Image Credit: Greg Gayne/Fox The episode “The Devil in the Details” was supposed to show us that for Brennan, her belief in science, in reason and consequences, is what she finds reassuring — just as Catholicism comforts Booth. It’s supposed to make us understand that she has faith in something, too, and that’s why she lashes out so vehemently at psychology, which is her equivalent to blasphemy. It worked. But for me, the best moment of the episode was still when Dr. Copeland (guest star Joshua Malina), head of the sanitarium where the horned-and-tailed murder victim was a patient, called her out on belittling his work. At this point, her putting down psychology to people who are (a) trying to help her do her job and (b) good at theirs has gotten so distasteful that it’s making her unlikable as a person. Props to Bones for casting an actor as good as Malina in that role. You believe he’d stand up to Brennan, calmly and articulately: “I spend every working hour of every day trying to help people who are living in hell. That’s an honorable way to spend a life, perhaps more honorable than figuring out what happened to dead people who are already beyond pain and suffering.” Brennan conceded that his intentions, however misguided, do count. But she only apologized for undervaluing his work after she saw him in action, drugging an agitated, delusional patient, Philip, who wanted the “special medicine” nurse/suspect Lloyd gave him and the victim. (Who knew heroin had medicinal purposes?) Anyway, better late than never, Brennan. Let’s hope this revelation carries over into future episodes, and she doesn’t regress. (Note: The next new episode of Bones airs April 1, so she does have time to forget her manners…)
My second favorite scene was when Hodgins did his experiment trying to measure the impact of nun-chuck strikes. People hitting themselves in the head with anything is always funny, but TJ Thyne sold his fall, his awe at seeing intern Arastoo’s mad skills (“What are you, some kind of Persian ninja?”), his crawl to the computer to see the results and rule out the nurse’s nun-chucks as the murder weapon, and his passing out. We’re gonna need to watch that again after the jump…
I didn’t think this episode was as chilling as it could have been considering the victim was found on a church altar on fire (by a priest, who overacted, which I think allowed me to disengage). But the case of Hellboy — a young male schizophrenic born with a tail who believed he was the son of Satan, and had horns implanted when he ran away from home as a teen and went off his meds — did give everyone plenty of work to do, which I always appreciate. Hodgins did his little experiment, and Angela more than earned her paycheck. She psychologically profiled the painting of another patient (Center Stage‘s Amanda Schull!), who thought she was the earthly manifestation of an avenging angel who God told to kill the demon with a holy (and invisible) lance. Sweets questioned the patients, understanding that you have to treat them with respect and honor their delusions if you want them to answer you. And Cam, well, she did determine that the victim was shooting heroin between his toes. I’d really love to see her get a storyline that doesn’t involve her acting like a crazy person. This week, she got scared that Arastoo considered Americans the devil (or Great Satan) that he said he looks into the eyes of every day. When he wanted to discuss what he meant by that, in a totally non-threatening manner, she didn’t want to address it. I’d like to think that a woman in her position, who’s seen all that she’s seen, would have been prepared to have that conversation. Arastoo explained that when he was a translator in Iraq, he had to shoot and kill an insurgent. The evil he sees was in that man’s face but also in himself when he pulled the trigger. He’d found a picture of the man with his wife and son. He’d taken that life. The devil won that day. He would have lost his faith if he didn’t believe that Allah would tell him how to live. It’s brave of Bones to go there with Arastoo, I just don’t see why being a ninny is the one recurring character trait we’re given for Cam.
It turned out the victim’s brother was the killer. He’d come to visit him at the sanitarium. Patient Philip, who was convincing enough to have fooled Brennan into believing that he was a doctor, broke his “patient confidentiality” with the victim and told the brother where to find his “hell” hiding place. The brother struck the victim with a pipe when he saw him shooting up heroin. The victim stumbled backward into an old transformer and was electrocuted. No mention of how the brother got the body to the church and set it on fire without being seen, but whatever.
