Bones - The Mastodon in the Room, S06E01

So, not only was the 7 month time jump practically superfluous, but everything has returned to how it was before. Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and Booth (David Boreanaz) still have the same tensions, although perhaps Booth is the one who feels more free in his committed relationship with a journalist while Bones is a little sadder about the development. Really, though, nothing has changed.

So here is my plan. I am not going to watch Bones again until Christmas. The hiatus and the fact that this episode wasn't completely awful have made the hatred I was feeling for it dissipate - I have removed it from the list of forever banned. But, I think that the best possibility for me to ever enjoy it again, as relationships between the characters will forever be more important than true forensics, is to only binge watch. So, when we reach the Christmas hiatus, if I have time, I will catch up on the entire first half of season 6 in about a day.

I am still too frustrated with the distractions of character interaction and dynamics. Sure, most of the characters got to remind us of their strengths as scientists (or whatever), which was nice, and Brennan has certainly recultivated her lack of ability of correctly interacting with others, while adding sweetness with statements such as when she compared Angela (Michaela Conlin) to her sister, or when she told Caroline (Patricia Belcher) "I find I would like to hug you." Those were improvements. But it's not enough.

So for those of you planning to watch, I hope you enjoy. I may or may nor join you again come Christmas.

Season's Review - Bones, Season 5

Welcome to the first posting in my Season's Review category. We've seen the season finales of all Fall/Winter season shows, and as we get into our Summer program, I want to take some time to think about the series we've been watching as a whole. Please let me know if you agree on my take, and if you have anything else you want to contribute.

First Season's Review - Bones, Season 5

As the saying goes, Bones has jumped the shark. It did so at the end of Season 3, when the story arc focusing on Gormagon ended. It wasn't because Zack (Eric Millegan) left, it wasn't because of the addition of Sweets (John Francis Daley) or the many interns, and it wasn't because the Gormagon plot line caused an end. It was because since the end of Season 3, there have been no real story arcs tying together the episodes and the seasons.

Since then, the focus has been on the characters. Will Bones (Emily Deschanel) and Booth (David Boreanaz) ever get together? What about Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) and Angela (Michaela Conlin)? In fact, the characters have been so much the focus that the individual episodes have suffered because not enough attention has been paid to the case, while too much was placed on some relationship dilemma.

In Season 5, it became clear that Bones had lost most of what made me watch it in the first place. The 100th episode, a gem amid the refuse of the rest of the season, only made the changes more obvious. We saw an analytical Bones, a surly Hodgins; we heard Booth call the team squints, and Zack claim that he didn't understand pop culture references. And the balance between the character development and the case gave those of us interested in solving mysteries enough to be satisfied. None of this remains.

The last episode was said to be a terrible end to a fantastic season. What season were those people watching? Besides, they weren't annoyed with the final episode, but with the time jump taking place during the break. The complaints weren't about how absurd Sweets break up with Daisy (Carla Gallo) was or about how strange it is that almost the entire team working at the Jeffersonian was able to take a full year off, just about the passage of time which we weren't going to get to see. Frankly, I think that aspect was the best choice made in the episode.

What could Bones do to get back on track? Give us another serial killer. Make the cases count. I don't want to watch a show about a couple who can't seem to realize they ought to be together - I've given up on Soap Operas. I watched Bones because I loved how, through forensics and evidence paired with the understanding of the human psyche, Bones and Booth worked together to solve cases. It's like a cake, where the icing was the character development. How many people really enjoy that much icing with almost no cake?

Despite the wonderful 100th episode, this season was mostly a waste of time. I give it a D.

If the Season 6 premiere isn't bloody brilliant AND doesn't promise a story arc for the season, I'm not watching anymore.

Bones - The Beginning in the End, S05E22 - Season Finale

I've been mostly unimpressed with Bones for some time now, and was thinking that next season I would probably just hoard the episodes and get them over with through a marathon, but now I'm not even sure I want to do that. The season premiere had better be incredible amazing, or it will be the last episode of Bones I watch.

With that bleak start, let's talk about a season finale which was anti-climactic and full of moments that simply made no sense.

The case was rather dry and boring, though perhaps that was the point. It didn't really have any baring as to what the episode was actually about; again, it only happened because Brennan (Emily Deschannel) and Booth (David Boreanaz) work together to solve crimes.

Instead, Brennan and Booth had big decisions to make. Suddenly, as if Brennan hasn't spent 4 months of the year on digs elsewhere, as well as several weeks throughout the year when the show is on hiatus, the decision to go participate in a really, REALLY important dig becomes an issue. Since when did Brennan completely give up her anthropological roots to go full fledge murder solving?

