Bones 8.18 The Survivor in the Soap

[omelette73]

Sorry I opened the topic, but I really wanted to share that!

I kind of feel the need to respond to this TV Fanatic review http://www.tvfanatic.com/2013/03/bones- ... and-peace/ about the last night Bones.

I confess I’m a little biased to read reviews like the one linked above, in which the author sort of grumble about Bones talking about a social issue, as if it’s novelty for the show, brought to us public only in this 8th season. As if there’s a ill-concealed purpose of wanting to give moral instruction to its audience, using arguments of a certain weight.
Well, I confess that when I read such statements, I realize how different the opinions of two people watching the same thing can be, because it seems to me that Bones has always had this peculiarity of “going social”, to say so, from the day one.
I always read between the lines of its scripts (and loved) that the victims are not just bodies to be analyzed (CSI-style), but have a story to tell, a sign to leave. I have always appreciated that social issues in Bones had an actual weight, as if it was the sixth main character of the show.

The topic addressed in this episode it’s not easy and touches me deeply, but the issue of child soldiers it is a truly scourge of humanity that still leaves me breathless, the atrocities those little human beings are subjected to are something indescribable.
I really believe that Bones has always had the merit to deal with such difficult matters without rhetoric, in a gentle way, without claiming to say “Look! characters on Bones. We have been personally affected by this and we feel so bad You Should Too!” - to quote the above mentioned article…

I really don’t see in Bones any pretension of wanting to forcibly impose on the audience its point of view, I rather see the attempt to take the opportunity to make a problem known. And yes, I do believe that it is possible that something socially significant can be brought to our attention even from something as prosaic as a television show.
I mean, what’s the problem with that?
Because you are watching TV, you feel the need to stop thinking or feeling?

The sensitivity to understand a specific issue it’s up to to each of us, and we all are different people, this is crystal clear, but I really can’t find any straining in what I saw. After all, Booth is indeed a soldier, and Brennan have seen things hard to forget in her professional life, and they are both parents, that’s why it seems more than plausible to me that such a problem is touching them personally and so deeply.

And again, yes, this isn’t probably one of the mile stone episodes of Bones, however it is an episode that deeply contributes in making this show different from the others, and in some way, to know and realize that not everybody perceives that, it’s almost reassuring, as if only the really precious things are understood by a minority of attentive and caring viewers.

And yes I have a Hodgins comment too! LOL
Because I loved the way he responded to Arastoo attack, it's the first time I heard Hodgins saying basically "I'm the doctor, you are the intern!", but still he did it with class! So, you go Jack!

Oh...and Arastoo/Cam? At first I liked them, here... not so much. I can't see any sparkle in the couple, though I still love Arastoo.

[skftex]

First off, Teresa, you can start the episode thread whenever you wish and thank you for doing so!

I liked this episode for the most part. I like when they make the victim matter. And you are correct Teresa it isn't like that is something new, but there have been times where the victim has just been the back story to all the personal stuff and I guess that reviewer prefers it that way.

The only issue I have with it all is that I think they didn't really need Arastoo to have a personal story about it as well. We already had soldier Booth, even though he wasn't a child soldier, he certainly understood a lot about what they felt. We had Brennan and her experiences, plus the photographer, and the friend of the victim. I love Arastoo, I really do, but why would his cousin, an Iranian have been taken to fight in the first Gulf War? In Kuwait and Iraq? I feel that is a bit of a fuzzy connection there because I don't think a lot of Iranians were forced to fight for Iraq, an enemy of Iran for years or maybe I just misunderstood that part. But it felt like they were trying to force yet another experience on us, when they had already done a great job just through the pictures and Booth and the friend, and the victim's story we saw unfold through all of it. While Brennan's photos weren't necessary they at least made sense, because we've known since the first episode Brennan has seen these sorts of things, so it fit.

I have to admit I'm surprised that there weren't a lot of comments about Hodgins not being there very much, but this was the episode they shot the week he was sick. And unless you knew to look for it (like I did) you'd have never guessed how sick he was in the scene with Arastoo where they were fighting! TJ really is amazing-he said he could barely stand up when they shot that scene-and all I noticed was a bit of a scratchy voice. And I probably wouldn't have noticed that if I hadn't known to look for signs of sickness. I do think the last scene was done after he was feeling better so it wasn't noticeable at all there.

[Sinkwriter72]

I didn't get to see this episode (had way too much homework needing to be done all evening), nor have I read the article, so I can't really comment on how effectively the show portrayed this particular topic of concern.

I do think there's absolutely nothing wrong with a TV show bringing some seriousness, and there's nothing wrong with a TV show trying to bring a social issue to light.

