In Which THEY'RE PREGNANT WHAT

Season 6, Episode 23
The Change in the Game

So you know how with some episodes, even though there are really awesome, intriguing, cute moments throughout, they just really don't seem to matter all that much in comparison to the end?

This is the epitome of those episodes, I feel.

I have to start by saying that I was actually (unwillingly) spoiled for the end a good long while before I could watch the episode, so it was a bit of a different experience for me, watching it.

But, nonetheless, what I think about it is the same regardless of whether I had gotten spoiled or not.

BUT A COUPLE THINGS FIRST:

-The look on her face when he suggests she be his undercover girlfriend. HER FACE. She is so pleased with this idea. And the way she looks away, still smiling, when she says “ok”... this is different than any other time she's played his undercover girlfriend. And Max totally knows what's up, as always.

-Just the fact that they're happy and not arguing and Max can tell there's a difference is just so awesome. And in case there are any people being like “OH BUT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BICKER THAT'S WHAT THEY DO THEY'RE NOT THE SAME WAH!”: if you seriously think they're never going to bicker, disagree, or argue ever again, this must be like the second episode you've ever seen of this show. I just like that they're so happy right now. They have a ~thing~ going on, whatever that thing might be, we don't know, but there's a thing and they're happy with it and with each other and IT'S VERY NICE. So just let them be happy for a bit.

-Even if I hadn't been spoiled, I feel I would have guessed Brennan was pregnant the first time she was like “If Buck and I had a child...” The fact that she's already concerned with what she does and doesn't want the child to be, even before she tells Booth (or anyone, I'm assuming), is completely perfect for her character and appropriate and I am just looking forward to Mommy!Bones so much I cannot even express it.

Ok, now, done with that, we go onto the last scene.

It's kind of a big deal, kind of, I guess, maybe, kind of.

Bones is pregnant with Booth's child.

.

.

.

UH HELLO THERE REALLY BIG WHOA (horse) MOMENT.

I stay away from most online Bones fandom nowadays, but I'm sure I'm safe in assuming that there are some people up in arms about this, for a plethora of reasons. But, frankly, it doesn't really matter how any one person thinks they should have gotten together. When you get a couple that has been such a long time coming together like this, there are always going to be some people who are disappointed by the manner in which it was executed. Everyone has their own distinct ideal way they wish they would get together. But just because they don't get together the way you think they should have, it doesn't mean the way it did happen is stupid or wrong or out of character or anything along those lines.

That said, I can bet there are some people who are upset mostly because they wanted to see them as a “real couple” for awhile before this happened. But, really, they've more or less been a “real couple” for quite awhile now. Go to nearly ANY post for any episode, and I'll have noted something they did that was couple-y (or, in many cases, have a paragraph or two explaining why they are basically already a couple). It would be redundant, almost, for them to go that route, because everything would basically be the same. It is through this now where we'll get to see a new side of their relationship, a new side of them as individuals.

So, yes, I think it makes sense that TPTB went this route with the situation, and I'm SUPER happy about it, and excited to see how everything unfolds.

I have some concerns, though. Mostly about what this will mean about them working together. TPTB have found some nice loopholes in the past (the bowling team the murder victim was on was ~luckily~ the same team Max is on! How convenient!), but honestly, I'm not entirely sure how they could get away with the FBI allowing Booth and Bones to continue to work together when is the the father of the child currently in her uterus. Unless they keep it a secret from everyone, but that can only last so long. And then that delves into deeper questions – what if they do hide it? What does that mean for them? What if they don't, what if the FBI severs their partnership temporarily, or even permanently? Is it the same show if they don't work together? Is it worth it, to see them pregnant and happy together, if it means we no longer get to see them as partners? What, exactly, makes it worth it or not worth it?

Honestly, until we know how they're going to handle it, there's not much of a point delving into these questions, but I am concerned about it, and it'll be interesting to see which route TPTB take with this one, and how they go about justifying that route.