Meanwhile, Booth is suddenly considering rejoining the army because they want him too.

Both assignments are meant to last 1 year, which is NOT actually that long a period of time, not considering their careers. What is the big deal?

But apparently it's such a big deal that Daisy (Carla Gallo) and Sweets (James Francis Daley), who were engaged, break up rather than trying to make it work while she's in Indonesia with Brennan. Seriously? They were going to spend the rest of their lives together, but 1 year apart is too much? Cause it's not like either of them could possible visit each other, or like there are phones in Indonesia.

The only satisfying thing about the entire episode was that Hodgins (T. J. Thyne) and Angela (Michaela Conlin) are going to run away to Paris for the year.

This show has just gotten silly, and that is very disappointing.

Bones - The Boy with the Answer, S05E21

With only 1 more episode of season 5 of Bones, and with my unimpressed response to this penultimate episode of the season, despite it being a good episode, I am fairly certain Bones will not be a priority show for me in the Fall. It's sad, but it's true, and this episode is a good example why.

When we watched the first Gravedigger episode, I was on the edge of my seat. It didn't matter that the likelihood of two main characters being killed off was very low, the process of saving them, the tasks they had to accomplish to prolong the time they had left to live, and the desperate admission of Hodgins (T. J. Thyne) that he loved Angela (Michaela Conlin) combined to create a beautiful, stressful, and terrific episode.

The follow up, so long awaited, was disappointing in comparison, and this final round was even more so. Why, if Bones (Emily Deschannel) has been having nightmares about it have we heard nothing about the case since last season? Why hadn't we known the case was coming before the episode happened? There was no build up, no tension, no concern about the outcome of the case until the episode started. And there just wanted enough time to really care.

Then, we have Brennan's out of the blue concern that her new ability to identify with other people's emotions may have compromised her logic and judgement. Seriously? She has tried so hard to learn to be empathetic and now, because of one case, suddenly she doesn't want to help save lives anymore? This one case, because it is personal for her, will tip the balance for the dozens of murders she has helped solve, making her not want to be in the business because she's not good enough? Where's the next closest person with her skills - Montreal! It's not like her ability to figure out the truth, even clouded slightly, isn't still 100x better than anyone else's.

And did we seriously ever doubt that the grave digger would go to jail? Nope, because Bones isn't fun like that anymore. No serial killer, no repeat offenders, no seasonal big bads. So why should I care about the next case? I know they are going to solve it. And now that Hodgins and Angela are married, I really have nothing to hold out for.

I doubt the season finale will change my mind. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Bones - The Witch in the Wardrobe, S05E20

This show got lucky. I was bored and it happened to be on, and it was an entertaining and excellent episode so I watched it. After last week, I wasn't even certain I was going to finish the season, but it has earned yet another reprieve. I guess that what years of loyalty and the sincere desire for it to deliver have earned it.

While Bones (Emily Deschanel), Booth (David Boreanaz), and the rest try to determine who burnt down a house a murdered a witch, Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) and Angela (Michaela Conlin) are stuck in jail after they were pulled over for poor driving and both had outstanding warrants. Oops. On the one side, we had the mystical mystery of a dead witch, and on the other the romance that I have been most torn up about in Bones relationships.

I was very pleased with the use of forensics and historical research to determine the identity of old bones assembled in a closet. I also loved that Clark (Eugene Byrd) had to design his own experiment because Hodgins was in jail. The difficulties incurred because Angela and Hodgins weren't available was amazing; all the team members are needed to properly and effectively determine the truth.

Adding to the above, that part of the motive was caused by hallucinogens which were accidentally absorbed from a ceremonial agent - rye flour, the details of the case were very complex and believable

And, while in no way do I want to remove the focus from the fact that good science and exciting mystery made this case what I have come to expect from Bones and so often not found of late, there can be no denying that I am beside myself with joy over the outcome of Angela and Hodgins spending several days together in jail.

Finally, this couple has reunited. And not only that, but they married before anything or anyone could possibly stop them from accomplishing what should have happened 2 years ago.

Looks like everyone in Bones except Booth and Brennan are tying the knot - I guess they are trying to keep us happy. Cam (Tamara Taylor) is likely to be next!

Let's just hope the feeling lasts until the end of the season.

Bones - The Rocker in the Rinse Cycle, S05E19

I declare an EPISODE FAIL!!! Despite having started very well, this week's episode of Bones reverted back to pre-100th episode quality, and was really one of the worst of those.

