The Pain in the Heart

Brilliant, exceptional, episode. Emmy-worthy.

Written by Hart Hanson and Stephen Nathan.

It's funny because since I knew that Hodgins and Sweets were still part of the cast, I was pretty sure they weren't Gormagon (though I was hoping Sweets would be and a recent tweet from DB saying that Booth was gunning for Sweets made me think that maybe the Gormagon story was still alive in current episodes). Yet, even though I also knew that Zach had left the show, I never suspected him.

When the show started, I figured Booth's funeral was someone's dream and Brennan would wake up thinking how close she came to losing him. I was surprised that it turned out to be real and don't actually like the comic way that was handled. Booth had been shot two weeks ago. While I think Brennan's initial response would be to numb herself to the pain and while her outbursts at the funeral were both in character and revealing of her feelings of guilt and regret, her angry reaction to finding out Booth was alive was played for laughs that I found unrealistic and unentertaining.

He said he assumed she didn't cry because she knew the truth. No kidding! She didn't have to cry, but at least she could be relieved to see him and we should have seen her heart jump, before we saw her punch him.

I also think that Booth and Brennan have already come too far for her to correct Sweets when he called Booth a loved one. Although she said that he was her "partner" and, as with Mulder and Scully, I think the word partner comes to mean a relationship as close as husband and wife, closer for the MSR, actually. So, in a way saying partner expounds on Booths' being a loved one rather than contradicts the notion.

I agree with Brennan that Booth should have personally told Brennan he was alive, rather than just put her on a list. But come on, where were his ex-wife and kid at that funeral? She should have caught on that it wasn't the real thing.

Also, why didn't anyone else show any particular joy at him being alive or anger at having been deceived? One moment Angela is telling Brennan that going to the funeral was one of the hardest things she's ever done (which seems a little much) and the next, she has basically no reaction to Booth being alive, other than to smile a bit.

The show is noteworthy for its humor and I applaud it, but it really hit on territory that was a little too serious and sacred to be played for laughs.

If I hadn't been mildly spoiled and known it wasn't Sweets (although I still had lingering doubt) or Hodgins (I never thought it was him), this episode would have had me tense throughout. As it was, I was on the edge of my seat. But the suspense would have been stellar if I'd been watching this first run. I'm sorry I missed that opportunity. The episode was already basically a 10 for me, I can't imagine how much more my appreciation would have been enhanced, if I'd approached it entirely unspoiled.

I am enjoying the Booth, Brennan, Sweets trio a bit more and chuckled when Sweets insisted that they were deliberately not commenting on the fact that he'd been on tv (for the Gormagon story), but I was livid when it was revealed that he decided not to tell Brennan that Booth was alive. He said he did it for security reasons. If the FBI thought it was ok for Brennan to know, what right has he to think otherwise? Booth believed that story and should have been more upset and indignant on Brennan's behalf and sorry for what she went through. He didn't seem to much care, except to the extent that her not knowing made her grouchy. If not for that, whether she thinks he is dead or not doesn't seem to phase him.

I was so relieved when Brennan told Sweets that she knows when she is being experimented on and she said Booth would have beat Sweets up if he'd known the truth. Well, she's more violent than Booth. Why didn't she beat Sweets up? That's what Booth wanted her to do. I hate the fake feelings and frivolity that mark the first half of this episode. Yes, it's fun, but it undermines the characters in the end. Of course, the touching last half is remarkable. And I guess it's supposed to make you not take the earlier levity seriously. But if you do, you'd have to conclude that Brennan liked Zach a whole lot more than she does Booth.

Yes, the comment about Booth trying to force pie on Brennan as a form of seduction was funny. I wasn't sure that Booth heard what Sweets said, because he just came back and told them to stop talking. He didn't react to what they had been talking about. But later in the diner when he refuses to get pie himself, much less try to ply her with it, we see that he did hear and it's hilarious. It's not that the jokes in the show don't work. They really do. It's just that some of them shouldn't be there, perhaps.

Brennan coming into his apartment and walking into the bathroom was not as funny as the writers probably thought. It was just too ridiculous. But I did like Brennan commenting on the fact that Booth didn't react to her presence with modesty. He didn't cover himself up -- much. Her noticing it kept me from having to complain about that. Brennan's unfiltered outspokenness is really a distinct character trait and Hanson should be proud of his creation. I find her quite original. I like Emily. If I loved her, I might think as much of Brennan as I do of Scully. Booth is not as unique as Brennan, but DB is so funny that Seeley is easily a stand out among tv FBI agents and police officers. When Hodgins tells him that he expected to see more ex-girlfriends at Booth's funeral and Booth says, "so did I" I'm bowled over. It's a throwaway line. It's over in a second and Booth's facial reaction is just to raise a brow, but DB does it so smoothly. His comic timing often rivals that of great comedians.

When Sweets says that Hodgins might be the killer, Brennan objects and insists it could just as easily be her. Sweets says no, because of her deep emotional tie to Booth. Well, it's fine that he is ribbing her about that emotional tie, but it's stupid, since Hodgins is ENGAGED to Angela. So, that should exonerate him too, especially since he's much more social than Zach. I can see why Zach didn't occur to me, but why did the psychologist miss him too, since he exhibited a lot of loner, serial killer traits. He even discussed his social isolation when he came back from Iraq. I guess they intended to make him the killer even then. It's been a theme since the show started. Why would Sweets not suspect him immediately? I can see that the hand explosion probably threw them all off, but Sweets should have been looking askance at Zach even before Gormagon's latest move.

In the hospital room when Hodgins gives Zach the painkiller, which shuts him up, I really don't think it would work that fast. And even if I didn't know that Hodgins was still with the show, I don't think that would make me suspicious of Hodgins. Too obvious.

As for the denouement: it was artful. Brennan realizes that Zach must have known that Gormagon didn't use dentures and that the teeth were real. She says this, but Cam doesn't realize the full import of her words. When she's in her office and says it to Booth, even though I knew where her mind was headed back in the lab, to hear her speak the truth aloud still hit me, as does the time it takes for Booth to catch on. Zach is so far off of his radar that it has to be spilled out. Zach lied. "Why would he do that?"

Cam's the same. Even though Brennan's reaction in the lab should have clued her in, when Booth comes to the door of the hospital room and says he needs her to leave, I got a chill.

The confession was perfection. Booth says he needs a name. He is urgent, impatient. Would he have threatened Zach, if Brennan hadn't been around? Or would he have remembered how Zach always looked up to him and played upon that? Well, I didn't initially think that would be an option because I guess I didn't know that Zach would still be himself. I thought he would be a killer who had tricked them all and wasn't really the man they believed they knew. I didn't know that he would be unmasked as just the Zach he'd always been, though a murderer. As she approached his bed, I thought that Brennan would react with anger and betrayal (an extreme version of her anger with Booth over his faked death), with a "so you fooled me" attitude and go cold towards Zach, but the way she did just the opposite, but while still playing to his logical side was very moving. The greater good is more important than one human life right. Then why did he risk everything just to avoid hurting Hodgins. By the time she gets to that point, I gasp a little (and I think Booth does as well). His love for Hodgins means something.

It doesn't mean I hold him less culpable. Um, they all think he was a victim and want things to go easier for him, but HELLO. First of all, I never thought his mind was that weak that he would succumb to a homicidal mastermind. Second he's not that much of an unworldly loner. He came from a big Michigan family. His family loved him and even if he didn't have friends, he grew up interacting with other humans. I don't think he would be such easy mental prey. Third, he didn't just fall victim (or apprentice) to an ordinary killer. This guy was a CANNIBAL. Even if he only targeted people who were part of a secret cult hurting society, like the lobbyist that Zach killed (aha, so Zach is the one who jumped out of the closet at the end of the last Gormagon episode, which was really effective), how can you believe that the murderer you've chosen as master is really out to help the world, when he is eating dead human flesh every night?? I mean, Agatha Christie made both Hercule and Miss Marple killers in their last novels. They did it because they knew the suspect would have gotten away with the crime and they were the only ones who could intervene. I might not have approved of Christie's decision, especially to have both of her series' lead characters do the same thing, but I understood the rationale and I suppose Captain Hastings understood too. But if Hercule Poirot had sliced up his victim and fried him up for dinner, I think Hastings would have been horrified.

It's not the murder or association with a serial killer that should have turned Zach's friends off, but the alliance with a crazy cannibal. How do you fall under the thrall of a loony pervert like that? Maybe the audience could have given Zach an out as the characters did, had Gormagon been any less . . .gormy.

The ending was fine, but anticlimatic, almost pedestrian, compared the hospital confession, peaking when Brennan pressed her forehead to Zach's and he laid out the details of what he'd done with their mouths nearly touching.

Cam says forget Zach and Sweets points out that she's lashing out angrily only because she cares. It makes me think of my failed hopes for a Cam/Zach romance. I do remember when Cam wanted Zach off the team, but Brennan fought for him. She thought he would not make a good trial witness, could not engage enough with the jurors. The past episodes do play in nicely with the revelation of Zach's crimes. I'm glad they didn't rewrite history to make him bad the whole time, but let us know he was only approached by Gormagon a couple of months ago. Since we know he had emotional problems in Iraq, we can say that he was particularly vulnerable then. Might even have been suffering from PTSD. So, I can really accept him being a murderer as consistent with the continuing story -- just not maneater's assistant.

Constituting Zach's prized possessions were the gifts that he had gotten from them. I guess the writers want us to forget that big Michigan family, who loved Zach and were loved in return. Brennan says she never gave Zach anything. Hmmm. I bet if I rewatched the series, there'd be a Christmas show or something when she gifted him with a token. When he left, when he returned. I bet she gave him something, but I'll take their word for it for now.

Great show. I trust this made their emmy reel for that year. Although, I'm not sure you could appreciate how well-written this script was unless you'd been a longterm, regular viewer of the show and understood all of the characters. You need that background to fully grasp how expertly all the pieces of humor, affection and suspense were so seamlessly fused together. The combination makes a pièce de résistance.

The Wannabe in the Weeds

Written by Josh Berman. I was quickly taken by the sharp wit in this episode and noted the writer's name to see if it was a hallmark of his. The more I saw, the more assured I was that this was a delightful entry, with emphasis on the "light." So, the conclusion took me by surprise, though I should certainly have seen the signs.

As the show opened with amateur night at a local nightclub, I thought of Lorne's bar in Angel and felt a little nostalgic. I half expected to see Booth on the stage before the episode, ended, but we got Brennan instead.

I used to make a point of noticing the gestures Brennan and Booth share, but by now they aren't movements, they're part of the relationship. Booth doesn't have any particular reason for fighting with Brennan over who knocks on the door first or for pulling her away from an interview other than that it's reflex. I finally understand that it's always his territory, not just in a particular situation and he's always going to vie with her (or with Hodgins who barges into the interrogation room, where Booth is supposed to be in charge, no squints).

They don't just jockey for position verbally, they do it physically and it's a nice component to the interaction.

A wannabe singer and fitness addict winds up dead. I'm not sure why these fresh bodies are always decomposed beyond recognition when there's no logical reason why they should be. I know Brennan only works on special cases, but why not just write special crimes for her team to solve, rather than create routine murders and then do something weird with the body that requires her expertise, but would never happen in reality.


