When I first saw photos of Booth in a wrestling ring with a little person, I feared we were looking at a mistake the size of last season’s circus episode. I’ve never been so happy to be wrong. This could be my favorite hour of Season 5. The “midget wrestling” was a little wacky, but it produced a classic Brennan moment as she realized the Iron Leprechaun they were watching be defeated by Bumble Bee Man was not the real Iron Leprechaun, whose body they’d found in a sink hole: “Boo! That man is not The Iron Leprechaun! Boooo! Fake! Fake!… Fraud! Look at his femur!” she shouted. Also, I did laugh when Booth jumped in the ring to nab the impostor, who tried various wrestling moves on him that I could have identified when I was in the sixth grade and a Rock ‘n’ Roll Express fan. “What do you expect me to do, he came at me like a rabid ferret,” Booth said after flattening the suspect, raising his arms to celebrate, and being booed.
When Bones is at its best, the case is used to further illustrate what’s happening in Booth and Brennan’s relationship. Gidget, the Vince McMahon of the midget wrestling world and the victim’s ex, put it well when she told them that when something goes wrong in the heart department for a man, it always shows itself in another way. For Booth, the fact that he’s in love with Bones but can’t tell her was affecting his aim — which was a problem since he had to be recertified. He went to see Gordon Gordon (Stephen Fry), who I demand return every Sweeps period even though he’s now a cook chef. The character has such a lovely demeanor that he makes the show feel homey. When he’s around, we also find things out. Most importantly, last night, he and Sweets discussed the reason Sweets had never published his book on Booth and Brennan: He wasn’t sure he should make public what they can’t admit to each other — they’re in love. The two men agreed that after Brennan’s traumatic childhood of abuse and abandonment, she used her intelligence to build an armor so she wouldn’t have to feel intense emotions like love. Booth is sensitive to that vulnerability and knows that admitting his feelings to her would be some kind of assault. His problem at the gun range was “phallic frustration” and the reason he’s behaved differently since his coma dream, during which he realized how he felt about her. In short: Not being able to have the woman he loves can drive a man crazy. (Which is what Booth explained to the victim’s sister-in-law. She’d been having an affair with him, which is why her husband killed his brother.)
Gordon Gordon eventually sat Booth down and told him that he’s in love with Brennan. “She doesn’t love me. I would know if she loved me,” Booth responded. (David Boreanaz can always make your heart ache when he wants to. Whether it’s a line that clear, or that subtle “Really?” he uttered when Brennan told Gidget she actually prefers good boys.) Gordon Gordon said Booth needs to have hope and patience. I suppose it would have been cruel for him to tell Booth about the look in Brennan’s eyes when she’d told him that she couldn’t think of a thing she wouldn’t do to help Booth with his mental block. Instead, Gordon Gordon suggested Booth “grow a set” and be a man at his recertification. What he meant was, Booth would never fail Brennan if her life depended on his aim. Bring her to the range and protect her. That final scene, when Booth nailed his target, and Brennan gave him the thumbs up? I applauded.
So, what did you think of the episode? How good was it to have Gordon Gordon back and consulting with Sweets? (Do you think Fry improvised spitting out the potato, or did John Francis Daley just really sell his surprise?) Do you appreciate, as much as I do, Brennan acknowledging that it’s time she “adapt,” even if it results in her making charmingly bad jokes? (“I’m becoming quite amusing.”) Was Booth saying “Chef, I need some advice” a South Park reference? And did you feel a little uncomfortable when Gordon Gordon fed Booth and Brennan something he admitted looked like sperm?
More Bones: 15 exclusive on-set photos — snapped by the cast!
Photo credit: Greg Gayne/FOX
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Mandi i always love your recaps. This episode made me really sad. I cant stand seeing Booth hurt and vulnerable although i secretly love it. Its episodes like these that make me love Bones.
Best episode of season 5
Booth was so heartbreaking in every scene, David hit the nail on the head with each of Booth’s emotions and trials, acting masterclass
Great recap! I really liked this episode. The two stories were interwoven well Booth to the cheating wife “When a man can’t have the woman he loves he goes a little crazy” and loved Booth not denying when Gordon says he loves Bones “She doesn’t love me”. I agree with you I think the potato bit was improvised loved Sweet’s expression! Our site does recaps of Bones and Supernatural and Dollhouse if you want to stop by and say hello at Mile High Horrors.
Mandy, you write the BEST recaps! I can tell you love the show as much as the rest of us fangirls.
You’re spot on with David’s ability to make your heart ache. He’s so good at it! And I’m going to vote for Stephen Fry improvising that spitting out of the potato. That was hilarious. 
I loved this episode! You captured the key elements for me. “The character [Gordon Gordon]has such a lovely demeanor that he makes the show feel homey. When he’s around, we also find things out.” This episode tied up some loose ends. I loved it.
