Bones 5.15 The Bones on the Blue Line

[skftex]

I don't know when there will be more questions answered. It'll happen though, just can tell you for sure when, TJ being a bit busy right now. I actually wasn't sure he'd answer that one, and was planning on putting the answer in the thread here if he did, but it was such a good answer I decided it could go in the tj's skeleton's section. Of course, I didn't think he'd give a BAD answer, just thought maybe it'd be short so more appropriate here.

Sharon

[jade.stormcloud]

Is it just me, or does it seem that discussion of Hodgins' wardrobe has completely hijacked this thread? LOL

[ThyneAlone]

Don't worry Jade. Because of being away etc. I have as yet only viewed BOTBL once, but when I have got round to seeing it again you will have another review here.

Actually ep 100 tomorrow will probably overshadow it anyway, but your point is well taken!

[ThyneAlone]

I know I know..too late for a review really, but a few v quick thoughts, seeing as it’s now been aired here a couple of times:

I know the case was pretty confusing and created something like a love square as opposed to a love triangle, but I thought it worked well beside the character development this time. The idea of communicating feelings at a distance, through someone else, was a strong theme with some depth. Brennan's realisation that Angela had humanised her books, as she has also helped humanise her character, and her typical desire to make things right, were quite moving. But in the same way, Angela's contribution to the books turns out to be partly - at least here - a way of working through her feelings for Hodgins. And the victim was blind. Maybe we are all a bit deliberately blind about the effect we have on others and the emotions they arouse in us.

Page 187 - brilliant. I love the Hodgins' Thing idea. And his innocent pride in it, and the reminder which obviously made Angela think - that she's never going to be completely rid of him.

Journalist. Infuriating. ArggggHHH!

The Sweets subplot was actually rather - well, sweet. JFD doesn't often get a chance to show depth and shine, but this was great acting, as he spiralled down into trauma following a connection with someone who died, and then made a decision based on the life change this had created in him. Make the most of everything good in your life, events are banal and random, and you could die tomorrow. Daisy is an irritating and rather vain human being; a mini-Brennan without the rounded corners; but she obviously really cares about Lance, and the scene between them, as she realised that she was not going to be dumped, therefore rang true.

Did anyone notice that excellent point of continuity when Hodgins drove Sweets home in that classic red Mini Cooper we first saw back in, I think, one of the Epps eps? Or, if they are as sad as me, spot a near-identical one turn up, spookily, in the first episode of the new Doctor Who? Hmm. Thought not!

[Sinkwriter72]

Okay! I've finally seen this episode! (Yes, that means I'm still currently two episodes behind -- the 100th episode and tonight's episode, but I'm working on it.) I don't have a ton of thoughts on this one, just a few things. But first, this...

On the down side, I thought the case, & especially the vic, seemed to take a backseat to the main characters. When they showed the scene where Sweets revealed the vic's secret love, I found that I just didn't care.

I agree, Jade. I just didn't find the case particularly interesting, and I didn't feel a connection to the victim. You 'd think I would empathize, given that he was blind, and a man who wrote letters for all these other people but who never found the courage to say what he himself was feeling about his writing partner. I just felt that information maybe came a little too late in the game; I felt more in five minutes for the guy on the train who talked with Sweets than I did for the victim whose case was discussed throughout the entire hour. *shrugs*

I did think that opening bit betweeen the cancer survivor and Sweets was a lovely scene. Sad, and effective. Poor guy.

As for the killer, I didn't really buy her reasoning for killing the letter writer. If she was to be angry at anyone for messing up her head and getting her to leave her 'soul mate,' then I'd think she'd have tried to kill the guy who bought the letters in the first place. Yes, the letter writer created a fantasy of lies, but that's not who presented them. It came from the guy who wanted to date her and got her to leave her boyfriend. I just didn't really feel much for her when I found out her 'reasoning.' The actress was fine -- I've seen her in things before and she's good -- I just didn't buy the writing of it, I guess.

In regard to the episode's theme, I do like this, though:

The idea of communicating feelings at a distance, through someone else, was a strong theme with some depth. Brennan's realisation that Angela had humanised her books, as she has also helped humanise her character, and her typical desire to make things right, were quite moving. But in the same way, Angela's contribution to the books turns out to be partly - at least here - a way of working through her feelings for Hodgins. And the victim was blind. Maybe we are all a bit deliberately blind about the effect we have on others and the emotions they arouse in us.

That's fascinating, Steph! Well said. I especially like that last line about being blind to the effect we have on others and the resulting emotions that arise.

And while I still found Daisy annoying (especially in her conversation with Angela in the mini-van, which felt like shameless ad promotion, though I will admit it's plausible that she needs something big enough to haul her art and supplies in), I agree with you that it's incontestable how much she cares about Sweets. I liked how she kept trying to be there for him but also respected his need for space in order to sort things out in his head, on his own time. I thought his proposal was lovely. Very sweet. (Sorry, couldn't resist the pun.)

