Good morning and happy Friday to you!
I was skimming through TNT’s (if you don’t know what that is, it’s a U.S. television station that regularly runs syndicated episodes of Bones re-runs) schedule for last night to pick an episode we could discuss the ‘morning after’, and wouldn’t you know, there were about six episodes! Ha, well that narrows it down!
One episode from the list that stuck out to me was Salt in the Wounds, and I was reminded again by the end scene…
I know I’ve mentioned before that I happened to watch that episode with my dad, and because at the time that ep aired, the spoilers that Brennan and Booth were going to be talking ‘baby’ were out, when this episode ended, my dad said, “Ah, and now she’s thinking she wants a baby with him.” And I thought…yes.
I don’t know if that’s true in that moment, but I think it’s fair to say that she was really considering Booth. She often considers him, and he considers her, and what we see are the ups and downs of both of them making judgments or concessions and abrasive comments and forgiveness.
But when I thought about this scene again, and if we suppose that Brennan WAS sort of coming to terms with wanting a child with Booth, what do you think the MVQ– Most Valuable Quality– is that Brennan admires in Booth? Is it really his symmetry? Or is it something else? Does she accept this or fight it?
And likewise, what is Brennan’s MVQ– from Booth’s way of seeing things? I think there are a lot of things that keep him tethered to her, but what’s the one that is the MOST important to him or that he can resist the least?
Have these qualities changed over time? Would the other one be surprised to learn his/her MVQ? It doesn’t necessarily have to be baby related, but more so– if asked to narrow it down to one word (or quality), which would Brennan and Booth say about the other?
Let’s discuss!
Peace, Love & Bones,
~S
Bones Theory 
July 1, 2011 at 6:59 am
MVQ: his heart, his mind, symmetry doesn’t hurt! And yes, I think she’s thought, very privately, about life with him from time to time. But until now, and who knows, even now and going forward, she has been afraid of being abandoned again.
July 1, 2011 at 7:19 am
I have to think about this one, but I wanted to say right away that this is a really interesting question. Also, I love the end of this episode.
July 1, 2011 at 7:21 am
MVQ: i Think his integrity as a man , his big heart and bravery to always want protect who he love mostly her, how he show to her the world out side the lab and of course his symetry.Booth is the only person that taught Brennan waht is love , what is being loved. And the most important thing he’s loving her since the beginning even their don’t noticed that before.
July 1, 2011 at 7:23 am
I have to think about the actual question too, but can I just say that I purposely stayed up last night so I could watch this episode. My season 4 DVD’s are out on loan and I haven’t watched it since last summer so I was really ready to watch it again. But I was so exhausted that I only made it 5, MAYBE 10 minutes in before I fell asleep. I woke up in time to watch the last five or ten minutes, though, including this scene, so I guess it wasn’t a total waste. Be back later with my MVQ comment.
July 1, 2011 at 7:32 am
MVQ: Booth = reliability
Brennan = quiet vulnerability
I think Brennan loves Booth and is drawn to Booth because he is the one person in the world who has not and will not leave her. She needs someone in her life that she can rely on. She needs to have someone in her life that will be there for her no matter what is going on in her or his life. She also counts on Booth to be true to his beliefs and when he isn’t this confuses her a lot. She thinks she understands Booth and when he goes outside the boundaries of her knowledge about him, well, his makes her uncomfortable. They bicker, they argue, they test each other; but, in the end they forgive each other their frailties and they stay together. This is the thing that Brennan values the most.
I think Booth is drawn to the vulnerability that Brennan tries to hide from the world. Booth wants to be needed and here he has someone who is the top in her field, someone who is independent, who can take care of herself; but, who also has very few people in this world whom she can count on her to be there for her. She has what I call a quiet vulnerability. She hides her disappointments from the world. She expects little from those around her and yet she would like to be able to rely on someone. She would like to have someone that she can voice her fears to. Booth knows that about her and it is this need that draws Booth. He was gob smacked the first time he saw her; but, in the end, it is her quiet bravery in a world that has actually been cruel to her that draws him to want to protect her.
