Bones is perfect...and why it can't be duplicated!

Hear that ABC! *cough, Castle, cough* Fox treats this show like the Dursley's treated Harry... back under the stairs, Bones! No one must be given the chance to love you more than our beautiful biological child (AI) so we will pre-empt you every two weeks. Refuse to promote your best episodes and generally treat you like rubbish. But by God, you still perform...

"The Passenger in the Oven" YUMMY!

Episode 4 x 10 of Bones: "The Passenger in the Oven"
Bottom line: 3 steamboats out of a possible 5.

Bare bones (sorry!): Some really cute moments...but will NEVER eat on an airplane again! Quite possibly will never use a microwave. Or eat meat. Or talk about meat. Or think about meat. I liked this episode a lot but compared to last week it just didn't have as much "meat" to it. Um, yeah.

THE BODY
Grossness factor: I'd give it a 10. If my above meat comments didn't alert one to the grossness of the body, let me reiterate: seeing this body will RUIN Thanksgiving dinner for you. Unless you eat tacos for Thanksgiving. Fish tacos.

THE CASE
Liked the case much better this week than last. Victim is a travel writer who is having an affair with a husband whose wife is dying of a terminal illness. Said mistress proceeds to follow them on the wife's dream pre-death vacation. Quality individuals, (the philanderers) obviously! Travel chick ends up well-done in an industrial microwave. The cheating husband not that torn up about the state of his mistress. I was wishing the microwave could have held an extra 180 lbs of meat. And felt pretty much as callous about the woman's death as Brennan and Booth did in the end. Also, I'm a vegetarian now. Can't really harp on that fact enough! The murderer was kind of obvious to me when the son of the philanderer and the dying Mom was stone cold drunk and yelling, "I've got your back Mom." But B/B went through their usual list of possibly suspects. Is it the pilot? The writer was writing a piece involving him. Possibly the cheating husband? Or the hunter on board whose band aid was found? (Kudos to Angela and Hodge for identifying finger injury and size from a picture of a bandage.) Maybe the stewardess who had a racket going with her boyfriend to steal credit card numbers? Nope it's gotta be the drunk teen who's going off on the FBI agent. The coolness factor of the case involved the time limit of solving the case prior to landing in China so Booth didn't lose jurisdiction. This required patching together an autopsy using available equipment from the cabin: denture cream, knitting needle (what kind of metal detector do they have in DC that allows that??), cigarette lighter, granny glasses, etc. The tertiary characters, especially Booth's seatmates who were murder-mystery fans, were lots of fun.

SQUINTS
Caroline (calling her an honorary squint now!) and Sweets were nice additions to the standard squints. Caroline will always have my heart after her Puck-work in Santa in the Slush. And I love Sweets. He is the greatest 'shipper of all time! Their unlikely pairing did the interrogation work this epi. Sweets actually gets the credit for deducing the affair angle from the boss of the well-done travel writer. Booth indicates his thanks to Sweets via an offering of a drink:

Booth: I owe you a beer with a Rye chaser.

Sweets: Sounds like it would make me sick.

Liked the Squints leaving early because "the cat was away" and Cam insisting that she was the cat, not Brennan. Hodgins and Angela were working well together again despite Hodge feeling a bit jealous of Angie's new relationship with Roxie. Speaking of said relationship Angie asked Roxie to move in with her, a huge move for Angela, but Roxie refuses wanting to just let the relationship take them where it may.

Cute moments: Sweets asking the squint squad to join him in karaoke and them all making excuses to not join him. Was he NOT present at their last karaoke party? Brennan and Angela's convo via sat link. Brennan overheard Angie and Hodge's relationship talk but tuned it out in favor of their more-interesting-to-her band-aid talk. What is interesting to most...is not to Bren! Too funny! Why Angela continues to think Brennan could give her relationship advice is beyond me, but never ceases to be funny. Cam made only brief appearances since most of the action was outside the lab and she had no body to work with. She had some nice interactions with Booth and Bren via Sat link. Cam likes flesh, Brennan likes Bones. Well-established impasse. To serve her purposes Cam tells Bones to look at the flesh as a Bone wrapping. Morbid, but funny to think of skeleton being a present to Brennan and skin/fascia/muscle being the wrapping paper. Christmas takes on a new meaning!