As Brennan and Booth investigate the murder they find that the singer had an obsessed fan, "Fat Pam." Booth interviews her as Sweets and Brennan look on. As the conversation ends, Booth puts his hand on Pam's shoulder and Sweets screams for him not to. Of course, Sweets is indicating that Booth is sending the delusional Pam the wrong message with this act of physical contact. From the way that Sweets never actually explains his objection initially and still doesn't lay out his concerns about Pam having transferred her obsession from the deceased to Booth, I should have known that it would mean trouble later. I did think it would, but once the crime was solved, I wasn't thinking about Pam the loose end and wondering what happened with her. She had not crossed my mind again by then.

I felt, of course, that the story was building to something, the way Brennan and Booth kept laughing Sweets off. They wanted him to do profiling for them, so I don't know why they don't listen to him when he tells them that someone is dangerous. I understand that they ignore him when he tries to analyze THEM, but why would they disregard what he says about Pam? Of course, even though I am on the third season and have learned that Sweets is still around 4 years later, I still somewhat suspect that he might be the serial killer, so I am not fully paying attention to what he says about Pam either. When he talks about someone becoming dangerous when they lose their tenuous tie to the object of their obsession, I still try to apply his words about the killer in the case, to his own life and relationship with Booth and Brennan. So, I'm not totally focused on what he says about Pam any more than Booth and Brennan are.

There is a serious moment that moves me when Pam goes to Booth's office. When she asks about his son and he puts his body between the photo of the boy and Pam, it's a nice move. Then when she gets close and he says this is very inappropriate, I think DB is excellent. He's wary, concerned and firm for a second and I think he puts on this face in a split second, impressing me with an acting prowess that was not as controlled, apparent or "spin on a dime" on B/A. But then Booth drops his guard as Pam walks out and just thinks of her as a wacky woman, not the danger that Sweets said she was.

Of course, later when Brennan and Sweets learn that Pam has visited him, that's Sweets' moment to let them know this is not a laughing matter, but he doesn't, because the writers want to maintain the suspense of the show's ending and do it at the psychiatrist's expense.

Of course, I didn't realize this was also a May sweeps show, the pentultimate one of the season. If I had known that, I might have expected that it would be something more than fun and funny, when all was said and done.

In an army jacket and t-shirt for most of the show, DB's physique is very thin. Also something we didn't see a lot of in Angel.

A highlight of the show was the scene with Pam calling Brennan "scrawny" and Booth not wanting to say that she wasn't, in order not to antagonize the witness.

There seemed to be a lot of looks between Hodgins and Brennan and I wasn't sure if there was supposed be significance there. I guess not, but it was weird.

Nice bit when Brennan tells Booth to knock down a locked door (as is so often done in police dramas) and Booth answers that it hurts his shoulder to knock down a door. Mulder didn't shoot his gun, but he loved to knock down a good door. Angel never met a door he didn't want to knock down, but he was a lot stronger than Booth. In Skyfall, Bond also shows similar reluctance to try to knock down a door, telling Q (safe in a laboratory that he should come down and knock the door in himself). Although, many lives were at stake in Bond's case, including his own. He could have made the effort and worried about the pain later.

The part where the women were attracted to Zack because he could sing "Love is a Many Splendoured Thing" in a nerdy voice was totally unrealistic and not particularly funny. It would have been fine to have him turn them on unexpectedly, but not with THAT song. Of course, I still harbor hopes of him and Cam doing something, so the fact that her eyes lingered on him, as well as Angela's was a plus.

When Sweets was trying to explain body language to Booth and Brennan and talked about facial muscles in technical terms and Brennan said he didn't have to translate, he knew what they meant, it was funny the way Booth scooched forwared and said HE didn't know what part of the body Sweets was talking about.

The conversation with Booth saying he thought Brennan thought she was smarter than him (and her explaining that she admired his expertise in some areas and acknowledged his intelligence in areas that weren't her speciality) was a little repetitive, because we've heard this before and know how they feel on that score, how he feels about her and the squints in general. But it was cute the way she kept explaining how people exceed, because they want to stand out from the crowd and be noticed and kept pointing out that she dominates in her field as he does in his. She excels in science, but not just science, she reminds him. She excels as a best-selling author too.


Of course, the end pays off because of the concern she exhibits when he is shot. Even when I saw Pam point the gun, I didn't expect Booth to be hit and for the show to go from a comedy to -- well, not tragedy, because I knew he wouldn't die -- drama in the last 2 minutes. I also loved the way Brennan shot Pam dead. Of course, Pam still had a weapon and Brennan could have done it in self-defense. Pam was going to shoot her and would have, if Booth hadn't jumped in front of Brennan. Still, the way Brennan shot, she looked more vengeful than defensive and I loved it. Her holding Booth as he gasped and clutched her hand was nice. I liked the way the others scurried and looked concerned too, especially since there thoughts were on Booth and not the dead Pam, but as Angela gaped at Brennan and Booth, she looked more curious than worried, I thought.

Good witty show, with an ending that took me by surprise, even if it probably should not have.

The Verdict in the Story

While this episode was well written (by Christopher Ambrose) viewed as a standalone, for me it was irritating and alienating, seeking to tug on heartstrings that not only weren't there, but for which it was just wrong to grasp.

Booth and Brennan show up at a crime scene and find a skeleton, on its stomach, hand clutching its legs from behind the back, so that the abdomen on the floor curves like a rocking horse. Brennan finds it hilarious and can't imagine how it happened. How could someone die in that position? Bones said maybe they were killed and buried in a rug. Then, where is the rug? It maybe disintegrated along with the meat on the bones, he theorizes. That would take thousands of years to occur she informs him, further amused by his naivete. As they start to gather clues, Caroline comes and orders them to stop working together. Why is that, because Bones laughed at him, Booth says "that really doesn't bother me" [and I think it's cute that it really doesn't]. No, Caroline says. It's because Brennan has been suspended from her work with Booth, since her father is about to go on trial [Didn't they know the trial date well ahead of this? Why is the first she's being told of the suspension]. She can't work with Booth, since Booth arrested her father.

They both say that they continue to work and it won't impact their relationship, but Caroline won't hear of it.

Bones goes to meet with her father and Russ. Clarke is going to be the forensics expert, because Booth is considered too biased to do it. Max is wary of Clarke's ability and Russ is grumpy and sarcastic as usual -- for reasons unknown. He should be nothing but grateful to Brennan, Bones and everyone else EXCEPT his dad, yet he has a perennial chip on his shoulder. He is annoying. The actor is not charming. And I have no use for this character.

At the lab, they all discuss having to work against Bones and for the prosecution to give testimony at trial and they (Zach excluded) are all bummed about it which brings me to the crux of my problem. They all feel guilty about having to participate in putting Max away. WHY!!!! He not only killed the Deputy Director of the FBI, he cut out his intestines, tied him to a stake and set him on fire, to send a message to all of Max's other enemies. And the director was not even the only guy that Max assassinated in this horrific manner. He did it because the crooked Director was after Russ and Brennan, which may explain why they don't want to see Max in jail, but why should the rest of the crime fighters feel the same way -- especially since Brennan is not crying on their shoulder and begging them to spare her dad, sobbing that she doesn't know how she can make it without him. Instead, she is calm, practical, doesn't understand their guilt and doesn't fully realize the extent of her own latent concern for Max's fate half the time. She's certainly not wearing it on her sleeve. So, where's all their sympathy coming from. Max may love his kids, but he's not a likable person, in general.

If I had seen him reluctantly kill the director in self defense, maybe I'd be on his side. But all I saw him do was flambe the corpse in a manner that was thrilling -- and made that episode shocking and exciting -- but definitely cold. The reason his actions were so good to watch is because they were so dispassionate and diabological. This is a man you want to have protecting you, but if you are not one of his loved ones, the idea of knowing he's safely locked up and away from society is a pretty cozy and secure one. Having this guy in jail is not a bad thing, so why does this show pretend like it is and try to make us root for his release? I not only fail to understand why the lab crew feels bad, but I think somewhat less of Brennan, for wanting him free as well. I'm not empathizing, I'm criticizing her. Sure, she can love him and visit him in prison, but I want her sense of justice to outweigh or --at the very least resist-- the filial weakness. In the past, she was determined to turn him, if he showed up as fugitive on her doorstep. But since then, she not only failed to do that, but urged Booth to help Max too. Of course, the flip flop is not out of character, if one considers that she is battling within and only vacillates because her heart is in conflict with her conscience. Fine, that reveals the doctor and makes her a more dimensioned person. Let her waver. But don't try to tell us our emotions should lie with hers.

As the lab crew watches Brennan, Clarke and the defense attorney examine the evidence, they struggle. They hate seeing Brennan alone. Zach says she's not alone, she's with those two African American men. I don't get why he says this. Yes, I know he is a very literal, unemotional person, much like Brennan herself. But why would he need to describe those men as African-American. How does their race figure into her not being alone? What's worrisome is that Cam looks at him and says they shouldn't be competitive about the trial. They should all just do their jobs. Zach says trials wouldn't be considered an adversarial process if they weren't supposed to be competitive. He does feel like the defense is the opponent. So, since we know he feels that way, he must notice their race as an aspect of that competition. He thinks their being black somehow influences their proficiency as sparring partners. For me, the implication is that race makes them inferior opponents in Zach's mind and I don't now why they have decided to present him in that light. Why present any character as having those thoughts, especially when it's not a prejudice that the script is going to deal with. Instead, it is just touched on and left unexplained. I feel uneasy about it. This show goes out of its way to be equal opportunity and casts more than its share of minorities. It's clear to me that the producers (and DB himself) are very fair-minded and the characters usually don't seem to notice race. If the show thinks that is unrealistic and wants to tackle racial tension as a storyline, I have no problem with that. But don't just throw out a line that strangely addresses such tension and comes from a character who usually doesn't exhibit any race-conscious behavior whatsoever.

I had been rooting for Cam and Zach to come together and that would still be interesting to see, but I'd also be interested in knowing why Zach gratuitously pointed out that the men were African-American and would like to have that resolved as part of a pairing with Cam.

Anyway, back to the trial at hand . . . Bones and Booth meet at the diner with Sweets. Booth gleefully fires Sweets, telling him that since he and Bones aren't partners (but Bones' suspension is only temporary, so I don't know why Sweets is permanently fired), Sweets doesn't get to analyze how they work together any more. Sweets protests and also reveals that he is the profiler for the prosecution against Max. He wonders how Bones feels about that. Surely, it effects her to have everyone, her staff, her partner and, "including your therapist" working to imprison her father, even if she doesn't admit it. Booth happily points out that Sweets is Bones' "former therapist" and they have fun mocking Sweets together, but Booth feels that it is upsetting to Brennan. She denies it and Sweets says, "this is a golden opportunity for you to feel the situation rather than simply rationalizing it." She says she is fine. Sweets says if that were true she'd be balled up in the corner weeping or catatonic. Booth agrees. That's too much. Not everyone would be as removed as Brennan, but to insist that every normal person in her place would be an emotional wreck just assumes too much and generalizes human reactions in a way that I would hope a therapist would refrain from doing.

As for Sweets, I'd have to go back and look at message boards from Season 3 to see if anyone else suspected he might be the murderer that early on. Is it just me? Did other viewers think the person who jumped out of the closet to kill that guy was Sweets, as I thought it might be? Anyway, much of what he says about personality types has a double meaning to my ears, as he talks about himself. I think the writers intended this and were planting seeds, but I don't think they thought the audience would catch on. I think it was still the ptb's secret, the way the show presents Sweets. It's not as if the characters don't know he's bad. It's like the objective POV for the show doesn't know it either. It's strange, because murderer or not, I've found Sweets kind of creepy from the beginning and definitely wanted him gone -- or at least I wanted him to stop diagnosing Brennan and Booth.

