Good morning!
First of all, I don’t plan to do these retrospective posts every Monday, but for now…they seem to be working for me. We shall see what happens. For now, here are a few thoughts I’ve had in the past few days:
1. SJGR:
Back after Doctor in the Photo aired (Like 13 months minus a week ago), I was feeling raw, for sure, about Bones, and after Body in the Bag aired (you know the one–where it ends with Brennan and Hannah together at the bar drinking to their friendship), I was mad! Won’t get into all of that now, but the point is that I may have said something on Twitter that involved Hart Hanson’s name and a cuss word and a directive to “Fix this”. Maybe. (LOL, who am I kidding–I totally did that.) Some people agreed with me and some not, and sometimes I agree with what I did and sometimes not! But one particular response I received from someone was “The gloves are off”, and yes…I felt comfortable with that assessment. Since that moment, I wasn’t looking for a fight, but neither was/am I willing to declare something ‘good’ if I don’t believe it is. Rest assured that BT will still be a positive place to hang out–but I also hope that it’s as transparent and real as it is positive, if that makes sense. From an accountability standpoint, my objective for this year is to be as ‘credible’ as I know how. I’m also not planning to dwell or harp on issues I have with a particular episode *coughTopFiveTuesday-100TimesBrennanHadEmpathycough* Haha. I will not be doing that, no matter how badly I want to. I was telling pal BBMagic the other night that it annoys me that I’ve already spent so much time talking about what annoys me, ha! The point is this: the gloves are off in terms of loving/praising every single thing because it happens to be on the show. I’m not looking for a fight, but I can throw a few punches if needed, not that I plan to 😀
(PS…SJGR is an acronym created by pal Laffers for one of her fave phrases that “Stuff (ha!) just got real” If you can imagine a worse smelling word than ‘stuff’, then that’s it…)
2. The standard for The Standard
One thing that really stuck out to me this week was how annoyed I was (okay…just one more thing!) when anyone said “That was _______ (fill in with a negative adjective here: lame, low, clueless, awful), even for Brennan”. This is not a dis on anyone who did say something like that, and I am sure I have said things like that in the past. But for some reason, this caught me off guard—both how many times I felt like I saw it AND my reaction to it. I thought—isn’t a statement like that enabling/encouraging the writers to let Brennan act a certain way? As if to say “we expect her to fail in this way”. Of course, Brennan can have moments where she doesn’t do the right thing or doesn’t get some popular culture reference, but the “Even for Brennan” cap seems harsh to me, as if to say “she’s handicapped in this way, so we let it go, but really in this instance, she went too far”. And I was thinking “what’s the standard for the standard?” Is the expectation that she will ALWAYS fail in social situations? Not even ‘always’—even a statement like “More often than not, Brennan is likely to _________________ (fill in the blank: do the wrong thing, miss the whole point, say something inappropriate, take extra long to wrap her mind around relationship stuff) and this is expected” just…I don’t know, annoys me. Again, not a dis on anyone who has said that. But for me, I don’t want to have that mentality. I don’t want the relational expectation for Temperance “I never got a B and I never will” Brennan to be a solid C- or worse. All in all, I’m not going to say something like “let’s all not say stuff like that”, because you can say whatever you want ( no spoilers and nothing bad about a real person 😀 but other than that…), but let it be known that I will not be saying stuff like that. If I DO, then call me on it. Even I should know better (HA!). Same goes for Booth, of course, if I were to ever dis him by saying something was ” ____________, even for Booth”, let me know!
3. Booth/Sweets
I don’t know about you, but one thing I feel has worked is the level of episode involvement from Emily Deschanel. I of course don’t want her to have limited appearances in episodes, don’t get me wrong. I just meant that overall, I haven’t noticed any issues. While I don’t love all of the moments in each episode, I know the hot topic of having fewer episodes to compensate for her real life pregnancy also meant that Sweets might be in the field more, etc, etc. And so far…when it comes to the Booth/Sweets interactions–it’s totally working for me.
Again, when I was talking with pal bbmagic about it the other day, we were trying to figure out why it seemed to be clicking, and we decided (for now, haha) that it comes down to Booth’s confidence level. I agree with us (so generous!), that in this pairing right now, Booth is totally alpha and very, very comfortable with his situation. And that TOTALLY works. I’m sure this will be discussed more and more in the coming days. But for now, whether it’s the food scene in episode one:
Those hands, that mouth, that mental protuberance.
-OR-
The Jedi talk in Ep 2:
Is there something I should know?
Hmmm...what was it again? Oh yes, that I am awesome.
…it’s working. Thoughts from you?
Happy Monday!
