In Which The Ascent Keeps On Going

Season 2, Episode 4

The Blond in the Game

In this episode, we see an early season 1 device: reminding us of B&B's underlying, base similarity, although the way it is done is much less direct than in season one. It's shown in their actions, not by them just saying it.

In this particular case, it's the fact that they both hate Epps so much. In two separate scenes, both of them let their hatred of Epps get the better of them, and the other has to being them back down to the practical level.

1)

BOOTH: (leans in, all casual) Hey, come here. (Epps leans in slightly, too) You know, I really enjoyed – (he reaches under the table and yanks on Epps’s body chain, forcing Howard forward until his head hits the table) – playing your game. (The side of Howard’s face is pressed against the tabletop, and Booth leans in close, starting out with a harsh whisper that elevates with his anger) Now, you know what? There is a girl out there, hanging upside down with duct tape over her mouth!

BRENNAN: Booth, let him go. (puts her hand on Booth’s shoulder, trying to reach him through his anger) Let him go!

2)

BRENNAN: (frustrated groan) What is with Caroline Epps? I mean, why have a child with a monster like him? What is she gonna tell the child when it grows up? “Hi, your daddy’s a monster.”

BOOTH: (pauses at the top of the stairs) Look look look. Time out. You gotta detach from this, all right? We let Epps get under our skin, it’s exactly what he wants.

And then, of course, we have the last scene. That awesome, awesome, awesome last scene.

When he gives her Jasper, every time I watch it, I grin like a motherfucker and my little fangirl heart melts. But that's beside the point.

The point is that, there's really no one part of that scene that's the best. Of course, rational, reasoned Brennan, says that it's fine that she killed the guy because he was going to kill someone else, and had already killed someone. It logically is fine. And Booth knows that this is one of the times to not push it, but to let her fall into it herself, and then talk her through it. Which is precisely what happens. She did the right thing, and she knows it. But like Booth says, there's a cost when you kill someone. And now, rational, reasoned Brennan, goes “oh, look what I've done” when a tear falls on the picture. Rational, reasoned Brennan isn't quite so rational right now.

And that look they share at the end is a big deal. They have an entirely new level of understanding now, because like him, she has killed a person. That happening has brought them closer. And not only that, but the fact that he was there for her in the aftermath pushes their relationship to a whole new level. The ascent keeps on going.