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Premierewatch: 'Bones' in Old Blighty
We get a double dose of gory crime tonight on Bones, plus plenty of Brit mocking, Sweetsian counseling, Brennan oversharing, squints behaving badly, Booth posturing, relationship angst and more. And it was... ok, I guess. I'm thrilled Bones is back, but these back-to-back episodes really didn't float my boat (or butter my crumpet, as it were.)
What's Cockney rhyming slang for "spoiler"?
Booth and Brennan just happen to be in Britain when a British socialite turns up dead. Because she's got a pushy American dad, the Yanks are on the case. They team up with a curiously familiar duo -- a hard-driving detective who values real policework, and a brainy scientist who makes brilliant leaps based on minute evidence. But check it out -- the British Booth is a woman, while the UK version of Bones is a man. Wacky!
Somehow, Roger Frampton (the rich, rich father of the deceased) manages to work it so all the evidence is shipped to The Jeffersonian (apparently there are no labs in London, and Scotland Yard is happy to send body bits across the pond despite it being their case) so the rest of the crew can join in the fun. The team finds out that (1) Portia, the dead girl, was pregnant, and (2) she had a hereditary disease -- a disease her father doesn't share.
Portia's boyfriend, Harry (a minor nobleman) swears he didn't kill her, and insists that she just broke up with him for no reason. Harry's parents, the Duke and Duchess of BritishCentralCastingtonshire, stiff-upper-lip their way through the interview with brash Booth and typically earnest Brennan, but deny that Portia had ever been to the house. Lies! The team figures out that Portia had a letter from her dead mother when she died, and deduce that the letter told her that the Duke was her real father (same hereditary disease). Please -- there's so much inbreeding in the various branches of nobility I hardly think anyone would notice. ANYway, Brennan finds the murder weapon, but the butler steps up and confesses to the crime in the duke's place. No, really, The butler did it. Yeah, right. No one buys it, but forget it, Booth, it's Londontown.
Before Booth and Brennan can return to the US, Pritchard, the British Booth analog, calls with disturbing news. Her partner in crime-solving, Wexler, was killed in a suspicious fire. First thing to address: Wexler was a man-whore who boinked his way through the willing ladies of London. (In fact, Brennan may be the only woman who ever turned him down.) Those partners include Pritchard. Was it a jealousy thing, a woman-spurned thing, or a man-looking-out-for-his-despoiled-woman thing? Nope.
It may have been a money thing. Wexler was forensic-anthropologizing a building site where Roger Frampton wanted to build condos. Right before he died, he signed a writ attesting that the site was of no historical interest -- no spiffy bones here! Thing is, he also cashed a bunch of checks from Frampton. Eventually, Brennan discovers that the murder weapon was an ossified bone, and that there were lots of Bronze-age bones at the site. Booth and Brennan figure out that one of Wexler's grad students was peevish that Wexler wanted to return the bribe and protect the site, thus destroying his career -- and hers, too.
Booth and Brennan
The reason Brennan didn't succumb to Wexler's (alleged) charms? It would upset Booth. You don't piss off your partner. When Booth and Brennan discuss this in the car, Booth tells Brennan that every straight man in England wanted to sleep with her. "Was that nice about me or awful about British men?" Brennan asks. "Wexler is not special," Booth replies. "You are." Awwwwww.
The rest of the team
Angela's missing hottie husband, Grayson, refuses to grant her a divorce because he still loves her. Cue the posturing from Hodgins, and Angela eventually figuring out she needs to tell Hodgins that her heart is hers to give, not someone else's to take, and she gives it to Hodgins. Grayson bows to her wishes. The wedding's on!
Or not... because Cam falls into bed with Grayson on the way to the airport (that's a hell of a detour). That makes Angela wiggy, which makes Hodgins jealous, which makes Angela and Hodgins break up. OK, it was more involved than that, but that's what it boils down to. This whole plotline alternately pissed me off (of COURSE Angela would be weirded out by Cam sleeping with her ex -- it's in the girlfriend code!) and bored me to tears, so the less said about it, the better.
Apparently Clark, who took Zack's position in the lab, agrees with me. He gets so pissed off at the interpersonal drama that he quits. Of course, he does offer to drive Grayson to the airport, which at that point was code for "Let's do it!", so he may have had an ulterior motive.
