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'Bones' pushes some buttons
Bones threatens to offend all of the people, all of the time with a tale that involves gender reassignment surgery, megachurch religion, and yappy, trivia-obsessed Englishmen. But damned if they don't end up with something that was actually touching and heartfelt. Not bad, Bones!
This spoiler spent one whole summer selling veggie burritos and following Phish.
The corpse of the week comes in two parts. The upper half of the skeleton that washes up in Chesapeake Bay had breast implants, so it's obviously a chick, right? The implants have serial numbers, so it's easy to identify the owner: Patricia Ludmuller, a good-looking blond who was the pastor at a community church on an isolated island.
Then the bottom half of the body washes up, and the pelvic structure says the skeleton is male. The vagina, on the other hand (and thank you, Cam, for not saying "vajayjay")... Obviously, we have a transgender woman who underwent gender reassignment surgery. It's not that difficult a concept to grasp. Except, of course, to Booth, who spends the first half of the episode wrestling with his inability to settle on a personal pronoun. Sigh.
Booth figures that Patty might have died at the hands of a man who couldn't deal with the idea of having slept with a transgender woman. The best suspect for that is JP, a parishioner who left a plaintive message on her answering machine. But Angela can see by looking at photos that JP knew about Patty's past, and he was fine with it. Besides, even though he fell in love with her, he insists they never slept together (after all, he's still married.)
Then Angela makes an interesting discovery -- Patty used to be Patrick Stevenson, the pastor at a megachurch who went on TV soliciting money from the faithful and decrying homosexuals. He disappeared on a trip in Southeast Asia, and his family thought him dead (or an early adopter of the Rapture). His wife and son were heavily involved in the church, so they might not have dealt well with Patrick's transformation to Patty. Patrick's wife refuses to believe Patty was Patrick, but DNA doesn't lie. Her son took over the ministry for a while, but he had a crisis of faith and stopped preaching. Perhaps he lashed out against his father.
Nope. Ryan left the church because he was tired of using God to bilk people out of their money. He's now a tattooed, pierced, punk who ministers at a detox center. He actually takes the news of Patrick's transformation into Patty very well -- especially when he finds out that Patty built a church that served those despised by society. It's just the kind of work he was trying to do, atoning for the sins of his past.
Evidence from the bones suggests Patty was struck by a boat -- and that whoever was driving the boat smashed Patty's hands, then drove back over her when she fell back into the water. The boat that did the deed belongs to JP -- but he's not the one who did the deed. His wife, Rita, was convinced that JP and Patty were having an affair. She decided to get rid of the other woman once and for all.
Booth and Brennan
Considering the subject matter, we had to deal with a certain amount of idiot Booth and socially tone deaf Brennan. Booth couldn't wrap his head around Patty's identity, and he kept saying Patty wasn't a "real woman." When he confronted JP in the interrogation room, he spewed enough of such silliness that Angela, who was listening in, said "You're just pretending to be a jerk to get a rise out of him, right?" But Booth adapted, and finally seemed to accept, maybe even approve of, the choice Patty made. "Redemption through transformation," he says as Ryan preaches to Patty's congregation. "I get it." I think he just might.
Brennan was also dealing with one of her great blind spots: Religion. OK, we get it, she's a skeptic and most likely an atheist, she thinks religion is superstition, and doesn't respect any religious institution. But she respects Booth, right? So why can't she let him believe what he believes? She practically bellowed "What are you doing?" when Booth bowed his head to pray at Patty's memorial service, and stayed completely incredulous at any expression of faith throughout. I understand where it's coming from, but it's getting old.
Still, there were a couple of sweet moments. When Booth says "I know an 'ain't to proud to beg' phone call when I hear one," Brennan looks at him thoughtfully. "Have you made many of these 'ain't to proud to beg' calls in the past?" she asks. Hee! Then, when Booth observed that Patrick's wife wasn't fond of her husband, he used the fact that she only referred to him by his proper name. "I call you Booth and I like you just fine," Brennan says. "Thank you, but we're not married," Booth replies. It just sometimes seems like it...
Later on, Booth waxes philosophical on how Patty was divided into two people -- Patrick, when she was a man, and Patty, the woman she became. In death, her body was cut in half by fishing line. "Do you think it means anything?" he asks Brennan. When she says no, he smiles a bit and says "I didn't think you would." He does know her well.
Even the end bit brought a certain grace note to the Booth/Brennan interaction. Booth says he gets the sermon, then asks "What do you believe in, Bones?" Brennan considers this for a moment, then says " I believe in always swimming with a buddy." Good to know.
The Lab Rats
Was this another out-of-order episode? Because last week, Angela and Hodgins worked out their issues. This week, Hodgins couldn't even look at Angela. It's annoying.
NotZack was a British guy who had a mind for trivia, and an inability to keep his fun facts to himself. Those include:
- Tongue prints are as distinct as fingerprints.
- The rods in the human eye are sensitive enough to detect the light from a struck match from as far as a mile away on a clear night
- Women blink twice as often as men.
- only 20 percent of Americans have passports.
- Topless saleswomen are legal in Liverpool, but only in tropical fish stores.
