Ohhhh, now I get it!
True to the word of the show’s creators, the season finale of Bones was not a dream, not a hallucination, not an alternate reality that takes place in the Mirror Universe where black is white, up is down, and cats are dogs. This was a story, plain and simple. One put together by Temperance Brennan while waiting for Booth to awaken from his brain tumor surgery (sorry if you think this is a spoiler, but it’s been a week since that was revealed).
For her, it was a way to break the tension of a very stressful period of days. For us, or at least for me, it was an entertaining piece of imagination that included pretty much every regular and recurring cast member this season, including all the interns (minus Michael Badalucco, damn them).
Let’s start with Bones and Booth, as they were still the center of attention. For this story, the pair were owners of a nightclub called ‘The Lab’, which looked very similar to the actual lab at the Jeffersonian. As in their real life these two were dedicated to each other. So much so that they were married.
I can’t be sure if the relationship they had in the story was really the one they could have in the real world. Not because it couldn’t work, mind you. More that the Brennan (nicknamed Bren in the story) and Booth (Mr. B.) were slightly different then their real counterparts. For instance, Tempe, while still a bit glacial, was much warmer and more loving in the story. Booth was a little rougher around the edges while retaining his convictions and his gut feelings. Also, it seems that his anger was not as much in check as it is in his role as a FBI agent, as shown when he attacked the gangbanger.
Nevertheless, it was nice to see them as a couple, and it makes me rethink my decision on having them get together on the show. If Brennan showed a bit more warmth in her current role, a continuing relationship between her and Booth could actually work and not hinder their professional relationship. That’s due to the connection that they currently have. Like in Tempe’s story, these two characters really know each other to the point that any doubts that may be thrown their way are quickly deflected.
If this will happen or not remains to be seen, since the writers gave us a little twist at the end. Many of you may not have heard it, but the last thing Booth uttered to Bones was ‘Who are you?” meaning that the surgery was actually not as successful as first thought. Now, this may only be a one or two episode thing come next season, or it could be something that has long-lasting effects and changes the scenario a bit. My bet is that it lasts a few episodes, because any more time would probably result in many flat screen TVs and laptops going ‘click’ as viewers made other selections. As an aside, I have to wonder if the Bones’ writing staff was sneaking around the writers’ room over at Grey’s Anatomy as both Booth and Izzie had similar memory issues in their respective season finales.
Before I depart I want to talk briefly about the other characters and how they were portrayed. In most cases, I really think they hit the mark on the essence of these folks. Sometimes, like Zack and Caroline, they were exactly the way they were in real life. Other times, like Angela and Wendell, they were slightly off. In order not to make this article a small novel I’ll save the breakdown of these folks for another post.
Well, that’s it for season four of Bones. Except for the dreadful premiere, it was an okay season. There were definitely some episodes that missed the mark, but overall the show gave us some great moments, gory bodies, and pushed the story lines of some of the characters in the right direction. Thanks for following it with me as much as possible this season.
Clacked by Richard Keller 
on May 14, 2009 @ 23:00 EST5EDT
amnesia!!! REALLY!!!!
that’s all i have to say about the final episode.
That is EXACTALLY what I said!
hmm, i didn’t think of it as Bones writing the story until you mentioned it. Booth said that he had a dream that seemed it was real & that’s what i took it as. Maybe it’s both? I liked this ep & loved having everyone be involved in some way.
One question, was Clark’s older brother (the gang member dude [cuz gang banger always sounds stupid]) ever in a previous ep? I recognized all the other interns & everyone, but not him. where is he from?
never mind, i looked it up on IMDb & now i remember. Its the dude that angela married & forgot about.
Really? Entertaining to see those two together?
I didn’t give a damn. It wasn’t real and I knew it. The whole story was to forget about. “Mister B” – that was so extremely laughable. And if Temperance _really_ wrote THAT then SHE is the one who has feelings, not Booth. I mean she imagined them together, not him. Last week your money was on Booth.
This whole episode sucked. I hated it it. I hated it more than the premiere. And I don’t think you can call it amnesia when somebody had brain surgery. Funniest thing about that is that you can’t recover from that because of the mechanical reasons but who am I to say that the show won’t make us believe everything goes.
God I hated this episode so much. All the weaknesses of the characters were brought to front and center. Everything that makes the show NOT enjoyable because they weren’t solving a case, they were amateurs and all the while I believed them. The reason why I hated Bones in the first place, the feeling that this gal isn’t a real doctor and that she’s just guessing was perfectly portrayed.
I chose to completely forget this episode ever existed and continue watching next season and take Bones for what it is – a show with no real scientific background about two people who have their interesting flaws and how they might get together one day. This episode was wrong in all kinds of ways. It felt idiotic. Squared.