As I said, the beginning was good. A body was found in an industrial washer, destroying a whole lot of evidence in the process. It could have lead somewhere cool - we did get some interesting forensic development as fracture lines were used to determine the post-mortem injuries, and the discussion about testicles following finding one of them whole and discovering that the other had been a silicon replacement was entertaining - but the case was mostly neglected.

There was really no focus to the episode.

1. Cam (Tamara Taylor) found a gynecologist for her daughter, but ended up dating him. I'm kind of happy that we looked at Cam's life for once, and I wish this had been the only track going other than the murder.

2. Brennan (Emily Deschanel) tried to be positive about Booth (David Boreanaz)'s new relationship, but her persistence bordered on the annoying.

3. Vaziri (Pej Vahdat) used baseball metaphors for every discovery he made, which also got annoying.

4. Everyone was so completely obsessed with rock'n'roll music that the focus of the episode seemed more to be about that than anything else.

5. The murder was finally solved. No one cared that the victim was dead because a) he seemed like a real jerk, and b) he didn't properly appreciate rock'n'roll so he deserved to die. Plus, the arrest took place really quickly because the writers had wasted so much time focusing on other things that the murderer only had time to say "It was worth it." He got to play on stage for 5 minutes with a talented guitarist rather than the man he killed.

I was completely unimpressed with this episode. There was just WAY TOO MUCH going on, but none of it was substantial. If Bones continues like this, I will not watch season 6, regardless of whether or not Booth and Brennan get together in it.

Bones - The Predator in the Pool, S05E18

My sense that the 100th episode of Bones has given the show new life continues to deepen as the new episodes interest and entice me. I now pay full attention, interested in what new and tiny development will reveal a clue to how the victim died and who was the murderer. Sure, the characters' stories are ever present, but I have no complaints there. These characters are what make murder mysteries more interesting than a simple case solve ever week. The main thing is, though, that the characters are back to being colour, while the cases are the backbone, instead of letting the show stand up on feelings alone.

A murder at an aquarium was discovered when a recently released shark washed up on shore with a human leg in his gullet. No comment was made about the failure of the reintroduction of that shark to the ocean, but I will let that slide. I will also not make mention of the "it only happens on television" moment when the Aquarium coordinator swore it was impossible that anyone had been eaten in her tank at the same moment as a giant fish burped out a human skull. Clearly, she did not have all the facts.

I did enjoy meeting the new love interest for Booth (David Boreanaz). She seemed very sweet and spunky and confident enough that she might be able to be in a relationship with him without constantly worrying about his continuing affection for Brennan (Emily Deschanel). I also laughed myself silly when Brennan told him "You deserve a good woman," and he replied, "So do you." He clarified what he meant, of course, by I was still amused.

I was also amused by Hodgins (T.J. Thyne)'s desire for a bigger boat, and Sweet (John Fracis Daley)'s comment that 9-year-olds are essentially psychopaths.

Most of all, I was glad to see the team working together to uncover pieces of the puzzle. Booth harassed mafia without Brennan always riding shotgun, and Hodgins discovered the murder weapon by carefully surveying the particulates. Between him and Clark (Eugene Byrd), it seems some actual work got done in the lab this week.

If next week's episode continues on this line, I am sure to be delighted with the rest of the season and very excited about Season 6. That was not the case a few weeks ago.

Bones - The Death of the Queen Bee, S05E17

After last week's landmark episode, it seems like the writers have remembered that the forensics are part of the plot and can be just as interesting as the social dynamics. Not that social dynamics were in short supply! I loved this freaky return to Brennan (Emily Deschanel)'s past and her high school.

When a murder took place near Brennan's high school, she and Booth (David Boreanaz) approach her former classmates simply as an alum returning for her high school reunion with her handsome husband. It was the perfect cover, albeit a little awkward considering last week's revelations. I was quite pleased that those feelings were not ignored, that this week was not simply a return to the status quo.

Brennan has not changed much since her high school days. Back then, she dissected rabbits with her creepy high school janitor, Ray Buxley (played by the super terrifying Robert Englund of Freddy fame), and was called Morticia by her classmates. I'm going to argue that they ought to have called her Wednesday back then, but Morticia is more suited to the grown up Bones.

Bones was back to her socially awkward self, taking Booth's advice about how to interact with her former classmates to show how great she was now, and to learn about possible motives for murder. She did not do well at it. She did, however, manage to determine the murder weapon and crime scene from the evidence her team found in the bones of the murder victim. I really appreciated that the science was back.