It was also very nice to see Sweets treated as an individual character, one with feelings and thoughts of his own, feelings that are separate from Booth/Brennan stuff. That's a rare thing for him as a character, so I appreciated seeing that side of him.

Because of that, I can let this particular frustration slide... but I will mention it for a moment to make the point:

These days we rarely see Booth connect emotionally with other characters except for Brennan. He used to have a burgeoning sort-of friendship going on with Hodgins, but we haven't really seen much of that in almost three seasons now. So I was a little annoyed that we finally see Booth show some compassion to another character that isn't Brennan, yet it's not one of the core characters. It's Sweets. Once again, the writers are ignoring the main cast that started this show and used to have stronger connections with one another. It bugs me that this show seems to be so focused on pairing people up and focusing on those relationships (Booth and Brennan, Hodgins and Angela, Angela and Wendall, Sweets and Daisy) that the writers seem to ignore the other types of relationships available on the program. Friendships make a remarkable impact and should not be blown off or only brought out for occasional use. Oftentimes there's nothing more powerful than the strength of these characters as friends and team mates; that's a treasure trove of emotional gold.

Case in point, in a side note sort of way: I liked the notion that Angela helps Brennan by listening to her read drafts of her novel and then offering suggestions and tips. I really liked Brennan acknowledging how much Angela's contribution helps her with her writing, and I appreciated the way she rewarded her. The look on Angela's face when she saw how much 25% was... that was sweet and pricelessly funny. Nice scene.

A different sort of side note, one that was less nice: Brennan made a comment that Booth is terrible at math. While Booth may not be a genius, I will take exception to that comment about his mathematical abilities, mainly because if the writers had done any research whatsoever about snipers (even just basic browsing like I did once upon a time), they'd know that it takes a tremendous amount of math smarts to be a sniper. There are complicated calculations (involving distance from target, rate of wind speed and resistance, among other details) that one has to be able to do in one's head in very little time available before making the shot, along with making adjustments if the target is moving or if the wind changes, etc. So while I appreciate they were probably trying to make a mild joke at Booth's expense, it's not something that (pardon the pun) adds up if you know anything about snipers. I think they should stop dumbing down his character. It takes tremendous skill to be a sniper.

Let's see... what else?

I liked the forensics involving the blue bullet. Thought that was particularly interesting.

I thought the documentation of the rat poop was gross, yet the calendar chart thing Hodgins had going on amused me. Organizational skills, brilliant smarts, handsome, and he has his own impressively sexy signature methods? He just gets better and better, in my eyes. LOL.

And Cam declaring him "King of the Lab" was fun (as was her pointing out that she can say it in a much more modest way than he usually does, hahaha). It's remarkable how much I've grown to like her character. There was a time at the top of season 2 when she first started that I just did not like her attitude. Now? I kind of love her.

As for the Japanese journalist... *head desk* I just didn't like it. I felt it was more pushing of the Booth/Brennan 'romance' with little to no substance behind it. It's the same old routine, over and over again: outside characters pointing out that Booth and Brennan surely must be dating or having sex; they're partners, they seem so close, Brennan must be basing her cop character on Agent Booth, blah blah blah. It's heavy-handed, repetitious and inelegant. This show used to present these two characters with subtlety. Their relationship evolved and developed through the cases they worked on together, through the intense experiences they had together, through getting to know one another better as individuals and by leaning on one another in times of crisis, not from 100 different asides of people telling them, "What do you mean you're not dating? Oh, you must be! You're meant to be... you're soul mates..."

The writers spend more time using all the characters (especially Sweets) to tell us that Booth and Brennan are in love with each other and belong with each other, rather than show us their relationship as it develops. The first two seasons, the writers showed us the evolution of their relationship in lovely ways; it was a given that they were connecting with each other and we saw it, through their case experiences, dangerous situations, even through their arguments and trying to understand one another's point of view. It's like the writers think we've forgotten that and now need to have it all pointed out to us. It's kind of insulting to one's intelligence.

Likewise, forcing almost every episode to end with a Booth/Brennan 'moment' takes away some of the poignancy. Those moments would be much more powerful if they weren't expected, you know what I mean? If they popped up occasionally when it's important to have those moments, and if they occurred naturally and genuinely as part whatever is going on within the story, rather than forcing the story to have what feel like pre-planned moments.

Finally, the best for last. Hahaha. Page 187. Oh my. I liked how TJ played it, hearing about this mysterious sexy scene, and then checking it out for himself out of curiosity, only to have an obnoxious ego boost from realizing it was HIS 'thing.' I'm still chuckling over that. And you know, good for you, Hodgins! Heeheee.

P.S. It's nice to know he has other weapons in his arsenal. So to speak. He won't be relying on one 'thing' -- he's got other options. That was so funny. And I think it's probably good we don't know what it is. It can be one of those forever enigmatic bits that we'll just have to muse about on our own. Let your imaginations run wild. HA.

And that is all I have to say about this episode.

