Bones goes back to business as usual

If you’re reading this post, you probably just watched Bones, and if you just watched Bones, you’re probably feeling one of two ways:

a) Elated

b) Pissed off

And you’re feeling this way because, as always, Bones has managed, despite all the developments last season, to press the reset button on Booth and Brennan’s relationship. Oh, there’s been progress and character growth and everything else is moving along but Booth and Brennan. They are, for the next season, staying not together as far as we can tell. Which is why I’m reviewing Bones for the foreseeable future instead of Ivey.

Before we get to the mastodon in the room (see what I did there? I’m so clever), let’s go through what’s great about this show. Like Caroline, the linchpin of the group! How wonderful is she? I really hope she becomes a regular, because every episode she’s in is ten times more fantastic than it would have been without her. And Cam! I never would have guessed when she first showed up in season two I’d love her so much, but good lord, I do. I love her attempts to hold everything together, her righteous anger, her willingness to both be the team’s mother and kick their asses when they deserve it, basically everything about her.  I love the stories they thought up for each of the squinterns (Vincent Nigel-Murray winning Jeopardy is pretty much the greatest ever), I loved the shot of Wendell’s arms (yum), and I’ve learned to at least live with Sweets’ (hopefully temporary) facial hair and Brennan’s new bangs. (I have a personal vendetta against heavy bangs like that.) I loved Angela and Hodgins having a baby. And I loved that the Jeffersonian itself has become such a character that every second spent not there felt deeply wrong to me.

But enough about that, you’re here to discuss Booth and Brennan. Okay, first of all, are you surprised? Are you really surprised? This show’s bread and butter is keeping those two crazy kids apart. Now, if that’s a wise idea or not is up to you. I think after six seasons maybe they should start considering getting them together, just because that’s a long time to ask fans to loyally wait, but I’m not on the writing board. For whatever reason, they want to hold off. And honestly, I’ve thought Hart Hanson & Co. were wrong before, and they’ve always proven to me that they know way better than I do about everything, so I’m willing to put my trust in.

If they wanted to keep Booth and Brennan apart, they made the perfect choice. I said it before, Brennan went away to test Booth. He said he loved her then, but if he left, would he come back still loving her? It is, as Cam mentioned when she balled Brennan out, selfish and immature. But Brennan needed Booth to prove to her that he didn’t love her because she was just there and the best choice, but because he loved her, and that he would love her no matter where her intellect took her.

Booth failed that test, and how. Not only did he leave her, but he left her for someone too close to her, someone who hit too close to home. Now, I’m sure she’s nice, and Booth generally has great taste in women. But I already hate her. What kind of picture was that Booth had on his phone, a modeling shoot? What sort of idiot models in a war zone? Camille Saroyan or Temperance Brennan would know better than to model in a war zone, Booth. Choose better. He’s going to have to do something serious to get Brennan’s trust back enough to get her to realize what Daisy realized, that sometimes you have to let go of your brain and go with your heart. She was so close, Booth, and because you were just as selfish as her, you screwed the pooch.

So how is this season of Bones going to fix these star-crossed lovers? How will Brennan ever place that same emotional trust in Booth instead of just re-iterating over and over again that it’s totally only professional? Honestly, I have no idea. But that’s why smarter people than me write this show, and I just sit here and talk about it.

Clacked by Julia Hass
on Sep 23, 2010 @ 22:59 EST5EDT