Booth gives Sweets the brush, sarcastically saying it's been a pleasure. Brennan says, "I too find him intriguing in a non-rigorous, pragmatically irrelevant kind of way." Booth agrees with what she said and leaves Sweets with the restaurant tab.

In a meeting with Caroline who tries to scold the lab crew into being good witnesses, Caroline asks if Cam has any control over them. Cam says she has absolutely none at all? What? Really? Any other time she is riding herd. Angela says she is not going to testify. She is convinced she is doing the right thing when everyone else is not. Um no. She's the one who told a victim's father who she erroneously thought the murderer was, causing the father to kill the wrong guy. If she wants to "do the right thing" why not pay penance for that, rather than insisting that everyone who testifies against the savage killer who happens to be Bones' dad is disloyal.

The trial is cute, comical and maddening, in turns. Booth and Brennan sit across the aisle from one another, but chat constantly across the aisle, until the judge separates them like school children. I like the fact that they are inextricably aligned even while on opposite sides and feel the need to be together no matter what the circumstances. On the other hand, this talking in court gets out of hand, especially when Brennan repeatedly talks to witnesses on the stand from her courtroom seat. The judge mildly reprimands her, but she does it so much, without being removed that I begin to wish that she (or the writers) be given the death sentence for her illogical interruptions.

Also, the fact that Angela goes to prison rather than testifying against Max really makes me want to see her lie in the bed she's made. I want that woman to do time. Max is not innocent. If the murder hadn't been such a violent one, then maybe I'd hesitate to take the stand against him, but as it is, Angela's moral ground is as solid as quick sand. The show suggests we, the audience, agrees with her and that's what I resent the most. I'd rather have Max go to jail and break out, than to have to be told that the Brennan family somehow deserves the happy ending of his acquittal.

Brennan and Booth sharing coffee outside of the courtroom when they have been banned from talking to each other about the case is very cute. They keep the coffee cups in front of their mouths to shield their conversation. DB is adorable and Emily is square-faced and lovely for this scene. As he leaves, Booth sheepishly tells Brennan he hopes she remembers who gave her the (awful) coffee, since he's the next witness against her dad. This is a surprise to her, but something the prosecutor would have told her anyway. Before that happens, Brennan applauds Zach for being the only one who was not hesitant to testify. Hodgins asked for her permission before doing it. She doesn't now what's wrong with being a witness for the prosecution. Booth says, it's not what's wrong. "It's what's right." Like Angela, he seems to feel that those who support Max are on the side of right. Ugh. Booth tells Brennan that it's all right to want her dad to be released. It's ok for her to think as a daughter, with her heart, rather than as part of law enforcement. I don't mind him giving her this advice as a friend. I just don't want the script to hand that same advice to me. Nothing about Max has touched my heart, so why should I be thinking with it?

When Sweets testifies he says that Max kills without hesitation, without remorse. Does Sweets kill in the same way?

Outside, he says he wants to keep working with Booth and Brennan. The way they talk to each other, refer to him in the third person and exclude them is fascinating. He wants to study them some more. Brennan says he wants to observe them, because he likes them, he really likes them. She sing songs, in a playful manner with which I didn't think she was familiar. Booth says that he'll let Sweets study them if he'll give them free profiles on the cases. Can't Booth get Sweets to do this as part of his job, since Sweets works with the FBI? Bones has no objections to this deal, even though she doesn't find profiling useful. So, Sweets strike a bargain and the writers have forged a plot device that explains Sweets continued presence.

Zach watches Clark worth with the evidence and openly admits that he wants to know if Clark is seeing something that Zach missed. Clark is impressed by Zach's candor and is surprised that Zach is not bluffing him or making any attempt to save face. Facades are foreign to Zach. It turns out that by looking at the fissures in the skull, Clarke sees that Zach pinpointed the wrong murder weapon. Zach did miss something. Zach is stunned by his own infallibility. This is the writers way of checking the air of superiority he expressed early on. I still don't understand why they had him express it in racial turns, since he's a character that never exhibited prejudice before. He knows he's brilliant and has vied with Hodgins. They could have had him compete with Clarke in the same manner without the unaddressed racial overtones.

When the murder weapon is thrown out, the prosecution is left scrambling and there's hope for Max. Booth shows up with a search warrant to look for the true murder weapon at Brennan's apartment where the murder took place. As Zach executes the warrant, Booth and Bones talk. She's surprised at her own disappointment when the chance for Max's release is snatched from under him. Why is she so sad when Booth and Bones both know Max is guilty, she asks. Booth tells her she has a right to be sad as the daughter. Don't fight it. He tells her to take out her brain and put her heart in drive. She says sometimes she thinks he's from another planet and sometimes she thinks he's very nice.

Booth is caring towards her, while still reluctantly doing his job in clinching Zach's find of the true murder weapon.

At the prison, Brennan says that her crew was just good at finding evidence. The horrible Russ tells her to gloat about her employee's proficiency some other time. The prosecutor says that it's all over except for the shouting. If only they could have given the jury someone else to blame. A boogeyman. A light bulb goes off in Brennan's hand.

She feels Booth out. Isn't Max's guilt just a hypothesis? Why should he go to jail for just a theory? That makes me mad, since she knows it's more than a theory and has said so several times in the episode, prompting the prosecutor to tell her to keep her incriminating thoughts to herself. But now she says that Max being the murderer is just a hypothesis. And Booth tells her that she doesn't really "know" that Max did it in a legal sense. She lets him persuade her this is true. Can she proffer another hypothesis? He says they aren't supposed to talk about the case, but she says he's the only one she usually discusses criminal theories with, so she has to bounce it off of him. If she finds another scenario for how the deputy director was killed can that get Max off? Can she do it without lying, Booth wants to know. She says she can. Then Booth says that could work. "And is it all right for me to take advantage of this?" Why ask him. He knows criminal procedure, not legal or moral right and wrong. Why get his permission for her own subterfuge? But he gives consent.

"Brain and heart, Bones. Brain and heart." She must let the latter guide her.

Booth takes the stand. The prosecutor questions him about who else was in Bones apartment. Who else could have killed the Director. Booth sees where the prosecutor is going. Caroline was around, but not all the time. She could not have killed the director. So, the other person left is Bones. Booth does not want to answer. He looks towards the judge [stupid, like the judge can tell him he doesn't have to answer absent an objection from Caroline and why doesn't Caroline object] Booth says that Bones was with him the entire day and could not have done it. The prosecutor says that Booth left to take his son home. He was gone for 45 minutes. Bones could have done it then. Booth says that he has stood over death with Bones. He has faced it with her. She is not capable of murder. The prosecutor says that's not what he asked. He asked if Bones had the TIME to do it [actually not what he asked the first time, even if he's asking it now]. Yes, Booth grudgingly admits. She had the time. I don't like that Brennan makes herself the scapegoat for her father's brutal murder through Booth. I'm sure he doesn't think she could go to jail for a crime she didn't commit. So, he shouldn't be in deep pain over having to testify that way, but he doesn't want to say those words. DB does a good acting job and Booth's misgivings are clear. It's not easy for him and I don't like the way Brennan is being used.

Sweets gets on the stand and says that Brennan is perfectly capable of murder because she has a rare ability to compartmentalize her feelings. Again, is he speaking about himself?

We see Brennan on the courthouse steps. Booth comes out and hugs her. Then, our anxiety is supposedly relieved when a triumphant Max emerges, a free man. The jury acquitted. Brennan is happy. The lab crew is happy for her. Booth looks on as the family hugged, glad he helped them. Just gag me. Let Brennan have her hugfest, but at least give her a slight pang. Have Booth walk past her an bypass an embrace, still unsettled by the trick the prosecutor played on him. Why make him the unwitting tool of Max's release? Well, I guess he owed her one. He told another prosecutor about her past, so that she could be stripped bare in front of the jury and forced to show emotion. She didn't hold it against her. Now, he is pleased that she made him act against his will to save Jack the Ripper. All's fair in love, I guess.

Not troubled by what the characters did, so much as in how the show itself viewed what they did in an approving way. Main characters in a plot are often biased, so the characters outside of the action represent the "reasonable man" and express the objective viewer's point of view. In this case, the objective view was a skewed and disturbing one, cheering for those who least deserved it and promoting a result that left me smarting from the injustice. I love villains. I don't care if they win. Just don't tell me they're right.

The Baby in the Bough

They are driving and Bones tells Booth she is thinking about opening an account in the Cayman Islands. Booth wonders how loaded is she? She is offended by the phrasing, but says she just got a 7 figure advance.

He wants to know what the first number in those seven figures is. She says, it's a prime number but won't specify and asks what he does with his money. He says he uses his money for food and rent.

At the crime scene, someone asks him if he's agent Booth and he says, "Special Agent Booth." They are picky about those specials, aren't they?

Talking to the first responders at the scene, Booth begins with, "this is my partner" and she says she can introduce herself. Three years in and she just decided to get touchy about being introduced?

They are at the site of a car crash. There's a dead driver and a baby in a tree. Booth hears and recognizes its cry first. Bones thought it might have been a cat.

Booth tells Bones to cuddle the baby. She says just because she has breasts doesn't mean she has magical powers over infants. She says that he is the one with a son, anyway.

As Booth is trying to change the diaper, an awkward Bones puts the key they found in the diaper bag down next to the baby and the baby supposedly swallows it. They say they have to keep the baby, until the key passes through its body. So, Booth tells her to get used to the baby, because he will be with them awhile, as they must preserve the chain of evidence. They don't even mention the hazards to the baby of having a key in his digestive system, much less explain how he managed to swallow the thing without choking. It apparently went down as smooth as Pedialyte. Ridiculous.

The lab crew is taken by the baby, although a brusque Brennan tells then to get back to work [obviously, she is going to soften towards the baby by the end of the show and be all cooey and cuddly with it; you can see that coming from a mile away -- but she didn't get as sappy about it as I expected]. They say that Brennan is the official guardian of the baby while he's in their care because she's registered as a foster parent. She did it for Russ, so she could take care of his stepdaughters if anything happened to him and his girlfriend. Has he ever thought of getting married to the woman, if he's going to make his family obligated to those kids?

Angela tells Jack she wants about a million babies. He says, "Cool."

They hear the baby crying on the monitor and Brennan says she'd figured that Booth would go, since he's "the baby daddy." That is, he has prior experience. Bones had just told Angela that she would go sit with the baby in her office, since he is her charge, so I'm not sure why she didn't actually go to the office, rather than stop to gab with Jack as they heard the baby crying and then tell Booth to go.

When they are looking at Angela's rendering of the child's mother, the baby seems to react to it. Booth says, "he misses his mother. He's sad." That's why he was crying. This seems to move Brennan and she reaches for the tot.

They drive to the city where the mother lived. It's been half abandoned due to natural disasters and a poor economy, The baby is in the back seat. Brennan frets that no one filed a report for the baby. No one is worried about him. Booth says, "well, you are." I can see that they will begin to think that Brennan might have to take the baby permanently and just when she cottons to that idea, then a loving relative will show up for the tyke and she will be sad, experiencing a sense of loss for something she didn't even know she wanted. You can see this plot coming from a mile away. [Well, that didn't actually happen. She wasn't going to let the baby go into foster care because, she said, his medical needs were too great, but they didn't get to the point of her considering keeping him permanently].

Interviewing a homeowner, they immediately find someone who recognizes the baby, whose actual name is Andy. Meg Taylor is the mother.

