saying it was a war zone. But I prefer to take what we’re told in both scenes where it’s discussed, what seems most likely in a war zone, and what’s reasonable for what we know of Booth’s character (who, as was noted here, didn’t know Brennan long either before expressing interest in beginning a relationship with her) and go with a different assumption.
Am I still assuming? Absolutely. But so is everyone who’s insisting it happened immediately after they met, because they didn’t give us the timing details on it.
May 5, 2011 at 10:15 am
Angelena and Maria- I think you guys covered my sentiments exactly. Booth is private about his relationships. It’s especially difficult for him to talk about sex with woman in front of Brennan, because he has feelings for her. When he dates Cam, and Brennan finds out about it, he says, “I don’t know why I didn’t tell you about Cam. I just didn’t want it to get weird, I guess.” “You’re a woman and I’m a man. And… I never had a relationship like this where we were…like two guys, except you’re not, you know, a guy.”
Even in TBitB, he looks uncomfortable when Brennan talks about making love.
As an adult, Booth is very traditional (monogamous, no fetishes, no hooking up, gentle). I think the fig tree was likely Hannah’s idea but I certainly don’t think Booth has a problem with having sex in different locations.
Booth: “Hey, driving a machine like this is like making love. You have to go gently.”
Brennan: “I go more for passionate and uninhibited rather than gentle.”
May 5, 2011 at 2:31 pm
That last quote is very telling to me, and neatly sums up the earlier differences between the two on the issue of having sex v. making love.
For Brennan it has been about the norepinephrine and dopamine only. No expectation of real emotional connection. Her life experiences and her scientific outlook have given her no way to understand what that connection can add. She just knows about having sex.
Booth obviously enjoys the norepinephrine and dopamine release, but he also understands and wants the emotional connection that turns having sex into making love. He understands that that is ultimately far more satisfying than that momentary release of endorphins. He also understands that such a real connection requires more than passion. It requires time to get to know the other person and patience with their foibles and quirks.
The irony, of course, is that he took the time to get to know Bones and he has patience with her foibles and quirks (and she’s got a whole lot of them), but she rejected the emotional connection and the potential for sex when he offered. And, that led to the nightmare that we’ve all been through since the 100th.
May 5, 2011 at 1:46 pm
I would like to believe that Booth’s story to Sweets about dating identical twins was just boasting between two guys. Also, it was a way to deflect Sweets attention away from his hand-holding very touching moment with Brennan. Maybe Booth dreamed about such an event but I doubt it ever actually happened. There is a little discussion in Double Trouble where each of the conjoined twins had dated the same guy or something, if I remember correctly, and Booth clearly thought that was abhorrent. I don’t think his aversion was solely about the conjoined aspect of it. His younger sexual exploits while he was a teen, gambler or soldier were probably less about the relationship than he feels he needs now. After breaking up with Cam, he matured into realizing that there are rarely no consequences to promiscuity. I never thought of him as a prude; he is just private. It cracks me up when Brennan tries to get him to discuss it because she really is just trying to get to know him and understand him better.
When Brennan dated both Mark and Jason, I don’t think she viewed it as a lie to either of them. She didn’t think either guy viewed his relationship with her any differently than she did so she wasn’t lying. Once the whole story became apparent to both guys and she lost both of them, she learned a valuable lesson and she hasn’t repeated that behavior to our knowledge.
I love how you point out the difference between Brennan showing up and seeing Tessa half-dressed in Season 1 and how it would have been if Brennan showed up and saw Hannah. In Season 1 it was information to be filed away but in Season 6, it would just be heart-crushing.
May 5, 2011 at 2:40 pm
I always took the dating twin sisters story as true, but something from when he was very much younger. And, he did learn an important lesson from the experience. 😉
I don’t think that the fact that the conjoined twins had dated the same guy was what was abhorrent. I think it was the idea of having sex with one while she was conjoined to the other, even with the iPod and eye mask. Was it an eye mask?
I agree with you about Brennan with Mark and Jason. I think that it never occurred to her that there was anything wrong with what she was doing. She would probably have been ok being part of a similar arrangement with a man: being either just his sex partner or just his social companion, while he saw someone else for the other. She assumes that people see things the way she does until she learns otherwise.