BOOTH

He was much fluffier in this episode than last which was a good thing IMO because Booth's personality doesn't lend to dwelling in self-reflection or self-pity. Booth was all about getting into first class with his Brennan. His sneak-in attempt is caught the first time by the flight attendant and interrupted the second time by the murder. But what do you know? in the end he was actually allowed to stay there! If at first you don't succeed.... The division between Booth/Bren was accentuated: 1st class/coach; scientist/cop; iron gut using cooking equipment to separate soft tissue from bone/"most definitely not a squint." Brennan makes the comment that identification of ancient remains is her real passion, not murder solving. This upsets Booth for most of the episode with him coming back to her comments multiple times. More on this in the relationship section. The ever-adorable DB is wonderful with the murder-mystery ladies with whom he is sharing his row in coach. One, Brennan's biggest fan, offers him advice both on having his prostate checked AND on using her knitting needle as a probe. (For the body...not his prostate!) I loved the ending with Booth, Bren, and Cam convincing Caroline to risk an international incident by signing a warrant for the teens arrest at only the word of the two B's and a case with more holes than the reasoning why Booth was going with Bren to China in the first place. (To guard proprietary technology...um, so does every archaeological dig have it's own sexy FBI agent to guard proprietary technology? Actually, I'd say I have proprietary intelligence that should not be shared with foreign governing bodies. Do I need an FBI agent to shadow me?) Anyway, the "solve" was fun with Booth reading the kid his rights in the waning moments of the flight. LOVED DB's delivery of:

"Because this is the United States of America."

To which everyone applauded. Brennan began to bow thinking the applause was for her. Of course, it was for the pilot's skill in a smooth landing which was, in her opinion, not worthy of applause.

BRENNAN
Methinks the Bone lady is catching on to some things. Her people reading skills are improving. Slightly. First, she seems to register Booth's hurt at her words regarding her true passion. She gives him a light punch in the arm and a tease, "Does that make me an accomplice?" Booth: "An accomplice to an upgrade!" Twice in the episode she comments on other people's view of their relationship and seems to be wondering what she was missing that they were all seeing. In the highlight moment of the episode (more on this later!!!!) she was as clueless as we would expect our Tempe-girl to be, but she delivers it so charmingly that you can't help but be amused. The character growth, if there was any for Tempe, occurred with Booth nicely maneuvering her into realizing that it was her choice to leave the lab, not his. It seems a bit strange that she would want to go back to the strictly clinical/educational setting all of a sudden when generally she is clamouring for more action.

2 MINUTE Drill/Booth and Bren Progress

As alluded to previously, I truly think Brennan is coming to a new understanding of her relationship with Booth. Since it's not something she can quantify she generally doesn't delve into relationship dynamics at all especially her own but she wonders in this episode: "Why does everyone always think we are having a sexual relationship? We rarely even touch." Perfect Brennan-ese! As though sexual tension is signified by a certain number of touches or something she can measure. The murderous, drunk teen!! is there to witness the "two minute drill" at the episode's end and acts as Greek Chorus to ask why Booth and Brennan don't just make out already in response to observing a famous smouldering "look" between them. Brennan responds questioningly, "Why do people always think we are going to make out?" LOL! Progress is seen here in both of their responses to other's perceptions of their relationship. In the past, both parties were quick to dismiss any romantic connection. "It was like kissing my brother." "NO! he/she's JUST my partner." Etc, etc. This time neither felt the need to qualify. This tells us that the idea is not quite so difficult to imagine for either of them any longer. The highlight moment of the episode for me (shown above this post in the video) was as follows:

Booth walks in to see Bren in her granny glasses.

Booth: OK, what I want you to do is take off the glasses, shake out your hair (demonstrates) and say, 'Mr. Booth, do you know what the penalty is for an overdue book?