Neighbors haven't seen the baby's father in a long time. They find the couple who babysat for Meg. Prediction: the woman killed Meg so she could have the baby for herself. [I was wrong]. On the other hand, they might just have the woman there so the baby can go to a loving home at the end of the day. [I was right}.

At the lab, looking at the baby's feces, Zack thinks he might be on epileptic medicine. Booth snaps, "don't say that. He's going to be just fine." Epilepsy is not a death sentence. Why did they have Booth react that way? I mean, no one wants a baby to be an epileptic, but it is a treatable condition and Booth didn't have to freak out at the thought.

They get to the trailer where Meg lived. The door is open and Booth tells Bones to stay in the car and to drive away if she hears gun fire. She wouldn't do that normally, but he tells her there's a baby involved that she has to protect. She says, "I'm not leaving you here." He says it's about the baby not him. Promise him she'll drive away. She pauses and reluctantly promises. Well, I'm glad she was so loathe to leave Booth, but hope she wouldn't really keep that promise, if push came to shove.

There's a guy riffling through things in the trailer and Booth cuffs him. Turns out it's the baby's father.

Cam talks to Angela about having kids and says, "it't not worth giving up this body for that." Well, she does have a nice, tight thin body. We see the curves as she sashays away.

Brennan gives the baby a charm to play with, which I think is stupid, but Booth points it out too, asking what's wrong with her and telling her that the baby has already swallowed a key. She says she is watching him. But why watch him play with something that he can put in his mouth and choke to death on?? Why assume you can fish it out before it's down his windpipe? When the charm was on a chain around her neck, she told the kid not to touch it, but then she disconnects the charm (about the size of a half dollar) from the chain and hands it to him. He was safer when it was around her neck! What a nut.

When she discusses the baby's breast milk, Booth is uncomfortable. Really? Over the word breast? Even for a single man, that's no big thing and she asks if Rebecca breast fed and he said he's not discussing it. She wonders if he'd rather she used the word "teat."

When the key comes out in Andy's diaper, Booth prepares to take him to family services, but Bones objects. The baby has a medical condition and she doesn't want him cared for in an underfunded, understaffed facility. She's been in Andy's situation and she's not turning him over until she's satisfied he's somewhere safe where he will get the care he deserves. I predict that she will give the couple who babysat Andy money to care for him -- provided the wife is not the murderer. If the baby hadn't had health needs, I wonder what excuse she would have given not to turn him over to child services.

Cam comes in when they are fighting over who talks the most baby talk. I wonder if they looked domestic to her. In Brennan's defense, we never hear her talking gibberish to the baby. Booth just claims that she was doing it, when she wasn't.

Now Bones is calling her congressman to develop the city where Andy is from so that it will be back on the scenic highway route and the people there will have jobs based on the tourist trade. So, I guess she's going to do more with her money than just help the babysitters. She's going to help the whole town.

One of the guys at the tire plant where Meg worked was the killer. Meg knew he was embezzling, so he killed her. He said he needed the money for his family and you do what you have to. Brennan grabs him by the collar angrily and says that there was a baby in that car, "you SOB."

The baby had rickets, not epilepsy and will be fine. Booth, apparently terrified of epilepsy, is relieved. There's a letter from Meg to the babysitter. Meg wanted the baby to go to that couple, the Grants, if anything happened to her.

Booth says, "it looks like our little guy will be fine." Bones stares at him and he revises, "THE little guy." Bones says: "Andy." They felt like parents together with Andy. An omen of things to come.

Bones gives the baby to the Grants with tears in her eyes. Booth looks down, moved as well.

Talking to Booth later she says she's not ashamed to say she developed a certain affection for Andy. It's a byproduct of caregiving. He wonders if she changed her mind about having kids. She says, "Booth!" Not eager to answer.

He says that's ok. She has some time. Then adds, "Not THAT much time." She exclaims again and knocks coffee all over him, when she tries to jab him. She says, "look what you did." He says she is the one who hit him. How did he do it?

She tells him that she's rebuilding the bridge in Huntsville and hired the babysitter, Carol Grant as the project manager. It's a fortune, but she can afford it with her advance and selling the movie rights to her book.

Actually, they mentioned the Alaska "bridge to nowhere" in this show, but that bridge could have put Alaskans to work and developed the state making it more accessible to non-residents as well, just like the bridge that Bones is going to build will. So, I don't think that the bridge to Alaska should be considered as much of a joke as the world (or US media) has made it.

Booth says that towns live and die like organisms and sometimes we should just let them go.

Bones: And sometimes all it takes is one thing -- like a bridge -- for a town to start recovering.

When it's on the scenic route again, restaurants, bed and breakfasts, and gas stations can reopen. He is proud of her, says "good for you" and smiles.

But he says, since she has no kids, there is no one to be proud of her (even though he clearly is). She says, "I don't do it for that."

He tells her for her next book she should buy a home in the city. Because Andy will miss her and they can come to visit. They could all go fishing and then all go home hmmm, his home too) and plop themselves in front of the 103 inch screen she will buy. Heaven. Football! He enthuses. [Glad he sees himself vacationing with her.]

He says she can make a 5 layer dip for the game She corrects that it's seven layers. How would she know that? How many Superbowls has she gone to? How many dips has she prepared?

He says seven is perfect and she can talk to Andy and he starts to mimic the way (he claims) she was talking to Andy. Goo goo, gah gah type words. She sticks a pacifier in his mouth to shut him up. He sucks.

____________

Reading DB's twitter, I have been spoiled enough to know that Booth and Bones get together. Someone claimed that they are the only couple on tv who were even better when they paired romantically than they were before. So, the inevitable seems to have happened in 2012. I don't mind this result. I like the domestic byplay between them already. They are good and funny. However, they don't have this eternal passion, burning, yearning, like people like to imagine that Mulder/Scully, Buffy/Angel and even Edward/Bella have. Bones and Booth live in the real world (sort of) not the paranormal one and maybe their relationship is that much more special because it's closer to real life. Although the trust that Mulder and Scully enjoyed was very real too, even if their alien abduction problems weren't. Anyway, I am happy with them being together, but not so anxious to watch it happen that I want to speed through to the current episodes like I sped through Buffy just to see the last (ccokieless and disappointing) scenes between Buffy and Angel. I'm ok with them, but I stand to be more upset than pleased if they start to have unnatural conflicts designed to keep them apart artificially and ruining what has been built up between the characters with petty jealousies, misunderstanding and accusations. I'd rather couples not get together at all, if they have to hurt each other in ways that betray their history, just so the writers can ratchet up and prolong viewer anticipation for the eventual union.

Player Under Pressure

ORIGINAL VERSION

Good show. The best of this dismal season so far. Written by Janet Tamaro.

[This show is aired out of sequence. Apparently, it's from last season. I only finally surmised this after watching 40 minutes of it, because of Jack constantly talking about Angela marrying him and Bones not knowing Booth was a jock. I guess the aired version of the show takes out the parts where they talk about things that have already happened in prior episodes. When I loaded the DVD, I saw that there were two versions of the episode to choose for viewing. I thought maybe there was just an "aired" version because of all of the erection talk in the show and suspected it had to be edited out for censors. But now I realize, it probably had to be changed because it was written a year ago. I wondered last year why Jack had apparently proposed to Angela offscreen. Now, I know that he didn't. Funny to discover things as a lone viewer that are already legend, lore and fodder for trivia games among show fans. After watching the whole thing, I read the show was pulled out of last seasons schedule, because of the Virginia Tech shooting, but there was no shooting on this show and I dont' think just because it was set on a campus it should have been yanked. It contains no similarities to the real life crime.]

[My original thoughts upon seeing the episode for the first time, not realizing it was actually an episode from the prior season]

Booth and Bones investigate at a University campus. In the gym, Booth says the last time he was behind the bleachers was when he was a student trying to sneak a cigarette and make out. Bones is surprised that he once smoked. He says he was a jock and she asks, "You were a jock?" Um, yeah. He said it at least 50 times in the time capsule ("you were that guy") episode.

They find a decomposed body, which was pushed through a grate, chewing it up. Bones figures an alcoholic passed out near the heater and his body practically melted, plus rats got to him. Please, there's no way a body decomposes that much in a few days, no matter what the heat or rodent conditions are in a school.

The security guard, Cutler, turns out to be a former athlete who was drafted by the Detroit Pistons. The decedent, RJ Manning, was 20 years old and had a necklace with a #11 medallion on it. Seeing that after just hearing about the Pistons reminds me of Isiah Thomas. Strange to give him the last name Manning, especially since, like Danny, he was going to be the top draft pick. And was a power forward like Manning.

Manning was killed by multiple blows to the head.

At the lab, Zach asks when Angela is going to move in with Jack and he says he doesn't think she will. I'm surprised. I remember her not moving in before, but after that they not only got engaged but tried to walk down the aisle, so I thought living quarters had been resolved long ago, especially since they were talking about making "family" Christmas traditions in the holiday episode. Whose house did they do that at, if they aren't roomies?

At the school gym, Booth is showing Bones how to play basketball, while she's lecturing him about how society puts too much emphasis on sports. I bet she'll get a basket without even trying [she did and smiled at her success.] Bones says that athletes suffer from arrested development, acting out childish games as if they have adult importance. Booth says that he was a jock, so when she criticizes the mentality, what is she saying about him? She says he grew out of it. He says he didn't. He only stopped because his shoulder went out. He leaves by saying he was in a war, so if sports is a childish substitute, he can live with that.

Outside, while talking to the other forward who will replace Manning in the lineup now, Booth says he's still mad at her. The replacement forward's girlfriend, Celeste, takes offense to Bones' questioning and immediately says she does not like Bones.


All the students defer to Mr. Francis, the team advisor who seems to have a finger in every pie associated with the team and their families.

Hodgins asks Cam why Angela won't move in. She tries to talk about the case, instead of answering his questions, studiously ignoring him. She concludes that Manning was on steroids. Jack says that they'll get married and Cam is stunned into paying attention and answering him directly. I don't understand. They already did that. Angela knows it's a permanent commitment and is waiting for her divorce to come through. Why are we re-treading the territory. Are they that anxious to have a wedding take place during another sweeps period? Cam says she doesn't give advice (she does, sometimes) but that she doesn't think that Angela would go for the orthodox proposal. Hodgins thinks that's a good point. He's already proposed to her about 3 times and she accepted in the end. Why are the writers acting like they have amnesia?

None of the other players have steroids in their system and it doesn't look like something that Manning would do, since the coach has zero tolerance for it. This is discovered after Booth tried to get a confession out of him by saying he knows that the Coach might look the other way, to have a successful team and further his own career. The Coach surprised Booth by revealing that he has terminal cancer from steroid use, so no, he wouldn't encourage his boys to do that. Booth was barking up the wrong tree, except one player did use steroids (he faked the urine sample). And it turns out Francis was his supplier.

Angela says no to Hodgins. I don't understand. Why won't someone on the show point out that they already tried to wed and that she's married already. Was that all a dream?

Bones talks to the security guard and asks him was being an ex-jock worth it. The injury to his body. The strain on his relationships. Booth comes in and guesses the guard would do it all again. Bones shakes her head, critically. Jocks understand each other, she says, but their priorities are askew. Some would say that hers are too and that she makes sacrifices for her job which are ultimately hurtful as well.

Turns out Francis signed RJ, still a student, to an illegal representation deal, to share in the proceeds when RJ went pro. In the meantime, he set RJ's family up with money, cars, etc. We know Francis can't be the guilty one, this early on in the show. Booth has bonded with the security guard. They even interrogated Francis together. I bet the guard is the killer [I was correct].

