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'Bones': The (rich) kids aren't alright
I'm starting to think several people on the Bones writing staff are arguing with their parents, spouses or significant others about why they don't want to have children. This is the second episode in a row where some punk kid did something horrific. What's next -- a toddler terrorist? An infant serial killer? A genocidal zygote?
Max K, the spoiler way!
When a couple of tree-poachers (can you poach trees?) find a charred skull dangling from a tree in a national forest -- right in the middle of the masked booby migration route! -- Booth and Brennan are on the case. A DNA hit from some bone marrow reveals the victim was Cal Warren, an ex special-forces Marine who had gone completely off the grid. He paid for everything in cash, he wasn't in any databases, and for all intents and purposes, he'd disappeared.
An RF proximity card found in Cal's apartment leads Booth to Woodbury school, the sort of k-12 private academy that costs more than most universities and promises to give the children of the exceedingly rich every advantage in life. Cal was working as a nanny for Lexie and Royce, the children of Richard and Elsbeth King. Richard is a defense contractor, and there had been kidnapping threats. Could someone who was coming after the kids taken out Cal?
The first interesting fact the team uncovers is that Cal's body was incinerated with airplane fuel. And looky here -- Dr. Ezralow, a high-powered dermatologist and mother of another Woodbury kid, flies a Cessna. She initially claimed she didn't even know Cal, but she eventually confirms that they were having an affair. But she claims she didn't do it -- and says that Cal gave her some insider information that was very damaging to Richard's company. When the team finds the site where the body was burned, it's yards from one of the King's country homes. Plus, Booth wicks a bit of fuel from Richard's fine Italian sports car, and discovers that Richard fuels his baby with aviation gas.
But the bones suggest that Richard didn't do it -- at some point, Cal was dragged by a choke chain, and the person doing the dragging was about 5'5". Elsbeth, then. She confesses -- but Sweets isn't convinced. Again, the evidence bears Sweets out -- the blast pattern indicates that an even shorter person fied the shot that killed Cal. That's right -- Lexie, the 11-year-old daughter, killed Cal when he refused to do her homework for her. He threatened to tell the school, which has a strict honor code. She would have been kicked out, and all her friends go there! Her mom saw Lexie standing over Cal with the gun, and she disposed of the body. That, my friends, is really, really bad parenting.
The lab rats
Wendell Bray, the Ryan Notwood NotZack, is back, and I think he's up there with Clark as my favorite NotZack, even if he does bring up tapeworm-infected beer. Ewwwww. Cam tries to heal Hodgins' wounded soul by getting the two lab rats to do an experiment, but Hodgins won't bite. Apparently, he only does experiments when there's an accused murderer egging him on -- he finally rediscovers the joy of the lab when Brennan's dad, Max, helps him build a wind tunnel to prove the wind speed that was needed to blast a charred skull-bit into a tree. Ah, science!
Booth and Brennan -- and Max
Speaking of Max... Cam hired him to work in the lab as a science teacher. Max is introducing young kids -- who have the run of the Jeffersonian -- to the joys of science by firing lasers through jell-o and doing the Mentos-in-Coke trick. It's very cute, but very odd -- why would he be doing science demonstrations in the forensics lab? I'm just not going to think about it, because I love Ryan O'Neal as Max.
Brennan is appalled her dad is working in the lab -- we catch criminals, and he IS one! She wants Cam to fire him. Sweets thinks Brennan is acting out on her abandonment issues, but both Max and Brennan dismiss this. When Brennan finds Max helping with the wind-speed experiment, she fires him-- his presence compromises the investigation! She, Sweet and Max talk about this, and Max says that he's going to stick with her -- he won't leave her again.
Max talks to Booth, who (after fending off questions about whether he's sleeping with Brennan, and if not, why the hell not?) agrees to talk to Brennan for him. He gets the chance when Max is demonstrating scientific principles to Parker: Your dad is great at what he does, and look at how excited Parker is! Could you overlook the evidence-tampering thing, just for me? Brennan sees through this -- "You're trying to do a favor for me by telling me it's a favor for you" -- but she relents.
The other major Booth/Brennan interaction revolves around Booth being paranoid that he's not giving Parker the best in life by not sending him to a school like Woodbury. Brennan doesn't help -- basically, she spends much of the time saying yeah, rich kids have it better, and you're not doing right by Parker, but you probably won't absolutely ruin him or anything...l probably. It's frustrating. In the end, Brennan starts to come around to the fact that good parenting trumps the advantages that big bucks can bring. It's just maddening that it takes a murderous 11-year-old to make them both figure that out.
Highlights, thoughts and odds and ends
- Yay, Gina Torres! Now if only they'd given her something to do...
