In Which We Meet Dr. Temperance Brennan and Special Agent Seely Booth

Season 1, Episode 1

Pilot

NON B&B OBSERVATION (they'll be a lot of these throughout the series, trust me): Brennan in these first few episodes, mostly in this very first episode, is quite a bit like Book!Brennan. She quickly settles into her own character after a few episodes, but at least to me, she's epically more similar to Temperance Brennan in Kathy Reichs' books (speaking of which, Spider Bones comes out August 24^th, and I CAN'T WAIT!) than how she is after the first few episodes. Not only in what she says, but what she does. Going off to get the senator's DNA herself is something TV!Brennan, as we know her now, would never EVER do, she'd never dream of doing something like that without Booth, but Book!Brennan does that kind of thing all the time (and is constantly scolded for it).

But anyway, now that I got that out, we begin THE PILOT EPISODE (glug glug woohoo!)

Appropriately enough, our first scene with Dr. Temperance Brennan ends with her kicking a security guard's ass and having a skull in her bag.

Also appropriately enough, our first Booth and Bones scene is filled to the brim with tension, mostly from Brennan, with her snippy “What are you doing here?” when he enters, and the first of the infamous “Don't call me 'Bones'”.

Then we have these lines, after she's made him let her out of the car:

Booth: I'm not the one who’s gotta mention that she’s got a doctorate every five…
Bones: I am the one with the doctorate.

Booth:Yeah, well, you know what? I’m the one with the badge and the gun.

Already, we start to see just how different they are. They flat-out say it. She has the doctorate, he has the badge and the gun. Now, taking into account all the future episodes, this is basically setting up the fact that they both want and need what the other has. Booth struggles to learn the scientific names of body parts, eventually getting one right every now and then, and is always visibly aggravated when the squints talk in scientific jargon he can't understand. More symbolically, the doctorate acts as a symbol of objectivity, and although Booth hardly ever acknowledges that objectivity can sometimes be a good thing, he knows that it is, because sometimes when he gets too involved or too subjective, it comes back and bites him in the ass. And of course, we know just how much Brennan wants the gun. But the badge acts as a symbolic thing. Booth has the badge because he is a special agent. He is a special agent because he has his “gut”, the word he so often uses to refer to his ability to solve the crimes, to have good hunches, etc., and Bones wants that, despite the fact that she forever protests that he can't really use his “gut”, that hunches aren't worth anything because they aren't scientific, etc. That's why she demands he take her out into the field.

It can go even farther than that, though. Booth's innate abilities with solving crimes come from his social skills, his belief in love, his “simple” truths that stem from the subjective. And Brennan, being the scientist, doesn't understand this. She wants to, but she doesn't yet. That's why she needs him. And he needs her.

Even from these first few lines, we can tell how much they truly complement each other.

But they don't know this yet, of course. He doesn't care about knowing the science mumbo-jumbo, and she doesn't care about understanding his “gut”. She doesn't care about understanding him at all. She just sees him as a typical philistine, and he just sees her as a typical squint.

Eventually, they start to subconsciously realize that they both have things to learn from the other.

As of now, though, they basically strongly dislike each other. But at the same time, they still respect each other, on some level. Because otherwise, Bones wouldn't want to go out into the field with him, and Booth wouldn't defend her going out into the field with him to his boss.

And, of course (I apologize, I've said “of course” about twenty million times already), the fact that he's chasing her is so symbolic for the rest of the series.

In the commentary of the pilot, they talk about how one of them is always chasing the other, both actually and metaphorically, and that is so utterly and completely true.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, we have the beginning of the Booth-Bones Teaching-Learning dynamic, with this line, after they have talked to Cleo's parents:

Booth: You know, getting information out of live people is a lot different then getting information out of a pile of bones. You have to offer up something of yourself first.

What? Talk about personal things? Gasp! Bones would never dream of doing such a thing! Especially with Booth the philistine!

But, oh-oh, she ends up eventually doing it because of Booth the philistine.

But that's not until later.

What's important now is later when she's talking to Angela and she expresses her fears: “What if Booth is right? What if I’m only good with bones and lousy with people?” She wants to change. But not only does she not know how, she doesn't know how really to express her desire to change.

We interrupt this blog for another NON B&B OBSERVATION:

I just love this line. Such a perfect overall statement for the show and, mostly, for the character of Bones herself at this point.

Angela: I know. But people are mostly soft.

Bones: Except for their bones.

Except for their bones. Bones is a person. She is mostly soft. But not her bones (and who's on first). And bones are her specialty.

Skip stuff, and we get to after Booth has been taken off the case because Bones went off and hit the senator (of course she did).

And we get to this line:

Booth: Your heart was in the right place.

Bones: No. I’m not a heart person, you’re a heart person. I’m a brain person. You vouched for me.

Despite all her growth over the past five years, she's still saying this (just in a different way), in the 100^th episode. The issue is that when she says it now, it's really true. When says it then, it's no longer true, but she won't let herself know that yet.

But anyway, that is for about, oh, one hundred blog posts from now.

The fact that they both want to keep going after the guy, even though Booth is off the case in twelve hours, cements the fact that what they do have in common, which is the most important thing for them to have in common, is that finding the truth and stopping murders is both their top value, their top priority. They are both essentially good, not on a normal person level, but on a superhero level, in a way (which makes their costumes in the Halloween episode in season 3 so appropriate). They both not just want to get rid of bad guys, they need to get rid of bad guys.

Their argument while she's shooting is such pure gold, and really needs no explanation. It's further showing how different they are and, therefore, how much they need the other. Just on a professional level as of this point, but as has been true throughout the series, many of the realities of their work parallel with the realities of their relationship.

Another small interruption, but this time for a FANGIRL MOMENT:

OH MY GOSH, THE FIRST TIME HE CALLS HER “TEMPERANCE”. <3

But speaking of that scene...

Booth:  Temperance, partners share things. Builds trust.

Bones:  Since when are we partners?
Booth:  I apologize for the assumption.

It's a stretch, yes, but this can be paralleled with the 100^th episode. In this situation: he thinks they're partners, she doesn't know this has happened, is a little bit behind the progression of their relationship. 100^th episode: he knows they're in love, and again, she doesn't know this has happened, she's behind in their relationship.

A stretch. But an interesting one.

And, to end, the last scene (ending with the last scene? Wow, what a shocker).

Bones:  I knew exactly how the Ellers felt about Cleo. My parents disappeared when I was fifteen and nobody knows what happened to them.

Booth:  Me being a sniper…I… I took a lot of lives.  What I would like to do before I’m done… is try to catch at least that many murderers.
Bones: (laughs) Please, you don’t think there is some kind of …cosmic balance sheet?
(Booth looks down and she stops smiling)
Bones:  I’d like to help you with that.

She's like to help him with that.

They're going to solve murders together.

If they only knew what was going to happen along the way.

(quick FANGIRL MOMENT: THE SHOVE AT THE END! Too cute. And so damn appropriate.)

Oh, this is going to be a fun journey, kiddos. So strap your seat belts on, grab the popcorn, and get ready for an emotional, chemistry-filled, psychologically-stimulating, fangirl-screaming-inducing ride.