Ahhh. The return of Bones is like catching sight of your favorite comfy chair at the end of a long day. The discovery of the remains of a body (this time in mud), the crime scene banter that often includes awkward moments and odd clarifications (that’s serious as a heart attack guys — not gas attack), lab challenges, tag-teamed interrogations — and, oh yeah, lovely contrived reasons for our favorite forensic anthropologist and FBI agent to interact outside of their work. I don’t know about you, but I settled back in pretty quickly.
The first new episode since last November didn’t pick up on any of the threads of ongoing story lines: nothing about Gormogon, the search for Angela’s husband, or Brennan and Booth’s spectacular mistletoe kiss. What we did get was the case of the skeleton in the mud pit that ended up being a champion motorcycle rider who had gone missing after a big win. His team owner’s son — a rival racer — and another driver he’d put in a wheelchair both came under suspicion very quickly, until the son was killed riding the first guy’s bike that had been tampered with.
Even though it was fun to get back into Zack and Hodgins’ King of the Lab competition as they tried to narrow down the murder weapon for mud-pit guy, I kind of felt that, as a group, they took way too long to figure out that the damage in the front of the head was caused by a fall that came after the victim was struck in the back of the head. By the time the victim’s blood-covered truck was discovered and Angela explained the choke-up on the prybar, it was pretty clear that the cool-as-cucumber sister was the culprit.
The guest turn by M.C. Gainey (Lost) as the Fitz familylawyer was a treat. As Gainey himself has said, at least according toIMDB, his face lends itself to questionable characters. That, combinedwith his role as one of those devious Others on Lost, was a cueto be highly skeptical of his clients. He managed to give hisperformance nice hints of humor between the doggedness (in explainingforensic evidence from his client: "Did you shake hands with him? Sitnext to him at the bar? Make out a little?"). I can’t say I had thesame warm and fuzzy feeling from the über-annoying, way-too-enthusiastic FBI motor tech (Darlena Tejeiro), who I feared was beingplaced as new diversion love interest for Booth. AThree Stooges theory of aggression? Really? If we’re destined to seeher again, lets hope they turn down the pushiness and toy with thequirkiness.
The real highlight of the night though was the double date potteryclass excursion between Booth, Brennan, Seeley and his girlfriend,April. Sweets’ desire to get the two of them to talk aboutnon-work-related things made a sort of sense but it was probably justas much because he wanted to hang out with them as well. He’sdefinitely got a bit of hero-worship mixed in with his condescension toBooth. He did seek them out at the end of the episode to mope aboutbeing dumped.
Anyone surprised that Booth and Brennan’s "couple" behavior as shethrew pots and he sculpted a beautiful horse (??!!) was so natural andsupportive? Not me. As David Boreanaz has always said, their chemistryis the heart and soul of the show. As is the reliability that Brennanwill take a statement quite literally and feel the need to correctsomeone she thinks is mistaken. (People can’t breathe under water andfish colors are obviously a product of evolution — not evidence of theirsouls. Duh!) But not even that uncomfortable moment could hide thetension between Sweets and April and their breakup was inevitable, whatwith Sweets being pale blue and her a more vibrant color and all. It’sa good thing that Booth and Brennan could take him bowling with them atthe rink alley.
Those episode enders, usually with some sort of drink in hand,continue to be a great way to wind down the show, but the car scenesbetween Booth and Brennan have become even more nuanced and sheds light on the range of their relationship. Playfulness (the no-changies and no-take-backs brainstorming about the case), and honesty (rolling her eyesat him and telling him his plowing-the-field statement was"distasteful") — let’s hope there’s even more of that in the finalepisodes of the season.
Favorite line: Booth pointing to his nameplate after the kid askshim how he figured out the name of the friend who showed him the mudpit: "Special Agent… Seeley Booth. Special." Close second: Brennan’sresponse to April’s request to talk woman-to-woman, if possible: "Itis possible because we are both women."
Much like Brennan, I was a little disappointed with the resolutionof the case, but the Booth/Brennan scenes kind of made up for that. So, arewe just happy to have our guys back or was something missed by havingthis as the post-strike episode? I’m pretty interested to see how nextweek’s episode about a dead college student — which looks like the oneoriginally pulled from last season’s lineup because of its proximityto the Virginia Tech tragedy — is able to fit into this season’sclimate. And word is that due to the writers’ strike the whole Gormogonwill now be wrapped up in just one episode. Do you think that will be enough?
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DONT CALL ME BONES!
This is easily my favorite show to watch the chemistry between all of the characters is great.
I was also afraid that the way-too-enthusiastic FBI motor tech will be introduced as a love interest for Booth, lets hope not!
Loved Booth making the horse
Such a great show!
Lost, 30 Rock & Bones: the only shows I watch on a regular basis. Please EW do more to promote this great show! Not enough of Angela or Cam this ep. I wonder how they will work Sweets(great comic relief) in to the stories once the therapy sessions stop?
LOVE THIS SHOW!
Great B-and-B scenes as always. Their chemistry and the overall character development is the reason why I watch this show. The only downside is that it’s on at the same time as HIMYM…
to MKS – I have the same issue with missing HIMYM (I don’t have DVR), but NBC has the full episodes online the next day, so I watch HIMYM then.
