One could argue that this season premiere of Bones has been six years in the making. I’m sure that some of the Bones fandom would disagree with me (because, frankly, several of them have, time and time again, finding myriad ways to call me stupid in the process), saying that the inevitability and necessity of a Bones and Booth relationship has never been a certainty. I have been advocating their pairing for a long, long time now, and was excited with the way that the sixth season ended. Bones was pregnant with Booth’s child, but we had no idea what that would mean for their relationship. The premiere — picking up about five months ahead of May’s finale — sets a very clear direction for what their relationship will be moving forward.
I have always had a little bit of love/hate relationship with Bones. Historically, I’ve tried to stay away from crime procedurals, because they are not my cup of tea (though, I’m breaking that rule a lot these days, what with Castle, Psych, NCIS, The Mentalist, Rookie Blue, Flashpoint, Hawaii Five-0 and Prime Suspect all on my DVR Series Manager list). I originally gave Bones a chance because of my “Joss Rule” (And if you can’t figure out what the “Joss Rule” is, there’s not much of a point trying to explain it), but stuck around because of the great chemistry between the leads, the overall dynamic between all of the characters, and Heavy D (You remember that guy? Yeah, me too). You can call the show Bones all you want, but this show is about the partnership between her and Booth. Now that there is a baby in the mix, that partnership has moved to an entirely different level.
If I were the type of person to squee with excitement (and, contrary to popular opinion around the halls of CliqueClack HQ, I am decidedly not that type of person), there would have been a whole lot of squeeing going on as I watched “The Memories in the Shallow Grave.” Humorous domestication challenges? Check. Cute admissions of love? Check. Joking with sexual overtones? Check. The most important check was there too: real emotional obstacles to overcome, but two people obviously committed to finding a way to make it work.
Theirs is a relationship that is not going to be easy. These are two people who have some incredible differences in how they view the world. You need not look further than Bones’ rationalism and Booth’s Christianity to see that for their relationship to work, there are numerous things that they will have to collectively come to terms with. The reason why I always had faith that their relationship would get to this point — and that it would work dramatically on screen — is that, despite their differences, they respect each other. They see each other for who they are and understand that their differences are not nearly as important that what connects them: a desire to right all of the wrong in the world that they can, in their respective fields. We have also seen, over the past several seasons, that their childhood challenges have motived both of them to this endeavor. These are two people that have traveled very different paths, but have both found themselves in each other. Their love story is far from complete, and it is something I think fans of Bones will enjoy watching.
There was one thing missing from this episode, though. There was a scene where the two had a serious conversation about the kind of father Booth wanted to be for his child, making sure that he did not make the same mistakes his father had made with him. Except … Booth already is a father. You guys remember Parker, right? I get that it doesn’t make sense to for him to appear on the show often, but it felt to me, especially in this moment, that his existence was forgotten. I can’t imagine that Parker won’t factor in to their lives moving forward, but I hope that he is a presence in the Bones + Booth = Love equation, even when he’s not present on screen.
What did you think about the Bones return? Does the future of Bones and Booth look bright to you?
Notes & Quotes
Clacked by Ivey West 
on Nov 03, 2011 @ 23:00 EST5EDT
Thanks for the great post. Have Bones fans really called you stupid? That’s so rude. I don’t know why people can’t disagree on the internet without being jerks.
Anyways, since I am the type of person to squee, I did a lot of it during this episode. I loved all the sweet moments but I also liked that they are a couple with challenges. It’s going to take work from both of them but they love each other enough to make the effort.
As far as that scene where Booth talked about wanting to show his child that he gave them a home, to me it made sense that he didn’t mention Parker. Booth has always felt in some way like he failed Parker by not making it work somehow with his mother, and giving him a traditional home life. To the audience it doesn’t make much sense, since it was Rebecca that decided she didn’t want to marry him, but it’s pretty characteristic for Booth to blame himself for things that aren’t really his fault.
All in all this premiere far exceeded my expectations and I’m a very happy Bones fan. I think it’s going to be a great season.
I loved it too!