Peace, Love & Bones,
~S
PS…just for a little Monday fun–let’s put it to a vote: Which is hotter, Booth and the pineapple from Man in the Wall-Season One, -or- Booth and the orange slice from Memories in the Shallow Grave- Season Seven? White Polo or White Dress shirt?!? 😀
Bones Theory 
November 14, 2011 at 8:30 am
Quick thoughts:
1. The Standard-I guess I’m having a hard time between wanting Brennan to be “Brennan” and wanting to see her character grow and change. And maybe that is hard for the writers to walk that line between those two dynamics. Can a person (who is a genius) really hang out with Booth and co. for 7 years and not be farther along developmentally…or is she just Brennan being Brennan? Can you grow, learn, and change, but still be fundamentally yourself? Hm…things to ponder…
2. Booth/Sweets-I think you said it perfectly. Instead of Booth being unsure of B&B and fending off Sweets, now he is Cocky Belt Buckle Booth, and can laugh off Baby Duck’s questions. (You’re screen cap of those two is perfection BTW!) I noted at one point in the premiere while they were walking and talking through the FBI office that Booth was laughing and talking with Sweets like friends/equal co-workers. It was kind of cool. Sweets is a good character to send to interrogations with Booth instead of Brennan…because while he is good at the psychological stuff, he is also rather squinty in his studies, processes, and prodigy like smarts. I am interested in seeing where it goes.
3. I voted for orange slice. Not because I dislike the white polo, because I definitely LIKE it…but because cocky, confident Booth eating dinner with Sweets is just awesome. But, RIP Sid.
November 14, 2011 at 8:47 am
First of all, I have never gotten orange slices from my local Chinese place so I’m wondering what I’m doing wrong? I like oranges, too!
Anyway, I think we have six years of history for the “…..even for Brennan” thoughts. I mean, we feel like we know Brennan, we know what her reactions should be so when something feels “off,” that’s sort of the best way to express it.
What bothers me is that we (viewers) have to go there. Don’t the writers watch the show they actually work for? If we need a psychological profile in order to explain every episode, that’s not very good writing. By this time, they should know Brennan’s character and they should stick to it.
RE: Booth/Sweets, it’s working for me. Or, I just can’t be bothered to worry about Sweets.
November 14, 2011 at 9:15 am
I also dislike when they have Brennan regress too much emotionally, however, and this is a big however, I can accept part of it now because of the pregnancy. I didn’t get pregnant until my 30’s, so my personality was solidly in place at that time, but during pregnancy I was a whole different person. For me it narrowed my scope completely and at times exaggerated traits that I had previously mellowed. I can (hopefully) see the writers as trying to portray Brennan as having old securities rise up and having her fall back on old defense mechanisms. For a person who is all about control, she is currently in a situation that is totally out of control (not just pregnancy but also being in a loving, potentially life long relationship). You throw in hormones and there is going to be some aberrant behavior. At least I hope that is what the writers are thinking!
November 14, 2011 at 9:17 am
interesting post – I’m enjoying these week-by-week observations! One of the things I love about Bones is both that there’s so much you can think about after an episode, but also that there is a good chance once the next one airs that you’ll have moved on to thinking about the next load of questions / thoughts / issues raised. It’s quite fast paced in that way, episodes rarely leave us with nothing to chat about and something that was important one week is long gone the next. That’s why it’s great to chat things out in real time in posts like this.
In answer to your questions:
1. SJGR – yes I think it has. The stakes are very high this season – they’ve changed the dynamic, it’s a shortened season, they’re navigating uncharted waters both in the on screen relationships and wider network TV tropes. They need to be on the top of their game – and episodes like 7.02, which barely deserves a place in canon, just aren’t going to cut it.
2. With regards to the ‘even for Brennan’ statements – do you find it annoying because she doesn’t deserve it? As in, we know she has more empathy / doesn’t always fail in those situations etc. Or are you annoyed because it inherently implies that most of the time people give her a pass for acting unreasonably / irrationally and so the writers have her do it more? It’s a bit of both for me – I know she isn’t as clueless or cold as the writer’s would sometimes have us believe. I also think people sometimes forgive her for things that are totally out of line. (I’m still mad at her (read: the writers) after last week. A friend of mine watched 7.02 with me, knowing how much I love the show, but never having seen it before. She said along the lines of, ‘really? He loves her because…? I don’t get it, she’s horrible to him’. THAT made me mad with the writers.)
3. Booth and Sweets – some of the best scenes this season so far. I think you can tell DB and JFD really enjoy working together. That stuff where they were getting the wrong end of the stick with the husband was hilarious. Both of their facial expression just spoke a thousand words. I can live without the ‘Sweets-asks-questions-about-B&B-and-Booth-shoots-him-down’ scene every week though. Either have Booth share, or have Sweets stop asking, it’s annoying and those moments of dialogue in and of themselves don’t achieve anything.
ps: I voted for Pineapple – there’s just something about young-Booth in the polo that = ‘yes please indeedy.’
November 14, 2011 at 9:36 am
2. I would have expected Booth to be one to go with her to the doctor (or to know her doctor’s appointments) and the fact that he didn’t and the fact that Brennan’s mind immediately went to “I want to have intercourse” when she was channeling Booth says something about their dynamic, not just Brennan.
