In Which We Have A Note on the Cocky Belt Buckle

Ok. So, I'd say that two episodes without the cocky belt buckle very well might not be deliberate... but also, it very well might actually be deliberate. And I mean, yes, in previous post, I said "As long as he has on the cocky belt buckle, there's hope," but I didn't mean that's the ONLY circumstance under which there is hope. The cocky belt buckle is a symbol, and an important one at that. It makes sense for him consciously to choose not to wear it after what happened: this whole time, he has thought that Brennan didn't feel anything, or didn't feel ENOUGH, for him, and so on he moved. But then for her to break down and go on about how she missed their chance and everything... it's sure to shake up the system he's had in place. It's sure to shake up his feelings for her that he's been suppressing, and that it did. He needed to feel control of it, the situation, and humans often use symbols to do so when they feel they can't control the ACTUAL situation. So he removes the belt buckle as his attempt to remove HER, to remove his feelings for her, to prove to himself that he is over her. We must remember, however, that it is just a SYMBOL, and as powerful as they may be to the human psyche, a symbol is, in fact, not as important as the thing itself, as the situation itself, as the feeling itself. He might have tried to remove her metaphorically, but she is still there physically. And he knows that. And that's what he wants. But he feels that perhaps, by metaphorically removing her, he might be able to salvage what is left of his ability to suppress his feelings.

Of course, he's wrong. But, he tried XD