Bones and Booth begin season 5

Bones is back, baby, and for those of you who feared Booth would come back with really bad amnesia, never fear, he's fine. At least, he's mostly fine. He remembers who he is and who Bones is, he just had a bit of confusion between the world he knew in his coma, where he and Brennan were married, and this world.

The premiere followed the pattern that became the norm in the second half of the 4th season. The murder is almost incidental. It happens, and it must be solved, because that is what Booth and Brennan do, but if that's why you watch the show, you're going to be disappointed. The most interesting part of the case is that, unable to prove the murderer actually committed the murders, they get him on charges of Fraud. Nice to know we learned something from Elliot Ness and Al Capone.

While this murder was getting solved, our real plot developed. Booth admits to Cam that he is in love with Bones; he discovered this when he awoke from his coma. She warns him to make sure he's certain before he tells her, or else she'll never recover from the pain. He fails to take several opportunities to tell her, but when the psychic (who told them where the bodies were) informs him that Brennan is in trouble, he runs to her in a panic. Luckily, he arrived in time to save her, and she only suffered minor injuries.

Sweets, perceiving Booth's feelings, confronts him with a brain scan. Before the operation, he was not in love, but now he is. Booth dismisses this charts; he's never doubted himself and he knows how he feels. He's convinced he's fine and there are no strange remainders from the coma. And we know, of course, that he does love Brennan, that he always has, that they are perfect for each other. It's not Pandora's box, though it can never be closed, but it's door #3 when that's the door with the top prize behind it. OPEN IT!!

By the end of the episode, Booth has finally made up his mind to tell Brennan. We see a clown unloading his car as they walk down the street. Oh no, we think, Booth is going to go crazy and kill this clown. It's a given, since he hates them so much and the shot of the clown at the start sets it up so nicely. Inevitable, before Booth can declare his affection, the clown squirts him in the face with a waterflower. Brennan has our immediate reaction. Don't do that clown! Oh, don't kill him Seeley. But what happens? Seeley Booth laughs! Suddenly, it's obvious he is not fully recovered. Sure, he could forget about his goofy socks and ties, but hating clowns? He shot one three times not so long ago (don't worry, it was a statue, not a person).

So Booth is not recovered, but feeling love from Brennan, and he just has to wait to see if that changes. Please, now that he's realized that's a possible feeling to have, he's never going to give it up.

Bones is setting us up for another season of drama and heartache, but I can't help but hope that there's a little more focus on the murders they are trying to solve. The love story should be the subplot and through line of the series, the crime fighting important and not simply a vehicle for storytelling. Still, overall, you just can't stop watching...it's far too good.