July 1, 2011 at 1:18 pm
Beautifully said.
July 1, 2011 at 7:45 am
MVQ: This is a diificult question, but I think in Brennan’s eyes his honesty, would be the one quality that she values. She has always stated that she believes in being completly honest with others, sometimes to the point of sounding rude.
In Booth, I think Brennan’s compassion for others. Booth knows about the intense feelings that she has for others, but constantly denies. He knows that others don’t see this because she hides it so well. There are so many episodes where he just watches her while she interacts with others, many times he has that wonderful Booth smile on his face.
July 1, 2011 at 7:48 am
Booth’s MVQ in Brennan’s eyes, I’ve always thought, is that she can trust him. Yes, he has other attractive qualities, but overall, she can trust him to act in certain ways that are comfortable and comforting to her. She did not have that with her foster families (probably) and it turns out she did not have that with Max or Russ. But she can have that with Booth.
So they can bicker and sting each other with caustic comments, but she knows that he will still be there at the end of the day. For her, that is paramount.
July 1, 2011 at 8:31 am
Okay, I’m going to agree with Lenora and go with reliability as Booth’s MVQ for Brennan. I think until she met Booth, there wasn’t anyone on whom she relied, and by at least mid-season two, he had proven to her that she could trust him and rely on him. In Aliens in a Spaceship, she tells Hodgins she knows that Booth will find them, even though the situation is hopeless. (“What you have is faith, baby.” Oh, Hodgins!) By that point (possibly even sooner, I’m not sure) she trusted him completely.
On an only-slightly-related note, one of my favorite scenes in all of Bones is from the Boy in the Shroud when Booth tells Cam, “I’m with Bones all the way. Don’t doubt it for a second.” It gives me goosebumps every. time.
I think that for Booth, Brennan’s mystery and depth are her MVQ. He’s constantly telling her that she has a bigger heart than people give her credit for (or other similar things), and I think that he likes that he was the first to really discover all of that about her, and that he is one of the few people who is privy to what he sees as her true nature. It seems to me that he kind of feels like he’s the only one who knows the “Real” (albeit largely secret) Brennan. I guess this goes back to Booth’s need to be needed (incidentally, is this one of those things that was actually established in the show, or is this something that blossomed out of fanfiction?). He fills a need for Brennan that no one else does, and in return, he gets to see (metaphorical) parts of her that she keeps hidden from everyone else.
July 1, 2011 at 8:54 am
CJsMom, I too love it when Booth told Cam “I’m with Bones all the way” in Boy In The Shroud.
I also love this line in The Girl In The Gator:
WYATT: Have you had an insight as to why you shot at that clown?
(Booth’s cellphone rings.)
BOOTH: Yeah, you know what I have some insight. It’s right here (points to his cellphone) it’s my Bones calling, my partner. Right. (answers the phone) Yeah? Bones.
I just love that he calls Brennan “my Bones”.
July 1, 2011 at 9:21 am
Lenora, there’s something so adorable about how DB delivers that line in The Girl in the Gator. It makes me swoon. That is one of my all-time favorite episodes because of the Booth/Gordon Gordon interactions.
July 1, 2011 at 8:32 am
I’ve always wondered how much Brennan looked at Booth and his interactions with Parker and compared him with her father. Not the Max we know now, the one who killed for her and Russ, but the father who left her. I look at scenes like this and I can almost see her thinking that Booth would never have abandoned his children.
July 1, 2011 at 9:49 am
Brennan’s MVQ(s) of Booth:
SWEETS: There are sperm banks that guarantee high IQs and exceptional physical prowess, yet you specifically chose Agent Booth. Why?
BRENNAN: He has traits like courage and compassion and empathy that would be tremendous assets to my child. Sperm banks don’t catalog those traits.