Manning was killed while having oral sex. There was blue lipstick on his penis and RJ also had gonorrhea. They go to find the other athlete with gonorrhea to see who it was that both he and Manning slept with. Who wore blue lipstick? They find pre-seminal fluid in RJ's system and Bones says that a post-adolescent male has 11 erections a day. Good to know.

When the show started, the student-employee who smelled a foul odor from the bleachers was a punk rocker with heavy make up. Why don't Bones and Booth remember that? She should jump to their mind immediately as having blue lipstick.

In the locker room, Bones asks if Booth is still mad at her for saying he's emotionally stunted. If anyone is stunted, it's her. So, yeah I'd still be mad.

They're in the shower and Bones is talking to naked ball players. Booth told her she could wait outside, but she ignored that. When would FBI protocol even allow this to happen, much less the University?? It's as unlikely as Booth going into a girls locker room to talk to naked female suspects.

The guy with gonorrhea asks if they think he had sex with RJ, who had it too. They hadn't thought of that before and looked at each other before Booth says, "I don't know. Did you?" No. The guy said he can't discuss sexual topics with her looking at him, because she's hot and he's naked. Booth tells her to go stand around the corner. Why should she, Bones wants to know, "because he's shy!?" The boy says, "Maybe you didn't notice, but I got no reason to be shy."

Booth tells her the boy can't concentrate so she must cover her eyes or stand aside. Eye covering doesn't work for her (well for the student either, because the boy can still see her and still be distracted), so she goes to another room. The boy tells Booth that Bones is "smokin'". Well, I wouldn't say all of that. She looks ok and could reasonably arouse a 20 year old guy who is already naked in the shower.

The guy says there are basketball groupies and he and RJ easily could have had sex with the same girl. He doesn't know who it might be.

Well, upon further reflection, he remembers that the one girl he didn't wear a condom with was his poly-sci tutor and he doesn't think that RJ "tapped that" because, he whispers, the girl was not hot. Enraged, Bones peeks up from over the row of lockers and questions the fact that all of the people he had sex with the only one he's ashamed of is a "not hot" girl!

Bones looks up at the top of the lockers: "What are you doing?"

The poly-sci student is the punk, pierced girl from the first scenes, proving I'm a better detective than either of them. RJ gave the STD to her and then he wouldn't talk to her, so she gave it to Decker for revenge, to let RJ know she was still alive. Well, why would RJ care that she was sleeping with someone else and how would he know that Decker had the SDT anyway. You gave your disease to someone else? I don't think that's the kind of thing that makes a guy jealous, if he finds out. They ask the girl for her DNA, because the woman who was with RJ when he died may have seen the killer. She throws her used kleenex and her hair at them and says, "knock yourself out."

The DNA is not hers. But many of the cheerleaders wore blue lipstick. It matched their team uniforms. RJ's girlfriend was a cheerleader, but she wasn't with him that night. She said he liked all kinds of girls, but she's just one kind. "The permanent kind."

Bones asks if the girl planned to live like that, with a philanderer. The girlfriend said that RJ came home to her. "That's the way it would have stayed," from his crummy little apartment to the mansion he would have gotten. Bones wonders if she's crying because she loved RJ or because she lost her mansion. Booth mouths, "the mansion."

Bones tells Zach that the girl made the decision to hold on to him by letting him have sex with anyone he wanted. Zach says that the idea that one person could satisfy all needs of another --- or even more than one need -- is sentimental and mawkish. Well, Bones has said in the past that people weren't meant to be monogamous. She wouldn't put up with it in exchange for a mansion, but in the past she has indicated that infidelity was to be expected.

We learn that the security guard's daughter was the cheerleader with RJ. Someone also spat at RJ, as there was a residue of saliva near the body. Her dad did that, I'm sure, when he found them together. Celeste is holding hands with her boyfriend during the interrogation, but the boyfriend pulls away, when he hears about the oral sex she gave to RJ. Bones and Booth thought the boyfriend was the person who spit at RJ. They didn't even consider that it might have been the father. Again, I'm a better detective.

Once they get to the gym, the guard confesses even before Booth and Bones can ask a question. He came in on Manning and his daughter. It killed him to see his daughter doing that. It also sounds as if he was jealous of RJ for being the "Magic Boy" and also mad because RJ had an STD and knew that when he took the daughter underneath the bleachers.

Guard pulls out a gun. Booth tells Bones he needs her to leave, NOW. She doesn't move and guard says it's not them he intends to shoot.

Booth tells the guy not to go down without a fight. Bones says, "What are you doing? You WANT him to shoot you?" He tells her to go. Surprisingly, she does.

The guard says he was just like RJ once, under the same bleachers in fact. He tells Booth he wouldn't understand. Booth says they were all like that. Guard says when you have a daughter, it's a different perspective. Booth tells him people will understand. Booth says he understands and recites guard's basketball stats.

"No one changed directions on the open court like you. Do it now. Just change direction again." Booth is intense, focusing on talking the guard down. DB is very good in the scene. Guard informs him that he, Cutler, died a long time ago. "I'm just putting him away." Oh-oh. So, did reminding him of his former greatness backfire? Just as he moved his arm and Booth thought he was lowering the gun, is the opposite going to happen? This is one of the times I should have been watching in real time for maximum tension, rather than pausing constantly. Even in releasing the pause button, I'm a little scared. I don't want to hear the gunshot go off and see Booth's reaction. Just as the suspense peaks, Bones appears from the other side of the bleachers and takes the gun out of Cutler's hand. I should have known that she didn't just walk away quietly, just like she didn't walk out of that locker room.

Booth nods to Cutler, moved and quiet, "All right." Emmy reel moment for DB.

Angela tells Hodgins she's not planning to break up with him, when he asks, if they're still together. He wants to know if he'd asked properly if she'd say yes. I have no patience for this, because they won't address the fact that she is married and DID say yes to him before. It's odd and maddening.

At the diner, Booth is still harping on the fact that Bones said adolescence was stunted for jocks. Bones says, "I never meant you." He says that he's one of those guys. She says, no he isn't.

"You don't play at being a warrior. You are a warrior. Every day you're definitely a fully developed man." He seems self-conscious, says ok and decides she should leave the tip.

Bones continues, even Cutler knew Booth was lying when he said he treated women like that under the bleachers too. Oh, did she believe Cutler? Bones said yes, because Booth still knew the first girl's name whom he took underneath the bleachers. He shifts in his seat and doesn't say anything. It's rather tender. She looks at him and takes the last sip from her malt. "Let's go," she says. He rises from the table, wearing a milk mustache.

The Man in the Mud

A couple takes a dip in a hot bubbling mud (sulphur) pond and finds a skeleton.  Booth and Bones show up to check it out.  She gets a tanker truck to suck up the mud and carry it back to the Jeffersonian.

They go to Sweets and discuss the case.  They talk about the couple going out for a romantic evening, getting naked, only to find those bones when the girl is poked in the "anus."  Bones says it twice and Booth says, "You really like that word, don't you?"

Instead of wanting to get involved in it like he did on previous cases, Sweets seems bored and asks if it would be fair to say they use work to avoid personal issues.  He asks if they ever discuss anything that's not about work.  Sweets says even when Bones and Booth discuss their relatives, it's because they came up during a case.  [Not really.  Booth discussed Parker even before he was nearly kidnapped.  And they have discussed each other's love lives as well.]

Sweets says they have an inability to discuss their personal lives.  That's obvious, he thinks.  Booth doesn't like Sweets' tone and says he doesn't respond well to snotty.  Bones says they have a drink after a case and Booth has pie, but she doesn't like pie.  It's too sweet.  Booth says she should give pie a chance [bet she'll have a slice at the end of the show, but I was wrong].

Bones says it's better when they discuss murder though.  Sweets wants them to have an evening out where the subject of work is verboten and tells them to come out for an evening with him and his girlfriend.  Why?  They are supposed to be FBI partners, not friends.  If the show wants to use him as a profiler that's fine, but I wish they would stop using the premise that Bones and Booth need therapy just to keep this guy around and to further a relationship via plot shortcuts because they are, obviously, too lazy to build through good writing.

Sweets says if the night out goes well, he'll sign a consent form and release them back into their environment [so you know it won't go well].  Booth:  What are we, brook trout?

Bones agrees to the outing.  Sweets asks if Booth thinks it's too much to prove.  Feeling that he's being given a challenge, Booth takes the dare and says ok.  He has nothing to prove.

Sweets' girlfriend works with tropical fish.  They will be meeting at their ceramics class.

Victim, Tripp, was a competitive motorcycle driver.  Booth says Angela and Bones wouldn't know him because they're "girls" and Angela says she doesn't like that comment and follows up by knowing all about the race the victim won two weeks ago.

They interview another driver, Danny, who brings his lawyer.  Booth takes pleasure in showing the guy footage of how Tripp cut him off during the last race.  He got mad at Tripp for dating his twin sister Phillippa and cheating on her.  The lawyer is nervous about the questioning and calls Booth a cowboy and Booths tells him not to sweat it, "Princess."

Booth tells Bones that Danny's not afraid of him at all. Don't know why he says it.  It's an interrogation gimmick to get a reaction from the suspect, but I don't know what reaction they're going for.  If it's good cop/bad cop thing, it's way too obvious and even the tone of their voices is teasing, rather than truly conversational.  Bones says why should Danny be afraid of Booth when he goes around the track at such fast speeds.  Danny says, "now her I like."  He asks if Bones wants to go out with him sometimes and Booth says she does not.  Bones says let her speak for herself.  Booth reminds her he's a murder suspect.

Zach says that the murder weapon was "sharper than round, but blunter than sharp."  Cam said that actually made sense to her and Angela says she and Zach have been spending way too much time together.  Not enough, really.  But, again, is this a clue that the writers are heading in that direction?

In Sweets' office when talk has come to a standstill, Booth says he hates sitting in silence, although he notes that Bones doesn't mind it. Bones said Booth gets bored, when no one is talking.  She says that Booth talks and talks during stake outs.  She said that Booth doesn't just talk about work at those times and Sweets says she's lying to protect her partner.  Sweets says the office should be a truth zone.

Booth says he doesn't want to go on a date.  Sweets says it's a social outing for the purpose of evaluation.  Not only won't it serve that purpose, but I'm inclined to think it's probably unethical to propose such an event.  Booth says he's not a ceramics guy.  He wants to climb a wall or bowl.
Sweets says that, of course, Booth wants to do something Booth is good at [no, why wouldn't he just want to do something he might enjoy].  Booth says he'd go to a movie or dinner.  Somewhere where he doesn't have to make something.  Sweets insists on ceramics.

Driver Danny is test driving his new cycle (the one Tripp used to own) in front of Bones and Booth and his family when it fails to decelerate on a turn and he crashes and burns.

They go to the ceramics class and are dressed like hippies (although Sweets and his girlfriend, April, are not).  Booth is wearing a kerchief.  Bones is enjoying making pottery.  Booth makes a horse and Bones praises it.  Meanwhile, April and Sweets argue, as she thinks he is patronizing.

Booth tells Sweets "your thing there is drooping," [his sculpture].  Booth is thrilled with his own horse sculpture.  Bones and Booth start throwing clay at each other and laughing, so Sweets throws some at April, who only gets madder.  [Since this went well for Booth and Bones, does this mean they will be released from therapy?].

In the car Booth says, "Sweets didn't get any last night."  Bones said they're too young to be in a serious relationship.  In the old agrarian days, early relationships were necessary for survival, but that's not needed today.  Booth says, "You can play the field and not plow it."