What did you think of the episode? Did it make you think of Booth and Brennan sitting in a church after he’d rescued her and Hodgins from the Grave Digger? (Still one of the best episodes.) Wasn’t it weird to see Brennan driving? Like, that was freakier than Hellboy to me. And has Brennan really never seen The Exorcist?
Finally! I’ve been waiting for this recap.
I loved Hodgins and the nunchuks and Angela’s assesment of the painting. But the thing I loved most was Brennan finally seeing that psychology wasn’t bad. I’ve always found it hard to fathom how someone could really hate today’s psychologists, particularly people like Dr. Copeland. He was totally spot on in what he said to Brennan. I sort of hoped that there’d be more than Booth and Brennan since religion is one of their main differences.
Also, was it just me or did the music at the very end of the episode feel….wrong?
I agree that the ending felt wrong; loved the hodgins/nunchuks scene. Overall, I felt this episode was underwhelming. Also, thought that with all of the interaction with Sweets; Brennan should have had less disdain and at least a grudging respect for psychiatry/psychology.
I totally agree. Sweets has shown more than once how psychology can be extremely useful in her line of work. Plus I don’t gt why Sweets gets dumped on by her, but Angela (who can sometimes make astounding leaps and isn’t always 100% accurate with her facial reconstructions) only gets the occasional crack about not being a genius.
Wow, I said the same thing about the music. It felt like it belonged at the end of a light hearted romantic comedy.
Isn’t it “nunchakus?” Mandi doesn’t spell it that way, either, so maybe I am wrong?
Brennan got the smack down that she deserved. I ound her most unpleasant in this episode. A witch.
I agree, the writers for this episode made her unlikable, which I’ve never found the character to be. I’ve always found her quirky and endearing and lovable despite her sometimes irksome idiosyncrasies, but here she was just unnecessarily cruel, which Brennan has never been. The only thing that saved me from judging her was accepting that the writers for this episode were being lazy and of course the fact that Emily Deschanel, giving a wonderfully layered performance as always, redeemed the character at the end of the episode when she explained her reasoning. I’d almost venture to say that Hart Hanson wrote the B&B moments and the final scene himself since they were the only elements that redeemed the episode.
Brennan was nasty and mean spirited. Cam, Hodgins and Brennan came acrossas bigots. And Booth was just in a few scenes. WHTH? Buck up your ideas Hart.
Incredibly dull and boring. This epi is suppose to tide me over for 2mts. Please!! And yes Brennan needed to be brought down a peg or two. Very ugly writing for Brennan.
Brennan came off as smug, narrow-minded, uninformed and insulting. She comes across that way quite often, actually.
Perhaps, but honestly, how many of you commenting have spent time around scientists, let alone those at her level?
I have, and honestly, it’s an accurate representation of how hard scientists view people doing empirical research in the soft sciences.
Brennan’s entire self-identity is wrapped up in being a “hard scientist.” And for someone like that, acknowledging that a science like psychiatry is an equal, by definition, diminishes the value of the work they do. And that is ingrained in you from day one of grad school.
Lately she has, yes. She’s always been hyper-rational which leads to her bluntness, but this time around it seemed so much more harsh. I hope that changes. I hate it when characters I am fond of come off in such an unflattering light. But, real people aren’t always consistent either and we all have our bad moments, so, I guess this adds a dimension of realism, perhaps…. Let’s just hope this was the last time she’s unnecessarily nasty (the writers will be making a very dangerous move if they keep portraying her that way – no one wants a character they don’t like to be happy).
When the Asylum doctor pulled her aside I said “I hope he yells at her.” What he did was much better but it’s always irritating when she picks on sweets, it’s super irritation when she’s disrespectful to a stranger who’s trying to help. Good for the writers
The crime itself was a great idea. I mean, horns and a tail? I’ve never seen that on television before, but the rest of the episode was very clumsily written, especially the resolution: why would the “sane” brother symbolically burn his brother’s body on an altar? And I agree, Mandi – wouldn’t someone have noticed him carrying a corpse with horns into a church, dousing it in oil and setting it on fire?