Booth’s MVQ of Brennan:
BRENNAN: Then maybe you don’t have one. Have you ever considered the possibility that you might simply be getting older? I – men do tend to decline physically past the age of thirty-five.
BOOTH: (sarcastically) Remind me again how great I feel after talking to you.
BRENNAN: Well, who else would always tell you the truth.
BOOTH: Yeah you know, it does make me feel better. It makes no rational sense but, it does.
BRENNAN: (smiles) Mmm.
(Critic in the Cabernet and Dwarf in the Dirt)
July 1, 2011 at 1:21 pm
I love how you just used quotes to make your points. Amazing!
July 1, 2011 at 4:15 pm
Thanks ChillyH! 🙂
I had literally just watched both of them on Netflix and when I read this post, it was fresh in my mind! They were both parts of the episodes that stood out to me, probably because they were so honest about the things like love about each other, and I thought, what better way to express what these two like about each other than from their own words!!
July 1, 2011 at 4:17 pm
typo alert: “the things they love about each other”
July 2, 2011 at 11:02 pm
I just noticed something about this conversation from Dwarf in the Dirt. Booth says “It makes no rational sense but, it does.” Isn’t that a funny comment to make about someone who is ALWAYS rational. It might even be another way of saying, love isn’t logical, but it is still makes sense. I don’t know why, but I just love that inversion. Thanks again for the awesome quotes bb.
July 11, 2011 at 12:36 pm
Gotta love a good Bones quote or two! 🙂 It’ll get us to November!!
July 1, 2011 at 9:53 am
I think for Brennan it’s that Booth is true. True to his word, true to those he cares about, true to the pursuit of justice, true to his belief system, true to himself (the shocking lack of being true to what he really wanted was part of what made Baghdad Barbie such a nightmare for me. I knew he knew better!) Within Booth being true comes his reliability and, though it sounds bad it really isn’t, his predictability. He will always come through the best he can, because he’s Booth and it’s what he does. That is something that she craves: someone who will always come through for her and she has that in Booth
For Booth, I have to say it’s that she never fails to amaze him. Whether it’s her brain or her heart, she’s a constant surprise in very good ways and I think he loves that about her. She’s not an enigma, because I do think he’s got her largely figured out, but every time he starts to feel like he knows it all, she shows him something new and I think he loves that.
July 1, 2011 at 9:57 am
Also, thank you TNT for Bones marathons!!!!!!!! I too watched this ep last night, and I wasn’t sure of Brennan’s motivation in walking towards the diner and just watching, because she had told Booth it was guy talk and she understood…but Sarah, I love your dad’s interpretation! She is definitely studying “paternal Booth” there! 🙂 haha
July 1, 2011 at 10:01 am
You know? I think that if either of them were pushed, say by Sweets or GGW, to answer this question about the other, they wouldn’t be able to. Not in one word, or quality anyway; but if pinned down, I can only think of one answer for each of them:
“He’s Booth.” and “She’s Bones.”
Perhaps that sounds like a cop-out, pat answer, but I think it’s true. How do you separate and name one specific quality of the person you love and say “That. That right there is what I love THE MOST.”?
Is it brains? Is it heart? Their mutual strengths? Their vulnerabilities? His Alpha male tendencies? Her Alpha female tendencies? Their need to be needed? Their fierce loyalty?
I’m sure that from time to time, one quality or another rises to the surface, and in that moment, would be the thing that they could each point to and say “yep, that’s what I love most.” But in a different situation, the answer would be completely different.
But at the end of the day? I think it boils down to their ability to see in each other what each of them tries to hide from the rest of the world; they each see the truth of the other, and are dazzled by it.
And that, for me at least, is just one of the things that is so wonderful about this show, in terms of both the writing and the acting. The characters (all the characters) have depth and breadth and inner struggles and contradictions and quirks; they’re as “real” as any characters I’ve ever seen on TV. See? Right there – what’s my MVQ of “Bones?” Can’t answer it with one word. 😉
July 1, 2011 at 10:04 am
Scratch my answer, I like yours better! 🙂
July 1, 2011 at 10:47 am
Awww, thanks! 🙂
You posted while I was typing mine, your answer is good, too!
