Bones 12.04 The Price for the Past

[skftex]

I am going to post now and then maybe come back after watching again to post some more because I don't think my thoughts are quite collected now. I do want to say I really like this episode. I love the premise of it, even if it is really gross the way the priest, Aldo dies.

The beginning with the rats, yikes! And can I say, what a stupid woman to let her brat kid to treat her that way!

So all through the episode, we keep finding out more things about Aldo, and about the way he died. They find him exsanguinated (Sherrryyyyy, there it is!! LOL), so they know he was killed somewhere else, we find out he was a drug addict, had been in fights, then we find out he had been tortured. And when they find the place where he was tortured and get blown up, when Booth hits the car, that looks like it would hurt! I do think if they were close enough to be blasted in the air, they'd have had a lot more scrapes and been hit by debris, but still it was a cool explosion.

Hodgins is there in this one but just very short, mostly case stuff. I do love when he rolls into the room (really fast!!) with Brennan and Jessica and says "If you notice a zip in my roll.."

The side story about Aubrey is okay but I do wish they had put it into another episode, there was so much going on with Booth, his former squad, Aldo being dead and trying to find out why and how, that this seemed like a distraction to me a bit. I know they didn't finish the Aubrey story but still, I think it could have been in last weeks or maybe even next weeks episode.

I do really like that they have tied this back to the very beginning, and the story Booth told Brennan about killing the warlord at the birthday party for the son. That was in the pilot if someone doesn't remember and needs a refresher on that, he tells it to her at the end. It was a story told in order to offer something of Booth to Brennan and to us the audience, to try to understand him. And the way Booth told Brennan at the end that he knew who the x-ray belonged to, the way he talked-not the setting of course-was very reminiscent of the way he was when he originally told the story.

Okay that is it for now! More later I hope!

[ThyneAlone]

Hi, just seen this, as we are 2 eps behind you, and I have to say, Sharon, I am pretty much in agreement with your initial thoughts.
This was an episode clearly aimed at picking up threads (although there was probably sufficient info for relative newbies to catch up on), so therefore a nod to long-term fans, and especially long-term fans of Seeley Booth. For all of us who wondered why we had heard little more about his friend and fan favourite Aldo Clemens, his brain tumour, his army mates and his trauma regarding that particularly awful sniper incident confessed to Brennan in an early moment of intimacy and self-revelation, here it all was, laid out as in a feast (and yuk - a rats' feast, in one of the most disgusting and grotesque demises I have seen on the show, a chilling riff on George Orwell's 1984). We also got a glimpse of the magnificent and much-missed Caroline and a further excavation of Aubrey's background and relationship with Jessica. And yet again I am getting weary of hearing about other characters' family backgrounds - particularly as you don't even need to be observant to gather that Max is about to feature in a storyline soon - when we know almost nothing about Hodgins' after 12 years!!! They had better bring his brother back during this final hurrah!

This was a fairly well-structured narrative, but I am not keen on the increasing ease with which the team is able to pick up on identities and locations almost as soon as they start investigating and the equal rapidity with which they are able to transmit information to one another. Angela has become able to reproduce anything, anywhere, transforming chaos into coherent pictures with a wave of her hand. Don't any of those instant visuals (the ones they use to communicate over distance as well as those on the Angelatron) ever break down or take ages to come through? And the explosion, well, honestly, at that intensity it should have severely maimed at least one of our heroes. Still, it's a strong storyline and I am looking forward to its resolution, though how they are going to fit all this in credibly along with closure on the Zach arc I do not know.

I know the body discovery pre-credits scene is now laboured to the point of cliché, but I do so love the weird, wonderful, obsessed and occasionally very irritating characters in it. Whenever there is a parent he/she seems to be rather ineffectual, and frequently the child is absolutely horrible, spoilt to death and very much in need of a sharp smack, as here. Still, the short sharp shock probably helped to quieten him down.

It's good to see Booth in the more serious and reflective mood which characterises David's best and more nuanced acting. I'm hoping that the entire team will be gifted with opportunities to show their full considerable range, as they often were in the early seasons. There has been some poor writing in recent seasons which has reduced people to mere caricature/comic relief/mouthpieces for particular viewpoints, and this has led to some out-of-character performances. Fingers crossed, this is starting to look better.

[skftex]

Steph, I can tell you that there will be no mention of Hodgins brother in season 12. I don't think it is a spoiler saying that since it is something that will NOT happen right?

[ThyneAlone]

<<world-weary sniff>> frankly unsurprised.

[Sinkwriter72]

I've been trying to do a little Bones catch-up yesterday and today. At last, at last! Let's see how far I can get.

First of all, LOL to Sharon and the "exsanguination" comment. "We just knewwwwww..." Heeehee.

Next observation: when will I learn? NEVER eat while watching this show! Never, ever. (LOL.)

I agree with you both, Sharon and Steph. This was a strong episode, and a terrific honoring of the show from all the way back to Season 1. The way Brennan saw the damage on Aldo's x-rays and immediately made that connection with the things she'd seen in Booth, the torture he'd endured, that she saw all the way back in season 1 with the excellent episode Two Bodies in the Lab... that was a great call-back. It gave me shivers.

I also noticed a contrast in Booth and Brennan's relationship. Back in season 1, Booth struggled greatly to talk about his experiences with war in Soldier on the Grave. It was wonderful to see how close they've gotten, and how he was able to open up to Brennan more in this episode, and is actually willing to talk with her about it. Those details show such growth on his part as a character, as well as their relationship as partners and as a couple. Love that.

I continue to dislike the talk about Max. I know Brennan's cool with him now, but her comments that his actions were "partially his fault" (only partially??)... or that his actions were "necessitated by events" ... those comments frustrate me because I think that's crap. He GUTTED his victims and SET THEM ON FIRE. I know he was trying to "send a message" and protect his kids, but those actions were above and beyond killing someone in self-defense. It was brutal. So I just struggle with the show's need to glorify him or treat him as harmless and humorous. He is not that to me.

I loved the additional tie-in to season 1 when Booth offered up the information about shooting the general (?) from a distance, and how he had to do it while the guy was at his kid's birthday party. That's an amazing detail to return to, after all this time, and oddly it was the first thing I thought of when Booth and Brennan saw the x-ray with the bullet to the skull. I thought, "Booth shot him. It's that guy." Just seeing them make that connection was thrilling, and again, gave me chills.

Side note: that cage death was horrific. *shudder shudder shudder*

All in all, I liked the episode. I agree with Sharon that it seemed like the Aubrey and his dad side story wasn't really needed - they could have done without it for this episode, and I agree with Steph that this kind of serious and reflective stuff is great - I like to see those facets of Booth.