Most of all, I appreciated how creepy and stereotypical the janitor was, appearing and disappearing, using very large knives for simple cutting, and most of all, for being creeped out by the smiley happy girls who went to that high school. The discovery that the murderer was one of those seemingly normal girls who had everything, and that she and the victim of the most recent murder had teamed up 15 years before to murder another high school classmate, all over a boy...well, that was just the cherry on the cake for a girl who wasn't prom queen back in her day.

In other new, Wendall (Michael Terry) and Angela (Michaela Conlin) broke up. It was well done and believable and took nothing away from the strong story developing around the murder. If the writers, director, and actors can keep delivery episodes like this one, all they need to do is add an over arching murder investigation to Season 6 and I might say that they have their magic back....but let's wait till we see this week's episode. It may revert back to the disappointment present throughout the first half of this season.

Bones - The Parts in the Sum of the Whole, S05E16

While this milestone episode, #100!!, was absolutely awesome and amazing and nothing can take that away from it, it was also a revelation as to what has really been missing for me the last two seasons of the show.

The entire concept was wonderful, to finally get to see the first case Booth (David Boreanaz) and Brennan (Emily Deschanel) worked on together gave answers to questions we did not know we had. Why did Brennan not want to work with Booth again? What had happened that first time?

The sexual tension was so right. The idea that they had been aware of the attraction at first, and that things had just gone very wrong with them made the length of time between their second case and the first time either realized there was something more going on make much more sense.

And I even loved the conclusion. Booth finally put his heart on the line, and Brennan could not take it. I hope that the openness now explored will stay through the rest of the season and through other relationships the two might become involved in.

So you must be asking, what is my problem?

My problem is that this episode was structured very much like the original ones were, and so the differences between the early episodes and the most recent ones was very easy to notice.

Brennan's journey from socially unaware to somewhat conscious of normal conventions has made us lose the contrast between her and Booth. We no longer have the "average Joe" FBI agent working with a bunch of super intelligent, but awkward squints. The clear divides between them all have dissolved, giving us a bunch of very normal and boring people.

Booth refused to pay much mind to science, relying primarily on his instincts. Brennan gave no credit to anything but the barest of facts. Zach (Eric Millegan) was the only character who maintained his unwavering ability to perfectly understand the very complex while missing the things that we, as a normal audience, could easily pick up. And then he was reasoned into doing great evils.

Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) no longer goes on about his conspiracy theories, and Angela's sexual ccomfort was lost in a wave of abstinence.

These very polarized characters worked well together and created a dynamic that was interesting a unique. But as that polarization faded, as they all merged towards one conglomeration of characters with very similar opinions and perspectives, that was lost. Combining that with the focus on that characterization and lack of interesting forensic development, and you have a show that has lost its spark.

Episode 100 recovered that spark because it was set before the merger, when amusement was so easily derived from variety. And after such a peak, I feel like its all going to be downhill from now on, and not in a good way.

Bones - The Bones on the Blue Line, S05E15

Although Bones has been on hiatus since the beginning of February, the return held a better place in the overall story then the send-off. I can only hope that the ideas of storyline and structure discussed in the plot can bring us back to the quality of the first 3 seasons of the show.

Although this week's murderer did not turn into a repeat offender who will excite us with the possibility of return and the heightened danger of an individual capable of evading Bones (Emily Deschanel) and Booth (David Boreanaz), the character development took on deeper values and a metaliterary discussion underlined the attraction to the story.

A Japanese reporter was interviewing Brennan about her latest book, her primary focus the interest in the resemblance between Brennan's characters and her friends and colleagues. While Brennan insisted that the forensics and science were what made the stories real, Booth pointed out that the characters were what made the story approachable. If the writers of Bones take their own advice, they will realize that the characters are exciting, but the forensics are what keep the story from being a harlequin romance.

The progress of relationships in this episode felt like progress. Angela (Michaela Conlin) and Hodgins (T. J. Thyne) got to have a moment, where their sexual chemistry reigned freely and Hodgins reminded her that no other man would compare. Angela and Brennan came to a better understanding of how much Angela helped Brennan with her writing. Daisy (Carla Gallo) and Sweets (John Francis Daley) reached a delightful new place in their relationship.

This episode proves that sufficient development in the characters' relationships can be enough to tie together a season, but I still with the writers would remember that it is 2010. We no longer want a bad-guy-of-the-week every week, we want a bad guy or mysterious incident of the season. If it weren't for the character advancements, any of the episodes of season 4 and 5 could have taken place in season 1-3, and I want more than characterization to mark the passage of time.