- It's absolutely impossible to kiss your own elbow
Ok, fine, good to know for a pub quiz, but hardly germane to the case. NotZack decides he's rather hang with a group of people who appreciate his nuggets of wisdom instead of insisting that they focus on solving murders. Bye, NotZack! It looks like only Cam will miss you.
Highlights, thoughts and odds and ends
- NotZack tries to tell Hodgins that he's highly qualified to be in the lab. Ah, but Brennan calls you "mister," Hodgins says, which is "her very subtle way of saying you're not a doctor."
- I like Cam a lot, but it bugged me that she seemed to be bolstering NotZack's ego because she thought he was cute. Come on, Cam -- you're better than that!
- Hodgins makes his disdain for NotZack obvious. When NotZack asks what happened to the last guy, Hodgins looks at him for a beat, the spews out "He joined forces with a serial killer who was the last in a long line of cannibalistic murderers specializing in knocking off members of secret societies and building skeletons out of their body parts," all in one breath. Thanks for that pithy summary, Hodgins!
- Booth theorizes that the sort of isolated island where Patty lived has some sort of seedy underbelly. "But what do I know, I'm from Philly, where the underbelly is on top." As someone who grew up near Philly, I can confirm that he's right.
- Sweets has a slinky in his office, He should have known that's just the kind of shiny object Booth would use to distract himself in sessions.
- Sweets does prove he knows his stuff when he bets Booth that Ryan will be working within 20 miles of his father's megachurch. Booth doesn't take it well when Sweets tries to collect.
What did you think -- did the storyline work for you, or do you think it threw in too many hot-button issues? Are you getting sick of NotZack, or do you like that conceit? Did the ending work for you, or was it too little, too late?
I like episodes that take tweaks at organized religion, since I think so little of it myself. It was semi-interesting as cases went, although it did make me wonder something that I hadn't before...if a man becomes a woman, and hir bones remain the same, how would s/he be able to retain a female figure given how men sometimes tend to grow fatter in different places than women do as they get older? Also, if it becomes possible in the future for transgender people to bear children, how will the male pelvis be able to handle childbirth without the female "cradle" that is present in their skeletal shapes? (For the sake of reference, s/he and hir are pronouns sometimes used to describe transgender people, although they have yet to see common use. Now ya know...)
Deep show, even if Booth and Brennan need to grow up a bit.
My God, what has happened to David Gallagher? I have a cousin named Meaghan who had a huge, huge crush on him when he was on 7th Heaven when he was a lad, but I don't think she'd recognize him now. Nice work by him, though, and I thought his transformation from bigoted fake preacher to true man of his chosen god was quite inspiring. Well played.
The temp lab rat du jour was better than the rest, even if he was the Ken Jennings of techs. I like how his scenes were mostly with Cam, who I think actually liked him. The man is right though--the Jeffersonian team is rather like a clique of 11-year-old girls (I used to teach the age group, so I know of what I speak). While I think he would have fit in eventually, given the reception all the temps have gotten, I'd want to find the nearest exit myself.
My only problem with the episode was that the murderer ended up being a barely-there character, which in books is grossly unfair, but on TV is just merely annoying. I do want the boat she was driving though. Just in case a certain annoying soon-to-be variety-show host falls into the Bay, y'understand...:P
Revenant | Oct 8, 2008 9:08:27 PM | #Yes, this religious theme in the show is getting old. By now, we ALL get it that Booth is Catholic & Bones is an atheist. Since they obviously can't agree on this subject, can we let it go already? Don't get me wrong, I love the spats between them, I'd just like it to be about a different topic.
pat | Oct 9, 2008 5:15:43 AM | #I think that "Bones" is an excellent show and I enjoy every episode. I also think that everyone should quit analyzing it and just enjoy. Television is entertainment and there are lots of other station to turn to if someone isn't happy with what they're watching. Personally, "Bones" is one of my very favorite shows and I never miss it - even reruns.
Terri | Oct 9, 2008 5:40:58 AM | #way to stick it to the critical man, terri! bones is flippin sweet
vicious circle | Oct 9, 2008 8:37:15 AM | #Good episode, I enjoyed it. I'm sick of the NotZacks. Just get Clark or Zack back already.
Siansonea | Oct 9, 2008 10:37:42 AM | #This show is such a good example if what is wrong with liberalism. They preach tolerance but have none for those whose religious beliefs don't match theirs. The jerks are always the Christians who are conservative. I mean c'mon, Booth (the supposed Catholic) didn't defend the Pope or transsubstantion but loved the church that was tolerant of everyone and everything. Give me a break.
Phil | Oct 9, 2008 11:23:27 AM | #Terri, not to burst any bubbles here, but the whole point of this blog is to discuss, dissect and, if necessary, cruelly disassemble our favorite shows. I'm not a Bones hater, not by a long shot. However, there are times when I get a little tired of the same territories being visited multiple times, changes to the show that aren't helping it, and when writers can't seem to figure out how to approach a sensitive subject without resorting to stereotypes (like Phil mentioned with conservative religious people always being the jerks, while the more liberal ones are the human beings). Telling people not to analyze their favorite shows is useless, really; go to any Star Trek website and you'll find thousand of people still discussing episodes of the first series, which were originally aired forty years ago. We pick apart what we do because we love the show so much.