July 1, 2011 at 11:21 am
I like this answer. It is more like real life. There are many times that I like certain qualities better than others in my relationships. Excellent answer.
July 1, 2011 at 12:04 pm
Thanks! 🙂
I like what you said about honesty and compassion. I agree that those are really important to both of them. And I love that grin Booth gets when he’s watching her. It’s so sweet.
July 1, 2011 at 4:20 pm
Kimberly, I tried to figure this out before I read people’s answers so I wouldn’t be influenced and I came to the two exact words you chose: honesty and compassion (i thought kindness-close enough!). But the funny thing is that I reversed them: kindess as Booth’s top quality, and honesty as hers. It actually works both ways though, I think! But I love Jade’s anwer too, because I don’t believe either one could distill what the the MVQ is about the other; just that each is “Bones” and “Booth.”
July 1, 2011 at 6:16 pm
MJ – I can’t answer you directly, but you “irritated” me, so I’m posting here. Why are people so bothered by this? Booth really had no choice other than to share what Brennan told him with Hannah. Anything else would have been a betrayal of Hannah and his relationship with her — and his own values. A good boyfriend does not keep this kind of info secret. As to what is our is ours: Brennan lost the personal part of that when she refused to try being a couple. Any expectation that he would not tell this to Hannah was unreasonable.
Sorry, but I find this particular criticism of Booth unfair.
Alright, I find almost any criticism of Booth and his actions in the 100th and thereafter unfair, but “I’m a Booth girl. ’nuff said.” ;-D
July 1, 2011 at 6:33 pm
I can’t speak for people in general, but this is the one thing that even now, after all this time, still bothers me.
Hannah, in general, is not an issue for me. I don’t begrudge Booth that relationship and I even mostly understand it.
But I do not – most definitely absolutely positively do not – buy the “he had to tell Hannah/they were a couple” trope.
Why, exactly? First, Brennan never asked him to dump Hannah for her. Ever. What she said, in a moment of personal crisis, was that she made a mistake, that she didn’t want to have any regrets. Did she mean for him to run home and kick Hannah out? Ehhhhhhh….I don’t think that’s something she would do. Frankly, I don’t think she was thinking that far in advance, moment of personal crisis and all. But, she definitely didn’t mention Hannah – at all. Booth did. Her response was a moment of acceptance, an “I missed my chance.”
And Booth took that moment of personal crisis and that moment of acceptance and, to make himself feel better, turned it into a “please be careful with Bones” moment with Hannah. No one will ever convince me that wasn’t a betrayal of everything in their (B&B) relationship up to that point.
If she’d made a pass at Booth, if she had actually tried to interfere in his relationship with Hannah, if Booth had any thought that Brennan might take action in the future that might harm his relationship with Hannah, okay. Fine. You’ve got to tell the new girl that.
But to take what this vulnerable, hurting woman told him in a moment of crisis, in a moment of confidence and sharing, and turn it into a “go easy on Bones” moment……ayaya.
I’m not Brennan and I’m not in love with Booth so I don’t have to forgive that. And if something like that happened to me personally, I’d never share something personal with the one who betrayed my confidence ever again.
July 1, 2011 at 1:27 pm
I agree with you absolutely. I think it it isn’t just that the other sees what they try to hide from the world. But that, at the very moments when they begin to doubt themselves, the other is there to remind them and support them. They make each other better people, better versions of themselves, by holding up a loving mirror. It isn’t always seeing the best in the person, but it is seeing all that they are and can be. This view point allows for growth and continued love, which is why I think any relationship built on this kind of MVQ are ones that are built to last.
July 1, 2011 at 3:58 pm
“They make each other better people, better versions of themselves, by holding up a loving mirror. It isn’t always seeing the best in the person, but it is seeing all that they are and can be.”
