Rock the Vote 2011: Night at the Bones Museum Ending

It begins with B&B entering the Egyptian exhibit before it’s opened to the public. Quick shoutout to the BONES art department, who are great.

I’ve always liked the show SCRUBS, because I always feel like the writers and crew were always willing to give 100% into the set and props and stuff, even for a 30 second dream sequence, and I feel the same about this scene. SO much work went into it, and it’s only about 2 minutes long! Well done!

Also, well done BONES costume department!

Classy, classy, classy!

Booth is all prudish, in his way, though not about sex, but more about following the rules. They are NOT supposed to be down there!

 Brennan assures him that he’s with her; it’s fine. Except he shouldn’t step there!

Note the banner behind them regarding the exhibit that reads, “TRUTH PREVAILS!”

Booth, who you will remember from last week, already said that going to a museum was like ‘sleeping standing up’. Now, he’s saying “Wow, this is SO COOL!” I think Booth both adores and is intimidated by how smart Brennan is and just how awesome she is. Remember in the pilot when he tells Cullen “Oh, she’s amazing.” First of all…love that. But he just knows that she really IS that amazing. Sure, she can be full of crap sometimes, but he really finds her just beyond awesome. He also once told her that she was the only smart person he really liked, which I also just totally loved. I’m not explaining it perfectly, except to say that I kind of do believe that Booth might find (and still find) most museum exhibits to be boring. But in the context of Brennan, it’s so cool.

Yes, it is. Very cool. (Sidenote: I think Brennan shares that same sort of ‘intimidated/adoration’ feeling for Booth too.)

“So, sweetheart, how was your day at work today  he wasn’t trampled by his brother?” Booth asks.

Brennan tells him no, that Meti suffered from a brittle bone disease.

Booth, in sort of a cute move, leans over to examine the ruby found in Anok’s chest:

Note the straight tie.

And Brennan…she does the same to explain it even more. Super duper cute. Look at Booth’s face, too!

Brennan explains that Anok was innocent and that his mother was right.

And Booth says something very romantic. Or at least, I think it’s romantic. Maybe it’s just because it’s Booth saying it. OR maybe it’s because of the WAY he says it…not sure, but he says, “So it only took 3,000 years for someone to hear her.”

Come on, right? That’s just a huge compliment from him. He gives this little huff of breath that I translate to mean, “You’re unbelieveable, Bones”. And not in the way he says that when he really can’t believe her audacity, but in the way he means that he wants to have a squinty baby with her. Woot!

Brennan smiles and doesn’t explain very clearly that it’s impossible to ‘hear’ someone who has been dead for thousands of years. She gets his metaphor and likes it.

Booth continues, “You know, if I was Egypt, I’d throw you a party too.”

She LIKES his teasing! She’s so beautiful, I think. She’s just so natural in her pleasure, Brennan is. Emily Deschanel is just perfect at that. I know pal Marisa has said that she thinks it’s why ED doesn’t get nominated for stuff, because people don’t necessarily see that she’s ACTING as Brennan (their opinions, not Marisa’s!), which is just mind boggling to me (and her!). She’s SO deliberate as Brennan that it’s just remarkable, really.

Okay, moving on.

Brennan gets nervous and says, “I have to speak.”

“I hate these things” she adds.

I remember when I first watched this ep, I thought this part was out of character for Brennan. She hates giving anthropology lessons/lectures in public? SINCE WHEN!??!? That was my initial reaction, and I remember writing about that during the 100Days project. But people commented on that and made me see the light. It’s not that Brennan doesn’t like speaking, it’s more that she just doesn’t like fancy gatherings. I’ll buy that. What do you think??

Does Brennan seem out of character that she’s nervous about speaking (and therefore, it’s really just that the writers were trying to give her some sort of vulnerability so she could be more open with Booth in that moment), or is it legit that she would be nervous?

I’m interested in your thoughts, but I have to say that one thing that makes me NOW lean toward it being legit is that she doesn’t actually look at Booth much when she’s making her confession. In the span of about one second, she meets his eyes but looks away.

Booth, of course, can’t quite believe it.

“What are you talking about, Bones?”