Bones says that was distasteful.  She says she likes April.  Booth:  "She talks to fish!  Ok.  I'm with Sweets one this one."

Danny's father signed over 10% of the family's energy drink company to Tripp, to get him to stay with the driving team, since he was the best driver, so that would be an incentive for Danny and his sister Phillippa and other jealous drivers to kill Tripp.

They start looking at each other up and down and smiling while discussing the case, which is reminiscent of Mulder and Scully standing in the doorway of Pusher's bathroom, discussing crime evidence, but looking as if they were doing a lot more, if you couldn't hear their conversation.  Of course, Bones and Booth were kind of joking at the time, saying that once you put a theory out there, you couldn't change it.  No changeys and take backs!  Mulder and Scully hadn't been joking or flirting.  They were just gazing rather appreciatively.

April comes to see Temp.  Amazing how people get into the Jeffersonian unannounced, when I know it's got tight security.  April said fish choose their mates based on color striations.  But if the color changes, then attraction does.  She says there's an age difference between her and Lance. He just turned 23 and she's almost 27. [ So, then why was Lance trying to be the one to counsel her during date night, instead of the other way around?]

"What's the age difference between you and Booth?"  Five years Bones says [real life 7], but she tells April they aren't dating -- or aren't colored fish. 

It looks like Phillipa is the murderer, but her lawyer says she has a twin brother (now dead) and juries hate DNA evidence and twins.  So stupid.  Fraternal twins don't have any more DNA in common than a regular brother and sister would.   The lawyer says Booth can't win, but he says he is still going to make the arrest, to let everyone know what Phillipa did, including her father.

Afterwards, Bones said she is ok with what Booth did in the interrogation room.  [What did he do?  Arrest Phillipa, even though they can't prove the case at trial?  Who is she to be ok with that or not?  It's his job. Furthermore, an expert can prove the difference between her DNA and her dead brother's despite what the lawyer said, if the case should come down to that.] She says she just likes it better when they can put the bad guy in jail.  Sweets comes in.  Earlier Sweets said he participated in a study and can tell when people are lying, but now Booth and Bones can detect that he is lying, when he pretends that he bumped into them by chance.

April dumped him, Booth guesses.  He's right.  This is like Detour when Mulder and Scully go off with the partners who love trust-building activities, while Mulder and Scully don't.  Of course, in the end, Mulder and Scully rely on each other and thrive, while the other partners fall apart, despite all of the training they've had at working together. Sweets couldn't teach Booth and Bones how to be partners.  Booth says that he and Bones are going bowling (they hadn't planned to; he just thought that up on the spot) and invite Sweets.  They assure Sweets they didn't think April was pretty anyway.  Booth says come on, let's go bowling.  A dejected Sweets declines, but Booth grabs him by the rolling chair he's sitting in and pulls him out the door.

I hope this means that they turned the tables on him and, as he promised, are no longer under his therapeutic care. 

The Santa in the Slush

It's another Bones Christmas show and can only be an improvement upon the last one I suffered through.

Two women dressed as elves are outside in the alley behind the mall. They find a body dressed in a Santa Claus suit in one of the sewer grates.

Meanwhile, Bones is visiting her father. He has a strand of large fat chains around his neck. They're the kind of chains that you use for your snow tires. He wonders why she doesn't ask why he's wearing them. She says it's because he's in jail. If she really thinks that prisons make the convicts wear chains like that, she should be before Congress right now, fighting for his civil rights.

He is wearing them because he is playing Marley in the Christmas play.

They both agree that the last good Christmas they had was 16 years ago when her mother was still alive and before the kids were abandoned. She remembers the Christmas she got a tool box. He said it was for Russ, but she took and Russ let her have it. It reminds me of a story that Ivanka Trump told about her brother getting a building construction set and she took it and built a replica of her father's skyscraper. Donald Trump remonstrated her for taking her brother's gift, but gave her tips on details she missed in the building.

Max says he would like to spend another Christmas with his family. Again she reminds him that he's in jail. So, is Russ and Mom is dead. She said she's going to Peru for the holiday to look at some bodies they found there. He says that skeletons and Christmas aren't a good mix. She insists that she's looking forward to it.

In the car with Booth, he observes that she has that sad little girl look she gets after seeing her father. She denies it. He tells her that Max can still spend Christmas with his family. They can use one of the conjugal visit trailers. She doesn't seem to latch on to this suggestion. What are his plans for Christmas? He says that he is thinking of driving a truck off a bridge, because Rebecca is taking Parker away to Vermont to spend Christmas with her boyfriend, Captain Fantastic (commands a Coast Guard cutter).

Booth says skeletons and Christmas do not mix, just like her father did. Are Booth and her father two of a kind? I'd hope not.

At the crime scene, Cam wonders why Booth is cynical at Christmas. He says no reason. Bones quickly tells Cam that Booth will be without Parker and Cam says "that sucks majorly."

At the lab, when Zach debunks all of the Santa myths and tells them that their victim can't really be Santa, Cam seems to want to believe it's so and that he is.

Brennan goes to see the horrible complaining Russ. When she tells him that the girls can see him in the trailer, he is mad, because he didn't tell them he was in jail.

Booth is asleep on the sofa in her office waiting for news from the squint about their crime. He asks about Russ and tells her that Christmas is about making the impossible happen. Oh, like him spending Christmas with Parker? Why is she rubbing that in? If he were brooding openly about it, that would be cause for her to address it. But he's not and she just keeps raising the subject.

They get an address for the Santa and they seem to be dressed more casually than usual as they walk along the street. He is in a coat and a sweater. She is in jeans and high boots and a knit cap. He pushes her, because it looks like she will be hit by a car. She says that she's sorry he can't spend Christmas with Parker. What! If she doesn't say that every 5 minutes do they think the audience is going to forget? Bones says that's not right for her to take the boy away at Christmas time when she knows how Parker feels about his dad.

The deceased lived above a toy store. And lived like he was almost a real Santa. They find he worked for a temp agency and head there to talk to the employees. In the car, she says, "thinking of Parker?" Oh, man. She won't quit. The writers won't quit. He denies thinking of his son and she denies thinking of her family.

He says she can't blame Russ for not wanting the girls to know the truth. She says he's living a lie and Booth would never do that. He says he doesn't tell Parker the truth about Santa Claus. She says that myth is based on blackmail and she doesn't believe in lying to children. She says by the Santa reasoning they should figure out a lie that Russ can tell the girls so they won't know he's in jail. He says that that is a brilliant idea. She says that it was intended to be a scathing and incisive comment. See, she DOES do sarcasm, even though she said she didn't a couple of episodes ago!

He says she just wants to go to Peru without feeling guilty. She says he needs to accept that he won't be with Parker. I CAN'T TAKE THIS! He has accepted it. He is not in denial. He's not railing against the fates or Rebecca. Why does she keep bringing it up? Does she want him to be miserable? She's like Barbara Walters trying to get someone she's interviewed to cry: "How did it feel when you found your mother dead?" They glower at each other and agree that they are not enjoying Christmas.

Cam and Zach are in the lab and I almost feel that the writers might be thinking of putting them together as I have suggested. She asks him what he is doing. He is going home to Michigan. She is going on a family cruise, but doesn't think she will enjoy it.

At the temp agency, it's full of Santas. They all loved the deceased, Kris Kringle, and are sad that he is dead. He was a model Santa. The best one there. As they gather around to hear the news, Booth tells them that they need to back off.

Bones asks one why he is limping and he asks if she wants to see his shins. She wonders why she would want to see his shins. He says because kids kicked him. Well, if she asked him the question, I assume it's because she thinks he might have been attacked while killing Kringle. So, why would she NOT want to see his shins? I know she only said she didn't for plot humor, but it doesn't make sense, really.

Hodgins is at the lab giving Cam technical information and she says she understands why Booth hates talking to him. Wow, she's just a Booth expert, isn't she. He is surprised. Booth hates talking to him? She softens the blow and she says not him specifically, just lab people. They find that the Santa sat in some expensive Chinese delicacy, so they are looking for his place of death as a Chinese restaurant. Booth heads there in the car, but she can't make it.

Bones says she has a meeting with Caroline to see if she can get the trailer for the family to use. The prosecutor supposedly has to sign off on the arrangement. No way! The prison administrator would handle trailer permissions, not the prosecutor on the murder case. That's so absurd. Booth reminds her that Caroline is a lawyer, so she will probably do Bones the favor, but she will ask for something in return. Bones said that's only fair, but Booth thinks she's likely to change her mind. She doesn't know Caroline like he does.

Caroline says she will grant the trailer but no Christmas tree, because someone else made a knife out of one, so they're banned from now on. However, the Brennan clan can gather in the trailer otherwise, with one condition. Booth said she'd say that.

Caroline: "Did he say I'd ask you to kiss him . . . No cheeks, no noses, right on the lips." She wants them to kiss under mistletoe. When I saw the screen cap for this dvd episode, it was a picture of them kissing and I felt they would do it under mistletoe, but I thought it would be of their own volition. I did not know Caroline would order it! When I heard, I was excited for the scene, because I wanted to see what Booth's surprised reaction would be, more than I wanted to see them lock lips.

Bones: "People kiss people on the nose?"

Caroline says do it under mistletoe. Why?

Caroline: "Because it will amuse me."

Bones: "Why?"

Caroline says it's because they are so formal. Agent Booth, Doctor Brennan (they aren't formal with each other really). "It's Christmas and I have a puckish side. That will not be denied." Caroline says they have to kiss for no less than the count of 5 steamboats.

Bones: "That's blackmail."
Caroline: "That's correct."
Caroline says that's the deal, take it or leave it.

Bones tries to bargain: "What about a tree?"
Caroline: "No Christmas tree. No way. Not even if you squeeze his buttocks."

Bones wonders if she can just take Caroline out to dinner instead. Caroline, "You kiss Seeley Booth on the lips and I'll make sure your daddy has his dream Christmas. No tree mind you, but otherwise as good as an accused murderer can expect."

Booth and Hodgins go to the alley behind the Chinese restaurant and finding wallets in the garbage bin conclude that there might have been a Santa pickpocket. Booth walks off leaving a sputtering Hodgins in the garbage bin.

At the diner, Booth is talking to Parker, while Bones is at a nearby counter listening to them. Is Captain Fantastic a new boyfriend or the one we've already seen, because Parker used to like the old one. Booth tells Parker that if his mom likes the man, then they should respect him and like them too. Bones turns around and says, "Is that true?" Booth says he likes the guy. "Wow," a disbelieving Bones snorts. "Bones!" Booth says. Parker worries that Booth will be alone for Christmas (I remember having that fear about my own divorced dad). Booth says he will spend the holiday with Bones and their friends. Bones says, "I'm going to Peru."

Booth: "We're all going to Peru." When Parker goes to wash up Bones says, "You lied a lot to him." Booth: "That's the magic of Christmas, Bones."

Booth talks to a Muslim security guard that might be a suspect. Booth assumes that he doesn't celebrate Christmas, but the guy does. He got into an altercation with a Santa who pickpocketed him and knocked him down, but everyone around looked at him and, due to his ethnicity, thought he might be a terrorist, so he got out of there. Booth looks like he feels contrite about his assumptions about the man.

In her office, when Booth comes in with a clue, Bones is busy moving a chair so she can stand on it and hang mistletoe. She is also chewing gum. She is hilarious because even though she looks a little self-conscious and averts her eyes from him, she also looks purposeful, busy and business like (though smacking gum like a gun moll). Like she's going to do this very professionally and efficiently and not be an embarrassed school girl about it.