May 5, 2011 at 10:54 pm
Oops! I meant to respond to bb there, not Barbara. That’s what I men about getting confused.
May 5, 2011 at 5:28 pm
I disagree with you on Mark and Jason. Brennan tells Cam and Angela that Jason has made attempts to move their relationship forward sexually but she just isn’t attracted to him that way.
She does not say he knows that – and why would he keep trying if he did? Even without that scene, he shocked and horrified looks on their faces when they meet each other say it all. Jason says “that’s farther than I’ve gotten” about Mark and Mark says “How come we never leave your bedroom, Tempe”. That doesn’t sound like two guys who know their respective roles in her life.
She knew she was lying, which is why she got so defensive about it when Booth challenged her on it during the elevator scene.
May 5, 2011 at 10:01 pm
But, I don’t think she really considered that it might be a problem until Booth pressed the issue.
That Cold Play wanted sex, she saw in a similar way. If she wanted that and the guy didn’t, but the social thing was good, she’d just assume the guy was getting “a little somethin’, somethin'” elsewhere and look elsewhere herself for satisfaction of biological urges.
Sex and companionship are two different compartments in her mind. That is precisely the mistake that she made in ep 100. She thought that she could separate out the two components with Booth: keeping the social companion/playmate (and partner) without having the sex or the larger emotional commitment that that implied for Booth. Even then she didn’t fully realize what she was asking of him. She wanted to keep what they had because it worked for her despite the fact that it would not work for him and would, in fact, hurt him. She still thought they could be kept in separate compartments. She didn’t start to realize they couldn’t until she returned from Muluku and saw what the introduction of another woman into Booth’s life meant: no compartments — both sex and companionship from one person.
May 5, 2011 at 10:29 pm
This is in response to Angelena, but others as well….
I don’t really buy that Brennan can compartmentalize so well anymore. We were sort of lead to think that in the beginning before all the character development….but I don’t see Brennan as that anymore. I just finished the latest ep, I won’t post anything spoilery…but it reminded me of other episodes where she is clearly emotional and she has said more than once that she is not as cold as people think. Her character in the coma dream said that as well. It bothers her that people see her as a cold fish. We have seen her break down and express emotions numerous times in the past few years. Happiness, fear, sadness, hope….we can see it in her eyes (thanks to Emily) even if she cannot say it.
I think its all a front. I’ve kind of had an epiphany here so bear with my ramblings. I have always thought she is this clinical person. Not so anymore. I think she feels everything, clearly, but to the outside world she only shows a mask. Sometimes she is a little confused about social situations, but as we have seen, and she tells us OFTEN, she is a genius, and I think she picks up more than she lets on. Where exactly is that line? I don’t know. But in the 100th ep, she tells Booth that she’s a scientist and can’t change and he deserves someone who can. But she’s crying, and clearly, CLEARLY affected by her interaction with Booth. She breaks down in front of him. She says the words that she is a scientist, can’t change, blah blah….but I dont think thats true of our beloved Brennan.
We know about her past. We know about her foster abuse. About her parents leaving. She has “scars” from that…but I think that she’s “protesting too much” sometimes about not understanding things or being able to easily compartmentalize without feeling. Something just sort of clicked with me as I watched tonights ep (5/5/11), and maybe I can talk about it soon on another post, but…welll…
I think Temperance Brennan is a big fat phony. She talks a big game, but I think she has a lionheart, just as big as Booth’s. Oh, she hides it well most of the time, and maybe she truly has convinced herself over time that she’s not fit to love and live amongst regular folk…but I think its there. I think Booth knows its there too. He knows. I think that’s why he can be so patient with her even when she’s abrasive or pushing him away. He knows that lionheart is in there and he wants to be there when she embraces that, be a part of that with her.
Ok…gotta stop here…but is anyone with me? Is Brennan truly the compartmental clinical person she claims? I’m just starting to get this feeling that she never truly was.
May 5, 2011 at 10:53 pm
Barbara –
Can’t respond to you, so I’m posting here.
I agree with you. But, Mark and Jason were in, what, season 3?
I agree that she has a mask and that Booth is one of the very few people who have taken the risk to find out what’s behind it. He definitely knows about the lion heart she tries to keep safely locked away. Angie, et al. know this too.