Brennan is clueless to what he is alluding, per usual, and the moment is soon lost. But telling all the same. Booth has NEVER outwardly came on to Bones in this regard. He was lustful, openly lustful in a playful way, and too lost in the moment of his Brennan/naughty librarian fantasy to realize what he was saying, to whom he was saying it, and the fact that there was a well-done travel writer a few feet to his left. 'Twas a great moment that will go down as one of my favorites of their relationship. When Booth leaves the room, Brennan does just what he he'd asked-- taking her glasses off and shaking her hair out in attempt to figure out just what Booth had meant. Alas, she remains lost. Would have LOVED for Angie or Sweets to witness this scene on the Sat-link and to have smiled one of their BB-shipper smiles in response. I am still a bit undecided as to Booth's enlightenment with regard to his feelings for Brennan. At times he seems very aware of how he feels but unable/unwilling to address it. Other times he seems as blissfully unaware as Brennan is. The typical Booth reaction was missing in the episode at the moment when Brennan wondered why everyone thinks they have a sexual relationship when they rarely touch. Usually he would give Brennan a look that indicates he knows something she doesn't and would quickly change the subject not wanting to press the issue. This time he simply glossed over it with no "look." At the end of the episode, in response to the question of them making out, yet again he didn't really give an indication one way or the other of his understanding. We would have to guess that being the humanist that he is portrayed as being, he would be well aware that people are thinking they want to make out because this is exactly what he is wanting to do! It's something I love from the show and did miss...Booth cutting his eyes at her to see if maybe, maybe just this once, she gets it. Sigh. But that's OK, maybe next time! I LOVED how Booth handled Brennan to make her see that being with him, solving murders, was what she'd wanted. When she comes to this realization finally, he really did look like he wanted to kiss her! Or at least for her to put her granny glasses back on!! I'm not sure that I'd say they got closer to a romantic relationship in this episode, as the ending of "Con Man" felt more intimate to me, but they continue to show how perfectly in sync they are despite their many, many differences in nature. In the end, 1st class still didn't fit Booth with his chair refusing to recline as far as Brennan's did. Bren suggested that it was because he belonged in Coach, which may well be true, but it seems he will go anywhere--from a lecture at Oxford, to a archaeological dig in China, to a pottery class studio-- if Brennan is there. He is actualized enough to realize at least the basis of his relationship with Brennan. Just as he told the Flight Attendant: they like being together. For now, that's enough!

"The Con Man in the Meth Lab" rehashed

One of these two "Booths" is a whiny, alcoholic, slimeball who needs a punch in the face.

*hint: he is NOT wearing a "cocky" belt buckle.

Episode 4 x 9 of Bones: "The Con Man in the Meth Lab"

Bottom line: 4 steamboats out of a possible 5.

Booth: Earns 5 out of 5!

This is my favorite episode of season 4 thus far.

THE BODY

Grossness factor: I'd give it a 7. (Don't take a bite of fried chicken prior to the body being shown.) The body is not as clean and fleshless as I generally like. You know, if I could say I have a preference with how my decomposing humans look.

THE CASE

Not as riveting of a case as usual with a pretty quick solve. This was to make room for the massive amount of character development that took precedence in the episode. It reminded me a bit of Santa in the Slush in that regard since all I really remember about the Santa case was that B/B had to sniff a whole bunch of Santa Claus posteriors to find the right (or wrong) Kris Kringle. In both episodes the case was almost a distractor in trying to get to more of what was going on between Booth, Booth's brother Jerod, and Brennan. Booth gives little bro the intro to Bones and his squints. Cam refers to Jerod as Jarhead. I've decided a much better name for him is "Jerkhead." Henceforth, that is what I will call him! There were actually two cases presented. One that Booth had been working on behind the scenes referred to as the "Rico Case" in which at it's culmination he was fairly certain his face would be minted on a coin. (I'm thinking he'd look good on a Nickel. JMHO!) The other was the case and involved a body being accidentally blown up by the local police in a training exercise extolling the dangers of shooting tear gas into Meth Labs. It turned out to be a bad cop who killed the dead guy he was conspiring with for his take. Or it might have been a fake cop who killed him for an invention. Yeah, I paid MEGA attention to all of this as you can tell. Seriously, it doesn't really matter because I swear the CASE was not where the action was occurring.

SQUINTS

In the world of revolving Zacks, I'm loving the one named Clark. Remember, he was the one who indicated he was mature enough to be Max Brennan's scientist because he'd "been with a woman." I mean, I am loyal to and love Zack as much as anyone, but Clark and his wont to avoid all things personal at work was a really nice quirk. He views the Jeffersonian as though he has stepped into the set of a soap opera. Everywhere he turns there is personal drama and all Clark wants to do is work. He even wore a special "no personal drama" tie to prove it. For some reason I could see Clark and Booth getting along like peas-n-carrots since he's generally not so big on the personal drama either. Although Booth did happily pass on the new development in Angela's love life to Clark. What man can resist talking about gorgeous girl-on-girl action? Obviously not even Booth can! I loved the moment that Hodgins pulled Clark in on a very Hodgins/Zack-esque experiment. Clark seemed embarrassed that he was momentarily distracted from his professionalism when Brennan caught him and I thought...wow, we may have found our new Zack! Angela was pretty limited in this episode but delivered the line of the night IMO telling Brennan [para] that "having sex with Jerod would be a creepy way of sleeping with a Booth without it being the real one."