Were you as pleased with this episode as I was? Do you long for a big-bad too? Or does Bones always still have the magic that made it popular in the first place?

Bones - The Devil in the Details, S05E14

I said in my last posting about Bones that the show does not confront controversy, though it does often bring up potentially difficult issues. This week's episode, The Devil in the Details, was no exception, and, indeed, proved my point.

The victim, who was found burning on the alter of a Catholic church, was a schizophrenic who was born with a tail and had surgery to give himself devil's horns. Naturally, this brought forth the on-going tension of the belief structures of Bones (Emily Deschanel) and Booth (David Boreanaz), one purely believing in science, and the other a good Catholic.

That confrontation, however, never goes on the path of actual belief. It is never about whether Bones or Booth is right, but about the fact that Bones never shows proper respect for the belief system of others. Like Bones' disregard for the use of psychiatry, which was also brought forth this week, the focus is that Dr. Temperance Brennan always says the most inappropriate thing based on societal expectations. But those societal expectations themselves are not questioned. Is she right or wrong in her thoughts? We don't know, but that is not the point. The point is that she expresses her thoughts at all the wrong times and in all the wrong places.

And again, the murderer was not one of the potentially risky choices we had to choose from. Neither the mental patient who thought she was an angel of the lord, nor any of the doctors of the institute were involved. Instead, the victim's brother killed him in what was possibly an accident involving anger that the insane brother was taking heroin on top of everything else wrong with him.

And maybe I should just accept that Bones is not about shocking us with the revelation of the murderer. I should focus on the character development and interaction, on Booth and Brennan's always simmering, never burning romance that has yet to happen. But I still would love to see the writers take that step and make a shocking choice. Would you?

Bones - The Dentist in the Ditch, S05E13

In its fifth season, episodes of Bones tend to either be amazing, or disappointingly so-so. And this episode was the latter. So-so is not so bad, they still have shining moments, but sometimes I feel like the writers have got to the point that they don't expect to get new audiences tuning in and needing to be captured, and that they feel we long-time viewers will watch whatever they put before us.

The case this week was not particularly obvious - there were SO many suspects, and so many motives that I could not be sure where the guilt would lie. Usually, I commend shows when this occurs, but I think I did not particularly care about the murder. Regardless of it having been given the proper time to develop and a respectable amount of focus, it didn't really matter to me who had murdered the dentist or why.

I suppose the writers were hoping that the prospect of the dentist being a gay football player, and possible having brought down the wrath of some fellow footballer whose testosterone level hit the ceiling over an ass slap, was enough to grab my attention. Maybe it worked for others, but not for me. The most likely reason for this? I've noticed that while Bones may bring up the possibilities of a controversial murder, they never actually go through with it. The murder of the Amish boy was not by a member of his community; the murder of the video gamer was not by an autistic boy.

Not to say that Bones (Emily Deschanel) and Booth (David Boreanaz) did not get to have some great character development as Booth refused ignore the fact that his brother was in love with a former call girl while Bones insisted that he had always told her love was more important than the rest.

But what are your thoughts? Was last week's episode of Bones interesting enough for you? Or do you wish they all had the level of intrigue of last week's JFK conspiracy?

Bones - The Proof is in the Pudding, S05E12

Yes! Yes! This is what Bones is all about! Conspiracy Theories, Booth (David Boreanaz) saving the day, Brennan (Emily Deschanel) being right, and a terrific Angela (Michaela Conlin)/Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) moment.

The episode started with Booth imitating Michael Jackson, which was a little bit weird, though amusing; luckily, that moment did not set the tone for the episode.

Instead, Cam (Tamara Taylor) did when she came into Bones' office with a positive pregnancy test. "Is this yours?" she asked. It was not, and when she went to confront Angela with the same question, the answer was, again, no. Oh dear, Michelle, Cam's 16 year old, is knocked up. Palm to forehead.

That moment of unanticipated stress rolled quite nicely into the next moment, when a group of government agents showed up, sequestering those present (including Sweets (John Francis Daley)) and barring those who were not (Booth). Brennan was asked to determine the cause of death of a body, male, dating from 1963, with pink fibers attached. JFK perhaps?

It was such a delight to see Hodgins indulging in the conspiracy theory stuff again, both because that was always such an interesting part of his character and because it shows that he is healing from the horror and tragedy of Gormagon. It also was such an easy explanation for why someone knew all the details about JFK's death, as well as the whereabouts of a replica of Lee Harvey Oswald's gun and a circuitous route to get there.