The joy of Sweets
While the Angela/Hodgins plot didn't do it for me, at least it gave Sweets plenty to do. Some of my favorite Sweets moments:
- Sweets and Angela see Hodgins take a swing at the Grayson. Sweets takes off his jacket and hands it to Angela, preparing to join the fight. Then he trips over his own feet in a perfect pratfall.
- The turtle party wagon story! Sweets tried to get Angela to understand what was going on by telling a long story that involved a ninja-turtle toy, a neighbor kid, a rotten tree, a broken arm and a concussion. In the end, the neighbor kid said he'd have given the toy to him if he'd asked. See what this means? Sweets asks Angela. "He had a little gay crush on you," Angela says. "He did? Oh, man, that explains a lot!" Sweets replies. Then he gets back on course and tries to explain the metaphor: "You are the gay neighbor boy. Your love is the party wagon. Grayson is the tree. I'm Hodgins." See? It makes perfect sense!
- Cam calls him in to confess she slept with Grayson, then ask what to do. She's autopsying a brain at the time. Sweets gives his advice, staring at the gray matter the whole time. "Can I touch the brain, just once, as a reward?" he asks. He does. "It's squishy!"
Highlights, thoughts and odds and ends
- Did anyone else think Booth was just too cartoonish in the first half? We get it, he's a red-blooded American, but he's hardly an idiot. He'd be able to recognize tea, and he'd have to be blind not to find a decent coffee bar in London. Second-half Booth, who was able to read and deal with Pritchard's distress, made a lot more sense to me.
- I love David Boreanaz, I really do, but I couldn't help but giggle when he pulled out the British accent -- and not for the reason I was supposed to. I just kept flashing back to him on Angel, and thinking "At least this time he's SUPPOSED to be bad at the accent..."
- Yes, I know Booth was probably putting on the Ugly American schtick to a certain extent, best exemplified by this exchange: Wexler: "Does your cowboy want to tag along?" Brennan: "Ugh -- please don't call him that." Wexler: "He'll find it insulting?" Brennan: "No -- he'll love it."
- And about Wexler -- sorry, just too much. I assume he was supposed to be charming, but it takes more than an accent to pull that off. As written, he came of as more sleazy than sweet.
- And didn't anyone tell Wexler that British men tend to be self-depreciating, especially when they're trying to get into your pants? Um... or so I've heard.
- I did like Booth and Brennan discussing the vagaries of the Brits. Booth was surprised that Pritchard "requested" that the Duke come in with her. "They request?" Booth asks. "It's a polite country," Brennan replies.
- The squints had a few good British-related quotes. My favorites: Cam telling the team "the Brits used dental records -- no jokes please -- to identify the body," and Hodgins enthusing "Check it out! British slime. So much more proper than American slime."
- I loved Booth getting into the idea of being a knight -- and that he was still wearing his "Official Junior Knight" ribbon when they left.
- Does Booth have a steel plate (equipped with shock absorbers) in his forehead? That's the only way I can figure he'd remain stock-still in the face (so to speak) of a head-butt. Still, I laughed.
Glad to see the show back, and I was glad the writers killed the Hodges-Angela romance. It was beyond uninspiring and yet another example of a show desperately trying to bring in a certain block of viewers by upping the coupling factor. A show like Bones doesn't need it...unless it's played for mild humor, as when Cam did the nasty with Angela's recently-divorced (as in a couple hours' earlier) ex-husband. Nice to see that Cam has all her parts working, since past shows have left me wondering if she were part robot.
As many have stated elsewhere, an average episode of a great show is better than a great episode of an average show any day. Sure, this was indeed less than stellar Bones material...but at least there wasn't any goo. The grossest thing about the two hours was that the young royal apparently was boffing his half-sister, if I got all the convoluted lineage correct. In ol' Londinium, who the hell knows? Righ' then, cheerio!
Revenant | Sep 3, 2008 10:05:08 PM | #Loved it; totally agree that an average Bones is better than most of what else is out there.
And yes, the bad accent at the end totally called back Angel for me. In fact I was surprised he didn't try Irish :)
I was angry at the Hodgins/Angela break-up. It was stupid and didn't need to happen. I wanted to tell Angela that Hodgins didn't trust Grayson, not her. And why wouldn't she trust Hodgins?
I love Sweets so much, and it was hilarious when he tripped trying to join the fight.
Lynn | Sep 4, 2008 6:52:03 AM | #A thoroughly enjoyable episode. I am sad about Hodges and Angela breaking up, but I'll live. I love this show and the characters. I even liked Sweets for a change.