Also, the fact that we did not get to see, at the very least, the conversation/actions leading up to them deciding to have sex that night, makes me kind of sad. Note – not outraged, furious, not even actually “sad”. Just “kind of sad”. Like the way one might be if a performer they like did a show in their town and they found out about it after the fact. Vague disappointment, but nothing really affecting or lasting. I haven't read anyone else's opinions about it, but I can imagine that there might be some out there who feel we were “robbed” of getting to see the scene where they officially get together – that after all this time, we deserve at least that. And honestly, I can understand that. But, not only do you not know what will happen in the future of the show (I wouldn't be surprised at all if they had a flashback and actually have that scene either during the episode where she gives birth or the series finale, whenever that should be), but also, I think it is kind of fitting that, stylistically, TPTB decided to give their ~getting together~ little fanfare. They have seriously been through SO fucking much at this point, this has been building up for so long, that it would have been simply absurd if they never got together. It was so expected to happen, that stylistically, it makes sense the actual event wouldn't be conveyed as the be all and end all of everything ever.

(and even if we never get to see that scene, well, that is for what fanfiction was made.)

There's still one main thing we haven't gotten to yet, in regards to them getting together. We have yet to see them kiss post-both of them accepting and acknowledging their feelings for each other. We've seen them kiss in the coma dream, when they were drunk and about to have sex but didn't really know each other, when Booth couldn't hold his feelings for her in any longer but she wasn't ready to accept her feelings for him... I just, I want to see those feelings, those newly fully-embraced feelings, expressed through their physical connection. That is the ultimate for these two, because their emotional connection does so much to inform their physical connection, and vice-versa.

Speaking of which, though, remember that scene in season 2, when Bones' boyfriend sailed off into the sunset without her, and Booth showed up and was saying that someday she would eventually get made sick to her stomach by all the bodies she deals with, and she says she doesn't vomit, and he tells her to give it time, that everything happens eventually, and she says really, and he says yes, all the stuff you think never happens, it happens. You just have to be ready for it.

"Eventually" is (finally, finally, FINALLY), now.

The episode title did not lie – this is a pretty major “change in the game”. And so I encourage all fans to keep that in mind over the summer – change. The game has been changed yet again, which most likely means more changes along the way. Things will probably be different next season. Try to get used to the idea beforehand. The show has been through major changes before, and everything was fine. Keep your perspective in place.

And if that doesn't work, just remember – after going through The Plot Device Formerly Known as Hannah Burley, most anything else is a breeze.

Although I won't be posting again (most likely) until the new season, I will be checking the comments and responding to them periodically! My email is humanoid24601 at gmail dot com should you want to get in touch with me in that format.

Have a magnificent summer, every one of you.

-Leila

In Which There Is Just TOO DAMN MUCH For a Title

Season 6, Episode 22
The Hole in the Heart

(Blogger was down from noon PST til late last night. I was not pleased.)

Ok. Ok.

First, just a little something before the HOLY SHIT DID THAT JUST HAPPEN LET ME DIE moment(s): How he’s immediate to tell her she’s staying at his apartment, how she’s so ok with it and ok to obey him because she knows him well enough to know when to fight him and when to not, etc. etc., I know this happens all the time with them, and I know I mention it every time, but really, I just have to note it.

Let’s talk about the fact that she’s wearing his sweatshirt to bed. She’s lying out on his couch, alone, unable to sleep because she’s tortured by all these thoughts about Vincent, she doesn’t know what to think… and she’s wearing his sweatshirt. A sweatshirt that probably smells like him, or at the very least, whatever laundry soap he uses, which I’m sure she associates with him.

This is actually really irrelevant to everything, and is nothing more than pure conjecture, but whatever, I like the thought.

Anyway. This scene is just TOO DAMN MUCH. So, we go through it bit by bit.

“Come here, no no no, Bones, you’ve got this all wrong.”

She’s standing there, crying, saying she’s a horrible person because she thinks Vincent thoughts she was making him go away. And he can’t stand to see her like that. So much that he doesn’t just tell her she’s wrong, he physically pulls her down, closer to him.

(to those who were complaining about how he didn’t comfort her more in Doctor in the Photo, there’s your make-up  for that, take it or leave it. It upset him then to see her upset, and it upsets him now. It’s just that now, he can actually do something about it, and before, he could not.)