I’d suggest that the changes in Brennan that so many people complain about are exactly these changes: the impact on her of finally facing her (and other people’s) feelings rather than ignoring them and locking them away. That said, I think she has taken baby steps mostly. Larger steps, of late. And, she still attempts to compartmentalize when things get to be too much. So, I see that as part of what was going on in the 100th and what she really began to appreciate the consequences of on her return from Muluku. Ironically, she then had to put her feelings for Booth away in their own compartment and didn’t fully face them until DitP.
Does this all make sense? When I respond to several different posts I can lose track of what I’m responding to.
May 5, 2011 at 10:56 pm
I’m going to try the Oops! again.
I meant to respond to bb, but responded to Barbara with my last post. The inability to respond directly sometimes makes losing one’s place very easy.
May 5, 2011 at 11:07 pm
@bb
I think you’re on to something. I was agreeing with what you were saying, and then I saw the “big fat phony” and I almost lost my breath. But then I read on, and it’s all good.
In the Pilot, Angela suggested that Brennan puts up this front because she cares too much. So in a way, her heart is more fragile than people suspect. That’s why she avoided risking it so much. But it cost her in a big way with Booth, and I don’t think she wants to make the same mistake twice.
Brennan is excellent at compartmentalizing on the job, or else she wouldn’t be the best in the world 😉
I think she’s still compartmentalizing her feelings, but only because Booth isn’t ready. But she doesn’t compartmentalize her feelings away. She’s allowing herself to have them, but isn’t fully acting on them.
May 5, 2011 at 2:46 pm
I think Booth had a lot of sexual attraction towards Brennan, but he could not act on it, as he did not confess his love to her for a long time. So in order to not have any “physical reaction” (as Exuperance18) said) when talking about sex, he acted a bit like being a prude. I don’t think he is one, but think he is still very private. I can’t blame him about the Fig Tree incident, he was not cheating on Brennan and I would think he would have never mention it, but Brennan asked Hannah point blank and Hannah bragged about it. The Fig Tree sex was maybe a little different what we thought of him, because deep down he is a man who would rather be in a loving relationship and have fulfillment there, but being away in a land so different and dangerous, who could fault him if a willing woman comes around.
May 5, 2011 at 6:33 pm
Great post.
For me, i always think back to Booth’s comment to Bones back in Season 2 when she realises he’s dating Cam:
“A gentleman is always discrete”.
That’s where I was surprised by the Fig tree bit. Not that it happened, but rather that we were told about it…and he was so giddy rather than embarrassed. That to me was more OOC. But then given the circumstances with H having just showed up etc, I don’t think Booth was at his best…
Re. ‘is it too late?’ For me, if B&B had have hooked up at the end of Season 4 (pre tumor) that would have been magical and fluffy and yes, pretty perfect. (Those of you who have read Squint’s fanfic Family which begins at this stage will know what I mean. That is the side story of Bones for me). But these people aren’t perfect – they are flawed, so the couple that will get together now have been through hell, and survived. And that will make their relationship stronger, and more likely to last. The depth that is coming back (albeit slowly) does remind me of the old married couple. The Season 4 B&B remind me of teenage sweethearts. Both ok, just different.
May 5, 2011 at 10:08 pm
I like your analogy…..between season 4 and now.
I was not crazy about Hannah….It just was weird to me….He wasn’t discrete and he wasn’t himself. Hopefully that is why it didn’t work out, B and B know each other and bring out the best in each other while not judging the worst.
May 5, 2011 at 11:29 pm
I always think it’s kinda funny the way Brennan looks at him when the subject of his sex life comes up. She’s definitely intrigued and definitely interested. I think Sarah has even mentioned some scenes (and caught some screen captures) of Brennan looking Booth up and down. One, when he talks about being left naked under the bleacher. Another time, when Booth wants Brennan to convince Parker he leads a full and rewarding life. Part of Brennan’s response is that he doesn’t and it leads to him not having a full sex life, but she gives him a look. Purely speculation, it could be that she’s thinking “I dare you to contradict me”, subtly trying to get him to reveal more info. Or perhaps it’s not full because she’s not a part of it?
May 15, 2011 at 12:57 pm
I’m catching up at last!
Booth has never been a prude in my eyes. There is a BIG difference between being private and being a prude. Booth has always struck me as a very sexual man…he has his past which we’ve seen glimpses of, he is confident in his ability to talk and flirt with woman…and he ‘does fine’ when it comes to sex.