I also felt like Bones and Booth were very much in the background, with the exception of their final scene in the dinner which was beautifully executed (thank you Ms. Deschanel & Mr. Boreanaz). Also, since this is the last episode that audiences get until April 1, I was hoping we would get more “aw”-worthy action b/t Booth and Brennan to tide us over until the next episode, but we received no such gift.
I hated Brennan’s behavior, it was ugly and narrowed minded, as were Cams’s and Hodgins to Astaroo. They were quite shameful. Very poor episode.
Why is Brennan narrowed minded? Because she doesn’t believe in Gos or has doubts about psychology?? Please…
It’s not that she doesn’t believe in God, or that she feels that psychology is not a hard science. It’s that she’s demeaning to other people who don’t share her views, especially in this episode. Booth doesn’t look down on her for being an atheist. Why should she not extend him the same courtesy for being Catholic. The same with Sweets and psychology. Also it bothered me that she wanted to “correct” the patient’s view about the non-existence of angels. Even if she were able to do it politely, the girl had a tenuous hold on reality to begin with, so telling her that her created reality is not the same as the one in which we live would seem a fairly obvious non-starter of a logical argument. But Brennan apparently can’t even get over her militant atheism for that.
Brennan driving when she never does just made the Toyota commercial that was the beginning of the episode even more blatant and annoying.
The car was product placement, and Emily pushing her beliefs on the environment, as it is the same type of car that she drives. Why else do you think Brennan was driving? She never does.
the toyota commercial aspects (repeated) of the episode were jarring… let’s pan up from the front logo emblem MORE THAN ONCE.
And mention the helful voice command gps. So blantant, it made me not want to buy one.
whoops, helpful, not helful (ha, that was an appropriate slip for this episode)
Episodes like this remind me why I just tolerate this show. I watch out of habit and my love for David, who was hardly in the epi. Not fun.
I completely agree…I love the cast, but at this point I don’t like the way the show is written. I usually enjoy the Booth/Brennan interactions, but thats usually 5 mins out of an hour. I too watch out of habit rather than love.
Just when I was warming to Brennan and thinking she was warming up as a human being, I get reminded how much I want to smack her snotty, up her self head. She was appalling and her apology was lame.
She was honest and brilliant (as opposed to snotty!) as she usually is. And she recognized that the doctor was doing a very good job. How on Earth is that appalling???
I agree Emma, she was pretty much true to the the character we have always seen. She bluntly speaks her mind and continues to see things in a intellectual, clinical manner. When she is challenged, she does often stop and listen, and learn. Her character has evolved over the years, slowly and naturally.
I enjoy the characters and writing on this show very much, so I try not to over-analyze small details. I’m still very entertained, and I can ignore product placement very easily…I’m good.
Brennan was snotty. And what makes it worse it was 5 year ago Brennan snotty. What a let down.
This episode was DULL! Capital D-U-L-L
This season of Bones reminds me of the old joke: “The food here is so bad. Yes, and such small portions.”
When the episode ended, all I thought was, ‘that was it? That’s all?’ I love Bones, but this season is trying my patience. This could have been a haunting, gripping ep that stays in your mind forever. I had high hopes when I saw Josh Malina’s name–he’s so good. But the writing was lazy! Lazy writing this entire season! Fill in the gaps! Go the extra mile and dig deeper into the characters and plot!
And don’t get me started on the characters. If I started watching this season, I would not like Brennen or Booth. Why would anyone like these people? Where’s Booth’s charm? Did the brain tumor wipe that out too? And for such an intelligent woman, Brennen never seems to learn. Yeah, she took a big step forward this week, but if the next eps are anything like the rest of the season, she’ll forget. She’s coming off like a pompus boob. Where’s the intelligence? Where’s the ability to learn and retain information like a three year old, not even like a genius?