Really though, most of the actual conversation isn’t too important in regards to them, until afterward. They’ve said all that can be said at the point, but this… this is just too much for her. Words are not enough.

Just a “Can you just…?”, and he automatically responds “Yeah. That’s why I’m here”, annnnnd they fall into bed.

Now, what I originally wrote, while first watching this, was:

“Sflasdhfuishdfuisdhuifhsduifhsuidfhsuifhs fdeath forever”

(I know it doesn’t seem like it, but “death forever” is actually a good thing.)

Time to translate to Normal Person English.

This is a Very Big Thing for them. It’s more or less the closest they’ve been physically, and emotionally, well, it’s a pretty big thing to sob against someone’s chest while lying in their bed.

Remember what I was saying last episode about how they’ve reached a point where they are more or less comfortable with their intimacy? Yep, this is the consequence of it.

And a lovely (or ridiculously awesome, whatever, same thing) consequence it is.

 

They’ve been building this up so much til now, all this being-comfortable-with-their-intimacy stuff, that it’s not even a big deal that she does this, at all. She needs comfort, he has it to give.

And the very end. She’s sobbing in his arms, and he’s holding her, and you’re sitting at home flipping your shit. Which means you might have missed a subtle yet significant change in action. She’s sobbing, sobbing, sobbing… and then, she calms down a little. She rests her hand more flat on his chest. She turns her head so her head is on its side. She’s not sobbing anymore; she’s just lying in his arms. And he knows it. And they’re both just laying there, with each other. No excuses of “Oh well I was so emotional, that’s why I did that” can be used anymore.

That’s pretty fucking huge.

(and really though, not to belittle Vincent’s death or Brennan’s feelings about it any way, but I wouldn’t be surprised if part of why Brennan was so emotional (and part of what pushed her to get into bed with Booth) was her thinking about what if it HAD been Booth, as Brodski had intended. Again, it’s conjecture (yikes, I’ve been doing that a bit too much lately, haven’t I?), but it does make sense. Those thoughts of if it had been Booth would logically morph into feelings of being so grateful that it wasn’t him, and therefore would make her boundaries with him, both physical and emotional, less sturdy and inflexible.)

And now, we must tackle the really expensive (“million dollar” is so overused) question:

DID THEY HAVE SEX?

AND I HAVE THE ANSWER!

THE ANSWER IS…

~drumroll~

.

.

.

We can’t know for sure.

At least, not until one of them outright SAYS it (although, even then, who the fuck knows, Booth might still actually be in the coma and this is all one really long coma dream. Near anything is possible with this show.)

BUT, here’s the thing.

There is the long pause after Angela asks Brennan what happened with her and Booth,

and the look between Angela and Brennan once it’s revealed that Booth got Brodski,

and Brennan linking her arm in Booth’s at the end,

and Angela looking at them when Brennan puts her arm in Booth’s.

They didn’t give us one telling pause/look/moment like normal, they gave us FOUR.

And plus all that, there’s the clocks. In the sex scene in the season 4 finale, it was 4:47. Check the clock at the beginning of the scene when she goes to his room in this episode – yep, 4:47.

(The first thing I thought when I realized this was “Hart Hanson, you magnificent son of a bitch.” (which is basically what I always think in regards to him, so.)

So, really, with all of this in consideration, it’s more than likely that they did, indeed, have sex. I won’t say for sure, though, because if there’s one surefire way to dig yourself a hole you can’t get out of with this show, it is to expect or to assume anything.

Even so, though, yeah, basically, they had sex.

Now, as there always are, I’m sure there’s some people out there who aren’t happy about this. “But but but I wanted their getting together to be a big deal!!!” First, we don’t really know if this is actually them “getting together”. It’s likely that they did have sex, yes, but we really don’t know what their “status” is. Yes, they might see themselves as “together” now. They also might not. They might see it as a friends-with-benefits situation. Or a situation that they just don’t want to label. Beyond that, though, I quote something I said earlier: “They’ve been building this up so much til now, all this being-comfortable-with-their-intimacy stuff, that it’s not even a big deal that she does this, at all.” The same goes for their getting together, I believe. It’s not to say that their getting together, with everything behind it and much of a long time coming it has been, etc., isn’t a big deal, but really… because there IS so much behind, because it’s been such a long time coming, it’s not a huge deal that it happens, because it’s so damn expected. We expect it. The squint squad expects it. Even THEY expect it, on some level. So for it to finally happen is just the next natural step (albeit a BIG step, but just the next step nonetheless).