I think you’ve hit on something when it comes to the fact that the fans reaction depends on who he’s doing it with. Screwing Brennan when he first met her? That is A-OK. Screwing Hannah under a fig tree when he first met her? Some kind of sin! LOL
Now, i do think the circumstances play a big part. For some, Booth going from wanting a life with Brennan to sleeping with a stranger a few months later was/is hard to swallow. And i get that…if you thought Booth loved Brennan in the 100th it must have been hard to take. But Booth didn’t love Brennan then and he never loved her prior to that…so him sleeping with Hannah seems very much IN character for me.
Booth is a man. He may talk about making love and emotional connections but he is still JUST a man….more than capable of having sex for the sake of having sex.
May 15, 2011 at 1:09 pm
I know you don’t believe Booth loved Brennan before, and I can understand that line of reasoning, too. Are you were the one who made the point that he was in love with idea of being in love with her, or that he was in love with some idealized version of her? And that you want to see them fall in love? Do you believe that they are getting there, or are you yet to be convinced? On the flip side, do you think Brennan has ever been in love with Booth, or is now? Lots of questions, I know, but obviously your opinions differ from many others, and I’m really curious.
May 15, 2011 at 1:36 pm
I like questions 😀 It’s much better than being shot down off the bat so it’s A-OK with me!
I’ll go question by question 🙂
Are you were the one who made the point that he was in love with idea of being in love with her, or that he was in love with some idealized version of her?
In a word, Yes. And i stand by it.
And that you want to see them fall in love?
Again, yes. Some people seem to think that because i don’t think Booth loved Brennan, it means i don’t WANT him to love her. But i do. Desperately. RL sucks enough, i want B/B to get their happy ending.
Do you believe that they are getting there, or are you yet to be convinced?
I think they are getting there definitely. Especially after the last episode. I don’t think anything happened between them but i definitely think there is a new understanding between them. They are definitely heading in the right direction.
On the flip side, do you think Brennan has ever been in love with Booth, or is now?
Ooooooooooh….my girl Bren is a hard one to figure out! Does she love him? I’m torn on this one. Some days i think yes but most of the time i sway towards no. I think she wants him. I think she cares for him. And i think she feels things for him that she has never felt before.
How’s that for a none answer?! LOL
July 8, 2011 at 3:57 pm
I just found this site and I LOVE it! Season 6 looks a lot different now then it did in the beginning of the season. For many of us, seeing Booth return from Afghanistan in a “serious” relationship with Hannah was like a betrayl. But, looking back now, I forgive him. Really, I do. Booth is a man, not a boy. Yes, he did well with the girls as a young jock – under the bleachers – but we also know from Salt in the Wounds that he, yes even HIM, did not always get the “it” girls as a teen. Why? Brennan said Booth was “that guy” in high school but was he? Really? He felt bad that he didn’t stand up for a kid other jocks were roughing up. I would say that Booth has a big heart. He came from a difficult family situation. He IS hot, I imagine he’s aged like fine wine but was QUITE cute back in da day too. He probably could have been a REAL jerk and hooked up with a ton of girls, never looking back, never remembering their names….but I think there’ s evidence that he didn’t. I don’t think Booth is a womanizer. I think he enjoys sex, likes it, is good at it but, really, wants a connection. I would guess Booth always wanted what he didn’t have as a kid – a family, a connection, someone to love him. So, yes, I think he’s quite experienced but I’d say that – as was said briefly in Pain in the Heart – he had a steady string of girlfriends in the past. Girlfriends. Women who he would take out to dinner, and date and take the time to court – not just wham, bam, thank you ‘mam. I would guess that Rebecca left quite a mark. He fell in love with her. He said it in the Daredevil in the Mold. He fell in love with her AND had a kid. No, the kid wasn’t planned, but I think he did want to give it a go, have a family with her, etc. and she rejected him. Period. I think Booth may have changed a bit after that….maybe, but still had hope to make a connection. Then came ‘Bones’. And, yes, she was different. She just was. He just knew. In fact, I think it’s even more powerful that had this reaction to her after already having had a love and a child with a woman. He felt something about her that he hadn’t even felt wtih the mother of his child at that time. He just KNEW. And I agree, I think the fact that Bones DIDN’T sleep with him was the difference. I doubt Booth has had many sexual rejections. He’s good looking, charming, honorable, confident….yeah. And we all know what came after.