As she moves furniture to hang the mistletoe. Booth asks her, "WHAT is with the mistletoe?" I'm sure he's especially wondering, since he knows she doesn't like to celebrate Christmas. She says, "I was going to talk to you about this." She says Caroline said they had to kiss, for her to get the trailer. This is the only way she will let her family have Christmas.

Booth: "By having us kiss."

Bones: "yes."

Booth: "Why?"

Bones: "Because she is feeling puckish."

Booth: "Puckish? What's that mean?"

Bones: "Listen Booth, she's going to be here any second. Do you want some gum?"

"No. My breath is just fine." It's not clear whether he is saying it's fine for kissing or whether he is still taking it all in and not aware of what he's saying.
He says that he will talk to Caroline. "No!" Bones exclaims and he jumps, taken aback by her vehemence. He looks like he might have a half smile, as if he's thinking maybe she WANTS to kiss him, for reasons having nothing to do with Caroline.

Bones: "I'm only telling you out of professional courtesy." What? Otherwise she would have just forcefully kissed him, without warning? That might have been better.

Booth: "What!"

Bones: "so that you won't be surprised."

He says that when she says kiss, she means kiss on the cheeks. And he turns his head from side to side to mimic cheek kisses. No, that's not it. Bones: "No, the lips. [he smiles, perhaps, or at least swallows uncomfortably] Like brother and sister. Colleagues. French people who meet on the street."

He exhales, nervously. "Caroline's feeling puckish huh?" As if he thinks puckish might mean something similar to what it rhymes with.

Bones: "it means playful and impish." Caroline comes in and says she's arranged the trailer. What about Bones' end of the deal. Bones points up to the mistletoe, indicating that she's all ready. Caroline pushes Bones underneath the mistletoe, telling him to take a step to his right, "right under the cute little sprig". He opens his mouth to speak, but only gets out half a syllable. Bones grabs him by the collar and kisses. The camera doesn't really stay on their lips that long [though there's an extended DVD version that does], but focuses a little on the heart-shaped space formed between the meeting of their chins and chests.

After the kiss, they look almost smug, satisfied. Booth stumbles backwards, smiling. A lot happier than my morbid two did after they kissed on New Year's Even in Millenium.

Caroline looks on somewhat astounded, as if she got a lot more than she bargained for and it's making her feel rather awkward.

Bones: "Is that enough steamboats?" She asks Caroline.

Caroline (flabbergasted): "The whole flotilla."

Booth: "I don't know what that means, but Merry Christmas (smiling, but looking at Caroline)."

Bones: "It was like kissing my brother."

Caroline: You sure must like your brother.

Booth: (helping) She does.

Bones: I do.

Caroline leaves. Bones says that she's sure Caroline feels really foolish right now. Caroline is thinking they like each other more than she ever thought. Booth gives one of DB's patented sideways glances and says "yeah." Sheepish and stuttering he says he better go look at some . . . forensic evidence. Bones can't think of an adequate excuse either and stutters too that she has stuff to do . . . with Bones. Bones walks over to her desk. Booth, "I understand completely." He pulls a wad of gum out of his mouth, transferred via the kiss. He sticks it back in his mouth and whispers, with nervous smile, "Thanks for the gum."

Why doesn't Booth thank him? That's one of the funniest things about the scene is that she acts like she can molest him at will for the sake of her family's Christmas and he's lucky she even mentioned what was going to happen. She doesn't even consider seeking his cooperation first, much less his permission. That's what makes her "professional courtesy" line so funny.

At diner they meet with Sweets who is in elf ears [I think he's a regular cast member and not the cannibal, darn it!]. Bones says she has a crisis. Booth says, "Just mistletoe."

Bones: "Not the kiss. That was nothing."
Sweets: "You kissed?
Booth: Mistletoe.
Bones: That's not the crisis.
Sweets: Was there tongue"
Booth: "All right. You know what? Get your own sex life."
Bones: That has nothing to do with sex.
Booth: Nothing. There was nothing . . . mistletoe
Bones: Totally sexless.

Bones says that Booth, who is a very honest purpose, says that deception is necessary at this time of year. Sweets agrees. He says that it's necessary for the Christmas spirit, to bring back innocence and joy. It's our responsibility to allow kids this. Bones says "ok." She finds that very helpful. Booth says it's what he's been saying for the last 4 days.

Bones goes to tell Russ that they will lie to the kids and they won't know it's a prison. He is still ungrateful and says that he gets better advice in prison. He also has the nerve to gripe that there's no tree and says it isn't Christmas without a tree. She says she's going to Peru and he complains that dad wants them all there. Those convicts sure want a whole lot.

The lab figures that the killer was probably one of the Santas, who hit Santa with a brass bell. Booth and Bones go back to the temp center to investigate the Santas. They line them up and smell them for Chinese food on the back of their clothes. Not as funny as the show thinks it is. After they arrest young Dom, the other Santas gather around and sing "Santa Claus is coming to town". Booth and Bones look worried and frightened, surrounded by the red and white clad crazy guys.

Again, I should have guessed that the recognizable name guest star, David Deluise, would be the guilty one.

Case solved, everyone begins to celebrate Christmas. The squints have a party. Cam puts a bow on Zach's head.

Booth gives money back to the security guard who was pickpocketed and gets a hug from them. Then, back at his desk, a police officer brings Parker in to see him. Did Rebecca change her mind or are they still leaving for the airport soon? We learn that the boy ran away from home. Went to a policeman and said his father worked for the FBI. That's how he got to the office. Booth calls Rebecca and promises to take Parker to Vermont after they spend Christmas day together.

After the squint party, Bones is looking at her plane ticket to Peru. Soon enough we learn she's opted not to go. She turns up at the trailer to be with her family.

She and her father agree it's the best Christmas they've had in 16 years.

Booth sets up a Christmas tree for her family outside of the trailer and the fence around the prison. He hooks it up to the car engine electricity and it's aglow with lights that they can look out of the window and see. Bones talks to him on the phone as she looks out the window and says she loves her gift.

Booth: "Merry Christmas, Bones." As he looks at her across the lot, it seems like he is almost near tears.

The Knight on the Grid

[The Extended Version, 2 extra minutes]

Booth is at a crime scene. Cam comes and says Bones looked a little hurt when he asked for her and not Brennan. He laughs and says Bones' feelings don't get hurt [is he crazy; she was just crying all last week about a SMURF]. He said she's not like Cam. She's not a "girl." Cam says that the word you are looking for is "woman. Who incidentally makes more money than you." I didn't know that. It's hard to say because even though we don't see people reporting to him, Booth seems to have lots of power. He seems to be able to order an unlimited number of agents onto a scene with a single phone call, without having to go to someone over his head. That could be just because the show doesn't want to pay for him to have a boss like he did in the earlier episodes [wonder if that guy's daughter ever died]. Plus, Booth works with the whole Jeffersonian gang. That must be a special FBI assignment. So, I knew he made less money than Bones, but I didn't know he made less than Cam too -- of course, she is Bones' boss, but she wouldn't even have that job without Bones. She spends so much time in the autopsy room, that she can't be directing much of anything at the Jeffersonian, so I think of her more as a coroner than an administrator.

Anyway, Bones would be more upset if he slept with her a couple of times and just broke it off than what Cam appears to be. So, Bones definitely has feelings to be hurt. Though, I feel Cam's holding her feelings in and, moreover, she doesn't get enough air time for us to see the full extent of her reaction to events. We do know that she hasn't had a steady boyfriend since Booth, based on what she told her dad. And it has been years since she and Booth were a couple, rather than just a tryst. But when does Booth think that Cam has had her feelings hurt?

The body they find still has flesh. So, is that why he didn't call Bones? Why would she get hurt. She complains when they call her on skin jobs. Why does she care this week? Booth tells Cam that Bones usually kneels next to the bodies. I'd just hit him on the head with the flashlight. Just because Bones does it doesn't mean that it's necessary for examination. It's just a gesture. How would he like to be told to do his job by copying the physical movements of other FBI agents? Cam complains that her bodies are always so much gushier than Bones', but she kneels.

At Bones' apartment a woman shows up at the door. Bones is hesitant but opens the door and says "yes?" Umm, I know she can fight, but I would have asked who it was before opening the door and I would have had had a chain on it. It's Amy, her brother's girlfriend, looking for Russ. Her daughter has cystic fibrosis and wants to see him. Amy eventually shows a picture of her daughter with Russ, but you'd think Brennan would have asked for i.d. before then. How does she know the woman is who she says? Her father's old friends have tried to kill both her and Russ before. You'd think she'd be careful.

As she gives Amy a doctor's name for her sick daughter, Bones notice that blood is coming out of a piece of mail she has on her table. She hurries Amy out of there. Coincidence that this happens the same day that Amy shows up for the first time? Bones opens up the package. It's the knee caps from the body they found.

Based on the grizzly package sent to her home address, Booth wants Bones to stay with someone. She says no. He tells Cam (in that administrative capacity that I see so little of) that Bones needs security at all times. Bones says no. Booth: "Cam who are you more afraid of? Me or her?"

Sweets shows up again. I don't like him. He's not needed.

Booth says, "It's an autopsy room. It's no place for therapists. What do you want?"

He wants to know why they missed their session. Um, couldn't he have called them on the phone to ask that?

The victim was killed with the Gormagon (17th Century anti-Masonic group, supposed to be extinct) knife. The serial killer. The cannibal. I guess Hart Hanson wrote this one [No, 10 minutes in we see that Noah Hawley wrote it]. I know why they had Sweets there now: to give the crew a reason to explain the background of the case to someone for the audience's sake. Sweets is the gimmick by which they refresh our memory.

Sweets tells them that there will be something special about the knee caps. Please don't tell me he will become part of the crew, as a full time profiler. That's not what I need.

Looking at the Gormagon stuff, Booth says his idea of art is a naked woman on the side of a van. Sweets says, "that's interesting." Actually, they make Booth sound like a neanderthal, but he doesn't act like one. He's not always eyeballing women and he is usally resisting those that come on to him. So, I don't know why they tell us he is "that guy." Maybe I spoke too soon. It turns out, he was mocking that type of person. He says very articulately, "No, it's not interesting Sweets, because it was a joke."

The victim was a priest, Father Doug Cooper. Booth says Sweets was right about the knee caps (guy kneeled a lot) and he is bringing Sweets in on the case. Bones' isn't impressed by the psychology. Zach is surprised that Booth wants Sweets' insight and says that Booth makes fun of Sweets all of the time. Booth says that's only when he messes with their heads. When he's analyzing other people, I guess Booth thinks Sweets is ok.

Booth likes the way that Bones dismisses Zach, but she denies doing so. She used to boss Zach around all of the time. I don't know why she stopped or feels she should be more respectful to him ever since he came back from the military.

The head priest they interview says call him Monsignor "or Steve." Bones calls him "Steve" and Booth tells her not to, under his breath. "He said to call him, Steve," she mumbles back. Steve can't believe someone "ate" Doug. Though just a part of him, Bones assures him. The heart. Steve says he shouldn't say that Steve was good at serving others, considering he was eaten. He concludes that there is too much evil in the world. Booth agrees, "Amen, Monsignor, Amen." Bones says, "Thanks Steve."

Booth and Hodgins go to a cemetery. Reminds me of the ones in Buffy. I feel sad and wistful. Booth can read the latin on the engravings because he was an altar boy. They find more Gormagon artwork inside, with a skeleton adorning it, which is made up of human bones.

