Bones 2.03 The Boy In the Shroud

[ThyneAlone]

So this is the one where Dylan Crane, smart middle class kid from the Alexandria neighbourhood awaiting MIT, turns up in a rubbish tip after running away with his foster child sweetheart, school drop out Kelly. And it turns out that Kelly's little brother is the perpetrator because of his fear of being abandoned.

This storyline (in which we care about the victim despite the gross state we find him in! Wow!) gives the writers the opportunity to touch on character and relationship development among the squints in a very natural way arising form the case itself (wow again!).

First of all, the inevitable intimate chat at the end isn't Bones with Booth, but with Cam, and the 2 women are sorting out differences which have been brewing uncomfortably ever since Cam turned up at the start of S2. Female interaction used to be miuch more important to the programme than it seems to be now. I like the way they come to a gentle understanding to tone down their control issues. They have been awkward with each other throughout, so it is a logical and satisfying conclusion, especially as Cam has found out, by variously questioning Angela and Booth, that she will lose them all if she fires Brennan. This is in fact where Booth makes his oft-quoted statement, "I'm with Bones, Cam, all the way. Don't doubt it for a second." That said, Camille is actually settling into the job pretty well and one of the funniest moments is when she and Angela reminisce about past boyfriends and first crushes while Brennan looks on bewildered and claims to march to the beat of a different drum!

Perhaps not so different. Brennan's character is considerably softened and developed here, as she identifies totally with the foster children she meets (Booth sums her up at one point as a product of the foster system) and shows incredible tenderness and compassion in handling them. Her more familiar desire for justice and truth blazes through this, as she tries to stop the others from condemning Kelly simply for her background, and Kelly from taking the blame to shield her brother. She still has her naive moments though - the scene in which she offers street kids money for information is hilarious.

And on to the slow-burning Hodgins and Angela fire, so delightful to watch in its early stages. Hodgins' enthusiasm was as much of a joy to watch then as now; I love TJ turning up smiling and smelly after having rooted through two tons of garbage and come up with a Russian restaurant. But the significant scenes are of course his interplay with Angela; Angela, impressed at one of his deductions, says "You are good!" and his response comes instantly "You have NO idea", causing even Zack to take pause and enquire whether they are 'having a moment'. There is also a delicate throwaway meeting where Angela muses that it's a strange place for 2 people in love to end up, and Jack immediately replies "In a forensics lab?" His ensuing embarrassment ("tension, party of two") makes it hard to know whether that was intentional or spontaneous.The best bit, which we all know so well, is when Hodgins silently lays the Romeo and Juliet rose down by Angela's work station, knowing how the case has upset her. If we haven't fallen in love with him already, this is the moment.

There's a great team feel to this episode despite the spiky unease between Cam and Brennan. Zack plays well, as ever, contributing quietly and relevantly to the work, though it is fun to see him less confident when faced with Kevin Duncan's corpse ("I'm not used to bodies looking so much like human beings!") and, although there is no trademark experiment, there is one of those very funny role plays of which we used to have more, with Booth playing the victim and, inevitably, getting pushed over. Bones has never baulked at using physical humour and slapstick for a purpose - in this case to establish that there must have been a third person in the room where the killing took place. Basically, they all have a part in working out the who, how, where and why – love the Montenegro shroud! – and that is the way I like my show.

I have to say I am not overly keen on all the Cold Case slow motion in the final montage - it's a bit of a cliché. Nevertheless it fits well with the action and the music, so what the heck.

Incidentally, this makes me cry at the end. Haven't done that for a while.

[maggimaemellon]

Angela: its a strange place for two people in love to end up.
Hodgins: what, a forensic lab?
Angela: laughing: no, a squat, an abandoned pipe factory.
Hodgins: ah! Yes, right (while he laughs from embarrassment)
Angela: what were you talking about? (Love how she always asks or says whatever is in her mind!)
Hodgins: oh just cam and booth, you know, of course given their, their history.
Then they look at each other as awkwardly as possible!!
Hodgins: tension, party for two.

Lol! Way to spill the beans on that one Hodgins! But I'm glad you did! im watching this episode right now and its a great episode! We really learned a lot about Bones in the first and second seasons! This episode goes more deep into her foster years and what she had to face. As well as standing up for foster kids. Which I feel was the right thing to do on her part. But as the episode goes on her emotions about foster kids get her and cam in conflict. Then when cam was finally in on bones secret, they came to an agreement.
Glimpse at Hodgins giving Angela a rosebud as to reference Romeo and Juliet! Its so romantic your heart flutters! :] two thumbs up TJ!!!
MMM