Fast forward to the 100th Episode and the aftermath. His heart was broken because the hope he had had was gone. Gone. AND he was nearing his 40s. Brennan and him “broke up” AND she didn’t even call him while he was in Afghanistan or return his call because she wasn’t connected to the outside world. Hannah was beautiful. She was gutsy. She probably made him feel like quite the man and, yes, I could see him pursuing her so she wasn’t just a ONS. We all know that after Hannah came to join him in Washington D.C. that Booth tried VERY HARD to make it perfect. It was “serious” – it is! he would assure any and all who listened. He LOVED her! And, yes, he did but you one love one person the most. He wasn’t a kid….he had a kid for goodness sake. And I DO think that the proposal in Daredevil really was sped up by Sweets bringing the truth to his attention – he had NEVER been married – at his age (39). Ouch. That’s a wake-up call for anyone who probably really hoped to have that and, dare we say it, probably dreamed of it happening with the one he loved the most….so sometimes you have to settle for second best.
Which brings me the second half of S6. Is it too late to have them together sexually? No. No, it isn’t. I think S6 was a lot of holding back. Booth couldn’t have been oogling at Brennan with Hannah at home. That would be wrong….but he started to slip a bit by the end of his relationship with Hannah. Right after Hannah would have been too soon. But I submitt that from episode 16 to episode 21 there seemed to be a real, honest “courting” feel between B&B in those FF scenes. I would argue that it was real, honest, love going on there. Brennan had stood by Booth after a very difficult chapter for him and, honestly for them…..some things are better left unsaid. It meant the world to him and, really, I think she had it in her mind that that date when they could “try” to be together was coming. I think both of them knew it was more than “fate” or “luck” or just oogling each other with their eyes – although that IS fun! – it was real. Certainly Brennan has NEVER felt for anyone what she feels for Booth. And Booth? He still knows. I like to think that in that early morning in Booth’s bed some serious love making was going on. Not just sex. I think it was profound. No one was prudish, and a real connection was enriched. Everyone talks about Brennan’s look to Angela the “morning” after but I’m fascinated by Booth sitting on his desk lost in thought looking out his office window. There was a lot of serious stuff going down but….our fun and sexy guy was…..was…well, I think he was, dare I say it, complete. I don’t think there was any doubt in his mind that things were REALLY going somewhere this time. I’m trying not to think or guess what will happen between them next season but I’d like to think that when we do get “moments” between them that it will be, dare I think it, even hotter because it’s real now. No going back. They’re building a family together. They’re partners, friends, lovers, and the one the other loves the most.
I know there is STILL some debate over whether they slept together in HITH but I’m on the they did side – and it was not just for comfort. Take a look at the look Booth gives Brennan when she walks up with that potted plant. Yeah. Seriously. Again, who knows where they’ll be when we rejoin them in S7, but I’m thinking that Booth is now closer to being a fun, content, sexy guy. Not saying things are all smooth sailing but there IS something VERY sexy about making that connection. Knowing it’s there. Relying on it. ALL the reasons Booth had for being a cofident, sexy FBI man before are almost amplified now. He’s still that guy but now I think his mojo could amped up even more. Seriously, can you imagine what Agent Booth was like the day after he learned the woman he loved, and has love was going to have his child? Wow. Just…wow.
July 24, 2011 at 5:12 am
Thank you for your learned approach to this topic. I appreciate thoughts based on thinking rather than some of the more volatile tangents. I am an older–at 30 (Brennan’s age roughly) I would have had a different attitude towards relationship between Booth and Hannah. She is a feisty one, he arrested her, damn straight she is going to have a round two on that scenario. She went out to find him and “thank” him for “saving” her. She was probably sexy, flirty, read his buttons and pushed hard to get her way, cementing his initial interest with oral sex…now there’s a perfect in for the next time.