LOVED this episode. Gordon Gordon rocks and I love Booth’s non-denial of his feelings for Brennan. Mandi, you do a great job at recaps and you totally hit the nail on the head. Bones is at it’s best when it furthers Booth and Brennan’s relationship. The last scene was one of my favorites. Brennan giving Booth the thumbs up and Booth’s small smile at the camera. Woo! Boreanz you’re an acting genius!!
On a total shallow note – David and therefore Booth looked so amazing throughout
His hotness just took my breath away at times.
WOW!
A friend and I were facebook chatting while watching it and we couldn’t get over how hot he looked in the three piece suit. Dang!
Seriously – he was very, VERY hot. he is looking awesome this season, which makes me hopeful that there will be some unclothed Boothiness at some point (preferably with an unclothed Brennan as well)
David gets better looking with age, I LOVED him in Buffy and Angel, but he is better looking now than he was then, NOT FAIR!!!
He looks good in anything, but I gotta agree that he’s a man who can really wear a suit! Yow-za!
I loved it but was confused by one thing — If Sweets knew they were in love when he wrote the book, why did he tell Booth he wasn’t in love with her before the coma (remember the scans)?
If every episode could have stuff to evolve the relationship like this one did, I would be blissfully happy. And I wish the “chef” was on every episode!
I think Sweets was trying to protect Booth from possibly going too quickly, which may make Brennan balk. He thinks if Booth tells her that he is in love with her so soon after the brain tumor, with so many other changes, that she will discount it as an artifact of his brain damage, not a pre-existing condition, so to speak.
Good call Sarah!
Agreed
Agreed. And Booth and Brennan sort of inducted Sweets into their makeshift family. He’s quite protective of them. I loved that he concluded they were in love prior to Booth’s surgery, and love love love that he won’t publish the book because he doesn’t want to embarrass them or ruin their chances. It could seriously affect their partnership, too, if the FBI found out.
Great recap! Loved this episode! Stephen Fry is amazing and should definitely be back as often as possible.
My heart broke when Booth said¨she doesnt love me¨…i want this to be extended as long as can get (Booth & Brennan a couple )…Funny thing, did you notice in the begining of the episode with dr saroyan and mr name so long that i cant remember, that an Xray of Homer Simpson was in the back!!! its like in the 1:58 minute i think..i think it was Hilarious
I saw that too – very funny considering Dan Castellaneta plays Homer and was also the security guard in this episode.
they were having a promotion on fox where you have to spot the simpsons references in the episode and win…something?? good job guys! i heard that before bones started and didnt even notice either of those things.
I was watching the episode online. I had to rewind and pause to catch it, but I did notice it. Did you notice Homer’s teeny, tiny brain in the x-ray.
are we still allowed to say “midget”??? I always thought they prefered “little people”
Little people participate in a sport called “midget wrestling”—but you should not call a little person a midget.
I had a mixed reaction to the episode…I don’t like when the writers or whomever make the Booth character too contrived a buffoon; accidental buffoonery is fine by me. I do like it when there is frank discussion/vulnerability. I am hoping we will see absolute bliss in a Boreanaz character(Booth bliss would work for me), someday soon. And there you have it; I am a girl. Glad you are back Mandi. ps I agree about Stephen Fry, potatoes improv and recurring.
DB and ED say more with their eyes than just about every other actor on tv. A great episode! One beef though for Gordon Gordon and Angela – Booth didn’t fall in love with Brennan during his coma dream. He may have realized it through the dream, but he has been in love with her a lot longer than that.
I totally agree with that!!!
Like Sweets wouls say: totally!
ok ..did anyone else notice homer simpson’s brain x-ray in one of the inital scenes of the episode?..the one with cam and nigel murray? or was it my imagination?
@lore…ok i guess it wasn’t my imagination!
This was disappointing. It was a cinch to figure out who the killer was. Classic Kane v Abel. But the rest of the episode was good.
Actually it is Cain and Abel.
Stephen Fry, MISTER Nigel Murray, Dan Castellaneta, and Booth finally expressing he loves Bones? It’s like all of my favourite Bones things rolled into one episode…
I SO agree! It was a GREAT episode!!!!!!! And yes, more Stephen Fry is always a good thing!
Stephen Fry is the best! I am still holding out hope that he will appear on “House” with his old partner Hugh Laurie.
That would be AWESOME!
That would be brilliant! A Bit of Fry and Laurie is already on its way to my mailbox from Netflix.
Thanks for reminding me that Stephen Fry was Jeeves to Laurie’s Bertie Wooster. Loved those shows!
I like the fact that, even though Brennan and Booth don’t speak to each other about their mutual feelings, the other characters are speaking about it so openly. And I’m glad to see Brennan is at least trying to inject humor into her conversation, however awkward her attempts may be. I really don’t like her reacting to emotional issues with SO much cold, clinical analysis. She almost sounds more like a robot than a human being when she gets that way.
i loved the episode! it was sweet and i loved booth’s epiphany! now he just needs to make her see that she loves him too! i hope that’s the story arc for the rest of the year. gordon gordon is always great, and him with sweets is amazing!
Always love the return of Gordon Gordon, and his scenes with Sweets (agree that the potato scene was improvised).