I love this. I believe this wholeheartedly about B&B. Booth and Brennan may not be all that and a bag of chips to anyone else, but they are to each other, and that’s what counts in their minds. Sarah mentioned at some time recently that they never set out to hurt each other, and I think that’s why they don’t get mad at the other person when they do get hurt. They know they still care about each other, so they can give their partner the benefit of the doubt and trust the person had good intentions, and I think that’s really important to them.
July 1, 2011 at 4:23 pm
Very nicely said. It’s also this understanding of what they are and can be that always allows them to see past the slights and the snippiness and leads them to forgive and forget over and over again.
July 1, 2011 at 4:26 pm
It’s also this understanding of what they are and can be that always allows them to see past the slights and the snippiness and leads them to forgive and forget over and over again.
I believe this is true, but for purely personal reasons it also irritates the heck out of me. Mostly because it means I’m never going to hear Booth apologize for running to Reporter Barbie with his creative interpretation of Brennan’s torn-from-the-heart confession to him. She (Brennan) has already forgiving him for it. Dammit.
July 1, 2011 at 4:37 pm
I agree with you MJ that it was irritating. But if we look closely, it’s like a game of ping-pong; there’s the “loser” comment, Hacker, Maluku, Hannah, more Hannah, etc. I find that this lack of resentment is partly what makes their characters so attractive, and it goes to their central goodness. It’s also peachy that they’re more forgiving than we are, otherwise there would be lots more work for Sweets to do-and that might get a bit irritating!
July 1, 2011 at 11:10 pm
MJ –
Mostly we’ll have to agree to disagree. I just don’t see it the same way that you and others do.
July 2, 2011 at 9:18 am
FWIW, I think 99.999% of BonesWatchingWorld agrees with you, Angelena.
Mostly, I just try to ignore how much that situation bothers me, but every so often, the nit gets picked. The rest of the time, I just sit in my corner muttering about how you’re all wrong! You’re all wrong! 🙂
July 2, 2011 at 3:06 am
I can’t add much to the MVQ question because I think you all covered it nicely. But I was just thinking about MJ’s and Angelena’s discussion. I was left thinking after MJ described why Booth telling Hannah upsets her.
I came to the fact that him telling Hannah about Bones confession still doesn’t bother me. He was in a tailspin. In other words, he was headed in a downward spiral with his relationship with Hannah. He freaked. He still had feelings for Bones so he felt the need to tell Hannah. I am with the people that said that once she turned Booth down the whole “What’s between us, should just be ours” went out the window. But again it was less about Brennan I think and more about Booth desperately trying to hold on to something that was slipping through his fingers. Holding onto it because it’s the right thing for him to do, because he had committed himself to Hannah. But again it was slipping through his fingers. As I believe, rynogeny has said, the proposal was an act of desperation. But that’s the beside the point. Maybe all of that is the reason I don’t have a problem with Booth telling Hannah that Brennan confessed that she has feelings for him. I don’t know, I just think about in a normal situation and the fact of the matter is that the person that you are dating is generally the one you tell everything to and for me if I had my ex tell me he still had feelings for me and get back together I am pretty sure I’d tell my boyfriend. I would see no reason not to because one it won’t hurt him because I very much would tell my ex no and two whatever used to be mine and my ex’s no longer applies. Granted it’s different from Booth and Brennan’s situation. They’re still friends. Albeit, they’re rather painfully, so. Really, I still think him telling Hannah was less about Brennan’s personal crisis moment and more about Booth’s own mini crisis (the fact that he still has feelings for Bones). Yep, a little selfish though rather understandable. In the long run, it didn’t have any lasting effects I think and he didn’t sit there and tell Hannah his and Brennan’s whole partnership in minute detail.