Obviously, she has greater understanding than she was given with Booth– she was listening in on her child’s heartbeat while she was working, And she was dead-on with Finn about his motivation for being a forensic anthropologist and her understanding of his position. Great, great character moments for Brennan.
I can see how Brennan would not put a great emphasis on the gender of the child– the greater experience for her is in her uterus. Why she and Booth never connected on that point before the test is up for debate, I’m not going to guess. People can bash Brennan or the writers, but this could go to Booth as well– is he taking a hands-off approach to the pregnancy or is he involved or is Brennan shutting him out?
3. The Sweets/Booth dynamic is fine because Sweets is being shut down every time he brings up Booth and Brennan which tells me Booth is confident in his relationship with Brennan– they can fix things. We saw Booth go it alone a lot last season and Sweets was more involved as well, so it’s not too noticeable. I like that Sweets doesn’t have all the answers either. He sometimes sticks his foot in his mouth just like Brennan might.
November 14, 2011 at 10:08 am
Roxane, I can tell you from personal experience (and that of my friends): most men are utterly clueless about women’s ob appointments, especially since there are so many of them. If you don’t tell them, they don’t know; it’s just how it (generally) works. Still, you would have thought they would have discussed whether they even wanted to find out and the particulars of the sex or how this would have happened.
November 14, 2011 at 10:31 am
I remember DB tweeting when they filmed episode Hotdog in the Competitions that Booth “likes Blue” so I was expecting some type of discussion where Booth just assumed they were having a boy. From that I could have seen a conversation where Booth expressed some concern about raising a girl….he knows what he’s doing with a boy but a girl….that is different. We didn’t get that. I don’t know if something was cut of if that was just DB’s interpretation.
November 14, 2011 at 11:34 am
The other side of the coin is that we don’t know how involved Booth was in Parker’s life pre and post birth. It’s easy for people to fall into the fan fiction device of Booth being perfect-Papa or re-living what could have been with Parker through Brennan and their baby. Yes, I would expect them to have talked about some of this– but the fact that they didn’t either is meant to be a contrast between A&H, a statement about B&B, or a failure in the writing.
I think if the big problem between them was Brennan revealing the sex of the child and Booth wanting to keep it secret, that would have played better with fans, but with less conflict. Or Brennan choosing to go to a financial planner without Booth and he gets a bit snarky about it. I get the impression that Brennan isn’t exactly expecting Booth to stick around for her or the baby and she’s making her own plans without him. If that’s the case, that would be angsty drama, but it would be consistent with her character.
November 14, 2011 at 10:01 am
My problem with how Brennan seems to be written now compared to earlier seasons is that her oddities seem to be magnified a hundred fold. When compared to how she was initially developed as a character, in seasons one through three, she could carry on in a conversation and sound some what normal. She had this rapid fire dialogue that she could fire back and forth with Booth. Their dynamic together exploded on screen because she acted and sounded like this fierce smart intelligent woman. I don’t get that anymore from her as a character. Now she just says something stupid and gets this annoying look on her face. It really bothers me. I just watch ‘The Truth in the Lye’ and I don’t recognize the Brennan they now write when compared to that Brennan. As a viewer, I think they started out attributing her oddities to her past in how she was written. I now see her as a character that has a disability that won’t ever allow her oddities to change her actions. She isn’t the same character anymore.
November 14, 2011 at 10:02 am
1. Like I stated earlier, at this point I’m willing to give the new season a break, especially since I was so happy about the premiere. That being said, Brennan’s whole attitude about the ultrasound and Booth’s general involvement with the baby was definitely off this time. Her behavior in the Memories ep was understandable because she has previously thrown in his face the fact that she makes more than him (methinks it being brought up so often indicates issues ahead) and I can also totally see her having problems with buying a house in this economy and not wanting to make such a radical change in her life with everything else that’s going on. Not inviting him to the the all-important ultrasound without a decent reason? Don’t get this one. It wasn’t the premise itself that bothered me, but the execution. Like Sarah brought up, if they had couched her seemingly unfeeling attitude in other terms like keeping things that affect her body to herself or being able to retain a measure of control over her life now that she is so intimately tied to Booth, I could have understood. The cavalier reasons she gave though were definitely a WTF moment, and up to the closing scene I kept thinking there was going to be more to it than we thought. But there wasn’t., and I did have a problem with it. Another “unreal” thing: when Boooth didn’t make a bigger deal out of it. I know they can’t have him getting angry at her every day, but this was pretty darn big and shouldn’t have been glossed over so quickly. Plus, how did following Booth around (which she does all the time) relate to the end “lesson” of being in his shoes? Sloppy plot development. Re what MJ said, the fact remains that the epsiodes are written by disparate people who may not even be all that careful about following the show. Still, shouldn’t there be a careful reading by someone intimately familiar with the story line to check for blatant incongruities (producers, anyone?!!!) On occasion it feels like the actors and their ability to give depth to the writing are the only things that make the transition from one ep to the next and preserve continuity.