Bren: "He's a real Booth."

Ange: "He's Booth-lite."

Sweets and Cam were the best little B/B shippers eva! taking the place that is usually held nicely by Angela. Cam was, for 80% of the episode, the only friend Booth had. She filled in a typically clueless Brennan on what was really going on inside her partner's head. I am now hard-pressed to remember a time when I used to dislike her. Sweets and Camille held an intervention with Brennan to help her give up her short-lived Jerkhead addiction and in doing so gave Brennan some insight into Booth's formative years. You know, Sweets generally knows what he's talking about. He has the psyches of Booth and Bren nailed most of the time. More peeps should listen to him since he is ALWAYS right. Except that time when he thought Hodgins was Gormagon. Yeah, nevermind, Sweets is an idiot.

BOOTH

This was probably my favorite episode for the development of his character. David B. did an exceptional acting job here in displaying the mixture of charm, restraint, integrity and a pinch of simmering anger that is Seely Booth. God, you really felt for Booth in a way that has not ever happened, at least for me, on the show. We got a glimpse of the make-up of SA Booth...finally! Apparently, strong-and-silent Seely grew up in an abusive household. His father was physically abusive and an alcoholic--it was implied that Booth was abused but not Jerod. Booth has been protecting his younger brother for most of his life, stepping in to deflect blame from young Jerkhead and never allowing him to reap the consequences of his misactions. This trait was exploited in what transpired with the Rico case. Booth had been working with the police force and was sure to receive some recognition, maybe a promotion, and was planning a trip to Hawaii to celebrate. All this fell by the wayside when Jerkhead was stopped while driving under the influence. (Had he just dropped Brennan off when he was stopped? If so then bad, bad Bren for letting an inebriated Jerkhead drive!!) Seely has to trade in his recognition and a little of his integrity to get Jerkhead out of his scrape with the law. Bye, bye Hawaii! Cam immediately gets the connection and confronts Booth, but he shuts her down thisquick. Cam reflects that the last time she discussed Jerkhead with Booth she lost speaking-to-Booth privileges for 6 mos. Subject dropped quickly. Can ya blame her? Booth's day goes from worse to worser! when suspect after suspect proves to be the wrong call, Bones is out all night with Jerkface, his cred is stripped for his case, Bren calls him a loser (more about that later!), and did I mention it was his birthday??? Awww, poor Booth.

BRENNAN

I have never been angry at Tempe. Never! Not one time. Until tonight. I was ready for Cam to bitch-slap her, or maybe for Sweets to talk her to death, or even, you know, for Booth to just shoot her. She begins the episode by hitting on Jerkhead blatantly in Booth's presence. Booth likes it not. In her nerdy scientist-y way of hitting on guys she comes at lil' Booth hardcore. And he IS kind of cute in an "I'll likely sleep with your roommate when you leave for work" kind-of-way, but really when Seely Booth is standing next to Lil' Jerkhead Booth there is just no way you make any comments about facial symmetry or the such. I mean, there's just no contest. But I digress, so Bren gets herself a date with J-Rod and proceeds to watch him schmooze a bunch of military brass. And then try to schmooze her. He gives her his $0.02 on big brother and implies that he is the success of the family because Booth refuses to take chances and always sabotages himself. He proves this by kissing Brennan who seems to like it but not in a "gum-trading, 5 steamboat" kind-of-way. She does tell her Cam/Sweet interventionists that she likes Jerkhead and even refutes their assertions that J-Rod is to blame for Booth losing credit in the case. You know, because she's known Jerkhead for all of 12 hours while she's seen Booth take a bullet for her, work tirelessly to save her life multiple times, brilliantly give of himself to comfort victims, confront bad guys, etc, etc... So why would she possibly take Booth's side? She has no facts, she says. The worst moment of the day for both Bones and Booth came when she was questioning Booth as to why he didn't receive the recognition for the Rico case. She repeats Jerkface's words that imply Booth is a no-account loser. Not caring what Jerkface said, but caring VERY MUCH what Bones thought, Booth asks, "Do you think I'm a loser?" She tells him he shouldn't be sad that his place in the tribal male hierarchy is so far below his brother's. Basically, "Yep, I suddenly find you to be a big fat loser!" Booth is very, very hurt. And angry. But being Booth, he doesn't clarify with her what he has sacrificed for Jerkface. He doesn't want to have to ask for her respect. After 3 years one would think he has earned it. One would think wrong. At least temporarily. Brennan meets with Jerkhead following her CamSweet intervention and asks if he had anything to do with sabotaging Booth's case. His guilty expression is such that even Bones gets it. She is pissed at him for misusing Booth and at herself for believing Jerkhead--so much so that she knocks him out of his chair and says that HE is the loser, not his gorgeous brother. And THUS my Brennan is back! Loves her! Unsure how to broach the subject and make amends with Booth they proceed to solve their case about the money, the inventions, the fake cop with Bones actually getting shot in the arm in the process...which was treated to only about 10 seconds of importance and with Booth once again displaying his perfect aim in taking out the perp through the dividing grill of a police cruiser. Wait, how did he did a real police cruiser? OK maybe he was a real cop. Oh well, unimportant! :)