Sorry, just so frustrated this year. Believe it or not, I’m a huge fan. And, despite all these issues, I wanted to scream when I read it won’t be back until April. April!! And such small portions!
Grear comments; nice tie in with the lead off joke. Re: not returning until April: Shows are going on more and more and longer and longer hiatuses Annoying!
I agree. I think the show does a pretty good job with the interaction between Booth and Bones. However, they only give morsels of that every few episodes.
The comments about Bones are spot on. After 5 seasons, surely Bones doesn’t still act rude towards people. It comes off like lazy writing…a real human learns over time. Where is the character development?
I was really pleased with the season premiere, but ever since, I’ve been more and more frustrated with this show.
Unlike you though, nointrospec, I’m on the fence with this show. I’ve watched since the end of season 1, so I’ve invested alot of time, but the payoff isn’t really there anymore. : (
I was all prepared after last night to rant about how annoyingly judgmental Brennan was about anyone whose beliefs clashed with hers, esp. concerning religion and psychology, but…I think you and Dr. Copeland pretty much covered it. You basically took the words I had for Cam right out of my mouth, too, so I’ll just go with:
Ditto
Dr. Brennan is a boor. In real life, such a person would be shunned and have no friends. I’m not sure why anyone likes her. I guess the writers try to counterbalance her rudeness with vulnerability, but I just find her boorish.
While this was the first time Brennan got her comeuppance about psychology, it’s not the first time she got schooled on her know-it-all attitude. One of the previous episodes had her interact with a chiropractor and she said something about him not being a true medical doctor. The character replied that she wasn’t either. The smug look on Booth’s face in that scene was PRICELESS!!
Wait, so you’re saying that the one person who visited the victim on the day of his death did it? Look, I get that the Bones/Booth chemistry is the heart of this show, but c’mon now – that’s just lazy writing.
OMG, thank you so much for telling us where we’ve seen the “Angel” girl! I’m not nearly as good at that game as I used to be.
I’ve always found it odd that Brennan, an anthropoligist, is so intolerant of other cultures. I only watch this show for the supporting cast and David Boreanaz. Brennan is rude, condescending and really not as great as she thinks she is. It’s almost like the writers want us to hate her–it’s working.
Wow so many people who view this show seem to really hate Brennan. While I love the entire cast, I love her character the most and love watching the growth she has shown over the seasons. I do not find her witchy at all, her character is just extremely rationale but also very caring and generous as we have seen in many many episodes.
Absolutely. She is just honest and rational, but can recognize when somebody else is right.
I think she has grown considerably, as well. I love her honesty and readiness to state her opinions. They may not always be right or something that the listener wants to hear, but she isn’t stating them to be nasty. I also relate to her more than any other character on the show, esp. when it comes to making decisions. I cannot stand people who rely on “how they feel” to make a choice – use the brain that sits in between your ears; it is there for a reason! In that way, I fully agree with Dr. B.
THANK YOU, Dana! She’s my favorite as well. I do not understand all the criticism. And what? After 5 seasons she’s supposed to be a completely different character and never say anything she shouldn’t and change her entire belief system and interpersonal behavior? Please! She’s much better now, and rightfully so, but she’ll always be Brennan. And I’m glad of that. None of the others have every been perfect themselves–including Booth. And our own friends and family (and we ourselves) are terribly flawed, but we put up with them because the people are wonderful in spite of them. And we are all, it sees, programmed to overlook or put up with certain flaws and not others. We may not like some people we come across, but someone else will. And she respects other cultures and religions–which she has shown on numerous occasions throughout the past five years–but she’s not about to follow them, or hold back her own opinion when she likely finds it just as important to convince them that science and reason are god as they find it important to convince her that God is God.
