In Which "Eventually" Starts Now

Season 6, Episode 16
The Blackout in the Blizzard

I could not speak for about a minute after this episode. Literally. I was sitting there with my friend, trying so incredibly hard to say something intelligible to her, and the closest I could get to words were sounds that sounded vaguely like “I can't”.

Because, I mean, this is positively HUGE.

And I know I say that a lot, but I mean it this time in the purest, most true form of the word.

These are times I hate that I do these posts chronologically, but alas, here we go:

From the start, in the diner scene, we're hit with Booth's refusal to talk about their partnership, when Sweets tries to bring it up. Brennan is seemingly neither yay nor nay about it, but keeps her mouth shut when Booth insists he doesn't want to talk about it, because she knows that trying to force him to talk about it in a structured setting, with Sweets, isn't going to work. She knows that if any talking is going to happen, it's going to be with just them, without Sweets, when the time is right. That's the thing with her social development: with a lot of things, while she may not be able to do it with people in general, she can do it with Booth. She may not be able to read all people in that way, to be able to tell when it's not a good idea to push something and when it is, but she can with Booth.

Then, we have Brennan and the whole “They're just chairs!” moment, where they're basically acting like a married couple. There are a few of those moments throughout the episode, and the last episode as well (the whole running scene, helloooo). They've always had their married-type moments before, their little bickerings... but these ones have a different vibe to them. Before, it was like, “oh lol, they're acting like a married couple how funny and cute lololll”. But now, with these ones, it's starting to be more like, “oh my GOD, they are completely acting like a married couple.” These moments, while still containing the funny and cute aspects, are getting deeper into that sort of “married” vibe, which makes sense, considering all that's happened and how long this has been going on, but at the same time... it's still a significant shift.

And then there's more of Booth's complete refusal to talk with Sweets about him and Brennan. Sweets keeps trying, and Booth tells him to stop. He doesn't want him to say anything. And not just like, normal “oh don't say it!” but he actually kind of actually wants him to say it. He really does NOT want Sweets to say anything. He throws the peas at him to keep him to shut up, for pete's sake. But he doesn't get like that when Brennan starts talking about them. He resists, but he doesn't get that angry at ALL. Because Brennan knows how to go about talking about it. Sweets, brilliant psychologist that he is, can only approach these kinds of things in the way a shrink does, by trying to get the person to figure it out straight-forward for himself or just saying it outright. Sweets tries to say it completely outright, and Booth can't deal with that. He can't deal with it all being said outright right now. And Sweets knows this, he can see his defensive mechanisms are way up high, but he is still determined to get it said out in the open. He just doesn't expect Booth to go as far as he does with them.

Something else to consider as well is that he also probably doesn't want to talk about it because he doesn't want to talk about his real issues, how he feels he's been let down by all the women in his life. Brennan knows about it, and it's not a stretch to say they probably didn't tell Sweets about that night, or at least that they didn't tell him with Booth specifically said. And so Booth thinks that if they start getting into it, Brennan might say something about that night, or it might come up without her even saying anything, and he's too repressed to talk about it; hence why he had to be as drunk as he was to say it even to Brennan in The Doctor in the Photo.

But then, Brennan says they're “stupid chairs” one time too many. And we get the story about him and his dad and their one perfect day (and I cry forever on the inside). While their actions and reactions throughout it all are those to be expected, the actual ACT of him telling her about that day has some pretty big significance. It's not a stretch to assume they've talked at least a little bit about his dad and his dad's drinking before, but at the same time, it is also not a stretch to assume that this is the deepest they've gotten into it before, the most emotional. Less than two years/seasons ago, all Booth would say about the situation was that if it wasn't for his grandfather he would have killed himself, and then he wouldn't say any more about it. Now, that was with Sweets there, so that probably had a bit to do with it, but that doesn't change the fact that Booth's dad is probably the hardest thing for Booth to talk about, in any context, good or bad.

His telling this to Brennan signifies more than the depth of their relationship: it shows that he believes she has changed. Had this happened in the first season, hell, maybe even in the fifth season, he wouldn't have said anything because he would have thought she'd make fun of him for being sentimental about it, or at the very least she'd give him a lecture about how it's not logical to give sentimental value to objects. But now... he knows she's changed. He knows he can tell her and have her understand, at least partly. She has her whole “why though, so you can reclaim that day?” but he teaches her, as he always does, that it's just a piece of history... and on a certain level, she understands. Maybe not completely, but she does partly, and more importantly than that, she understands the level of importance of it for him.