Thing that gets me is that Booth comes across sorta goofy or shy or “the girl” in his attitudes and you know he’s a big old can be mortally scary guy–I’m sure there have been times in his past where his charm was there, but there was more of a push for what he wanted , where he was all manly man, taking what he wanted by forcefully persuading his partner. Booth making a full court press to seduce a partner would be an awesome undertaking to watch. With Brennan, I really do believe he saw her, he bonded with her and then he realized it was going to be a long haul to win her heart, or not even that, to allow her to come to realize she loved him. I do believe in that kind of love–I’m not arguing if it’s right or wrong or workable or whatever, I just know that some of us bond that quick and hard to a person we are going to pick for a partner. I was with my first husband for 10 years just like that and we still talk about twice a week (we broke up in 82). I’d like to see Booth and I have enjoyed seeing Booth when he looks at her and goes “no, this is the way we will be doing this” or “Bones, we are not going to pursue that path becos it’s not how we are going to be.” He’s really hot when he does make his alpha male pronouncements to her about how they are going to act towards one another.
August 20, 2011 at 9:01 pm
“Maybe having a woman turn him down and go on to become his partner, friend and great love is more out of character. But maybe also the making of him. He’s become someone else’s standard and in the end, I suspect that will make all the difference.”
This. Definitely this. I think over the years we’ve seen how Booth has affected Brennan’s world. She may not always agree with him, but she respects his opinion and point of view. She likes see the world through his eyes and has even said that having done so has/does make her a better person. I think the same can be said for Booth. I think Brennan has helped Booth to evolve…maybe in ways we’ll never know or in ways he may never state on screen, but I think it’s there. I can’t imagine Booth ever having a woman change her mind about sleeping with him before Brennan. I also can’t imagine Booth having too many female friends that he hadn’t slept with before Brennan. Booth and Brennan had a spark when they first met…there WAS an attraction. They LIKED one another when they first met, even though they were different. They went on to become partners and friends and did not cross “a line” for many years. I don’t know this for sure, but I can’t imagine that Booth was friends first before becoming lovers with the women in his past. Booth isn’t a prude and I also believe him when he told Brennan that he never cheated on women in the past. I DO believe he has a lot of experience under that cocky belt buckle, but he’s never been portrayed as being a “player” and that is pretty unique on television for a character like Booth.
As for the fig tree….eh. Like everything else with Hannah, whatever. BUT Booth was show to have sex with two different women in the same day in Truth in the Lye AND Rebecca did mention them having done, er, something during a stakeout. By the way, why was Rebecca on a stakeout? Was she in law enforcement too? So, stakeouts, bleachers, golf courses, fig trees, mornings, nooners, evenings, 3 a.m., 4:47 a.m…. I think it’s safe to safe to say Booth is up – no pun intended – for anything, anytime when he’s in the mood for lovin. It is my personal belief that Booth and Brennan made up for a lot of time in the time between Hole in the Heart and Change in the Game;) Booth seemed very….interested in “whoopie” or gettin a little something behind the bowling alley in some of the little scenes we saw in CITG;) I think there was a lot of lovin’ going on.
September 4, 2011 at 3:37 pm
I was just watching The Girl in the Fridge, and when B & B are supervising the removal of all the S & M toys from the suspects’ house, they are examining some of them and talking about sex very openly. Booth says you only need that stuff “when the bloom comes off the rose.” Brennan says she has no desire for pain or dominance during sex. Booth responds with surprise and says, “But you are so bossy” (or something to that effect, I don’t have the DVD on this second) with nary a hint of shame or shyness or prudishness. Not even the tiniest suggestion of a blush. Which leads me to believe it wasn’t until he started developing feelings for Brennan that he suddenly got squeamish with the sex talk. (Alternatively, HH just hadn’t imagined that facet of Booth’s character yet, but I prefer the other option.)
September 7, 2011 at 6:46 am
More early-series-Booth being comfortable discussing sex: in The Superhero in the Alley, Booth, Brennan, Angela and (I think) Dr. Goodman are in a room discussing the comic book and Booth says to all of them that Angela wants to have sex with him. No blushing, no embarrassment, just Cocky Booth.
April 25, 2015 at 9:03 am
I don’t think it’s sensationalist at all. I’m sure he wouldn’t sleep with Brennan under a fig tree.
His first time making love to her would have to be in a bed. No doubt about it. I see it as the show’s cheapened attempts to sell us Booth’s ‘moving on’. Poor choices in terms of show running. That season just sucked.