‘Love this show! Agree though it didn’t seem like the best episode to come back after the strike though. But oh well, at least it’s back!
So glad to see Bones back. Liked the idea they did not mention the kiss, gormogon, or Angela’s husband. This was an episode to pull in new viewers. If they mentioned any of the above, the newbies would be a tad confused. Loved the BB interactions! As well as the rest of the team. Would like to see Zack and Sweets pair up, that would be hilarious. Can not wait to see the upcoming new eppys!
Loved, loved this episode! Booth’s “special” line was one of many Booth quotes, he was really hitting the funny in this episode, as was David Boreanaz ..”suck it up buttercup”.. the snotty line…”don’t sweat it there princess” and I could go on and on….The lead up to the date was so funny, as was the date itself, Booth & Brennan actually looked the real couple rather than Sweets & April..throwing the clay was too cute, as was Booth’s horse with noises. Oh, it was good to have the show back!
Loved, loved this episode! Booth’s “special” line was one of many Booth quotes, he was really hitting the funny in this episode, as was David Boreanaz ..”suck it up buttercup”.. the snotty line…”don’t sweat it there princess” and I could go on and on….The lead up to the date was so funny, as was the date itself, Booth & Brennan actually looked the real couple rather than Sweets & April..throwing the clay was too cute, as was Booth’s horse with noises. Oh, it was good to have the show back!
I’m so happy Bones is back !! I thought it was a regular (thus great) episode, which was what I wanted. No need for gimmicks or “very special episodes”, just bring those characters back and we’ll be happy !
It wasn’t the greatest epeisode ever, but it didn’t have to be, because I was just so glad to see the whole gang again. There were some pretty great moments- I’ve already used the woman-to-woman quote in conversation,and I am so totally vibrant cobalt.
You missed the second double-duty guest star of the week: Lizzie from “Greek” as April, Sweet’s girlfriend. Not sure how much viewer overlap there is between the two shows, but I definitely enjoyed it!
Bones is wonderful! As long as the characters stay true and the chemestry’s good and Hogens is adorable as always, I’m pretty much sold!
Welcome back, Abby! I actually kind of liked the fact that the case had a disappointing, rote ending- this show isn’t so much about the Scoobie-ness of the mystery as it is about the character interaction. Not every case has to be spectacular for me to love it. The scene at the end was priceless- with B&B and Sweets clinging desperately to his identity as a shrink in the face of his mopey depression over being dumped. My only critique is the minimal Angela to counterbalance Zack & Hodgins.
I was so happy to see my favorite show back on the air! We’ve had it on our calendar for weeks now and it didn’t disappoint. I had to watch it online and enjoyed the new video player on fox.com-less commercials is always a nice thing!
I love the mix of great characters with some good mysteries on this show. The writing is great as always-yay for the writers being back!
Did anyone else realize that the kid in the mud with his girlfriend in the beginning of the episode is the youngest of the Lawrence brothers, Andy. He’s all grown up now haha. Anyone else remember Brotherly Love? Seems so long ago…
Good episode though. Can’t wait to find out who Gormogon is.
I admit I danced a gig in my house when my DVR informed me the new episode of Bones would be taping. I loved the show was not dragging. Yeah, I agree with an earlier post that the Gorgomon, Angela, and mistletoe was left off to bring in new viewers, especially with TNT showing reruns. Totally agree with the “Special Agent Seely Booth” line being the best line. I am old! It took me a second to realize that was little Andy Lawrence making out with that chick before she got poked in the anus.
I love any ep where Booth and Bones are in their crazy couples therapy, so this was a winner for me! Great, snappy dialogue- a just okay case, but who really cares? I don’t want a new love interest for Booth- he and Bones’ nice push/pull chemistry gives me plenty of sexual tension thank you very much- and that girl was annoying. I did kind of want more season threads to be carried on, but I’m sure that’s coming up. All in all, it’s great to have this show back!
Totally laughed out loud with Booth’s outfit during the pottery class.
Love that we’re back! I agree with all the other posts on OK case, excellent interaction. The pottery class was hilarious, their easy rapport just screams through the TV. My favorite line:
Sweets: I’ll release you back into your environment.
Booth: What are we, brook trout?
I agree with J from VA–the more that can be done to promote this awesome show and keep it around longer for die-hard fans like myself, the better. the writing is AWESOME–always fun and witty dialogue and character development/ interaction, even when the plot itself is a little plain, like last night’s was. LOVE THIS SHOW!
Love that Bones is back! I only wish it would get an official TV Watch, which Abby should write of course! I think my favorite scene was the pottery class! Booth made a horse!
I’m so glad to see Bones back. Getting to read the Popwatch is also a highlight of my work-day. Sweets has been a great addition to the mix this year, plus all us Freaks and Geeks fans are glad to get us some J.F. Daily back in our lifes.
I love Bones. But what is it with these producers that think they can set a show’s location in oh, say. . . Virginia! Then shoot at a racetrack in So. Calif. I mean, come on, it was in a desert, there wasn’t a tree to be seen for miles. It’s just so obvious.
I LOVE the show BONES! I am so glad for new episodes! It is one of my favorite shows. I love the whole cast, they work so well together.
Woooo! Bones is back, baby! “Oops, didn’t mean to call you baby.”