But then, what is this going on? Booth in Brennan in yet another situation that can be perceived as sexual? Oh, of course, same old story. But wait! They're actually going to talk about the implications of it instead of just brushing it off like always?! Whoa, man!

She's the one who brings it up. She's the one on top of him to begin with, with her hand on his inner thigh. She's the one who suggests that they've thought about it. It brings up an interesting idea that maybe because she's not as emotionally aware as Booth, she can be more honest about her sexual feelings about him, because (at least, partly) that aspect doesn't have as much to do with emotion as it does with instinct. And Booth, the more emotionally away and mature one (seemingly), is actually the more suppressed one, the one who can't talk about sex as easily and certainly won't be the one to bring it up.

I get that the end of that scene is kind of frustrating, though, how they agree that even though they'd work sexually, they wouldn't work as a couple. But see, it's the Booth-and-Brennan way. Part of what gives them their vibe is how fucking guarded they both are. They have their own individual set of emotional defenses that they have employed, some consciously and other subconsciously, some to an extreme level and some not. And see, them, together, is a big thing. For both of them, these ridiculously guarded people, to have a completing half, a person who is there for them and gets them on their most basic level despite all the guarding... them having that person in their lives in any capacity is a huge fucking deal, let alone having that person be their significant other. Their revealing their feelings for each other is such a huge deal, and even though they had both admitted it prior to this, this was the first time they had acknowledged and talked about BOTH their feelings for each other at the same time. It's the first time it hasn't been one-sided, where it has all come together. It essentially is the first real chance they have actually to let their feelings come to term with each other. Which, as I said, is a big fucking deal. And with how guarded they are, it'd make sense that they'd chalk it up to just physical compatibility. Because this idea of dropping down these guards they've had up for so long completely is just too much to have happen on this (essentially) first try. But they can't go back now, too much has happened, too much has been said. So they found a loophole: they admitted their sexual feelings about each other one hundred percent honestly, but not their emotional ones. They admitted something, but not the whole package. They bought themselves time to hide away from those scary feelings for awhile longer.

But the thing is, really, just their daily interactions alone will someday show them that they are already essentially a couple. It's like I was saying earlier with their married couple moments. They think they wouldn't work as a couple, but that's false, because they already basically are a couple.

And then... the scene. The scene. The Scene To End All Scenes. The last scene.

(Ok, I might be being a little overdramatic right now, but you get the point).

They establish from the beginning that this is an all-encompassing scene of sorts. Him talking about the chances figuratively, her taking it literally and trying to do the math... that's the basis of them, that's how it always is. When she asks if he's going to stop her and he says he likes to watch her do the math shows the progression of their relationship: he may not be literal like her but he's come to a point where he can appreciate it, and by extension, her. The same with the literal and figurative comes again with the discussion of their different definitions of “magic”.

But then, moving on to the deep shit. He says he's angry. He's the first one to start talking about actually important things in this scene, because they've already gotten into it that day, and now they've had a couple drinks, and now they're completely alone without the possibility of Dr. Lance Say-It-Straightforward Sweets busting in on them. He needs to say this, and now he has the chance, so he does.

He reassures her that he's not angry at her, and my god, the look of terror on her face before that line and the sigh of relief she gives after that is one of my favorite moments of the whole damn scene. It is one of her biggest fears, I think, that he secretly resents her, hates her, is angry at her, for turing him down in the 100^th episode. Even now, I think she's afraid he's resenting her for that, and that thought worries her so much because back then, she felt she had no other option. She felt she had to say no, to save their relationship, to save herself, and most importantly, to save him. She was not strong enough then; she really had no control over her response. And so the idea that he's resenting her for that even though she had no choice is horrifying for her, especially now that she is so much stronger than she was then. And those fears were intensified a hundred times during his drunken rant in Doctor in the Photo.

So for him to say that he isn't angry at her is a huge relief.

And then Booth, the king of speaking through metaphor, through doublespeak, the king of talking about one thing when he really means something else, says to Brennan, the queen of doublespeak, “You know what we're talking about, right?” And she replies, “Yes.”

