Kind of a nothing episode last night forensics fans, but it’s always great to have Ryan O’Neal back in the house as Brennan’s dad. Our murder du jour was a former Marine paratrooper-turned-manny for Mandarin-speaking brats who was blasted with a shotgun, burned, and then blown (courtesy of a Nor’easter) into a tree because he had too many middle-class values. Remind me to avoid rich people, at least on TV.
But the heart of the matter this evening was the relationship between Bones and Max, which has always been testy—thanks to his life as a fugitive bank robber and killer—and hasn’t gotten any easier despite the fact that Tempe spent most of last season trying to get the guy acquitted. When Cam hired him on as a kiddie science teacher (um, the Jeffersonian has a junior varsity?), Bones got all riled up and immediately demanded he be fired. According to Sweets, this had to do with abandonment issues. According to Max, that was crap. According to me, it was just an excuse for unnecessary bickering.
Elsewhere: the blond male intern, whose quirky deal I forget, wasback; Hodgins rediscovered his love of experiments in Zack’s absence(cool wind tunnel!); we learned that the Department of Fish andWildlife does not kid about boobies; and Booth fretted about whether ornot to send Parker to private school. Now that we know sending kids toprivate school turns them into tiny little murdering sociopaths, I’dsay that answer’s clear. Plus, Shayne from Some Kind of Wonderfulturned up as an overprotective mom, and of course, the followingexchange, between Max and Booth: "Are you sleeping with my daughter?""No. "Why? Are you gay?" No… he’s just waiting for February sweeps.Sigh.
We’re back in January with more, but in the meantime, here’s a heavy holiday-season question to ponder: Isthere a time when parents become irrelevant? Well, I had to call my momlike seventeen times from the grocery store just to shop forThanksgiving dinner, and I’m 33 years old. So, maybe not.
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The last time th blond guy was on, Brennan asked him if he ever had the urge to sleep with an older woman, and he almost quit because he thought she was hitting on him. That’s all I remember.
Call me crazy, but I think the reason why none of the interns are working out is because the TPTB intend to eventually bring Zack back into the fold. His being not guilty of the murder for one and tonight’s foreshadowing when Temperence had ambiguous feelings about having an ex-con working around evidence. It totally fits. The black intern from last week was hilarious though.
And please, please don’t hook up Bones&Booth permanently til the series finale. Their cat and mouse game is part of what we like about the show.
Overall, this ep was way better than last week’s, but is there a new pattern of psychotic killing machine kids on Bones? Last week with the cooking-in-the-microwave and this week with the BB gun…creepy!
I loved the last scene, where Parker and Bones’ dad were having a blast being cool science kids (mentos and coke, so fun!) while Booth and Bones watched. That was eight kinds of adorable.
Haven’t seen the eppy yet, but I whole-heartedly agree Bones and Booth CANNOT get together until the very last ep of the series, if at all. If we’ve learned nothing else from X-files and Moonlighting, it’s that. Anyone who ever had the misfortunate of seeing the most recent X-files movie can attest to the forced chemistry and general awkwardness of carrying such a thing on well past its sell-by date. And when WHEN are Angie and Hodgens going to come to their senses and get back together?!
I can’t believe nobody mentioned how weird it was to see Booth/Angel interrogating his “grandaughter” – Gina Torres was on the end of Angel Season 4 as “Jasmine”
It doesn’t seem like you (Whitney) want to take the time to really delve deep into the issues this episode is about. I thought it was one of the better episodes of the season.
David Boreanaz should wear a shirt without a tie more often , hotness overload!
I would feel totally cheated if Booth and Brennan only got together in the very last episode – what a cop out. They are two grown ups that can handle being in a relationship together, whilst working together. Come on. It is not that hard to write. I think that their chemistry would just be even hotter WHEN they get in a relationship there bickering wouldn’t stop.
…I guess it is depending on what kind of parents you have, but mine are relevant everyday, always; they are the 2 people on this earth whom I’m sure really care about what happens to me…
I loved this episode. I could see that Brennan was really chafing when she said parents are irrelevant after a certain age.
She never had the opportunity to experience a parent after a certain age and that makes me sad for her that she said it so matter of factly.
Does Hart or Barry read this? If so, maybe they should know that many, many! people are peeved off that Sweets is telling Booth how to interview people, read people. Hello! Booth reads people, goes by his gut, it is skill. Stop taking away stuff from Booth he is the FBI agent. Sweets is ok for profiling serial killers or crazy people but that is it – LET BOOTH BE THE FBI AGENT! thanks!
Oh, leave Sweets alone! He’s not telling Booth HOW to read people, he’s giving some advice – he’s enriching him, if you will, Geez, lay off poor Sweets. And I think this intern guy is by far my favorite – why is he back though if he left willingly last time? Can they keep him? And can Max/Parker be in more episodes????
Oooh, good eye, there! And good memory, as I never would have remembered who “Jasmine” really was! And while I’m here, I just have to wonder about the people (not only making comments here) who read these recaps BEFORE seeing the show. Am I the only one who would never even think about doing that??
I agree with John.