Now the people I get annoyed with are the ones who write in with crap like: "Thiss show sux, man!" using precisely that spelling, and without giving any reasons as to why they think so. For the same reasons that you don't have to watch a show if you don't like it, Terri, you also don't have to read the posts here if you don't agree with them. This is a free-wheeling website, and not all people are going to like every episode of even their favorite shows. Try being a little more open-minded towards those who critique shows, not only for a living, but because we enjoy doing so. It makes the viewing experience that much better, since we can share our thoughts with others who also love shows like Bones.
Revenant | Oct 9, 2008 11:42:45 AM | #I have to say, I think this week's NotZack was my least favorite so far - I found the little factoids extremely annoying. However, that little interchange with him, Hodgins and Angela was hilarious - where Hodgins tells the NotZack that Angela is too much car for him.
I think this episode raised some interesting questions on faith vs. religion, homosexuality, conservative vs. liberal religions - and was brave enough not to try to answer all of them. Bones is too much of a pure scientist to ever believe in the aspects of organized religion that believers have to take on faith (transubstantiation, resurrection, reincarnation, etc. I'm trying to be fair and not make all of the references about Christianity :)). Booth knows Bones well enough to know that she will never be able to grasp what a believer takes on faith - she needs empirical proof, which if you have, faith is not required.
Okay, I'm getting off of the soapbox now. Sorry!
Bones continues to be one of my favorite shows on tv but I have to ask, when did Brennan stop working in the lab? All she does now is come in afterward to sum everything up or find errors that the assistants made.
katie71483 | Oct 9, 2008 2:51:02 PM | #sorry about all the "I have to..." phrasings. Didn't notice until I'd already made my post.
katie71483 | Oct 9, 2008 2:51:46 PM | #Randomly, Booth says he's from Philly and yet I'm almost sure he has some Pittsburgh Steelers things in his office. Am I imaging things or has someone else seen this?
I ask because I'm a huge Eagles fan and I can't imagine why a native Philadelphian would have Steelers memorabilia....
Micaela | Oct 9, 2008 3:42:03 PM | #I think having Booth explain the doctrine of transsubstantation or justify the worldly wealth of the Roman Catholic Church would be untrue to Booth's character (his belief isn't based in reason. logic and explanation but on faith) and would also stop the show dead in its tracks.
The story of the televangelist's son who finds his vocation among society's poor and rejected seems to be at least roughly based on the life of Jay Bakker, son of Tammy Faye and Jim, who is a tattooed "punk pastor" who preaches that God is tolerant and merciful rather than harsh and judgemental.
I think the character of the televangelist's son who finds his vocation among the poor and rejected is roughly based on the life of Jay Bakker, son of Jim and Tammy Faye. He is a tattooed "punk" pastor who preaches that God is merciful, loving and accepting rather than harsh and judgemental.
I think that having Booth explain the doctrine of transsubstantiation would a) stop the show dead in its tracks and make everyone turn the channel and b) be untrue to his character since his own religious beliefs don't seem to be centered on reason and logic. Religious belief for Booth seems to be something felt and experienced rather than arrived at through logical analysis.
I liked this Zack substitute more than the some of the others, but I think the new Zack every week is getting old fast.
JustDroppingBy | Oct 9, 2008 4:34:03 PM | #micaela: maybe it's like how i met your mother where the jerseans think that new jersey is "pratically new york"; as in booth thinks that pittsburg is 'practically philidelphia" so he says he grew up there when he really didn't! :0 just a thought...
vicious circle | Oct 10, 2008 9:18:32 AM | #I also loved how Brennan admitted that she might be jealous of a pretty Booth - enjoyed that moment of honest truth there. I also like how Booth completely stomped on the scene (and writers had continuity with the 12-pieces episode) when he said (completely shamelessly) that he'd be a hot, hot woman.
eilonwy | Oct 10, 2008 9:21:40 AM | #I love Bones and so far I love that each week there is a new intern - that is a great feature as all of them are interesting and funny characters in their own ways. It gives the show a whole new spark.
DaisyRose | Oct 10, 2008 8:32:44 PM | #Revenant: Fat deposits are in part placed from hormones, not just bone structure. Hormone therapy rearranges fat deposits from the start. (I saw a cute little comic strip about 'ideal' vs 'actual' results, but I think it applies to born-females as well. And unfortunately the website it was posted on has gone down. Gist of it is 'ideal' fat rearranging and depositing goes into the chest and 'actual' heads for the butt, hips and thighs.)
I love Bones, but episodes like this cause my mom and I to end up pausing the TV and going off on tangential discussions about what the show itself glosses over more. It took us two and a half hours to get through this episode!
We both liked NotZack today, though.
I really liked the character of the son and how the episode ended. I think there are a lot of Christians out there who are more like the son character than either of the parent characters. Some churches really do just want to spread God's love. It was refeshing to see a religious character on TV who wasn't a serial killer or child molester.
basal | Nov 19, 2008 4:42:36 PM | #
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