Why Booth, what a straight tie you have!

And then we get the first step forward.

How does one step change everything? Okay, that’s a little dramatic, but…right? Every time I watch this scene, it’s like…whoa. Something is about to HAPPEN!

“You’re great at these things.”

And he reads something on her face that shows him that she might not be convinced, because he gets a little more serious.

“Listen,” he begins. “You changed history. How many people can say that?”

And yes, ANOTHER step forward. He’s kind of serious about it, which I like a lot.

“You can!” Brennan smiles.

She sort of laughs, and all her nervousness seems to be gone. Even if it’s not ‘love’ love…it’s still love. If utmost confidence is love, that is!

“Every arrest you make changes history; you make the world safer”

Oh, and did I mention that she ALSO took a step forward? I remember (I think!) in the pilot commentary (or some early interview) that Hart Hanson commented that when interviewing for the part of Brennan, there was part of the reading where Booth (Boreanaz) got close to Brennan, and when Emily Deschanel immediately took a step TOWARD him and not away, they knew she was a winner. Something like 99% of other actresses would have stepped back. Someone who knows more than me, please weigh in on that, but I think that’s correct!

I love that, and I love that in this scene, Booth and Brennan are both stepping closer toward one another. It’s like this invisible draw between them.

Remember that idea about Brennan being impressed by Booth? We see it here. Yeah, she just made an AMAZING discovery, but in her eyes, Booth’s daily work has the same value. I believe she’s genuine when she believes that the work he does changes history.

Booth sort of moves even closer and says, “With your help”

Awesome.

Oh, and remember when we said that Booth is sort of intimidated by Brennan?

I think that when she’s looking at him like she was, he’s thinking “me?” and immediately, that reminds him that he WASN’T her choice. He asks her, “So… Andrew? ” and he looks away

…before he looks back and says, “I thought you were going to take him to this thing? That’s what he told me.”

I love Brennan sort of weighing her words here.

“I was, yes, but…”

“You and I…this was our case.”

He takes another small step closer to her, and her eyes are ALL over him.

“What goes on between us…that should just be ours.”

“Isn’t that what you said?” she adds. Her voice is very low and husky and sweet, and her eyes!

 

SAID??? There are WORDS happening here? That’s what I always think Booth is thinking. Kind of like…um, yes, sure. I said that. I am sure I said that, and you’re saying it back to me, Bones. Yes. With words. And your mouth. Oh…your mouth. I should look at it.

No wait! This is BONES. This is…whoa (horse) Damn it! Look UP!

“Yeah” is what he says. Um yep, haha. Booth! Smitten! So smitten! She’s basically said he was RIGHT about something, and normally, he might see that as a major opportunity to brag or grin (remember in Sin in the Sisterhood, when he’s all cocky and swivels in his diner chair???!!!!!!), but he’s SO far gone on her that he can’t even register that she’s taken his side. I mean, he understands what she’s saying, that what is between them stays between them, but it’s like he can’t even get past her whole her-ness to even really comprehend it.

Maybe because she’s looking at him like this.

That is the look of a woman who is really saying, “Kiss me”. She’s SAYING “Isn’t that what you said”, but what her eyes and every thing about her is screaming is, “Kiss me,” Right? RIGHT???!!!

And Booth knows women. At least, on that level, he totally does. And he knows if a woman wants to be kissed. He knows SHE wants it, which is why he’s so stunned. I can just imagine him imagining moments where he’s presented with the opportunity to kiss her, and in his imagination, he’s a lot cooler than he is right now, haha.

They are just stunned by one another, and it’s gorgeous. Spectacular. Steamboats and apple pie and “I love it when you do that” and a few other fantasies probably all rolled into the reality of an actual moment actually happening. And they are SO CLOSE! The conversation is SO partnerly, but seriously, what’s NOT being said??!!!