KATHY | Sep 4, 2008 6:56:29 AM | #This episode was complete garbage. Do they really need to write Booth as a second season Chrissy on Three's company, and make him a complete moron? Also, whats the deal with the whole break-up of angela and Hodgins. Just a completely terrible episode, the rest of the season will hopefully come back to the way it used to be.
Dan | Sep 4, 2008 6:58:05 AM | #Thank goodness Bones is back! It's miserable when I don't get to see it every week!
Great episodes. I really loved that "cowboy" exchange about Booth. I know what you mean about first and second-half Booth, but I wasn't bothered by it - Booth has different layers like that. What in the first-half's case required Booth to be as serious as the second-half's case? I still enjoyed Booth in the first half being baffled by British nuances and Brennan being perfectly understanding of it all.
I thought Wexler's character was good. I don't know if he was technically supposed to be "charming," I think he was supposed to be cocky. I can see why that would work for him and his man-whoring ways, because look how Pritch was attracted to his self-confidence. But yay for Brennan listening to Booth for once and not being all "I can make my own decisions" and sleeping with him anyway.
Hmmm I'm surprised they broke Angela and Hodgins up. I wasn't thrilled by that half of the episode (except YAY Sweets!), and they are really just putting in conflict for conflict's sake. Does anyone think they can stay broken up? Because I'm not convinced.
Sarah | Sep 4, 2008 6:58:32 AM | #Oh, and I also thoroughly enjoyed the Clark thing. It was quite amusing.
Also (though predictable), I did a little cheer when Pritch told Booth and Brennan something like, "You really are good," at the end.
Sarah | Sep 4, 2008 7:08:24 AM | #Clark was a hoot. Pity they can't keep him. I'm hoping for more "Zach replacement" humor.
Susan | Sep 4, 2008 7:51:13 AM | #Did anyone find it weird that they made a big deal about Booth getting a gun and yet he never used it?
Doane | Sep 4, 2008 9:19:58 AM | #I was glad they brought in Clark, I was also glad that he found the squints' dynamic irritating. It was the flip side of Sweets' wanting to be 'in the club'. Clark just found them exasperating. I hope Clark comes back every now and then though, and maybe once Brennan is back at the Jeffersonian, she can woo him back.
Cam was great, I don't really miss Dr. Goodman anymore (though I still want to know what happened to him). Brennan was great as usual. Booth is really, really, really, ridiculously good-looking, so I overlook any moments that don't quite work where he's concerned.
Angela and Hodgins' storyline made sense to me, they didn't break up because of Grayson and Cam's tryst, they broke up because they'd reached the breaking point, and that event was the catalyst that sent them over the edge. I think they broke up mainly because of the Zack thing. That would send anyone with a hint of trust issues into a tailspin.
Siansonea | Sep 4, 2008 10:49:52 AM | #eh. booth was way too cartoony in his stupidity in these episodes, especially the first. i found it hard to watch without getting a headache--no one can be that ridiculous. the whole posh brit vs the stupid, boorish yanks went too far. it began to make me roll my eyes and flip to another station. yeah, i get it. funny. i don't like how foolish booth is becoming.
the angela/hodgins breakup was lame in its reasoning. what a copout; write up a better reason than just a normal couples’ fight!
i hope the next episode it better.
washington | Sep 4, 2008 10:51:24 AM | #oh, yeah. i like sweets a lot better now, anyway.
and i sorta forgot about zack. was he mentioned at all? i don't remember.
washington | Sep 4, 2008 10:53:57 AM | #I really love this show but overall I thought the season opener was just so so. Sweets still doesn't seem to fit in with the team yet. He seemed out of place hanging out at the Jeffersonian acting more like an advice columnist than a profiler. Also I thought it was out of character to have Cam sleep with Angela's ex. I look forward to seeing if Angela and Hodges can make their way back to each other this season and if the Booth and Bones relationship will progress. Hopefully this show can recapture the formula that made it shine (like in seasons 1 and 2).
Lisa | Sep 4, 2008 11:02:04 AM | #Sarah -
Terrific re-cap writing!
Mostly I agree. The best part of the episodes was seeing the gang back. The actual mysteries were hum-drum, and yes, sometimes jealousy doesn't mean total lack of trust. It means you know your beloved is human. So I wanted Angela to lighten up.
I'm still wondering if the revolving door for interns means Zack is coming back. Dare I hope? I'd love to see how they write it in, if that should develop. Anyone know if he's coming back?