And what an exploration of Booth! He clearly seems to be healed after the removal of his brain tumor, back to defying whatever gets in his way. There was nothing that was going to keep him away from his people when they were in difficulty. And as much fun as that was, recalling his devotion to the US, which he considers, according to Cam, "the greatest country ever!" with such blind devotion. But he HAS to, with his past as a sniper. He HAS to trust the government implicitly. Plus, watching him kick ass and save everyone at the end, that was also beautiful. Especially when he "Butch Cassidyed" on of the guards. And what a great expression that is, too.

The last point I want to make about how terrific the case was was in its description. That body could have been Kennedy, or it could not have been. We can't know for certain, and we probably won't ever get to. But to see Booth use the replica gun and get off the requisite number of shots from one direction, well, I wonder what conspiracy theorists are going to make of that (and whether it is based on real data). Plus, the fact that Brennan, though declaring that the body was not his, still indicated the possibility that that it could be. Nice.

Still, I think we all know that the best moment of the episode was when Hodgins told Angela that he loved her and that he would help her raise Wendell's baby because it was something he could do for her. So self-sacrificing and SO perfect. And when it turned out that Angela was not pregnant, and he told her to forget what he had said, she told him that she never would.

Oh, are these two so perfect for each other. They have to get back together!

What were your thoughts?

Bones - The X in the File, S05E11

Every once in a while, a crime show where the victim and murder might be alien is a great thing. And trust Bones to carry it off with just the right amount of goofiness. But that's not what made this episode very interesting for me.

When Booth (David Boreanaz) and Brennan (Emily Deschanel) are called to investigate what may be an alien body in the desert, I knew we were in for a treat, and within a few minutes of being on the crime scene, a cell phone began to ring. The ring tone? The theme music from the X files. What a perfect start.

I also laughed myself silly when the body sat up while entering the MRI machine, and Brennan screamed while Booth pulled his gun. Luckily he didn't get a shot off because the magnetism of the machine pulled his gun away. "I won't tell anyone about the scream if you won't tell anyone about the gun," said Booth. "Those terms seems satisfactory," returned Brennan.

Of course, it was also magnetism that made the body rise, but it was still a beautiful effect.

In the end, despite the alien possibilities, the murder was about money - a video tape showing toxic liquids being dumped in the desert and the bribe money to make the tape go away. Perhaps it would have been a happier story if aliens had been involved, but we have enough murderers on Earth as it is - we don't need help from outsiders.

However, as I mentioned above, while the murder investigation did have my full attention, I could not help but care more about the love triangle of Wendell (Michael Terry), Angela (Michaela Conlin), and Hodgins (TJ Thyne). Yes, Wendell and Angela are cute together, but it's a mixture of puppy dog love and lust. When Angela and Hodgins went on their first date, a long time ago now, and they had such a perfect time of it, and Hodgins knew that what he felt for her was true and pure...When he and Brennan thought they were going to die, buried in that car, and he just had to admit how much he was in love with her. No, that sort of affection does not die. And while Jack in a honourable man, allowing his dear friends to be happy and doing his best to hide how awful it all is for him... Well I still want them back together...and have more feelings about it that about Booth and Brennan whom custom dictates will in fact end up together eventually.

So the question is, are Hodgins and Angela actually officially over, and were the writers trying to tell us that this is the new course of action, so get used to it, OR was this the massive hint that as Hodgins still has feelings for Angela, perhaps Angela too still has feelings for him, and we can still get what we want, though poor Wendell will be crushed in the end?

What do you think?

Bones - The Goop on the Girl, S05E10

Bones gave us a Christmas episode again this year, and though Santa Claus was involved, it was not as exciting as the year when Booth (David Boreanaz) and Brennan (Emily Deschanel) kissed under the mistletoe.

We had a special guest star - Zooey Deschanel, Emily Deschanel's sister. In the episode, she played Brennan's cousin, and everyone got to joke about how they looked so similar they could be sisters. Unfortunately, though cousin Margaret could be amusing with her dry quoting of Benjamin Franklin, and though it did reveal that Temperance is not so very different from her family, the only purpose for having her on the show was to get a guest spot from Zooey Deschanel. Which is too bad -they could have done much more with it.