Oh yeah, there was just one thing that would have actually pissed me off if he had told Hannah. That would have been their coma dream. Yes, I called it theirs. She wrote it and he dreamed it/put the visuals to it. That was super personal for both of them also the whole baby thing with that. To me that dream connected them on a level that rarely others are connected on.
Sorry to have gone on so long. Hope some of it makes sense. Have a lovely weekend :D!
July 2, 2011 at 7:56 am
For Booth i think it’s her vulnerability. Not that he likes moments when she’s vulnerable, but that he loves that she allows herself to feel that way. Make sense?! LOL. The moments when her defenses come down and she allows her vulnerability to show…those for me are the moments when he can’t resist her.
Brennan…this is harder. What does Brennan see being Booths MVQ? I really don’t know…i’m going to have to think about it for a while! His strength…loyalty….his reltionship with Parker….he’s smokin’ hotness….i just don’t know!! LOL
July 2, 2011 at 8:38 am
While I, too, like Jade’s answer, if I had to come up with one quality…for Booth I think it would be Brennan’s courage. For Brennan…I think I’m going to say her ability to trust Booth. That’s all I’ve got.
July 2, 2011 at 9:56 am
MJ, I understand what you’re saying, and although I can’t say I completely agree with you, I understand your point of view. The reason I can understand you, is because Booth still had feelings for Brennan. We know that by the looks he gives her, and the things he says to her on several occasions. If he still feels something toward her, and his reasoning was he needed to be honest, then he should have told Hannah about his feelings too. By denying his feelings to her, he lied, by omission, and that makes what he did wrong.
July 2, 2011 at 3:31 pm
MJ, I agree with you, but could excuse his action, because of what in a dilemma he was in. But as Kimberly said, he should have told Hannah also about his feelings. But if we listen carefully, he said that Bones loved him, which sounds to me like the past and he got over his feelings too.
July 2, 2011 at 4:11 pm
This is why I should let sleeping nits lie, because thinking about it just gets me riled up again.
The thing is, Brennan DID NOT say she loved him. Technically, has either one ever said “I love you” to the other, except for that “atta boy” thing? I do believe they love each other, but they’re not big on saying it – at least where the viewers can hear it.
Here’s what was ACTUALLY said in the SUV:
SB: Maybe you just need a couple days off
TB: I’m alright now, except I…I made a mistake.
SB: No, I told you my opinion, I mean you got it right.
TB: Not everything. She died with regrets.
SB: Bones, everybody has regrets.
TB: I heard her, you know? Micah says that all we get are these dim static-y messages from the universe.
SB: Who’s this Micah guy?
TB: The night watchman. But he attends a lot of lectures. Anyway, the point is she never gave him a chance.
SB: Micah.
TB: No, no, the helicopter pilot. he offered himself to her but she never gave him a chance. That was her regret, I got the signal Booth. I don’t want to have any regrets.
SB: Yea. I’m with someone, Bones, and Hannah is not a consolation prize. I love her. The last thing I want to do is hurt you but those are the facts.
TB: I understand. I missed my chance. My whole world turned upside down. I can adjust.
SB: I did.
TB: Yes, you did.
And there’s a lot of tears and tormented expressions on both of their faces, etc. etc. etc.
What in that conversation is such a threat to Booth’s relationship with Hannah that he needs to let his girlfriend in on Brennan’s torment? What in that conversation says anything other than whatever we used to have or could have had is gone forever, one of us has already moved on and the other one agrees that she has to, as well.
And most especially, what the hell in anything she said gives Booth the right to come back with that #$@#@$*^*# “go easy on Bones” line when he and Hannah had their little tete-a-tete?
Frankly, everything I need to know about who was right and who was wrong is written all over Brennan’s face when Hannah sticks her neck out and says with that stupid pout, “He had to, we’re a couple.”
Ugh. I need a drink.
