Bones – The strength in the ensemble

In the “profession” of blogging about television, there are a few things you almost never get to do; and one of those things is that you never get to say you’re right. Every time you write, you write out this opinion, and you think it’s really solid, and you check all your facts and feel really good, but you never get to really prove your point. And then there’s the suckiness, which is when people get mad at you for your point.

Like, last week, right? Last week I said I was sorry, but Hannah kind of sucks. And hoo boy, did I get yelled at. I was a terrible person!  I hated French Canadians! (For the record, this was a pretty funny accusation. I actually have a deeply-seated adoration for all stripes of Canadian accents. I watched curling last Olympics just to hear Canadian accents.) I’m a rabid Booth/Brennan shipper who hates anyone who comes between them! I am everything that is wrong with the fans of this show!

Now, criticism is part of what happens when you put your opinion out there, so for the record, I don’t care about that. If I did care about that, I would have quit CliqueClack within the first week of joining. People are free to disagree with me. Here’s what I will say — it is so rare that, when you put out an opinion on a show, you neatly get handed proof that you were exactly right the very next week. So I’m going to revel in this for a second. In the words of Liz Lemon, my personal hero, I would like to say the following to everyone who yelled at me:

Suck it, nerds!

This episode was totally awesome. It was awesome because it did what Bones is best at: it had heart. Now, you’ll notice that there was no Booth and Brennan stuff in regards to romance in this episode, and yet tonight’s episode still managed to be chock full of heart and soul. I won’t lie and say Booth and Brennan aren’t giant contributors to the emotional jaunt that Bones takes you on, which is what makes it different (and, I would argue, better) than any old procedural. But this episode, if it prove nothing else, proved a few things things. One, this season has been severely lacking in that warm and fuzzy spirit. It’s felt more uncomfortable and depressing. Which perhaps it should, as that is the state that Booth and Brennan’s relationship is in, but it’s not an enjoyable place for the viewer. And this problem is conflated a billionfold by Hannah’s presence. She’s like the physical representation of all the awkwardness and miserably repressed feelings and missed chances between those two. I’m not saying those two aren’t justified in having some trouble getting back into their old groove after so much time apart, but while they are what the show should be doing is focusing on the secondary characters, who are strong enough to make for a great show on their own.

Okay, so Sweets and Daisy kind of seemed gratuitous and depressing to me, but Sweets alone was magnificent. His romantic waffling and the glimpse into why he has such romantic notions (his troubled past as a foster kid) were fantastic. Hodgins and Angela are phenomenal as parents-to-be, and was I the only person who found it unspeakably romantic when Hodgins offered to name a pink slime after Angela?

And Cam. Oh, Cam. Enough cannot be said about the genius of Cam this episode, or, like, in general as a character. (I told you guys I’ve liked Booth’s girlfriends before!) Tamara Taylor‘s performance as an African-American woman profoundly affected by her family’s tragic past was perfect and moving without somehow turning scholcky. I think one of the things I appreciate most about Bones is that it doesn’t shy away from fumbling with tough issues like race or religion. The characters aren’t perfect and PC. Sympathetic people fumble and grapple with how best to be sensitive and caring and work it out by talking and caring about each other enough to correct when things go wrong, which is so much more productive and constructive than gingerly skirting big, harsh realities. The connection drawn between the slaves of the past and the young men who existed as nothing more than nameless cattle entertaining bored housewives was both creepy and thought-provoking. And I’m not one who is easily moved by this stuff. I grew up in a town that is beyond liberal and goes through what can only be described as white guilt pornography every year between Martin Luther King Day and Black History Month. And yet, despite spending my entire childhood inundated with emotional images of slavery to the point where I’ve become almost numb to it. And yet the ending of this episode still manged to be heartfelt, moving, and utterly new.

So you know what, hah! I was right! This show can be so much better than it is, and it can achieve that by getting rid of Hannah or at the very least, ignoring her existing. And the reason I say that is not because I hate anything standing in the way of Booth and Brennan together. I’m not saying that because I’m trying to be a bitch. I’m saying that because what I (and everyone else whose reviews I read, yeah, I wasn’t the only one who said this) love about Bones is the big, warm heart that keeps this show from being another forensic drama. So, nerds, as Liz Lemon would say once again, eat my poo.

I’ll accept your apologies in the form of comments. Or cupcakes.

Clacked by Julia Hass
on Nov 12, 2010 @ 13:30 EST5EDT