Loving the Sweets/ Booth interactions, though. Booth’s alphaness about his relationship with Brennan in the face of Sweets’ curiosity has been great. I honestly feared that Sweets would become an Ann Landers for Booth at every B/B disagreement, and I’m glad this hasn’t been the case. I’m no longer rolling my eyes at Sweets’ intrusions, and having him put in his proper place by Booth has definitely made his character a lot more likable for me. The constatn doctor/patient interactions before were not my favorite, so very happy here. Plus, slightly domineering Booth is very attractive (hmmm….wonder what that says about me…) Moving on.
Orange, because a guy who after eating said orange jumps out of his chair and runs to the aid of his beloved like a bat out of hell is hot, hot ,hot!
November 14, 2011 at 10:04 am
I voted for orange Booth because of the holster. And, because we know he’s about to go totally Boothy to rescue Bones.
November 14, 2011 at 10:15 am
I just think that its pretty clear something was “off” last week, because its produced so many comments about it. Both boards I check have been commenting on it non-stop since Thursday. And many of us were in such a squee-happy mood from the premiere, that small breaches of character would be forgiven…so to me this speaks of something being off. Some have said the extended scenes from 7×02 showed more humor and explanation in the Hodgins/Finn interactions, which were edited out of the final product. So, OK, I can forgive Hodgins a little bit on that one. But I am still having a hard time with her not including Booth in the ultrasound because the screen quality was bad and he likes better pictures in his movies…I mean, What???? I just…don’t even….haha 🙂
(And that’s what I like about this blog, is that some people can love something, others can question it, and we can all state our observations without being attacked. I just wanted to say how awesome that is 🙂 )
November 14, 2011 at 1:24 pm
It would be very nice if Season 7 dvd contained an extended version of this episode. That would answer a lot of questions I bet.
November 14, 2011 at 10:24 am
Oh, one thing I really did like about this episode was Booth’s comment when he mentioned the “walk in my shoes” experiment. Something like, “because you know me well enough to do that, right?”
Regardless of how badly the writers play Brennan’s on/off cluelessness, the dynamic between B&B is so easy now. Even when they’re disagreeing, even when someone (i.e., Brennan, because it’s always Brennan) says something that insults/hurts the other as happened last week, it is so obvious that B&B are solid. They’re solid and they’re talking to each other about what the other (Brennan) does wrong.
The walk-in-my-shoes thing was totally played for laughs, which is a little disappointing considering the depth they could have gotten from that subject but on the other hand, as “Booth” Brennan thinks about sex all the time . . . because Booth thinks about sex WITH BRENNAN all the time, ergo ipso facto Colombo Oreo BOOTH AND BRENNAN HAVE SEX ALL THE TIME.
Am I fangirling? Why, yes, I am.
November 14, 2011 at 10:35 am
You go, fangirl!
November 14, 2011 at 1:26 pm
It’s a simple syllogism!!
November 14, 2011 at 10:50 am
I agree, because it IS fun to know they are totally burning the sheets up (and I also laughed that she mocked his one-handed driving, etc)– except that it wasn’t necessarily mockery and was played all under the idea of Brennan needing to learn empathy.
It’s like…okay, that is funny, and you are right, they ARE very easy with one another– just didn’t work in this context for me.
November 14, 2011 at 10:57 am
For me, one of the things that made the ‘walk in my shoes’ thing disappointing for me (except for the Oh, Sex! bit) was because that’s all it really was, the fangirling/squee/sex part. It could have been so much more. If you’re (writers) going to put Brennan in Booth’s shoes, give us something real. Something emotional. Something that shows how Brennan got from “the baby’s genitalia are female” to “Oh, you’re happy,” at the presentation of the DVD.
It was sort of like being invited to dinner by Emeril and being served Domino’s pizza. I like Domino’s but I expected more.
November 14, 2011 at 11:48 am
You know what would have been great? A good old fashioned bicker over that seat belt! She says she won’t wear it, since she’s being him, he says she absolutely must (what about the baby!) which then would turn into a bicker over driving…I can just imagine it!
November 14, 2011 at 8:52 pm
A seatbelt conversation SHOULD have happened. I mean, really. Brennan could certainly site highway safety statistics about deaths that result from not wearing a seatbelt. I don’t care how fast Booth thinks he is, people die in car accidents due to not wearing a seatbelt. Brennan could say something along the lines that she would like to keep Booth around and wearing a seatbelt could help! or that he is now a father of two children and he can’t be careless like that or whatever! I mean, really, what is the deal with the seatbelt?
November 16, 2011 at 12:25 am
That last part was almost a coffee-spewing moment here!
November 14, 2011 at 10:29 am
What it seems like to me is that the writers/producers have been told that humor sells and the cheapest way they are able to think of to generate humor is to make Brennan clueless. In these two episodes we’ve seen the smart, sharp Brennan interspersed with the WTF Brennan. But the OMG awful Brennan of last season has at least disappeared. No more lame jokes and braying laughter. I’ve enjoyed both episodes and love Booth shutting down the constantly nosey Sweets. Using Sweets as a confidant last season showed just how desperate both Booth and his writers were. Nothing in a tv show will ever be perfect but this season is so much better than anything that has been done since the middle of season 5 that I am fully enjoying what is going down. And any piece of fruit that Booth wants to tee up is fine by me.