July 2, 2011 at 4:48 pm
Yes MJ the confession in the SUV was nothing which was that important for Hannah to know. There was no threat to her and Booth relationship. Unless Booth seeing Bones and Hannah being friends (whatever?) had the fear that Bones might tell Hannah about it. But I don’t think she would have done it, because she said later that she did not want to hurt them. But I still see Bones shocked face when Hannah told her that Booth had spilled the beans. Being partners and friends for so many years and trusting each other, I don’t know how I would feel if that happened to me. But I still like Booth!
July 2, 2011 at 5:08 pm
I apologize, Marle, if I seemed to be jumping on you. I wasn’t – promise.
I have a very visceral reaction to that particular situation, one that time and further study hasn’t lessened. Brennan, luckily, doesn’t see things the same way so I’m able to, mostly, put away my desire to wring Booth’s freakin’ neck and demand he apologize to her. 🙂
I like Booth, too. He’s all heroic and noble and stoic and reliable and trustworthy, etc. into infinity. A good black mark against him just makes him more interesting and real. Plus in my happy fluffy Boneseverafter world, now he gets to put a lot of effort into making it up to Brennan. All’s well that ends well.
July 2, 2011 at 5:32 pm
MJ, I rewatched the episode where he tells Hannah, and she askes him if he has feelings for Brennan, and he says no. That is such a lie. I think I am more angry about that than anything else. If he wanted to be Mr. Honesty, he should have told the truth.
We all know he has feelings for her. His reaction to Sweets when he askes him, shows us that. Besides, in the next episode he looks at her out the window with that longing look on his face. Then in the following episode he makes the comment about loving someone the most. What the Hell? If he is going to be honest he should be totally honest.
July 2, 2011 at 5:52 pm
Just to completely muddy the waters and prove that consistency is not anything close to my middle name, I’m not fussed at all by him telling Hannah he didn’t love Brennan.
In my opinion, by that point he didn’t know what he was feeling anymore. I think Brennan’s confession was his worst nightmare come true – she indicated she was ready for a relationship and he wasn’t available. I think he didn’t want to be in love with Brennan at that point in time, and his saying he wasn’t in love with her was as much about convincing himself as it was Hannah. And, his proposal a few weeks later was a direct result of his confusion over how he felt about Hannah.
For me, those are two separate issues.
July 2, 2011 at 6:43 pm
well, MJ, I think Brennan’s “She never gave him a chance/I don’t want to have any regrets” could be interpreted as “I want to give you/us a chance”, further underscored by her comment AFTER Booth says he’s with someone “I understand. I missed my chance.” The subtext for me is. “I understand (you are committed to Hannah). I missed my chance (it’s too late for us).
Now, Booth does NOT say he no longer has those feelings for Brennan. He says he’s with someone else. The dreaded “consolation prize” comment is something he pulls out of nowhere, because Brennan hasn’t even mentioned Hannah.
When Brennan says she’ll adjust (not get over him, just adjust) he says he did (not gotten over her, just adjusted).
So why does Booth tell Hannah? For his own sake! Because in that conversation, he just tacitly admitted he still loves Brennan and hasn’t gotten over her. He wants to assuage his guilt over HIS feelings, not Brennan’s, Every time Booth was faced with his continuing feelings for Brennan, he did something crazy with Hannah to keep from having to acknowledge them. The proposal was the most glaring example but I include telling Hannah about Brennan’s confession and asking H to live with him. I mean, he invited Hannah to move in with him casually, over the phone, something even Brennan knew was not the social norm!
I see all three examples as Booth’s way of trying to get Hannah to do what Booth cannot do, keep him away from Brennan! If Hannah knows that Brennan has feelings for Booth, then Hannah can be an intervening force. She might even say ‘hey, Booth, stop hanging out with your ex partner who’s still in love with you.’ Which gives Booth the chance to say ‘it makes Hannah uncomfortable. Sorry! It’s not that I can’t handle be around you because I still love you, Bones.’ (Of course the fact that Hannah was all *shrug* ‘whatevs! It makes me feel icky to talk about feelings. I’d rather get shot. tee-hee’ should have been a clue for Booth, but that’s another story)
Was it selfish? Yes. IMO, no more or less selfish than Brennan saying “dance with me” at her reunion. Starting to keep score between them would never lead to anyplace good.