And then there’s the “I don’t want them having sex for the first time just because she’s crying, just because Vincent’s died!” And that is actually pretty understandable. I get it. But, see… I feel like this was kind of necessary (or at least just needed, for a less absolute term) for this to happen at all. Brennan says “I think I did it because of Vincent” when she’s talking to Angela about getting into bed with Booth. Again, not to belittle his death in the slightest, but I think (going on the notion that they DID have sex), that acted as a catalyst for the both of them. Someone they both know just died right in front of them. They are in danger mode. Broadski is still out there. For all they know, he could be on a building aiming at them right then. Vincent’s dead, and there’s a still a chance that Booth might die, or Brennan even. From what she said about her thinking Vincent thinking she was horrible, it’s likely Brennan is regretting not appreciating him more, not being nicer to him, etc., and we all know her deal with regrets after Doctor in the Photo. It’s also possible that she’s simultaneously thinking about what if it was Booth as was intended, or what if it ends up being Booth? It is also possible that Booth is thinking of what if Brodski had shot at Brennan instead, or what if he decides to go after her next. The stakes for both of them at this point are basically as high as it gets in a non-immediate situation. And because of that, their guards are down as much as they’ve been in awhile. Either one of them could get shot by Brodski still. And as they’ve both learned, they do not want to have any regrets. They’ve both figured how it’s stupid to wait, despite their faults and concerns and walls, when it could all be over any minute.

The stakes are what did it.

(That’s not an absolute argument, because duh, of course there are other ways they could have had sex for the first time that involve no tears or death and it would still be entirely believable. It’s really not so much an argument as just an explanation about why I think this is a perfectly valid way for them to have sex for the first time.)

EDIT (5/16/11): I realize this is a very open thing, as of right now. Really, it could go either way. I've heard many convincing and valid arguments saying they did not have sex, and I acknowledge that it's entirely, 100% possible that that is true. However, based on what was shown in the episode, I believe the most logical theory is that they did have sex. I very well might be wrong, but based on what we know now, it's the theory that makes the most sense to me.

Now, normally, I would sum everything up, but I feel like that would just be redundant at this point, considering the lengthiness of this post.

Instead, I leave you with a mini-recap of their last on-screen moment of the episode:

So Vincent Nigel-Murray is being driven off, and everyone is leaving, and she slips her arm around his. Without looking, mind you. Without really even hesitating. And her reaching out for comfort in an affectionate manner like that in public is a very big step for her. Sex or no sex, they did experience more intense intimacy than ever before the night prior, even in the unlikely event that it went no farther than what they saw, and her arm-linkage is a result of that.

But, anyway. She stays staring off at the car as she does it, even though her eyes to flit down and away for a second, in a very “yes, I am actually doing this right now” manner. But it’s just for a split second, and her eyes go back to Vincent Nigel-Murray.

Booth, on the other hands, knows what we know, that it’s an unusual thing for her to just grab his arm like that in front of people. So much so that he actually looks down at their entwined arms when she does it, and when he brings his face back up – a slight smile.

And despite whatever activities it came from, this, her putting her arm in his, is a new thing, for her, for them. And they’re happy with it.

(also, is it bad that I alternately yell “HELL YEAH!” and “AHHHH!” whenever I watch her put her arm in his? No? Good.)

In Which Their ~Moment~ Is Different Than Usual

Season 6, Episode 21
The Signs in the Silence

To start off, let me just say that THIS little exchange:

“…and then BANG! Mama Bones!”

“That’s not how it happens, Booth.”

“I think that’s how it works.”

Made me laugh more than it probably should have.

(and also it’s not that important, but the fact that they’re buying a JOINT present for the baby makes me happier than it probably should. Actually, that goes for whenever they do any sort of couple-like thing.)