And, despite getting to delight in watching Brennan strip Booth down to his boxers because his clothes were covered in evidence, as a Christmas episode it ended up being quite sad. A young man was blown up and his mother had to bury him on Christmas, alone. There is something very strange about being sent off to the holidays by a cast of crime solving characters, who have made me laugh so hard that I've cried, with a funeral.

And as we return this Thursday, we wonder if Booth and Brennan will finally get together, and more importantly if Hodgins (T J Thyne) and Angela (Michaela Conlin) will get back together.

Bones - The Gamer in the Grease, S05E09

It's been a while since I saw episode 8 of this season, and I was excited to see Bones again. So much so, in fact, that I dreamt of it last night...or at least of a development between Booth (David Boreanaz) and Brennan (Emily Deschanel). Unfortunately, the Gamer in the Grease was a HUGE letdown.

It was not the first time that Bones ventured into the realm of the nerd; last time, I was beside myself with joy and giggling as our team searched through D&D playing knights to discover the killer of the possessor of a mythic sword. This time, the champion of a fictional arcade game was murdered, and competitive nerds are the suspects.

The first mistake was that the game was fictional, thus it did not strike a nerdy cord with anyone out there.

The second was that, though the victim died from being drown and cooked in a vat of fat (really gross, by the way), the entire investigation was based on the injuries he received to incapacitate him before he ended up in the vat, while it's hard to imagine there would be nothing to learn about how he was transported and dumped in the vat in the first place.

The third mistake (and no, we are not near done yet) was for the murderer to be the father of an autistic boy whose single joy and victory, the playing of punky pong, was stolen by the victim.

Now you might say that such a choice for the murderer might be quite interesting and heart wrenching, but I have not yet mentioned the worst mistake of the episode - its terrible writing.

The episode was shallow, the characters - including our familiar friends - all felt like caricatures, and the nerding out missed the mark of reality, and was likely more a ploy to advertise the movie Avatar than an occasion to rejoice in nerdiness.

Sweets (John Francis Daley), Hodgins (TJ Thyne), and Colin (Joel Moore) ran back and forth between the lab and the movie lineup; they rushed through their jobs, but still determined important truths...which I guess was lucky, if not particularly believable. And it speaks to how uninteresting the arcade game was that all three were more interested in waiting in line than having a chance to play the game.

I don't even want to discuss how ridiculous I found it that Sweets felt unsure about his manhood cause Colin had slept with more women than him. Regardless of anything else, Daisy and Sweets have not had any problems in the bedroom area and I can't believe Sweets would feel unmanned just because he hadn't bedded plenty of unimportant women.

In the end, the only thing interesting and memorable about the episode is the tattoo of Angela (Michaela Conlin) that Hodgins apparently sports on his bicep, though that too is a little incredible, that in all time time Angela had not seen it. When was he supposed to have got it? I seem to recall that we and Angela have seen him without a shirt since their break up.

At least I know that episode 10 has to be better, unless it tried very hard not to be.

Bones - The Foot in the Foreclosure, S05E08

And now we all know where spontaneous combustion comes from.

This episode was fantastic when it comes to the personal interaction of our favourite characters, though when it came to the actual case, well, I'd say that having a nose is not a guarantee of a win, but I think I'm reaching with that pun.

On the one hand, we had Booth (David Boreanaz) taking responsibility for his grandfather, Pops (Ralph Waite), which had your comic highs and your emotional lows, and on the other hand, we had a bizarre fetish murder which turned out to be a violent act of passion and grief in which a man beat a couple he found in his bed (the bed he shared with his late wife) and beat them to death with a bust of his own face (hence the nose comment above).

As for the case, it would not have been solved if not for Angela (Michaela Conlin)'s super computer skills (isn't she supposed to be an artist, not a graphic design and computer genius?). The computer determined that the melted polyester was an employee jacket, leading to the discovery of the identity of one of the victims; it also mapped the shape of the weapon imprint, displaying what was obviously a nose. Apparently all crime labs need to get this computer, it solves problems as well as magic!

I realize that the strength of Bones lies in the characters, which is why I still consider this a terrific episode, but couldn't try try to make the methods used to solve cases plausible?

Enough about that, and more about Pops! Booth's granddad was hilarious! He called Booth "shrimp", asked if he was gay when he professed no interest in Brennan (Emily Deschanel), and then told her that she had ovaries of steal (well he tried to tell her she had balls of steal, but she informed him that she had ovaries, not balls, so he corrected his statement)! Even better was when he told Booth at the end of the episode that he had to go back to his nursing home to help some of the women with crochet AKA sex.