Now, they have talked straight-forward about their relationship before (albeit in small spurts), and they have talked through metaphor about their relationship before in ways that was so obvious that they both inarguably knew exactly what they were talking about... but never before, until now, have they started in that vague, metaphoric place and then both acknowledged, out loud, that they are talking about their relationship. They virtually destroy (for that moment, at least) one of their biggest shared defense mechanisms.

So, here we go. It's another new game.

Remember back when the hundredth episode aired how everyone said that now it was going to have to be Brennan to make the move next time?

When she says she doesn't believe in fate, even though she's like “but I know what we're talking about”, it's still a mini-blow to him. It's reminding him that although she's changed, she hasn't changed completely. And that's not to say that she has to start believing in fate for them to get together or anything, certainly not, but it just acts as an obstacle for Booth, another reason for him to close up, another reason for him to think they don't have any hope.

She has to be the one to make the move. And she realizes that; you see her physically realize that by her slightly aggravated breath out before she says “I'm improving”. She doesn't want to have to be the one to do it because it's not what she's used to, but she knows she must.

And then we have what is literally one of my favorite things in the world right now.

Impervious vs. strong.

She used to be impervious. Now, she is strong.

JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL.

I honestly think this is one of the more brilliant things ever on this show. Because it is completely, one hundred percent true. And for her to admit it means so much. It shows she has taken time, a LOT of time, for self-analysis, for psychological analysis of herself and her relationship with Booth and her life. She is letting him know that yes, before, he could not get to her emotionally, because she was impervious, and now, she is not. Now, he can get to her.

And then, she goes for it. She makes the move.

“...maybe someday, we could be together.”

Some of you might be upset that she didn't suggest they get together right then. But there's two things with that. 1) They COULDN'T get together right then. With the conversation they'd just had, him talking about how he's angry and needs time, and how she knows she still hasn't lost all of her imperviousness... you can't just say “oh well we should get together right now anyway lolollll”. In that moment, that option was shut off. That option does not exist for that moment. 2) She essentially IS suggesting they get together... just not at that very moment. She is suggesting they get together, though. She's saying it. And what makes it different now than from when Booth did it is that now they've both admitted their feelings.

Before we continue with it, though, we need to hold up a second for a little inconsistency clarification: But wait, didn't she just suggest earlier in this same episode that they couldn't work as a couple? What has changed between then and now? Well, a couple of things. One, this is a much more intimate moments. They have no chance of being walked in upon by Sweets (or anyone, for that matter), they're already talking about emotional things. And two, his reassurance to her that he isn't angry at her has a lot to do with it. She's been carrying around this fear that he's angry at her for awhile, including earlier in the elevator. Earlier, she still thought that he was probably angry at her. Now she knows he's not. Now she knows he doesn't hold a resentment against her that would make any sort of romantic relationship with them unable to happen.

But, anyway. So she suggests that maybe someday, they could be together. She makes the move.

And of course, he can't respond directly. That's too much right now, they've filled up their directness quota for awhile. In fact, they've just about hit their ~deep talking~ quota as well.

So he responds with an action. Write down the date and burn it.

And of course, she has to ask why and protest it, but he says “what can it hurt?”, and so she does it. They do it, together.

See, they've actually been in the process of getting together this whole time. It's just hapenning very slowly, and in steps. They indirectly admitted their sexual feelings for each other, then indirectly admitted their feelings for each other, then directly admitted their feelings for each other, and then directly admitted their sexual feelings for each other. (It actually isn't as clean-cut and step-by-step as I'm implying, I know, but for clarity's sake, this is essentially how it has happened.) Now, in this last scene, they have both admitted they want to be together – she said the words out loud, directly, and he did it through action, albeit indirectly, but as the too-true cliché goes, actions speak louder than words. All that is left is for them actually be together, which they can only do directly at this point, since they basically have been together indirectly for the past few years.

All that is left is the last step.

Granted, Hart Hanson will find some way to continue to stretch it out, but there is only one more full step for them to take.

And if you didn't get that enough from the scene itself, that shot of the lightbulb at the end couldn't have made it clearer: the light is now on for them.

(and let me just say how I thoroughly enjoyed the giant metaphor of the electricity being down, the lights not working, until they started talking things out: everything couldn't continue on forward until they started to continue on forward.)

I've never been so happy at the end of an episode before. Ever.

Because now, we're finally getting somewhere, for real.

“Eventually” is starting to become “now”.