- I looked up the masked booby migration routes. (Yes, I'm a geek.) According to Audubon, they don't tend to get that far north. Dear writers: it wasn't as funny as you thought. I did, however, like the humorless Masked Booby Defender -- "The Department of Fish and Wildlife does not kid, Agent Booth." You can keep her.
- Max spots Sweets coming into the diner: "There's the doc that told the jury that I was a sociopath!" he says. "Likeable sociopath," Sweets corrects. That makes all the difference!
- Angela shows off her mad deductive skills. "For an artist, you make a pretty good detective," Cam says. "I think you just insulted me," Angela replies. Um, yeah, she did.
- I get why Brennan would stress the benefits of education and minimize the role of the parent -- she was abandoned by her folks and then basically raised by wolves. That's why she would spout things like "Assuming quality education and adequate supervision, parents are actually rather irrelevant beyond a certain age." Still, every time she dissed Booth's role as a parent, I bridled. Booth is a great dad, and she knows it!
- I loved Hodgins enthusing about the experiment Max helped put together. "Your old man, he reminded me of why I got into science!" he crows to Brennan. "To catch murderers?" she asks. "No -- to figure things out in amusing ways." Heck yeah-- science education would be a lot more popular if kids were allowed to test various ways things could explode.
I think I realize the problem with this season. The writers keep on stringing the Booth-Brennan relationship along but are running out of excuses to keep them apart that don't have one of them completely shooting down the other, especially since Angela and Hodgins are kaput and aren't available to take the pressure off. (Yeah, I'm a shipper for both couples)
Plus: Anyone else see the irony of Max's attempting to reconcile with Brennan in light of Ryan O'Neal's real life situation with his kids? I think that man's actually been included in a list of deadbeat dads.
KiKi | Nov 26, 2008 9:09:55 PM | #I really liked this episode, not for the case (that one seemed somewhat obvious to me early on, dunno why, but once I saw the girl, I said killer).
Rather, I liked it for finally, however so slightly, nudging things forward, a tiny, tiny bit, in the Booth/Brennan relationship.
Look, that relationship is what makes this show works. I get it.
That said, the relationship's dynamic hasn't changed that much from day 1. It's fine, it's a procedural/romantic dramedy. But at some point, it still has to be nudged forward. To an extent, bringing JFD in there was to help in that regards.
I think Max could help that, if he's utilized more, by pushing them to ask themselves why not. He somewhat had Booth asking that question himself.
I liked the scene at the end, the potential "step-gramps and grandson" scene for me.
As for the case, eh, dunno, didn't really get into it.
Tony | Nov 26, 2008 9:21:49 PM | #I also enjoyed this episode, it's always great to see Gina Torres. But I think they should be carefull, I was suprised how fast Max went from cold blooded killer to loveable Science teacher.
Alex | Nov 27, 2008 6:02:21 AM | #Sure I like the Booth/Brennan dynamic but i really want something to happen between them. I'm getting a little bit tired to the longing stares and chats. Will they make out already?
Dory | Nov 27, 2008 8:06:14 AM | #Writers didn't only goof with the migration pattern. It is the "Fish and Wildlife Service" which is part of the Department of Interior.
Bio Dork | Nov 27, 2008 10:12:42 AM | #I don't like Brennan's father and think it's unfortunate that he seems to be added to the cast. He committed murder in a particularly ugly and vicious manner and abandonned his son and daughter and I guess I'm not as forgiving (or forgetful) as the people at the Jeffersonian.
JustDroppingBy | Nov 27, 2008 11:18:56 AM | #"Genocidal zygote."
Hee-hee-hee.
Gina Torres as a guest star just reminds me how much I miss Firefly. Damn Fox anyway.
Good episode, and I'm always lovin' some Mentos and Diet Coke explosions. Is the kid who plays Parker just the cutest thing or what? :)
Kara Mel Apples | Nov 27, 2008 1:05:30 PM | #DO NOT PUT SPOILERS IN THE ARTICLE TITLE.
DO NOT PUT SPOILERS BEFORE THE SPOILER WARNING. SPOILERS GO *AFTER* THE SPOILER WARNING.
C'mon, the episode only aired last night! I hadn't watched it yet. I saw whodunnit when I wasn't even looking for the write-up on Bones. You do know that the titles and first sentences are displayed for every series for the night, right?
http://blog.zap2it.com/ithappenedlastnight/
I'm really annoyed.
And that youngster is getting typecast at a very early age.
Maureen | Nov 27, 2008 5:39:45 PM | #Guess I'd better not mention about the ship sinking in that movie "Titanic," then. Oops...:P
Thorny | Nov 27, 2008 8:06:04 PM | #Loved seeing Gina Torres. I was wondering how long it would take for the "Angel" alumni to start showing up.