November 14, 2011 at 10:34 am
I just don’t get it: like the timelines, Brennan’s emotional and social capabilities have waxed and waned as it suited the show. [Don’t get me started on her pop culture knowledge. What American kid (and she had 15 years of normal, middle-class kid-hood) doesn’t know about the get out of jail free card?]
When I think of s1 Brennan, I immediately think of her blurting out inappropriate things that Booth has to try to stop. Ex: talking to Cleo’s parents and Brennan starting to tell them how brutally she died. S7: Brennan is still blurting stuff out — about the baby being a girl in the middle of a gross crime scene to Hodgins without having told Booth.
I also think (and remember I HATED, truly HATED, early s6), that HH and SN are fully aware of what is going on, and they don’t have a problem with the continuity of Brennan’s character. Maybe they’re missing something, but if I have to accept the necessity of s6, then I have to accept the necessity of s7e2 and whatever happened between B&B therein. Sorry about the therein.
I’ve never been pregnant, but I have been very close to two women during their pregnancies, and I do know about monthly hormonally drive personality and emotional changes. My point being that you can get the Jekyll and Hyde thing. For someone like Brennan, who is all about controlling her emotions, this has got to be overwhelming. So, she reverts back to form until she sees that Booth is upset, and then she tries to figure out what’s wrong. That last part is the proof of her growth. S1 Brennan would have been pretty much incapable of doing that. Remember the argument outside the Eller home about lying or not.
We are seeing enormous growth now: nearly everything with Booth is completely new territory and she’s getting there. The path may not be as straight as some might like, but it would be boring (and not Brennan) if she flew through all these changes like they’re nothing.
Yeah, e2 wasn’t perfect, but it is way better than anything that happened last fall.
Loving Booth and Sweets.
November 14, 2011 at 10:39 am
2. I just can’t get past the suspicion that Brennan’s ‘regression’ in this episode was purely a plot device to get us to the sweet final scene. Whether or not she told Booth about her appointment or he didn’t ask her is moot I guess, but for heaven’s sake was she not around when Angela had HER scans, and surely she would have been witness to Jack and Angela going all mushy over those pictures – THAT is not something either of them would have kept to themselves – why would they? Also, without a shadow of doubt. Angela would have made a point of showing them to ‘Auntie Temperence’. It is a totally unrealistic scenario, very unfair to Brennan’s character, and I hold the writers entirely to blame.
3. Sweets seems to be less annoying so far this season – but I wonder if we are going to witness a complete character regression with him too at some point, just to fit into a dubious storyline.
I voted for pineapple (and the tennis shirt) mainly because there was an emotional impact to that scene as I was feeling very sorry for Booth in that moment.
November 14, 2011 at 11:10 am
I think you hit the nail on the head; the sweet scene at the end was probably concocted first and everything else made to fit around it, however awkward it was to get there. Still, I can live with the new season, and I definitely love how easyand natural B/B are around each other-it makes the rest worth putting up with. Besides, every season has a few lemons-or oranges, as the case may be. I’ll just be replaying my favorite parts in this one.
November 14, 2011 at 11:55 am
I didn’t actually think the final scene was that sweet. Normally, I can forgive a lot in an episode if the final 3 minutes are big / cute / sexy / important enough, but this time they’d done so much damage in the first 41 minutes and irritated me so much, it couldn’t possibly be brought back in the last scene. I actually paused it with 20 seconds to go because I couldn’t believe that was seriously how they were ending it.
Also, I had issue with the fact that this was meant to be Brennan’s big apologetic gesture but it was nothing more than what Booth had every right to be present for in the first instance. Showing him the DVD is nowhere near enough in my opinion.
There might be an argument that Booth wouldn’t necessarily want / need to be present at every Dr’s appointment, which I could buy at a push. However, nothing will convince me that Brennan would genuinely consider finding out the sex of her child as so insignificant that she tells Sweets first. SWEETS! I love Sweets, but this is the woman who last week wouldn’t so much as let Cam help her out. Last week they were developing a strong ‘Brennan and Booth are a super private couple’ theme. This week, that’s out the window and Sweets and Hodgins know before Booth that he’s having a girl. (Technically, she didn’t even tell Booth, he just overheard her tell Hodgins!)
‘Even for rational Brennan’ (sorry sarah ) it doesn’t make sense that she wouldn’t think the gender of their child is significant. Anthropologically speaking, cultures have placed huge importance on whether a woman bears a son or a daughter for thousands of years.
In my mind, what would have worked better is Booth and Brennan having discussions about finding out the sex of the baby ahead of the birth – let’s say Brennan wanted to know and Booth didn’t, she says that rationally it makes sense to find out so they can make the necessary preparations but he wants it to be a surprise because it’s more exciting.