Thanks for the re-cap. As always, Mandi Bierly rocks!!
A swoon worthy episode. I adored Booth’s little half smile after Gordon Gordon told him to have patience and hope.
I agree that the dream was the trigger that revealed to Booth he was in love rather than the reason he fell.
As for Sweets and what he said in the season opener, well when he and Gordon Gordon (I kind of love typing his name)were looking at Booth’s brain scans, Sweets was saying that they showed changes to the brain that explained the memory lapses, but not the other stuff which made me think these are newer scans since he never told Booth ahead of time that he probably would have some memory lapses. I’m thinking that the older scans were just not definitive as to if Booth was completely healed. At this point I think Sweets is saying he is. Before, I do think Sweets was not sure if Booth was feeling love for real even though he knew that deep down he did. But if the feeling was just a symptom of the surgery that was going to fade until Booth figured it out for real, then Booth would mess everything up by taking back what eventually he would realize. Confusing, but I think it makes sense.
I’m hoping Sweets publishes his book.
I want to read Sweets book
The only couple I love more than Booth ad Brennan is Booth and Gordon!
Haha awesome
Totally agree with everything said, including the “thanks for writing the recap” comments. Personally, I was squealing and bouncing a lot more than I would ever want a stranger to know about, but we’re all friends here, right? So, I was squealing and bouncing. A lot. And this episode was followed by all of my friends (who know what a nut I am for this show) calling me to ask how much I loved this episode.
The scene with Gordon Gordon and Angela really got to me. She told him that Booth was just unhappy. Sad. Like he was longing for another life…
that he’s homesick for that other place and those other people…. made me want to hug the tv and tell it everything was going to be ok.
Loved this episode! As always, Angela also had a beat on what was really throwing Booth off his game & I like the foreshadowing of her mentioning that she still talks to her Psychic…hopefully that means we’ll see Ms. Lauper reprise her kooky role. I found it interesting also that Gordon’s advice to Booth mirrored what that of Angela’s psychic…give it time and it will all come together. I watched the end Gordon Gordon & Booth exchange 3 times because of the beautiful acting DB displayed. I’m enjoying Bones much more this season than in S4…it got a little goofy for too long. DB and ED have such wonderful chemistry as Booth and Brennan…they remind me of my other fave TV couple, Chuck and Sarah. With Chuck coming back at mid-season I’ve been missing that slow burn dynamic and it’s so nice to see Bones delivering it now that they’re back to form in S5.
I only hope that Chuck makes it to as many seasons. Seriously…if you’re a Bones fan you should check out Chuck. Similar heartwarming charasmatic leads, occassional wacky humor, and action…but it’s spies and nerds rather than FBI & squints. arallels be between these shows and their leads?
Mandi – I agree with all the other posters…love your recaps. Any chance you’re also a Chuck fan and we’ll see you recapping when that show returns?
another show that has the Bones parallel is Warehouse 13 (?) on Sci-Fi,,,the male lead is even the guy who played Scully
I just “discovered” CHUCK. I’d heard of the show, but had never given it a try because I have so many shows that I watch already(although BONES is, of course, #1). CHUCK is indeed absolutely awesome! I’m hooked, but I have many more episodes to catch up on.
As for WAREHOUSE 13: It’s okay… interesting concept… but the leads don’t have near the chemistry as in BONES and CHUCK. I do like Eddie McClintock (Sully), though. And I intend to give Season 2 a try, despite the lovely Saul Rubinek’s (Artie) departure.
what I loved was near the beginning when they are going to look at the body Brennan stated to Booth no quips no funny remarks, than the water main broke and he remarked on how she was at the end of the rainbow, with a leprechaun and gold coins….and Brennan as usual didn’t get it
Clearly the best episode of the season. I also recognized Dan who plays Homer and also spotted the X-Ray. Too funny! And no, Little People don’t like the term Midget but it unfortunately is still called “Midget Wrestling” so there’s not much else they could do. At least they addressed it by having Dr Saroyan and the student talk about it. And Gordon Gordon is a great character, but they really should use him sparingly as they have. If he was on all the time, the impact wouldn’t be as profound.
Agree with everyone it seems
Wonderful recap, wonderful episode…when I saw Stephen Fry’s name in the opening credits I knew we were in for a treat. This show always makes me feel good after I’ve watched it-it’s nice to back a winning horse once in a while.
As always, love your recaps. This was one of the best episodes so far this season (and, by the way, I loved the circus episode from the other season). Although I feel in love with David Boreanaz on BtVS, I’ve decided that I love him as Booth the best. He and Emily Deschanel have the best chemistry. I think next week’s episode will be good, too.
am i the only one who loved the circus episode with Booth and Bones?? It could quite possibly be one of my favorite episodes!
No, me too-and Tara above you.
And me..
And me… Rewatched it the other day and found it funnier than ever! I think it’s great!
for sure one of my favorites… although i have to say that “the double death of the dearly departed” is still my all time favorite episode.