Hello there, fellow Bones fans. As we pass the midpoint of the extended hiatus, I think there is some value in reflecting on parts of the past year before we move ahead to Season 7. I was thinking of the way Hart Hanson has made some foreshadowing with the Angela /Hodgins relationship in terms of what it means for Brennan/Booth. In the Season 4 Premiere, before their mutual break-up, Angela and Hodgins ran into friction with the reappearance of Grayson. As they discuss the fallout from her kissing Grayson and the physical confrontation between Hodgins and Grayson, Angela gives us this line.
ANGELA: Deal. Look, it’s simple. My heart isn’t yours to claim. It’s mine to give away.
That got me to thinking about the aftermath of Booth’s overture in the 100th. A common (but by no means universal) fan perception is that Booth didn’t ‘fight’ hard enough for Brennan, and that he rushed or didn’t allow her to consider the issue before he said he had to move on. Personally, I thought that idea infantilizes Brennan by saying that she doesn’t know her own mind, and that it makes her into some prize that one just has to jump through the correct hoops to obtain. I think that though Brennan may have been surprised at the timing, she had considered her response if Booth asked her. She mentions protecting him, which to me implies forethought. However it ended up though, I thought that Brennan had every right to make the decision she did, and that she owned that decision and the consequences of her actions.
Does Angela’s quote have any applicability to Brennan and Booth? They are distinct couples, but the broad strokes of their relationship have mirrored each other in many ways, with Angela and Hodgins being about 1-2 years ahead of our impassioned crime solvers. Did Booth have to fight for Brennan? If so, what would fighting for Brennan look like, and would she have been responsive to it?
What do you guys think?
Bones Theory 