The episode continues and they squabble about it, but in the end they agree that because she can read ultrasounds and so will know the sex as soon as looking at it, she’ll go to the ultrasound alone so as not to give it away before he’s ready.
Then, the closing scene of the episode is him saying he doesn’t want her to have to do all the preparation in secret and that they should both know, because they’re both involved and she then shows him the DVD and uses her medical expertise to guide him to figuring out it’s a girl for himself. Cue delighted smiles, belly rubs, a kiss and fade to black.
That might be corny well trodden ground, but I don’t care, I’d have preferred it because there would be actually REASONS behind what happened to get them to that final scene and they’d have got to the same moment without trampling the characters we love.
November 14, 2011 at 11:59 am
Sophia, I love your take on it. To have them debating on whether they should find out the sex of the child before or wait would be a great way to go. And then maybe have her be worried about whether Booth would prefer one over the other, and then he could give her a reassuring smooch and kiss that he would love any child they had 🙂 Squee! haha But seriously. There were better ways to combine ultrasound + conflict than what they did. Just IMHO! 🙂
November 14, 2011 at 10:42 am
The Booth and Sweets dynamic has been GREAT. Booth seems very confident/content. He knows things aren’t going to be easy with Brennan but we learned in Hotdog that he doesn’t want things to be easy,right? Right. Booth KNOWS Brennan loves him and he loves her, even if it’s not rational, and I think that is the anchor for a lot. He isn’t protesting too much. He isn’t trying to overly convince Sweets things are all peachy. He’s steady. That’s hot.
As for Brennan…. I just REALLY hope that one area where “cluelessness” may be explored isn’t manogamy. I also hope that she IS a loving mother and not struggling with loving her child.
My vote is for orange slice Booth in Shallow Grave – he didn’t eat the orange in Hotdog. White Shirt. Holster. Confident/in-love Booth. LOVE all of it!
November 14, 2011 at 10:50 am
OOPS! My mistake. I fixed the post and the poll. Thanks for pointing it out! 🙂
November 14, 2011 at 10:53 am
love the fangirling MJ 🙂 I like the insinuation that Brennan now knows that Booth ‘enjoys sex at any time’ (we the audience knew this, thanks to Tessa, Rebecca and Hannah but it’s cool Brennan does now too)
It’s a sneaky way of dropping that knowledge in without showing us any of it dammit! ha, they still know how to keep the audience hanging. I do think they should rack it up another couple of notches though, they barely had any physical contact in ep 2.
For me, a real highlight of both episodes has been David Boreanaz’s performances. There have been several beautifully nuanced moments – including; his expression in the kitchen when she was squinting him, his reaction when she said he must have run into traffic, the flicker of awareness across his face when she said she didn’t think of anyone else to call but him, the inflection when he told Sweets to ‘stop’ after the weiner comment cracked me up and his expression when he said ‘now, I’m frustrated’ – all have been brilliant moments. I think his performances have really been a highlight so far this season and hope that continues because it’s great. Maybe he’s always been this good and I just forgot over the looooong hiatus, but I think there’s something about the new dynamic that really allows him to bring his A game.
November 14, 2011 at 11:08 am
Just had to add:
s1 Brennan: Jesus equated to a zombie
s7 Brennan: God called a sociopath
Talk about excellent dialogue!
November 14, 2011 at 11:51 am
God as a sociopath and “All I know is that I don’t want him babysitting our child” (or something to that effect) – COMPLETELY Brennan. They got that one right. 🙂
November 14, 2011 at 11:56 am
Pregnancy can mess with you. I’ve decided that Brennan is just over compensating for what she can’t control. Do I love it? Nah. But I can handle it.
I actually liked Booth’s reaction. They had obviously discussed that the u/s was an emotional thing for him, so because the financial thing is practical, she didn’t see the need for him to be included. Instead of getting annoyed he tried a different explanation. Inclusion, as opposed to emotiona, practical etc. She’s trying, he’s trying and this is still fairly new territory. It feels like it shouldn’t be, but it is. I’d prefer slightly better written bumps along the way, but with distance I dislike the episode less.
Sweets and Booth? Love it. I do. I too think it’s Booth’s confidence. It’s fun to watch Booth head Sweets off at the pass.
Orange. No doubt. I’m a sucker for a guy in a tie…and a holster.
November 14, 2011 at 2:35 pm
The truth is that many of these issues probably would have been discussed in the real world, but in the world of Bones, they’re so busy solving murders and thinking about intercourse, that they don’t really have time to deal with them. I liked so much about the episode I’m fine with the pregnancy bumps along the way even if they are a bit odd.
November 14, 2011 at 3:39 pm
And probably in RL some of these things would have been discussed and done already. But imagine after the hiatus, they came back with a new place, they already knew the gender, a name was chosen, and etc. They didn’t really have much say in how far along Brennan would be when the season started, so I think it’s just that they are letting us see them make some of these decisions because of all the other things we missed.