The only thing I am a little disappointed with is the time jump. Not because I wanted to see the whole lovey-dovey honeymoon period–which is what produces specifically said they were trying to avoid–but because it would have been fun to see the other characters find about about the relationship. They have been rooting for the two of them to get together just as much as we have, and I can’t help feeling like we missed something fun. Prime example; Sweets! He has been on them for years about the fact they they were in love with each other and they have basically shot him down at every turn. For him to find out that not only are they in a relationship, but that she is pregnant with his kid? Come on, that would have been great!
But overall, I am more than happy.
She’s having that baby so the next generation will have someone to make them feel dumb.” = My favorite line. I had to back it up and watch again, I love Wendell!
*POST AUTHOR*
Yeah, I read something today that basically called Wendell the JV Squintern. I was like WTF? He’s always been one of my favorites.
He has always been my favorite squintern! He’s the most normal, and he’s on Booth’s hockey team:)
I agree with Laura, I feel cheated out of the early stages of the relationship. We’ve been looking forward to this for years and now they just jump to pregnant and living together? I love this show but I was very disappointed with the way this was handled.
*POST AUTHOR*
While I certainly understand that perspective, I’d have absolutely no desire to watch that part of their relationship. In fact, I’d say that the skipped the worst of it last year, in the month (or so) between Vincent Nigel-Murray’s death — and the Bones/Booth Bedroom Romp — and her announcing her pregnancy.
I’m back! :)I actually agree with you, I don;t have any desire to watch that part of the relationship either. For me it was more about seeing the other characters reactions and adjustments.
I will say though, it is almost like the writers/producers are flip-flopping a bit. They don’t want to show the beginning stages of the pregnancy/relationship, yet they do. Like wanting Bones to be super emotional and crying at crime scenes, and talking about moving in together. Sorry, but five months into a pregnancy, the overly emotional stage–at least for the majority of women–is over, and you mean to tell me they let five months go by without stopping to think… hmm, we are having a baby, where are we going to put it? For most people by the end of the first week of pregnancy you are thinking, “Holy crap, we need more space…”
I’m not trying to complain as I really did love the episode, but it does seem a little like they want to tackle the beginning stages of things, but only when it’s convenient/funny.
*POST AUTHOR*
In my head, I just assumed that the reasoning behind the five month jump, was as much about syncing the story timeline, production schedule and shooting schedule, with Emily Deschanel’s actually pregnancy.
First let me say that I am posting something on the internet for the first time about a TV show that I have loved for six years. (Actually, not so much last year, but I hung in there). I have pretty strong feelings about this procedural/drama/comedy type crime show, and that is obvious to me now, but I feel like I need to voice my opinion too.
I am OK with last night’s opening episode for Season Seven. Just OK though and that bothers me a bit. I too am concerned that the time jump again is just too much for this show. We have Bones pregnant for almost six months now and they are just now getting around to these questions that were posed last night???? It now seems like the light bulb went on the writers room and they were blinded a bit by it. The problematic issues that are being presented (and there were a ton of them last night) would have flowed better if they stayed with the time line in the pregnancy. Taking it all to the top level of anxiety with these two will come off as Bones being a hormonal mess. I think the money/religious/scientific babble issues is something that Booth would have hit on very early after finding out about the pregnancy. As in, after he got home that night after getting told about it on the sidewalk.
I am not getting the vibe that these two are together as much as they are people who have sex and lunch together. That worries me, because Booth as we have come to know him after six seasons, would have left by now. He was totally done with screwed up relationships after the Hannah deal.
As a Bones fan, I am in a quandry about this show.
I so agree about the whole Parker thing. My friend and I ranted for quite a while about that whole aspect. He IS a father. Parker is my fave too :) such an adorable child. But it seems strange to me. Booth is a Dad, even if he doesn’t live with his son. They didn’t mention him at all!! Especially strange since we know Booth loves Parker and cared enough to go against orders to be there for his child. I don’t know.
I am so thrilled they are finally together. I stopped watching a lot of the eps after season 5 but picked up interest again after Hannah left the show. Now I can’t WAIT for the next one!!!! I have never been this excited to see Bones. FINALLY!!!
Good episode. Would have liked this new dynamic better if I had not watched most of Season 6. Last season definately tainted my love of the show. It is now on my dvr list. Overall, a decent episode. Just hope the cases get better. As bad as I personally found last season, the episode about the deaf girl was one of my favorites.