The RESOLUTION

The Jeffersionians convene to a Booth Birthday Bash in the Bar, and Brennan, who is widely renown for her speech-making!, does the honors in the toast. Booth sits nearby still stewing in his misery. Bren lectures that generally the Alpha-male of the tribe is the one who is the flashiest and draws the most attention to themselves, but she thinks that Anthropology may be wrong on this one. (This is HUGE for her to say! WOW! Booth has won out over Science for her!) She's seen enough of Booth to realize that the TRUE alpha male is the one who is quiet, solid, stands up for their family and friends, and is sexy as hell. (She actually didn't say that last one.) She will never be swayed by those flashy-type alpha males again. (SHE MEANS YOU JERKHEAD!!!) "Thanks Bones," Booth says with a sad little smile. Nice moment. But now's the time for Booth's Bones intervention. She pulls him aside and even though I KNEW what was to follow--a coming-to-Jesus talk regarding Jerkhead--I still had a hope that maybe she was going to give Booth-superior the birthday kiss he so deserved. Sigh. She tells him he's got to stop enabling Jerod. Booth bristles and starts to instinctually push her away. But she threatens to get Sweets to give the talk in her place. He relents and listens defensively pointing out that she'd acted similarly when she had Max acquitted knowing he was guilty. They commiserate for a moment in their shared realization. Booth is emboldened by Bones' words and decides to confront lil' bro. He asks Jerod to stop drinking and tells him that he is done protecting him. He needs to grow up now. Not surprisingly Jerkhead is unreceptive "I carry my own water" (Really? When?) and blows Booth off to get more of his drink on. Booth, defeated, sits down on the nearby park bench in preparation for Brennan to come and deliver their patented end-of-episode...

2 MINUTE HEART-to-HEART

This 2 min H2H was not quite 2 mins but was a powerful one all the same. Up to this point Booth has divulged next to nothing about his family, his childhood, or anything else to Bren, an by proxy to we the viewers. As she approaches him he is emotional and doesn't want to talk. "I need some time" he says thickly. "Do you time and space?" she asks. And he gives her the sweetest smile, "Just time." He indicates he wants her there and she sits beside him. She's brought him a piece of his birthday cake with 2 forks. As they share the cake he gives her a gift...a piece of himself. "My dad drank," he confides. And thus the doors to his heart are swung wide open. Well, at least they are cracked a bit!

Booth/Bren Progress

MAJOR! Progress in the relationship front. Not really any sexual tension in this episode between the two but there was a strengthening of the emotional bond. The sneak peeks for this week had implied a WHOLE different story than appeared on screen. Maybe even a Brennan/Jerod hook-up. Thank GOD that did not happen! Booth opening up to Brennan was just fabulous. It's truly amazing that we are into season 4 and just now making a dent in the Booth facade. Booth's reticence to talk about himself in any sort of a personal way has been a stumbling block for them. I truly think Booth is already at a point where he realizes he has feelings for Bren and is trying desperately to hide them from her since he knows that "you can't rush her." Booth couldn't help saying impulsively "No" twice to the idea of Jerkhead taking Bones to the Ball. Brennan, on the other hand, really came to an appreciation of Booth. Her speech about Booth being the invisible man who would now forever hold her attention was basically a proposal of marraige from Brennan. She just doesn't realize it yet, nor does Booth. Okay, maybe proposal is a bit of a stretch. It WAS very telling that she was out on a date with Jerkhead and finding herself focusing on the elder Booth. "I was just thinking how bored Booth would be here." She found out in short order who the REAL Booth was and who was Booth-lite. I believe her when she says she will never question that, or him, again.