Bones' goes to see Amy by her daughter's bed side. She tells her Russ is a fugitive and if he comes to see the child, he will be arrested the minute he enters D.C. Amy says no one will know. Bones says she works with the FBI. Amy says Bones' doesn't have to be involved. Just ask Max to get a message to Russ.

"You look my baby in the face and tell her she can't see her father, because you're mad at yours." [Huh? She can't see him because he left her in favor of helping his killer dad, even though you and your two daughters needed him more. It has nothing to do with Brennan.]

I don't know how long Russ was with Amy anyway, but I find it hard to believe that the kid is that attached to him. And the freckled brat doesn't make me at all sentimental. I don't care about her.

Zach figures out that the latest human artwork they found was made up of 15 different bodies, with parts from all used to make up a whole skeleton. He finds that the killer of the people who made up the artwork in the cemetery was older than the cannibal they identified before. So, there are two of them. One an old man, now.

Bones asks Max to tell Russ to come home. She says, "He'll come if you ask him to." So, it sounds like Max asking him would have more pull than Amy and the kids asking him. He knew that kid was sick when he left them. He sends money to Amy every month Max says, so he cares about Russ' abandoned commitment to Amy and her kids, but doesn't want his son to come back just to end up in jail.

They find old icons which show who the cannibal will go after next. A musician, a bishop and the next victim will be a "corrupter." Sweets says that's a heretic. A pretender to the throne [a politician running for office; I think they said someone high up in government was probably the cannibal in the original Gormogon episode, or, if it's a pretender, maybe the killer will target someone who fancies himself a cannibal too].

Bones is upset that Booth gave Sweets the case file. However, Sweets explains to them the information that Hodgins usually provides to the gang, that these human bone sculptures were made by masters and apprentices. When the apprentice makes his own complete skeleton, then the master knwos he has taught him enough to retire. The current Gormagon used to be an apprentice and now he's a master. He had an apprentice himself in the last episode, but that guy killed himself.

Sweets says that both master and apprentice were fatherless. They were widows' sons.

They think the corrupter is a lobbyist. They find the lobbyist associated with the other two victims (who had both taken a trip to Turkey recently, along with this lobbyist) and tell him he might be next to die. How does a cannibal master find an apprentice? Does he belong to the masons or some other group that might be behind this. He won't give them information. The lobbyist says people in Washington get their face eaten off all of the time. He says his cufflinks are worth more than Booth makes in a year and he's not going to sacrifice that. [Hey! Everyone on the show puts down Booth's payrate.] The lobbyist says his associates trust him to keep his mouth shut. Oh, this guy will end up dead, as punishment for his arrogance.

They say they know he's a member of the Knights of Columbus [hence the title; he'll end up in the grid]. He continues to be snarky and withholding.

Russ shows up at the FBI. Booth arrests him. Max apparently told him that Bones said that Booth wouldn't arrest him. Before taking him in, Booth lets him go see the girl in the hospital. Bones is grateful, but Booth denies doing them a favor. He says as far as the FBI is concerned he caught Russ at the hospital 15 minutes from now. Bones just thanks him again and kisses his cheek. I think that's their first kiss. I believe Mulder and Scully first kissed when she is in the hospital in Season 5. He comes in and kisses her hands, cheek. It was very sweet. This Bones kiss is nice. Booth is both exasperated with Russ and effected. He stares ahead and says to Bones, "Just don't tell anyone."

Why did they decide not to marry this Amy to Russ? Why is he just the almost stepfather? Since they had Bones say that technically the girl wasn't her niece, they do not just want to gloss over the fact that Russ isn't married. They want to keep it in our heads. I don't know how that will figure in the plot later, but I'm sure it will. Maybe Amy can testify against him if he's arrested, since there will be no spousal privilege. Although, even as a prisoner, he can marry, so he could gain the privilege then.

They find cameras in their Gormagon vault and discover that the cannibal has been watching them this whole time.

They decide to fool Gormagon. They will pretend to transfer one of the human bones sculptures that Gormagon loves so much, so that he will try to steal it and then they will trap him.

As they start their "act" Bones is talking in a loud and stilted manner, for the benefit of the killer who is watching and listening and Booth flinches because she's so obvious.

They then go undercover in a taxi. A motorcyclist drops a back pack near them. Booth recognizes the danger and tells her to get down. The pack explodes. Their car rolls. Booth climbs out and tells Bones not to move. He then runs to her side and pulls her out.

Bones said he knew who they were because she was sitting in front in the taxi and passengers sit in the back (which is what she'd been telling him earlier). He disagrees. He says the cannibal knew it was a ruse because of her bad acting and the fact that she was talking too loud. Bones, "Well, you shouldn't have shushed me." [Yeah, Gormagon heard that shush].

Booth realizes that Gormagon knew the truck was a decoy. He wasn't trying to get the skeletal art back. He was trying to kill them.

He put human teeth in his bomb as shrapnel and Booth pulls one out of Bones' arm.

Booth realizes that he has to go rescue the corrupter, because that's why cannibal was trying to kill them, because they predicted his next target. He yells at Bones to stay where she is, the paramedics are coming to check her, as he runs off. I'm surprised she obeys.

The lobbyist is still alive when Booth gets to him. The killer runs. Booth gives chase. The killer grabs a kid out of nowhere and holds him as a shield. Booth says to put the kid down. He's a sniper and I look forward to him shooting the guy, even while he's holding a child. But then the guy jumps into the water with the child. Booth has to jump in (where his gun doesn't work), to save the kid from drowning. The killer gets away as the child weeps in Booth's arms.

Sweets thinks Hodgins is paranoid for thinking that secret societies still exist today. For all I know, Sweets might be Gormagon.

Temp goes to jail to see Russ and says she never told him to turn himself into Booth. Max lied. A surly Russ only answers that if he'd come to her, she would have told Booth anyway. So, he still believes that she trusts Booth beyond all else.

Anyway, she told Max to get Russ back and that he'd come if Max asked, so I'm not sure why she's so upset that he lied to Russ about what she said. It had the result that she wanted.

She tells him that it's not just that he violated parole, but the authorities believe he knows something about Max's murder case. He denies it. She looks skeptical. He says no one in the family trusts the other one. Why should they? After what he and Max pulled, she should not trust them.

She says he has never killed anyone. There are levels of bad and he wouldn't even be on level one, she determines. He says that's like she just told him he was a sissy. [I'd put him at Level One at the very least. I don't find him to be innocent.]

Bones wants Caroline to set Russ free. She is so dumb in admitting that Booth let Russ go to the hospital before bringing him to jail (after Caroline pretended that she didn't hear that when Bones said it the first time) that Caroline can't believe she's an actual genius. She won't go easy on Russ and drop charges. She tells Bones that the best she can do is let Bones speak at the parole hearing.

Gormagon pulled out his own teeth and put them in a bomb. So, we are looking for a toothless guy. Without teeth, it must be hard to be a cannibal. Bones says that Booth is right, Gormagon wanted to kill them. Well, I didn't know anyone doubted that.

They discuss the cannibal being fatherless. Booth says his father wasn't so great, but he came out ok [I thought he said in the past that his relationship with his father was good]. Bones disagrees. She says Booth's killed a lot of people and will probably kill more in the future. That's kind of funny, but rather a low blow. He can't believe it. DB is sort of smiling, so I don't know whether Booth thinks what she said is funny or not, but he feigns indignation. She says she's sorry. "You're a good man." He wonders if she's being sarcastic. She says, "I don't do sarcasm." I've heard her do it. But she had earlier asked if Caroline was being sarcastic [Bones doesn't recgonize sarcasm either], so Booth's words to her, tie into her own to Caroline.

He says that the point is Russ will be fine, unexpectedly linking her fatherless Gormagon concerns to her own, unvoiced family fears.

When asked by Bones, Booth declines to speak at Russ' parole hearing, saying he has to stand up for his own mistakes. Bones is always telling her family (and Booth) that she can't protect them from justice, but then she always wants Booth to make concessions for them, when the time comes.

They find an old office key that leads them to a former foster care worker. This was probably the master. He was in a job that helped him find fatherless, troubled boys and turn them into fine young cannibals. While pedophiles often groom young men for sex, I don't think it can be as easy to groom and recruit boys to kill and eat people. But I guess if you're motivated enough, you can be successful.

They go to see the old, retired man in a nursing home and he lunges at Bones, snapping with his mouth, when she tries to get his teeth imprints. She becomes angry and tells him they know who he is and what he did. Booth calms her down and pulls her away. Booth tells her he'll put a guard on Gorgonzola to see who visits him. Bones said he's doing that "gorgonzola" thing on purpose, isn't he?

At the courthouse, when Amy sees Booth she says she can't be friendly if he's who she thinks he is. Who she thinks he is? She saw him in the hospital room. He's the one who brought Russ in. She should know who he is.

Hayley, Amy's kid, drew Temp a picture that said "thank you Auntie Temperance" and I was sick to my stomach, upon viewing it. They are called into the judge's chambers and Bones and Russ aren't allowed to speak. The judge will listen to Booth, but he has nothing to say. Bones exclaims, "Booth!" I don't blame him. I wish he'd stand by his guns and shut up, but know he will vouch for Russ, in the end.

The judge reveals that the Arch bishop and Sweets both put in a good word for Russ (an abashed Booth makes it obvious that that was his doing) and the judge gives Russ 30 days in county jail (a cakewalk which Russ and Bones have the nerve to think is too much??)

When they leave chambers Caroline hits Booth and tells him he needs to consider what side he's on. "That's what's wrong with the justice system in this country." I'm sure that Bones will give him a pretty thank you, but considering that she was just about to bite his head off for not speaking up for Russ, I don't think she deserved what Booth did and Russ, a big time loser, surely doesn't deserve it. I'd like to see that character killed off before the series ends. I know that as of August 2012 Max is still alive, since DB just tweeted about working with Ryan. So, kill whiny Russ for me, at the very least.

Bones says "thank you again." Booth says, "I didn't do anything; again." Amy thanks him too. I'd tell her to back off after the frosty reception he got from her earlier, just because he arrested a man who helped a double murderer escape and abandoned his "family" to do it.

When he has Russ alone he tells him that if he runs again and hurts Amy and breaks his sister's heart, he will -- Russ interrupts and says he knows Booth will do something terrible to him. I sort of wanted to hear the rest. Booth might have said, "take out my gun and shoot you." That's his favorite.

Ending sequence: Bones is at the hospital reading to the freaky kid who lays her head on Auntie's shoulder (give me strength); Max and Russ are reunited in jail, a reunion no one was waiting for.

Angela is studying the case and jumps when Hodgins comes up behind her. Maybe they do want us to think he's Gormagon.

Zach and Cam are together in the lab (hmmmm, again I wouldn't mind a romantic thing between those unlikely two). Booth is at the shooting range. Bullseye. We should have heard more about what protection there is around Bones' because Gormagon is after both of them, still.

The Lobbyist is at home and goes into his closet to hang up his coat when a guy (whom I don't recognize) with a knife jumps out to kill him. That's how the show ends. I can't say I was startled, but I think I ruin things for myself by liveblogging the show, instead of watching the whole thing through first. I think I truncate the drama that way. I might have jumped if I'd just been watching without pausing every 2 seconds.

That killer wasn't Sweets was it? His mouth was agape, face contorted, so that may be why I didn't recognize the features, but his hair looked flatter than Sweets', though the color might have been the same. The thing is, it could have been Sweets, because how come we saw everyone else who works on the case in the closing sequence, but not him?

Interesting.