Booth doesn’t need Sweets ‘advising’ or whatever with suspects. Booth has done a very good job of catching the bad guy and reading people before Sweets came onto the scene. So, yeah, back of Sweets, leave Booth’s job alone, stick to being a therapist.
Can we please see Booth with no tie and a unbutton shirt at least once every episode, cos that look is really hot on him *thud*
I actually try to read the comments before watching a show. When I get a chance to sit down and watch TV, I am almost always doing something else at the same time. By getting an idea of what is going on in the episode, I can pay closer attention since I will be watchng for certain scenes or character exchanges.
I agree, I think they are setting up for Dr Addy to return by the end of the season. It would be such a cop out if they hired one of these interns for the same reason they had Addy on- awkward social interactions, humorous situations-he was the original and the best. Given the out cry and the fact it still has not faded I hope they bring him back.
I really felt for Booth, he tries so hard to be a great dad to Parker. Bones was being a bit clueless about his feelings until the end I think. I do have to wonder, I thought his ex wife moved away from Washington? Or is she still around.
No Whitney, parents don’t ever become irrelevant, especially during the holidays because who’s gonna remember the secret ingredient to my mimma’s mashed sweet potatoes?? (I certainly cannot.) And yesterday’s ep was more to do with the background story and less to do with the murder. Parental guilt, abandonment, etc, all something Booth and Bones need to face and this ep had to move that angle of the story along. Plus with Hodgins getting the nudge to return to his old ways from Cam to the King of the Lab in the form of experiments was nice. I like they didn’t spell it out, exactly.
I guess I’m the only one who hated Zach and doesn’t want him back.
i enjoyed the episode and max is actually beginning to grow on me. loved the mini angel reunion; maybe fred can show up as a killer or hook up for hodgins.
Great episode. I liked the whole “what is the role of the family” and especially fathers in raising children. The episode had a lot of sub-plots that worked on that theme: the father of the murdering daughter was absent in raising her; Brennan has abandonment issues with her father and Booth is trying to figure out what to do about raising his son. The episode had a lot of heart, which is really Bones at its best, to me. The scenes with Sweets often make me uncomfortable, as did most in this episode. Loved the scene with Booth and Max. Loved the last scene; the family scene was perfect. Always enjoy Ryan O’Neal’s portrayal of the father.
Good episode, which showed, rather than told, that fathers and families are indeed important to people of all ages. No way are parents irrelevant. A great Bones episode going into the Thanksgiving weekend. The Bones and Max relationship has been fairly played-out in prior episodes. I thought the Booth/Max interactions were much more interesting in this episode. Sweets is just too annoying for me, though. Liked the Cam/Angela interaction, also. But overall, I always like to see Boreanaz and O’Neal interact…there is just something there that is unique.
I like to go on boards and bully people. I am a know it all. All I know is you are all stupid. Bow down to potato bug.
Great episode. A family theme at T-day was nice. Really too bad there will be no Christmas episode this year, although I love what will be repeated: Santa in the Slush.
To all who say we must wait until the very last episode to see a long-awaited couple get together, I have to say “Jim and Pam.” They’re coupling on the Office has been handled nicely (thought recently its faltered a little, but otherwise we had a solid full season of them as a fun couple to watch). So it CAN be done. The writers just have to crack the code of how to make it work. I say follow the Friends path of Monica and Chandler (another good example) and make Bones and Booth sex-crazed with each other at first.
PLEASE get Bones and Booth together. The avoidance of the obvious in the name of “tension” is wearing down their chemistry. In the natural order of things they would get together – the attraction and love is obvious. Make it funny, sexy, but by all means cut to the chase! Dragging it out is contrived and it’s taking the fun out of the show.
Bringing Zack back would be a mistake. Let it go, move on. The show is campy but taking the Zack thing seriously verges on melodrama. Get over it! Get some fresh blood on there and quit screwing around with the romance.
I also hated zack and don’t want him back. Good call.
I’d like Booth and Bones to get together as much as other people, but don’t you remember the episode maybe 2nd season when he was “dating” Cam and she got hurt, and he made a decision to not date people he works with because of the harsh conditions of the job. I think that is also why Bones hasn’t made a move yet, he told her that. Being partners in FBI world, it a tough job and relationships would mess with that-in fact the government would probaby break the partnership up.
I think the writers can handle them getting together long before the final episode. As viewers it would be much more gratifying to see them together as a couple for awhile and not just in the final episode or two. I do not think their pairing would result in a decline in the show’s quality.
I almost gave up on Bones after the Zach mess, but seeing Bones and Booth get closer is worth tuning in for. I agree that you can have a committed relationship on a show and still have the show be interesting. Please stop bringing up the X-Files and Moonlighting as examples! If you have good writers and directors/producers and actors, you can have a show take a new direction! I am hoping that the Bones folks realize that.
I would like to see Ang and Hodgins back together but it doesn’t seem likely. She’s moved on and maybe he should start dating his bimbos again.
And I totally agree with the other posters who pointed out that they’re dumbing down Booth. His specialty has always been he can read people and figure crimes out WITHOUT evidence, whereas Bones needs the evidence. Pleas stop dumbing Booth down!