Michelle | Sep 4, 2008 11:41:36 AM | #Lisa - I agree about Sweets. It was weird that he was hanging around without being there in a profiling capacity at all, but actually I do think he fits in well with the team. They just need to work out a better use for him. I was happy to see him advising everyone, but not happy that he didn't seem to be doing any particular job at all.
Sarah | Sep 4, 2008 11:48:57 AM | #I was a bit disappointed in the episode(s). I thought there would be more romantic BB interaction, and that their relationship would be more affected by Pritchard's reaction to her partner's death. This should have made BB realize even more how much they mean to each other, but the comparison didn't seem to hit them.
I found the cases boring too. Overall not Bones' finest hour, or hours, which seemed to go on forever. The Hodgela breakup was a bit too convenient, but at least it will shake things up a bit. Looking forward to a better episode next week.
doris | Sep 4, 2008 12:15:43 PM | #Anyone believe that booth couldn't drive that mini? I own a mini, easiest car in the world to drive. The parking scene was idiotic.
| Sep 4, 2008 12:24:24 PM | #Didn't Angela trip Sweets? I could've sworn that she did, that he didn't fall down all on his own.
CilleyGirl | Sep 4, 2008 1:04:40 PM | #Please writers and producers we need more episodes like the classic when Booth saved Bones from the dogs - action, rescue, real drama - remember everyone else is a side story. We want Bones and Booth real action not just riding in a car or having coffee. Get with it!!!
Mrs. G | Sep 4, 2008 1:12:39 PM | #I believe the Tripping Count was Bones-2, Angela-1. Childish, maybe, but whatever works, eh? :)
Revenant | Sep 4, 2008 2:04:51 PM | #I watch the recent episodes and I wonder how we ever did without Sweets before he was a part of the show! He never ceases to amuse me.
I get the whole Hodgins/Angela thing, but that doesn't mean I think it was a good idea. In fact it was a little ridiculous. I like show like these having a personal side, but there is a limit to the drama these two characters can experience.
This wasn't a great episode, but it was good.
i also found the episodes so-so. and i also didn't like how they portrayed booth in the first episode... too much of an ugly american... and the fact that he doesn't adapt well? c'mon, he was in the military and a sniper... adapting is what he should be good at and i'm sure he was stationed or had missions around the world, surely he's not as ignorant has the writers had him be.
i really don't like the whole hodges and angela situation. it was awkward and painful to watch. unfortunately it looks like they'll have an up and down relationship the whole season which will be for me painful to watch.
glad the show is back and glad sweets is part of the cast.
joits | Sep 4, 2008 11:29:25 PM | #So very annoyed at Brennan, all she did was talk talk about sex with an ugly horndog. Booth was funny, had a very good chemistry with Cate, bring her back so she can date Booth
Jane | Sep 5, 2008 3:14:52 AM | #It would have been nice if the writers hadn't relied on the cliched of polite, proper Brits and gauche Americans. Rather silly and not funny.
I also though Angela tripped Sweets.
The breakup of Angela and Hodgins was inane. Like Zack's totally unbelievable conversion from human to homicidal weirdo, I found this unbelievable. Good grief, if my intended were upset about his ex's current sexcapades, I'd be a little insecure too. It just made Angela look like a jerk to use that as an excuse for breaking up. I also didn't buy that Hodgins, who's always been so passionate, would acquiesce so. It would be nice if the writers realized that sometimes people do have nice, normal, romantic, loving, successful relationships sans the drama.
Overall, I think the writers owed us big time after the fiasco that was last season's closer. Unfortunately, they did not delivery.
Isembard | Sep 5, 2008 4:17:07 AM | #As a Brit, I couldn't believe the cliched Brit jokes in this episode. Everyone was incredibly posh and spoke with a plum in their mouths (NO ONE uses 'whom' in everyday speech! And the rower who claimed to be 'discombobulated'..!!)
The only explanation for the amazingly tired driving/royalty/Brit tradition jokes was that Bones is really a comedy show in many ways. I have to hope the writers went for every lame joke on purpose, but it was lazy comedy IMO. Still, if every Brit is posh and refined like the ones in this episode, every American is like Booth - gun toting, arrogant and can't drive! (BTW you could not hire a Mini like that unless you went to a classic car hire place)
The crimes were very everyday this week, and I miss Zach back at the lab. I'm not a big fan of Sweets, but for dramatic reasons, the Angela/Hodgins breakup might make things more interesting this year. Happy couples don't make for good drama.
No more Brit trips please...
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