The man who raised Booth when his abusive father took off is everything we hoped and expected. It is no wonder that he turned out to be emotionally well adjusted despite everything.

The best part of the episode? The fact that Clark (Eugene Byrd) was finally drawn into talking about his personal life - his grandfather - at work. He is human after all!!!

What did you think?

Bones - The Dwarf in the Dirt, S05E07

Bones is back, baby, with an episode that reminded me exactly why I love this show.

It started with a body, as is typically the case. This body had green bones, was smallish, and was at the end of a rainbow. Yes, it was the body of a leprechaun. Did I mention the gold coins in close proximity to the remains?

Now, I'm sure you will say, well it wasn't actually a leprechaun, but you would be wrong. It was a leprechaun - the Iron Leprechaun, a popular midget wrestler.

While the case was followed carefully, which I am also adamant should occur, we had some great Bones(Emily Deschanel)/Booth (David Boreanaz) chemistry and development. And we had my favourite guest star - Stephen Fry as Gordon, Gordon Wyatt.

Booth is beginning to recognize that his feelings from Brennan are real and genuine, not caused by his brain tumor. He simply can't tell her for fear of scaring and hurting her. So we have now entered the phase where our hero knows he wants the girl, knows the chemistry is there, but has to proceed carefully so that he does not end up destroying her instead of claiming her.

It's a nice change from the will they/won't they. And it puts a little bit more of a timeline on the entire thing.

So Bones is rocking, particularly with the line of one of the wrestlers who was afraid that Booth would send him back to Canada, to Sudbury of all godforsaken places. What did you think?

Bones - The Tough Man in the Tender Chicken, S05E06

This may have been the goofiest episode of Bones ever.

The body they found - well, actually, it was found by Woodchucks, who are essentially Girl Scouts who wish to emulate Brennan (Emily Deschanel) in every way - had a face which distinctly resembled a chicken.

This was, of course, followed by some speculation that he was some sort of government experiment gone wrong, in which the attempt had been made to combine man and chicken into a supersoldier.

Riiight...

Don't get me wrong, I'm normally right in with the weird and campy, and I was quite happy to have Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) back in conspiratorial mode, but chicken-man?

Though the moment that just went too far to be remotely believable was when Brennan and Booth (David Boreanaz) were at the chicken factory and the protesters yoked and feathered them. Thank God Booth then arrested them all. What kind of morons assault members of the FBI for absolutely no reason.

And don't even get me started on Angela (Michaela Conlin) and her quest to save the adorable pig. You're really going to get mad at a friend over that? I guess this is the part of me that just has to embrace my meativoreness and admit that I eat animals well aware that they once had faces and I'm okay with that because as a human, I was designed to eat meat as well as plants.

But at least it seemed like the episode focused on the crime committed, and Booth brought up his potential long-term sufferings from his surgery when he did not recognize that a man was lying.

Oh, and Angela slept with Wendall (Michael Terry)...which I hope is not going to create issues between him and Hodgins...

Did you enjoy the goofiness, or was it too much for you?

Bones - A Night at the Bones Museum, S05E05

This week's murder was witnessed by a mummy. That's right, an Egyptian mummy, dead for over 3000 years witnessed a recent murder, though Bones (Emily Deschanel) and Booth (David Boreanaz) do not originally have a body to investigate. Oh, and apparently mummies smell like Christmas.

When beginning the investigation, where would our team be without a lab assistant? After all, now that Brennan runs around to question people with Booth, someone needs to actually look at the bones...this week? Daisy! That's right, Sweets (John Francis Daley) convinces Brennan to give Daisy (Carla Gallo) another chance. He apparently taught her some breathing exercises, so he hopes she will impress Bones this time.

When investigating the mummy, Bones and Daisy both get their giddy geek on about the discovery and it's historical importance. Seeing Bones giddy was almost as surprising as seeing her behave just like Daisy. In fact, Bones had more than one uncharacteristic moment - she is apparently a huge fan of The Mummy (1932), and can quote the lines and everything. Apparently, she didn't miss all culture.

Despite the distractions of such a cool archaeological find, Brennan and Booth discover the murder victim - a curator at their own museum. In the end, she was murdered over a large ruby found in the mummy's chest. And while that was interesting, I enjoyed Bones and her love of ancient corpses a lot more. It reminded me that her real calling and her background was not solving murder investigations, but solving historical puzzles. When she proved that the mummy was innocent of a murder he supposedly committed 3000 years ago, thus changing history, she accomplished something that will endure forever in her world.

What part did you like best?