[Sinkwriter72]

Okay, one more thing. I was thinking about this last night. Instead of ending with the patented "Booth/Brennan moment," I think it would have been nice for the show to end with the entire team learning about Sweets and his engagement. After all, the episode was mainly about Sweets and his horrific experience on the train and how seeing that young man lose his chance to live life to the fullest changed Sweets and made him want to propose in the first place. Plus, throughout the episode, the various characters -- Booth, Hodgins, Cam, Daisy, Angela -- showed concern for him and his emotional state, so wouldn't it have made a well-rounded sort of sense for them to get the opportunity in this episode to share in Sweets' joy? That he made a choice for his life and decided to go for it?

I think that would have been a better choice to close out the episode than the forced 'moment' between Booth and Brennan where they talk about 'soul mates.' I know the show is called Bones and that it's become expected to have it focus primarily on Booth and Brennan, but that doesn't mean every episode has to end the same, with a B/B scene. Then it becomes boring and repetitive. As I said in my above post, it gets heavy-handed and over-obvious when those B/B bits become expected episode-enders instead of occurring because they actually make sense to the story for Booth to show up on her doorstep or in the lab or wherever, to have these little talks with her.

Anyway, just a thought.

[jade.stormcloud]

While they haven't ended every episode with a B&B moment, they do seem to push for one, even occassionally when it's not needed, & this one is one that I found somewhat unnecessary; I'm not really sure what they were hoping to show with it. However, I don't think that I'd have wanted a Sweets announcement, either. I rather like his storyline ending the way it did, as a private moment between him & Daisy. Having a big public announcement right away could somehow have trivialized what was a very serious & intimate decision on his part. But that's just my opinion.

[ThyneAlone]

At the risk of sounding like Homer Simpson, you're BOTH right, ladies. The 'BB' moment can be overdone, and sometimes it's nicer to end on a group shot (I lurvvvv the big family endings!) or with a focus on another relationship. IMHO the wonderful 'Girl With The Curl' would have been even better finishing on that Angela/Hodgins moment where she has decided to reject him. But that's just me! However, my instinct is that the Sweets/Daisy moment was better as an intimate private one, even though the public celebration is a life-affirming and tempting thought.

Can I just say you both write really readable and interesting reviews?

[Sinkwriter72]

I'd have been completely cool with the episode ending on the intimate Sweets-and-Daisy moment. I just meant, in the overall episode, if one was going to end with something to round out the story and the theme, it made more sense to end with something involving Sweets (be it in that intimate moment, or with the rest of the team sharing in his joy), rather than switching to yet another Booth/Brennan moment that -- like Jade pointed out -- was unnecessary this time around. If it came down to intimate moment versus team scene for this episode, yeah, I think I would have liked the ending to focus on Sweets and Daisy. But my main point is that it's not always necessary to end on an intimate moment between Booth and Brennan. It's like the writers are stuck in this B/B formula now, and it's not emotionally satisfying to me as a viewer. When it becomes an expected scene, it loses the power it could have by occurring only when the episode truly warrants it.

[skftex]

I don't have a ton of thoughts on this one, just a few things.

Sorry Sherry but that just cracked me up after I scrolled and saw your "few things". But yay that you watched it and put up your thoughts!

[Sinkwriter72]

Heee. I know. But I first jotted down a few phrases just to remind myself of what happened in the episode, and it was probably five or six non-sentences of comments:

"Page 187 - funny"
"Brennan paying Angela - sweet"
"rat poop documentation - gross" (heh)
"constant pushing of Booth/Brennan, this time via Japanese journalist - annoying" *GRIN*

So I really didn't think I was going to write very much, or that very much would even be able to come from those brief snippets. Which is why I started out my 'commentary' with "Just a few things..." I probably should have changed that wording after I finished fleshing out my opinions into paragraphs. What can I say? I have been wordier. See my comments re: "Proof in the Pudding" for proof of that. Heeee.

Sharon, stop rolling around on the floor, laughing at me!

[skftex]

Okay. Not laughing. Look I'm serious now















*snicker snicker snicker

[Sinkwriter72]

... is all I have to say in response, Sharon.

[skftex]

SNICKER :whistle: :whistle:


Oh how your face stretches Sherry!

Maybe I should get back on topic though? LOL

[Sinkwriter72]

I've highly flexible, Sharon.

Maybe I should get back on topic though? LOL

Well, I gave you a 'few things' to comment upon, if you want to get back on topic, sister! Heeheheee.

[TJ4ever]

Can't remember much. Watched it because I was curious about what's on page 187! That was fun! Great idea! ...and let me add, I'd love to try that with...

[TJ4ever]

Sherry, love your "few" thoughts, btw.! Great to see you here!

[Sinkwriter72]

Oh, please, Simone. You didn't have time to read my lengthy comments. You were too busy thinking about TJ and Page 187.

Seriously though... I miss chatting with you more regularly here, so it's marvelous to see you too!

[TJ4ever]

...You were too busy thinking about TJ and Page 187.

Right, Sherry!