What Went Wrong?

Nothing really, in my opinion. The only change I'd have made is I do love when Booth sees Bren looking fabulous. They are corny moments, yes, but a desired fixture on the show. (See Bren in Vegas hooker outfit, see Bren in Wonder Woman costume, etc) She was really lovely in heading to the Ball and it was wasted solely on Jerkhead. But in retrospect Booth was probably low enough as it was without seeing her leave looking like that with his Jerkhead brother. So no real complaints from me in this episode. The case may have fell a little flat but that turned out to be for the best since characterizations took the front seat here. Fabulous episode as a whole.

My new obsession...

You really like us...

It may be because Lost is off the air for so damn long. It may be because I have so much paperwork to do and I'm always looking for a new reason to procrastinate. Or it may be because God was smiling down on me that day. For whatever reason I decided to buy Season 1 of "Bones" on Fox without having ever watched so much as one episode. Without being a fan of either of the lead actors. I mean, I'd seen pictures of David Boreanaz from "Buffy" and "Angel" but never watched either of those shows. All I knew about David was that he was pretty easy on the eyes. As for Emily Deschanel, his female counterpart on Bones, I knew nothing of her. I liked her sister in "Elf" but that's pretty much the extent of my knowledge of the Deschanel family. So why did I decide to purchase a whole season of a TV show of which I had no connection at all? Well, it's because of my fellow Jack and Kate fans. So many online fans told me that if I liked Jack and Kate than I'd like Booth and Brennan from Bones so in a moment of impulsivity I caved. And what do you know? Jaters are always right! I don't just like Booth and Brennan... I adore Booth and Brennan. Bones has easily slipped into my favorite show on air right now passing Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, The Office, and 30 Rock. I'm not making any direct Lost comparisons until January when Lost returns but I'm a little worried that I may not be able to give Jack and Kate the true focus they deserve. I feel I'm cheating on my fave OTP just a bit with my, I'll call them, 1b favorite OTP. Nice thing about B/B is that they are a sure thing baby! They have angst of a different sort than Jate. While I'll call Jate angst that of a more epic variety the bantering angst between Booth and Brennan is no less enjoyable. Lost watching with it's vehement fandom battle between the Jaters and Skaters can really be a drag at times. Makes you wish they'd just kill off one of the characters in the triangle to put us all out of our misery. For example:

I love Lost but I HATE the Internet drama between Jack and Sawyer fans. It's silly. Yet, I feel compelled to fight the good fight. With Bones EVERYONE knows that Booth and Brennan are meant-to-be and the fun comes in watching them dance around one another. After purchasing and watching S1 Bones in ONE day no less. I immediately purchased S2, S3 and than watched S4 on-line in a period of about a week. I warn you it is addictive! Here's why:


1. Begins and ends with the insane chemistry between David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel. They absolutely sizzle on and off-screen. Interviews with the actors are always a treat because the flirt, flirt, flirt like crazy. In fact, the only way I'd be able to handle watching my Boyfriend or Husband connect like this with a female was if I was, I don't know, say a Playboy Playmate. (Thankfully that's just who David married!) Check out one of my favorite fan made vids of Dave and Em.

2. Bones is hilarious. Really, really wittily funny.
I want you to shake out your hair and say 'Mr. Booth, Do you know what the penalty is for overdue books?'

Why?

Nevermind!

I'd have a hard time categorizing it as a drama with the amount of comedy present. Boreanaz has a real gift with comedic timing bouncing wonderfully off Deschanel's "straight-guy." The writers of the show are simply brilliant. Maybe it's a dramedy with a procedural twist?