It’s that kind of moment that I struggled with so much after the 100th, because I just couldn’t reconcile how Brennan went from this to her pushing him away when he wanted to give them a chance. And we talked about it during Brennan Week before season six aired, that I think Brennan…she just slipped. I think she DOES/DID want him (did we talk about this before recently?), and just could not keep it at bay. Again, not that her ‘rejection’ (can we think of another word, please?!?) was because she DIDN’T want him. She’s never said she didn’t want him. But I can just see her wishing every so often that she COULD be who she thinks he needs/wants. And in a moment like this, it’s almost like she can almost believe it herself. Does that make sense? We see this moment as INCREDIBLE forward movement (and therefore feel whiplash in the 100th), but Brennan would interpret this moment as a slip, backward movement. Right?

Booth…HE certainly believes it, and I think he would see it as forward movement, which is the sad and cruel irony.

Whoa.

Let’s just look at that for a bit.

That’s more than just eye ‘sex’ as some like to say occurs between B&B. That’s ‘eye 30,40,50 years’, right? At least, in Booth’s mind.

One of these days, I’m going to do a post (maybe a Top Five Tuesday) about the times Brennan (usually unwittingly) just completely reeled Booth back in when he was SO CLOSE to just being ‘done’ with her and his feelings for her. Not that he necessarily would have succeeded in the long run, but there have been times throughout the series where he’s been close, and every single freaking time, she says or does something JUST LIKE THIS…she’ll repeat his words, or knock on his door and say she wants to be the kind of person who can believe in love, or she’ll say that the sting of rejection is painful, or just…something, and he’s a goner all over again.

All. Over. Again.

Come on now!

Disney fans around the world are imagining a boat at night with swirling ripples in the water and singing creatures (especially a lobster) singing, “Come on and kiss the girl!”

I know I was singing saying that.

That’s why, even though Booth’s declaration to Brennan in the 100th felt rushed in some ways, it really sort of wasn’t, in the context of all of these smaller moments. I don’t know if Booth would ever think something regarding Brennan is a sure shot, but in that moment, if he’s weighing the evidence in the “hope” division of the “hope and patience” department, well…it’s gotta go in the “she likes’ me column, right?

Oh, and he really wants to kiss her. (Sing it, Sebastian!)

Sha-la-la-la-la; Don’t Be Scared!

And I don’t know about you, but I’ve never wanted to shoot a squint more than in the next moment.

Let’s blame Daisy, shall we?

Angela, if you even knew…you would not be smiling right now.

But you know…just when you think the mood is broken, Brennan and Booth manage to still keep it going.

I love that they look at one another immediately. It’s almost on accident, right? So many times, they sort of miss looking at one another during awkward moments (like when Dr. Wyatt is talking to them after Sully left, or at the end of Secret in the Soil, or during the baby discussion in Harbingers), but here they share this moment still.

It’s a little awkward, sure, but still special.

I love that they barely moved an inch!

And just like that, the moment isn’t over.

Booth sort of rasps out a “Thanks”, which just makes me smile a lot. And then, well…he’s not about to let HER be the only one who gets a little something, right?

We’ve been talking about that a lot lately, the idea of B&B giving themselves the PERMISSION to touch, to say, to feel, and Booth is allowing himself the permission, just like Brennan did. And yet, it also feels as if they literally could not physically NOT touch one another. As if the tension in the moment was SO strong it had to be released in a small way. Has that ever happened before or since, that it was so intense they physically could not resist touching? I can’t think of another, particularly mutual, time.

Booth did not really need his tie straightened, but Brennan REALLY did not need her hair…fixed or whatever. But I get it. Booth was just desperate to touch her somehow, in some way. And so he sort of just touched her hair. Instead of cupping the back of her neck and pulling her in for a dark and silky kiss that would lead to there being NOTHING between them except for…well, them, if you catch my drift!

So yeah, he settles for the hair and remembers what it was like to really be with her in the coma dream (right? He’s imagining that, right?)

Booth sort of clears his throat.

And they both turn to leave the room, keeping some distance between them.

Um, gorgeousness.

And on the way out, they are very confident. Brennan reminds Booth with one finger, not to step on the seal.

And Booth sort of lunges over it…very cute.

They join on the steps, and it’s impossible to catch in a screencap, but Booth adjusts his tie and then the scene fades to black as they walk up the steps, as if the moment didn’t actually happen.

But…that’s okay, because TRUE PREVAILS!

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