July 2, 2011 at 10:01 pm
I don’t agree that it was selfish, but if you want to start comparing selfish, the most selfish thing of all was Bones asking to keep working together (and then abandoning the partnership). I’m not bashing Brennan, but what was the poor guy to do, knowing and caring for her the way he did?
July 9, 2011 at 11:28 pm
I really don’t see any great conflict with anything Booth did in that situation. He’s done things that aren’t “Boothy perfect” and you are right that Brennan has done things like asking him to dance and remain partners that were unfair to Booth. I just chalk it up to both of them are just trying to navigate the unchartered waters between friendship and something more…and sometimes things don’t go exactly right. But B&B is the endgame y’all…so ultimately, I can live with any “oops” we get here and there from our beloved duo!
July 2, 2011 at 9:54 pm
I still believe that he had to tell Hannah. If I had ever had a boyfriend and a “friend/partner” of his who he spends more time with than he spends with me told him this, I would want to know about it. Even if she won’t ever do anything about it. Even if, even if, even if. That would be a lie of omission to me. Yes, Booth should have told Hannah more before that, but given what we now know about Hannah’s real interest there, I don’t think she was all that interested in knowing anything all that important. She clearly had not made inquiries, but had taken what Booth said about the partnership at face value. But, that doesn’t negate Booth’s obligation to tell her about Bones’ confession. To me.
I’ve been on the flip side of this. I have had male work partners on several occasions. If anything along these lines had ever happened, I would fully have expected him to share this with the girlfriend/wife. I understand (granted Brennan may not, but that doesn’t negate Booth’s obligation) that any prior relationship issues and any current discussion thereof will be shared with their romantic partner. Work partner comes second at all times — especially when she has out and out rejected the romantic offer herself.
The only thing that Booth might have done is to point out to Bones that he would have to share this with Hannah, given that Bones might not fully appreciate that this would be necessary.
Also, I think that telling Hannah to go easy on Brennan was right. A lot of women might have said that they didn’t want him to keep working with her or gone and confronted Brennan. Neither would have been good for B&B’s work partnership. I think Booth did the best he could in the circumstances to be truthful to Hannah, but protect Bones and their partnership at the same time. That’s why he did kind of lie in saying that it was all in the past. That was an attempt to be truthful and yet allow Hannah to still believe that Booth now loved her and not Brennan in that way. Actually, he was lying more to himself: he, as Amber has said, was a wreck. He must have been massively conflicted by this development. Later developments (end of Sin) make it clear that he was.
As I said, we will have to agree to disagree on this.
July 5, 2011 at 1:26 am
Very nicely said. And said way better than I was able to.
July 2, 2011 at 10:14 pm
Now on the original point of the essay, and having read what everyone else had to say.
I think Jade said it best (and most succinctly): That he’s Booth and she’s Bones. I might rephrase it to: that he’s Booth-y. And, remembering the look on his face when he said it, quote Booth when he said to Hacker that that’s what makes her Bones. So, maybe the fact that no one can make her do anything she doesn’t want to is the MVQ because it’s who she is.
But, to some extent that begs the question. What is Booth-yness? What is Bones-yness? I think the comment to Hacker says it all and as it is kind of the sum of all the things about her, it is her MVQ to Booth: she is herself with all her quirks and inconsistencies, but she strides out there and makes no apology for being herself. And, that dazzles him.
For her, I think being Booth-y is very similar. He is who he is. She doesn’t always understand it, but she knows it is authentic and true and not posturing. She knows she can trust and believe him. She is more puzzled than dazzled, but she ends up loving him as he end up loving her.
So, I guess I think that it’s the same thing ultimately (as someone else has said — sorry for not referencing): despite what they don’t understand about each other, they know that who they see is who they see.