But I think, in general, depending on the writing quality, sometimes TV shows can sound preachy when they try. Or they sound like they're trying to over-obviously beat you over the head with the issue, which takes the viewer out of the story and makes them feel like they're watching an hour-long public service announcement commercial instead of a well-told story. And sometimes the story is forced into the program, so that the issue can be addressed, which can force the characters to behave uncharacteristically simply so the writers can present the social issue. Which, frankly, I think does a disservice not only to the show and its characters but to the social issue itself, because people might only see the problems of the writing approach and get annoyed at being lectured to instead of having the social issue blended seamlessly into the program in a way that presents the story smoothly and touchingly. (And if the show does too many social issue stories, it starts to feel like it's not done sincerely, and instead it's just for a push at ratings or media attention. It's better to space these things out.)

For me, I don't mind a social issue being brought to light, but if they're going to do it, I want it to make sense with the show I'm watching. I want the story to still be told well. If there's one thing I don't love, it's a forced storyline or forced characterizations. (Don't even get me up on my proverbial soapbox about that. LOL.)

I've struggled with the Bones writers' approach to the writing for several seasons now, because i think they tend to hit us over the head with things and force their characters into over-the-top mode (and depending on the character, out of character mode too) rather than using the lovely subtlety that they used to have, and that is a frustration and a disappointment for me.

Thankfully, the actors are so talented, they can usually rise above the material they're given and still make it resonate. (TJ is especially good at this. He's remarkably talented. Not that I need to tell anybody here that! LOL.) But sometimes the clunkiness of the writing is still pretty obvious and there's nothing much the actors can do about that.

For example, the writers recently tackled a topic about a particular illness (I can't recall the name of it, and unfortunately my quick 'net searches did not yield any results). I had read about the episode beforehand so I knew that particular disease affected one of the writers personally (I think his son or daughter has the disease), so I knew it would be something affecting children, which can really tug at the heartstrings. I was moved that the showrunners had decided to help bring the issue to light.

Unfortunately, I thought they forced the issue into the story, rather than trying to really tell a story about it. They didn't get to the heart of the matter like they could have. Instead, they forced their characters out of character in order to make a story about it in a way that didn't work for me. I felt they told the wrong story by making it about Booth. The fact that they had Booth hiding his attempts to help a bunch of kids seemed highly out of character. If anything, he's got a whole group of people who would be more than happy to help in any way they could, setting up games, helping create the carnival or whatever. I just didn't buy that he would hide anything when it's about a kid and it's important. It felt like a forced plot twist just so they could have everyone worrying about his health and wondering if he had another brain tumor and then have Brennan sneaking around to spy on him and make sure everything was okay. It became an annoyance to me as a viewer because I didn't buy it, and I feel that short-changed what could have been a touching episode about this horrible disease. It could have been an episode on the level of The Girl in the Graft, but instead it felt (to me, anyway) like they were trying to say, "Hey, we just heard about this social issue and you have to know about it. And here's the clunky way we're going to make it work for our show."

There's nothing wrong with them bringing an important cause to light, but these are creative people whose main job and talent is to tell a good story. If they tell a lousy story, that does a great disservice to the issue they're trying to highlight.

[skftex]

Here is what TJ told me about this episode. The first is in response to me asking him if the episode two weeks ago, the one where he didn't appear much, was the episode they did when he was sick.


"The one where I was on my death bed is with Arastoo and Cam, that hasn't aired yet. I did a scene with them both in the Ookey room where Arastoo and I raise our voices. I could barely stand up, yet Jack Hodgins was yellin and screamin ha."

And from today when I told him that I couldn't really tell he was sick except the scratchy voice:

"Yes. That's the ep!
I haven't seen it yet.
I could barely stand in that scene which is why I was sitting through most of it.
And a scene with Angela in the angelatron room where we watch Cam and Arastoo through the window. I barely remember even being there. Had to use an inhaler before I could even walk into the room."

[Sinkwriter72]

Poor TJ. What a trooper.

Last year I had something almost-bronchitis and my doctor gave me antibiotics and an inhaler because I was coughing and wheezing like mad, and that's not even scratching the surface of all that TJ had going on when he was filming this episode. I can't imagine having to raise my voice and be all aggressive and energetic when all I want to do is lie down.

Hats off to TJ.

[omelette73]

Poor TJ, and what a hero!

[ThyneAlone]

Well, I won't see this for at least 3 months so obviously I can't comment at all (!) but the review itself and the accompanying comments were interesting. Lots of people not seeing chemistry between Arastoo & Cam - well I am up to the point where they start going together and I agree! No chemistry. Lots of people feeling hit on the head with social issues - well, Bones writing really isn't as subtle as it was and doesn't treat the issues as delicately and that has been the case probably since S2.

BUT I am amazed and astonished that so many think there is not enough Booth/Brennan! There is in my opinion not enough of the team! What are these B and C arcs that people are complaining about - all I can see is the odd moment of squints being used as light relief. For me it's always been the team and the caring about the victims that made the series. Most eps are still very enjoyable but the writing is uneven.