November 14, 2011 at 4:21 pm
haha 🙂
November 14, 2011 at 12:56 pm
1. SJGR
When you are considering your “top 100 ways that Brennan shows empathy” post, you might want to consider the differences between having empathy in a professional setting, having empathy with friends, and how one’s personal issues may interfere with having empathy. I find it is much easier to have empathy professionally, than when my own s**t is in the way.
3. As a rule, Sweets doesn’t work for me, but as long as Booth keeps pushing him back, I’m good.
November 14, 2011 at 1:54 pm
I love the oranges, I really do. But I had to go with the pineapple because of that profile. Swoon.
November 14, 2011 at 4:32 pm
Tototally unrelated except for how good Booth looks with both a pineapple and an orange, but check out the behind-the-scenes (not too spoilerish) photos for the Prince in the Plastic at Bones Spoilers Blog. Be forewarned; your heart may skip a beat at DB in that vest. Still recovering…
November 14, 2011 at 5:09 pm
Haha Maria, I know precisely which photo to which you refer…I stumbled across it earlier this evening and I think I might actually have stopped breathing for a moment. (These things should come with health warnings)
So so soooo hot. Like ridiculous. How can any one person actually look that good? It baffles me. Either way, I am praying he smiles like that in the actual show and not just behind the scenes, because that is a killer look on him.
November 14, 2011 at 6:15 pm
It is sort of criminal to look that good-and yes, I too hope that smile makes it into the episode!
November 14, 2011 at 8:35 pm
Oooooh, yeah. Booth always looks hot at the firing range and it looks like that trend is going to continue. Yowza. I’m hoping that once little BB arrives we get a glimpse of Brennan initiating some kisses with Booth or asking for his assistance “sexually” cause, really, it would be criminal for her not to want some of that. I mean, can we blame Brennan for not wanting a television in their bedroom.
November 15, 2011 at 2:37 am
Fanning self wildly.
About to s
w
o
o
n
There really should be some sort of warning label on pix like that! ;-D
November 14, 2011 at 4:58 pm
I am loving your posts :)!
As for my vote, that holster gets me every time. Drool…
November 14, 2011 at 4:58 pm
I am loving your posts 🙂
As for my vote, that holster gets me every time. Drool…
November 14, 2011 at 5:24 pm
My best friend just watched episode two and after I had explained my issues with it, she said ‘I don’t understand why they’ve reverted Brennan back about 4 seasons, but also – you were spoiled in the premiere and now you want it that perfect all the time’.
I pouted. Is that true?
November 14, 2011 at 7:34 pm
I think it has something to do with it. I know it does for me. I have to rein in my expectations in that regard. After all, there are still viewers who aren’t all that invested in B&B.
November 14, 2011 at 6:05 pm
I was just looking at the pineapple and orange images above (no particular reason, they’re just pretty) and I noticed that it looks like Booth’s changed his watch at some point over the seasons. Can anyone remember when the one he’s wearing in S7 appeared? I only ask because I vaguely remember DB saying once that along with the character traits Booth has such as always having a Zippo, dice and a poker chip in his pockets (I love it in a scene when you can see the outline of the Zippo. Not that I spend episodes looking at his trousers, obviously, but I like knowing those character traits are always observed regardless of whether DB plays with the props on scene)
Anyway – DB said that as part of the prep for getting into the Booth character, he puts the items in his pockets and puts Booth’s watch on. The watch has something inscribed on it, and DB asked HH if he could say what it was, and HH said no, they might use it in a scene one day.
That would be cool. I wonder what it is. Maybe something from the military? Or maybe it belonged to Pops.
November 14, 2011 at 8:55 pm
I think Booth has his “dress watch” the retro-style watch he wears while he’s in a suit and then he has a casual “sports watch” that he wears when he’s in more casual dress. The only time I think that varied was in Hero in the Hold when he wore a different type of watch when he was in the tux, one that Parker bought him. I remember reading reviews that said that was odd that Booth mentioned that watch and then it never even played a part in the story. Oh, well.
November 14, 2011 at 9:49 pm
Camcat, if I remember correctly, I think it did play a small part; he used it to help him get out of the minisub right at the beginning. After that, though, nothing. Maybe it wasn’t water-proof?
November 14, 2011 at 6:18 pm
I just viewed the Brennan photo where she dreamily was listening to her daughter’s heart beat and I am wonder, in what universe, the writer’s thought it was a good idea to have her exclude Booth from the ultrasound? One thing we all know about Booth is that is loves being a father. I an still having a WTF moment.
November 14, 2011 at 7:23 pm
Well, there is much debate on the ultrasound being an emotional vs. medical moment. And we don’t even know if Booth has expressed how he wants to be a part of things in an explicit manner. We can theorize that he did, but there’s no canon to verify that. And that scene came later in the episode, when we know she had all that time to reflect on Booth’s feelings. That could have been what led her to show him the DVD.