3. The supporting characters are really loveable. Zack is the straight man who completely gets Brennan since he's probably the only guy in the lab that can think at a speed anywhere near hers. Hodgins and Angela have a really nice chemistry that doesn't make me go "Aw, hell just get back to Booth and Brennan" as do non-OTP couples in other shows I watch. Cough, cough Alex and Izzie. Cam, while I should have hated her as much as I hated Ana Lucia and Juliet on Lost, is somehow likable. Maybe it's because the actress played Matthew Fox's girlfriend briefly on Party of Five, maybe it's because she's Walt's momma on Lost, or maybe it's because she is just a well-written character despite the fact she gets in Booth's pants for a coupla episodes. Speaking of that honestly, Booth really needs a hot date right about now. We've seen a lot of jealous Booth...I'm ready for some jealous Brennan that kicks some ass impulsively in a fit of envious rage. Oh, yeah, baby! Oops, tangent. Back to supporting characters. Really the only supp char I didn't like was the head of the Jeffersonian in S1. He was pompously unbelievable but thankfully he's on a very, very long sabbatical. New addition Sweets is really funny. I've mentioned him in regards to the couple's therapy with B/B but he's just all around fun to watch and is a total Booth and Brennan shipper just like Angela. I LOVE when supporting characters are openly shippers...it's just so perfect. (See Hurley and Charlie as Jaters extraordinaire)
4. Did I mention David Boreanaz? My sudden love of him has made me consider going back to watch Buffy or Angel, briefly, untill I remember it's about vampires and it's not Twilight. Then I decide I'll just rewatch a Bones episode.

5. Character driven. The backstories were not immediately spoon-fed to the audience. Instead, first our interest was peaked. We were made to care about these characters and then we were shown more. First of Brennan's family then of Booth's. I'm hearing we may learn more about the Squints *Booth's nickname for the lab folk* next. I love character-driven shows. Don't tell Mythology Shippers but....shhhhh, Lost is a character-driven show too!

6. Cool Cases. Touching cases. Scary cases. They have them all. I loved the Gravedigger episode en total (Two Aliens in a Spaceship.) My favorite Temperance Brennan episode was The Verdict in the Story. Santa in the Slush was a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e. from start to finish. Possibly my favorite first kiss ever on TV occured in this episode (shown below) and it wasn't even a "real kiss." The Gormagon episodes were pretty scary as was the Blair Witch Knockoff episode. How about Romance? You get that thrown in pretty much every episode! The most romantic in my opinion have been the end of Girl with a Curl (hmmm, somebody chose paperwork with their partner over wild sex with their girlfriend!!!) and this season's 6 episode which saw Booth tell Bren that she did have someone "out there" for her all the while looking meaningfully in her eyes and screaming subliminally "IT'S ME, BONES, IT'S ME!!"


7. One episode story arcs are my friends. I can't believe how much I've missed mysteries being resolved in short order. Lost has warped my TV sensibilities because at first when watching Bones I found myself thinking at the end of the episode that "no way is this that easily solved" and expecting the murderer to turn out to be the victim, or for one of the cops to be evil, or for someone to unexpectedly die, or be reincarnated!... only to find that this case was over and a new one was to begin in the next episode. I found this very, very refreshing. Lost watching is fabulous but exhausting. I have to take notes while watching Lost. With Bones I can just enjoy. I had forgotten what that was like!
8. Tempe Brennan. Is she clueless about all things pop culture? Absolutely! Yet she is brilliant and capable and absolutely gorgeous. Emily Deschanel's eyes are just mesmerizing. The pop culture flubs make Tempe human--otherwise she'd come off as just too perfect and cold. As the series has progressed she has been humanized likely by association with Booth. He wants her to feel for others and is critical of her dispassion in the beginning but once he realizes where she's coming from he sees that she is not cold at all. Emily delivers Bones' naivety in such a way that it is always funny and very endearing. With Booth in the beginning he would make fun of her faux pas and was incredulous that she was just so oblivious to all things current but now he corrects her kindly with a slight smile and jumps all over anyone who dares criticize her in his presence. Just a really fun dynamic.



9. Have I mentioned David Boreanaz?

10. Booth and Brennan two minute drill. Generally to end every episode we get an "extended moment" between the two. Just like the 2 minute drill in football when everything is perfectly executed to bring the "win" to the team possessing the ball, in Bones Booth and Brennan's two minute drill is generally my favorite moment of every show. The show runners know just what we want to see. We want to see how the events of the episode affected our OTP. Voila! The 2 minute drill! Their interaction has grown more and more enjoyable as the series has gone. Their bantering has remained a constant but now it seems as if they both are charged by it. They are SO insanely compatible that they can practically read one another's mind and yet on the surface they could not be more different. The 2 minute drill ALWAYS serves to bring them back to common ground regardless of where they've been. It's the moment they comfort one another, or laugh together, or smoulder together, etc...

11. Have I mentioned...um, you know who?

12. The witty repartee. (A work in progress!)