I really didn’t want to watch an entire episode of alternate storyline. However, once I let that go, the episode was rather enjoyable. Would have preferred it not be the season finale, but so be it.
As for the post-surgery/coma temporary amnesia, that is certainly not ridiculously far-fetched.
Horrible is what I would call the episode.
The dream, that’s what it was, was 90% lame. Then Booth wakes up and goes “I had the oddest dream”, and then doesn’t remember Bones?! If anything he should have said “Hi honey” and thought they were married! How would he know the dream is odd if he can’t remember Bones?
*POST AUTHOR*
We’re assuming that what we saw was his dream. Nothing like that was mentioned. Since the creators said that this episode would not be a dream it’s more likely that it was Bones’ writings that we saw.
Its a shame, too. I think if they’d played this episode midseason, it would have been a different story.
Thinking about it now you are absolutely right (same goes to GL). If this would’ve been a light, mid-season thing I could let it go but the amnesia crap at the end on top of that and no new episodes for half a year is really annoying. Especially because we all know that they will make it go away like everything else on this show without touching on it again. Camille has a daughter – no mention of her in about a year now. Hodgins gets dropped off in the desert and gets a humongous tat – no mention of that either. It’s as if they throw things at us, we shrug it off – and come back for more whenever Fox decides to drop another episode in. “Bones” could are at 3 am on a Wednesday morning and would still get the numbers it gets everywhere else. It’s like fast food. Or easy listening.
Better not think about it too much and enjoy the empty calories.
*POST AUTHOR*
Bones is definitely not alone in taking small plot points and throwing them out the window. ER was guilty of that for 15 seasons. Having said that, I don’t think Hodgins dilemma with Angela’s father was something the writers were going to continue: it was a one-shot. In addition, Cam adopting a daughter only took place a few weeks ago rather than a year.
That, and its been mentioned since. Cam was asking about advice for something, either last week or the week prior.
Hehe I knew Dorv would mention this. Couple of weeks ago… hmm… you are right – Episode 4×18. I’m sorry that’s what I get for watching 4 Seasons of Bones in two months :-)
But still Rich are you telling me that you want to compare the fast paced life of two dozen people in the ER with that of five to eight people on “Bones”? Come on, that’s not really comparable. On “ER” that furthered the feeling of urgency I think, although you could make a point that they took enough time to occupy themselves with nonsensical plots/relationships. So I’ll give you that. I think it’s a little different but you are right :-)
Yes she was mentioned. In one sentence. I noticed that too Dorv, I knew you’d bring that up, I thought about it when I wrote it down. Damn. Can’t get away with anything around here. I love that :-)
i got the impression that yeah, she was writing as he was lying there in a coma, and those were the little monologues that sweets was saying aloud in the dream – but it wasn’t her story, it was his dream.
and yes, amnesia? really? REALLY?
would have been a decent midseason episode, with a nice arc in the next one to get his memory back, but this was not a good finale at all.
*POST AUTHOR*
Memory loss is not so far-feteched after brain surgery and coma. The wierdest thing, as I mentioned, is that Booth and Izzie over at Grey’s had the same thing going on at the same time.
it’s not so much the far-fetchedness as just… you know, i dunno. It just felt lame for an episode, much less a season finale, of Bones, I thought they were better than that.
Lot of broken-head shit going on on TV at the end of this season. House, Grey’s… i’m sure i’m even leaving some out.
Eli Stone but that one’s about the guy’s brain tumor in general – and how it flipped from him to his brother and back which for me was when the show jumped the shark…
That’s you’re problem. It wasn’t a show about a guy with a brain tumor… It was a show about a guy getting visions from God.
No actually that’s not my problem because I stopped watching then and I was really fine with that.
My overall problem was that if “God”, that fictional uber-being in the sky, is able to flip a brain-tumor around as if it was a chess piece, then everything goes on the show and nothing is off-limits.
I basically accept god-driven shows which employ the “God won’t interfere but rather guide you” approach but flipping the tumor around clearly showed that “What ever happened, happened” does not apply to “Eli Stone”. Therefor even death wasn’t off-limits anymore and I was done with the show.
And that’s still not “my problem”. I don’t have a problem being an atheist. The showrunners have a problem with that because their got canceled, and like I said before I believe this moment played an integral part.
It was nice to see them together as a couple and how awesome it could be but other than that…really didn’t like it.
I agree that it was made worse by having the amnesia card played (booo!) AND having it bee the season finale. I would not be as disappointed with it if it played out mid season.
It’s likely that Bones was reading her novel out loud to Booth while he was comatose. That’s why his dream was the same as what she was writing.
I fully expect Booth to pull a “just kidding” out of his hat in next season’s opening moments. They are not going to change the core dynamic of the show. Anything other than the “just kidding” scenario would leave Booth out of the FBI for too long.