November 14, 2011 at 9:04 pm
After re-thinking this episode I still can’t overlook the problems with it. Even if Brennan didn’t know she was going to have an ultrasound that day or Booth didn’t go to any appointments, she still would have known that he should be the first to know (and would want to know) the sex of the baby (what’s ours is ours). My (now ex) husband didn’t go to any of my OB appts (that was less common waaaay back then) because we decided together not to find out the gender either time. We still discussed in private how the appt. went.
I like Sophia’s scenario above of how this could have been handled better. In my head, the scenario could have been: Episode opens with Brennan getting ready to go to the appt and they are discussing it and Booth intends to accompany her (or at least knew about it). Then they get the call for the case, so Booth goes to the crime scene with the understanding she will meet them there. And then Brennan pulls him aside as soon as she gets there to tell him it’s a girl. They still could have followed up with a sweet end scene of the ultrasound but it would have shown they are in this together. Maybe Brennan doesn’t trust Booth as much as we’d like to believe. Or maybe she was downplaying the news because knowing the gender makes it seem more real to her and she is scared.
The financial planning thing didn’t bother me as much because it hadn’t happened yet. She was only setting up the initial appt as far as I remember. Also, at this point, it is her money and she has financial people she already trusts so that makes more sense to me than her not realizing Booth would care whether it’s a boy or a girl. I’m assuming she would have him review the trust before she signed it (and maybe they would be including Parker in it!)
Thanks for great pictures above — I’d like to vote for both the pineapple and the orange but if I had to choose, I guess I choose orange since I like confident, take charge Booth with the shoulder holster. The pictures and everyone’s comments put me in a better mood about all this so I thank you.
November 14, 2011 at 10:19 pm
Here’s something that gives me some comfort per the ultrasound thing…. I believe Booth was the first person Brennan told about the pregnancy. In Mastadon, Angela tells Brennan she is pregnant before telling Hodgins. Now, Brennan may have told Angela she was pregnant before she left Angela’s hospital room but….I choose to believe she did not. I’ll take Brennan telling Booth about the pregnancy first over the sex of the baby any day. We don’t know how the revealed the pregnancy to the team but I’m thinking they did it together in some way because Booth was kind of surprised that she announced the baby’s sex “in public”
November 14, 2011 at 9:55 pm
Hey guys,
Um I thinkthis is my second time posting here ( the last time was like a year a ago hehe * blushs*) but I really just wanted to add into this discussion
1) Yes this show is not perfect. Amazing, wonderful, stupendous… yes but not perfect. The thing is is that I don’t think there will ever be a time in the entire fandom where everyone is going to be happy with how the show is going. Admittedly right now i’m not. But this is my favorite show and it is amazing, wonderful, stupendous so I’m going to hang in. Which I bet all of you are too. So lets keep are heads up guys. I mean unless we see some tall, skinny, and blond I’m pretty good. We’ve already gone through the worst so lets all just enjoy the other side ( I realize now i’m starting to sound a bit like i’m preaching… believe me not the intent)
2) Temperance Brennan: Oh dear, the progression ( or degression) of her character sometimes is enough to make me want to pull my hair out. The thing is is that the writers canno fix what they’ve done so I’m just going to role with the punches
I know theres a third but I’m super tired… can’t wait for tommorrows post
November 15, 2011 at 12:00 am
Response to #3. I agree. I can honestly say it didn’t even cross my mind that Sweets was in the field more than usual w/Booth due to Bones pregnancy……..which either goes to show you how dense I’ve been lately or…that the dynamic actually works between Booth & Sweets. I’ve enjoyed their scenes together. I adore Booth right now because his character is just so ON. I’m trying not to be overly analytical about what he’s saying or doing….he’s just charming me to pieces these days….so I’ll just take whatever he’s dishing out.
November 15, 2011 at 12:39 am
The :”even for Brennan” comment made me think of Booth’s words in the premier: “We’re a family. Even you should know what that means.” I watched that for the first time in the sneak peeks and thought, “WTH is that supposed to mean?” That was a low blow…even for Booth (the same man who implied Bones had a ‘missing link’ in that season premier I’d rather forget.)
I will continue to watch every episode of Bones religiously until it goes off the air. I’m far too invested to quit now. Besides, I figure if too many viewers bail this season, it will just reinforce the stupid “Moonlighting Curse” myth and I refuse to be a part of that. But, I honestly felt sad after this last episode…couldn’t help thinking how much better it could have been. Then I watched the Brennan of early seasons and thought, “Oh, I really miss her.” That’s the Brennan I wanted to see in a lasting, monogamous relationship with Booth. She gave as good as she got from him (better usually). She challenged him with her way of thinking that was different, but just as valid. You can’t convince me that this Brennan would think “You like your movies in color” is a valid argument for keeping a man from watching the ultrasound of his kid.
I voted for Pineapple Booth, because, although I really enjoyed the s7 premier, s7 episode 2 left me feeling very nostalgic for the early days of the show.
November 16, 2011 at 4:21 pm
Pineapple. However, if orange Booth would lose the tie and that pesky top button I really don’t think I would be able to make a decision.