thank you! i was wondering where the hell i was? for a mn there ..ok i’ve finally caught up to this season of bones, a friend lend me season 1-3 then 2 months ago i saw season 4-5 so far online ,i love this show, i love booth&bones interaction/chemistry but mostly i love dr temperance brennan, what a breath of fresh air she is, i have a great affinity with her ,her beliefs and thoughts,and no i’m no scientist! for sure i cringed when she says some stuff about& to people but she’s usually right its just her delivery, and that’s were booth comes in ,he completes her, smooths the edges of her roughness,and having seeing her evolution over 5yrs under 6months viewing, i think she’s made great stride into becoming a better person, but hey she’s a tough shell to crack but no one is more patient than saint-booth,and as a character i hope they don’t ever soften her up too much or she’d loose what makes her HER! why booth loves her in spite of herself, i love best when brit psychiatrist guy is on ,he gets the mechanism of b&b to a T!!, love the episode alternate dream while in coma,and i’m still pissed at how they broke up angela&hodgens after all that happened! grrr..anyways sorry for being all over the place but this is my first comment on bones anywhere on the web! lol, anyone know of a great fan forum site where discussions on episodes and characters is really good so i can catch up on others opinion! thank u! i heart brennan give her a chance she’ll get there!
I would think it is quite the opposite actually. While Brennan may voice her opinions of various things such as religion and psychology, she is very tolerant of other cultures. In many episodes she has been the one to speak to the family mourning the loss of a loved one to tell them that she knows their culture requires the entire body for burial and that she would do her best to get all body parts back to the family. Such as in the episode where the victim had been blown up.
I feel the same.
She is very tolerant of anyone that can explain their beliefs. Blind devotion, not so much. I don’t find her blunt opinions horrid because she is not trying to be mean and intent is everything. I think she understands that she might be taken as cruel or mean, but since that isn’t her intention, doens’t let that stop her from speaking her mind. I suspect her psychology hangup has more to do with her own psychological issues than psychology itself.
Thank you Mandy for saying exactly what a stuck up, cruel hearted person Brennan was in the latest epi. She deserved getting told off. I have never disliked a main character so much.
If Hart Hanson wants me to hate Brennan and want to give her a good slap. Then well done he succeeded. And where the flip was my Booth? I miss that man.
Brennan’s attitude is getting old. Rude doesn’t even cover it. Getting her faced reddened pleased me.
Also, I think the Bones writers are the WORST at incorporating product placement into their show. If I had bought that “adspace” I would be pissed. “Look Booth! I can just say “Lab” and it will call the lab for me and I don’t have to take my eyes off the road!” But since I am just a viewer, I find it only slightly annoying.
But still totally obvious.
Sometimes they are required to use certain phrases or words, so it’s possible it isn’t the fault of the writers.
I had never watched “BONES” until late 2009. Now I cannot get enough of it. I watch all the reruns on A&E and on WGN. Last nights episode was great. I love that Brennan is so one sided in her thinking. I think that is what makes the show. I do not think she is witchy at all. She is good and she knows it, but she is willing to listen to other views even if she doesn’t agree. Booth is a great counterpart to her. He is always telling her was is appropriate or not when dealing with sensitive subjects. The hour this show airs, flies by too fast.
I know BONES is on WGN sometimes. I know it is on TNT a lot. I like the reruns, which I usually watch on TNT. I have never seen BONES advertised on A&E. What time of the day or night is it on A&E?
I have been waiting for someone to put Brennan in her place about her belittling of psychology but IMO it should have been Sweets to do it. Sweets standing up and defending his life’s work to Booth and Brennan would have been a great scene to see.
Brennan doesn’t respect Sweets for a number of reasons- he’s too young, his profession is a fake and on and on. She would have had just some glib comment if he tried to do that. However, seeing Malina’s character in action with a patient she had a connection with was something she could realize right there (visual learner)and thus I think broke though her “snob” layer.
Brennen has reluctantly admitted that Sweets has helped them on more than one occasion. The dynamic between them is set, and I think he realizes the banter has become more affectionate than insulting.