Brenda | Nov 27, 2008 9:35:35 PM | #One of my favourite scenes in this episode was the one where Booth and Sweets were talking parenting. I can't remember exactly how it went but something like Booth asked whether he was a bad father for not putting Parker in private school and Sweets said that it didn't and that the way Booth was beating himself up over the issue showed that he was a good father. The look on Booth's face when Sweets said that was great.
Jane Doe | Nov 27, 2008 11:32:09 PM | #Re: Spoilers in the title. Yeah, I know, but it's a directive that's come down from our Glorious Leaders regarding Search Engine Optimization and other stuff like that. Sorry, but it's what we've got to do.
Sarah | Nov 28, 2008 8:49:44 AM | #I am not a big fan of Dr Brennan
I don't see her as anyone very special
Booth could do a hell of a lot better than her
I'm probably a "cult" of onr
Who the hell is Onr, and does he/she/it have her/his/its own website? :P
Thorny | Nov 28, 2008 11:55:19 AM | #I loved this episode for many of the reasons mentioned above, Booth's interaction with Sweets about parenting, Booth's conversation with Max about Brennan, Brennan and Booth maybe moving forward a little in their relationship and the reappearance of Ryan Notwood - perhaps my favorite notzack other than Clark. I was also really glad to see Gina Torres from Angel / Firefly. Now I just wish they'd have James Marsters or Alexis Denisof guest...
katie71483 | Nov 28, 2008 12:21:14 PM | #Good ep. Yay on guest star Gina Torres. Her hair looked amazing, but they did wonky things with her foundation. I think they writers can't figure out how to put double-B together. I like this season moreso as Bones is starting to solve crimes scientifically again (rather than relying on her assistants). Plus, her personality has returned to the clueless dork of old, which I love. So, although I think this season is better, it's more difficult to get the characters together when one is clueless. However, if Booth makes the first move, that should take care of it -
An | Nov 28, 2008 9:04:07 PM | #I've enjoyed this program immensely, but I couldn't believe that we had another child killer on the heels of *spoiler* the child killer on the plane and the *spoiler* child killer beauty queen from Season 2 - I'm sure I've missed a bunch - but it is time to age the murderous population in Virginia!
kate60614 | Nov 29, 2008 6:36:58 PM | #I too, just could not get behind the case. It didn't ring true for some reason. I think Kathy Riechs is running out of material. After all, they exhausted all of the cases from her books during the 1st season. OK, that said, I STILL like Emily Deshanel in the part. I know a guy who is almost as disconnected as her character is, NO sense of humor, everything is always SO serious and exactly 100% literal. The guy is totally LOST when it comes to satire and when it comes to innuendo, forget it! I have NO complaints about spoilers. Isn't this a RECAP? Isn't this posted AFTER the show airs? HOW exactly IS it that ANY information is a spoiler anyway if the show has aired already? Isn't that the sole purpose of a recap? To bring you up to date with all the details if you MISS the episode? If you have not seen the show yet and are planning to watch later from tape or whatever, then DON'T READ THE RECAP FIRST! Some people NEVER cease to amaze me... Wouldn't common sense tell you that reading a recap before watching the show is ... well ... a stupid thing to do?
xyzzy | Nov 30, 2008 7:55:09 PM | #I guess when you've exhausted all the possible murderers on the planet, child killers are the next logical step. Maybe after that, they'll have to resort to homicidal butterflies or some such. :)
Thorny | Nov 30, 2008 7:55:50 PM | #Oh, and to answer xyzzy's questions briefly:
Yep. :P
Thorny | Nov 30, 2008 7:57:12 PM | #"Maybe after that, they'll have to resort to homicidal butterflies"
Did you watch Fringe last week? Homicidal butterflies has been done.
Sarah Jersild | Nov 30, 2008 9:25:57 PM | #"Homicidal Butterflies" would be a good name for a rock band.
Anyhoo...I, too, am a shipper for both Angela/Jack and Booth/Bones. Hope these couples get together soon.
robyn | Dec 1, 2008 11:07:38 AM | #what does bones know of family? she disses the family dynamics when she was never raised in one.
joits | Dec 1, 2008 3:59:41 PM | #Yeah, Sarah, that's where I got it. I was going to write "homicidal ladybugs," but who would believe that? :P
And Robyn, I'm pretty up-to-date on modern slang (including British, Canadian and a few others), but I'm afraid "shipper" has me stumped. Elucidate, please.
Thorny | Dec 1, 2008 7:14:20 PM | #Thorny,
I'm catching up on my post-holiday recaps and saw that your ? hasn't been answered.
Near as I can figure a "shipper" is someone who supports a relationship between two characters. e.g., "The Booth/Bones 'shippers," etc.
Hope that helps.
djc | Dec 2, 2008 2:36:19 PM | #
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