Anyway.

There actually isn’t all that much else, really, until the final scene. He’s quick to attack for her, yes, and it’s lovely, yes, but that’s something that has been true for a loooooooooong time, so.

(In a rare non-B&B related note, Hodgins reacting to Angela going into labor by going “OH GOD! OK! BABY! OK! BABY! BABY!” was one of my favorite things to happen on this show in a long time. That is all.)

And then, the final scene. Booth and Brennan sharing ~feelings~ is always good times.

“Ok. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

You know had this happened at the beginning of the series, it would have taken her a lot longer to say that in this situation. Season 1 Brennan wouldn’t have thought to be considerate about his feelings, wouldn’t have taken it into account, would have been solely focused on her goal of making her point. Now, she’s realized that, in the long run, it might be better to backtrack a little if she upsets him, even if it slows down her process of making her point.

And then, that silence in the end. That silent moment.

Honestly, I don’t really know what it was about. And I don’t think the point of it was whatever it was about.

They had a moment. A silent, looking-at-each-other, emotionally charged moment. A moment like many they’ve had before. Except, before, they were always interrupted by someone else, or they interrupted it themselves. This time, they had it, it happened, Brennan sort of blinked in a ~finishing~ way, and it ended. They didn’t interrupt it. They silently acknowledged it, and let it happen. Which is more than they’ve ever done before.

There’s also the title of the episode we need to consider here: “The Signs in the Silence”. Yes, it has to do with the case in the episode, of course, but their silent moment at the end conveyed as significant enough at least to theorize what it might mean if the episode title also has to do with B&B as well.

And, basically, should it have anything to do with B&B, it means most likely that that ~silent moment~ meant something, something pretty important, considering it is part of the episode title. I feel like, at this point, the biggest thing we can derive from it is a new level of comfort between the two. They’ve grown more and more comfortable over the years, yes, but this is a new level. Before, they were always walking on eggshells around the matters of their physical attraction and their romantic connection. That was the one area in which they were not comfortable with each other. This marks a change in that. Their “moments” have always been a mark of their intimacy, an intimacy they were always uncomfortable with, hence them always rushing themselves through their own moments. 

Now… they’re comfortable with it. They let it happen.

And that comfort with their intimacy could be one of the final (or even THE final) push to open the door all the way for them.

In Which Booth Goes Commando

Season 6, Episode 20

The Pinocchio in the Planter

An episode revolving around truth and lies on this show is basically destined to be… well, to be something. And this episode definitely was.

The beginning of the lie discussion, in the diner – he says he has never lied to her (which, even before Sweets responded, I was thinking “hahaha BULLSHIT!”). Of course he has lied to her. And she has to him, too, although she won’t admit it.

Brennan is incredibly adamant about how people shouldn’t lie, despite the fact that she herself has definitely done it on multiple accounts. It makes sense, though – knowing the way Brennan thinks, she probably doesn’t have the same hard-and-fast rule when it comes to lying by omission, which is most of what she’s done in regards to lying.

Second, she’s always been less aware of her feelings for him than he has been in his feelings for her (yes, that is a matter of opinion, but read on), so she probably doesn’t realize she’s lied (by omission) as much to him as he has to her because she wasn’t aware she was lying. And this adds to the opinion that it is Booth that Gordon Gordon is talking about in when he’s saying that one of them is very aware of their attraction and struggles with it daily in “Mayhem on a Cross”. Booth is the one who says “well, if people didn’t have feelings, but they do.” Booth is the proponent for telling white lies because he’s done it for so damn long with her. She hasn’t because she wasn’t aware of it for a long time, therefor it’s not a lie, because it’s not really lying if you don’t know it’s a lie.

And then, that marvelous last scene (one of the better ones in awhile):

“I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Lying to spare my feelings?”

“Maybe it’s to spare my feelings.”

Once we know what he is specifically indicating, applying it to the whole non-specific is a lot easier.

But first, there’s Brennan asking if she’s really abrasive. Here, we have an arguable point – it’s quite possible that she is asking Booth simply because she wants to know what he thinks of her, what he thinks of her abrasiveness. However, because of the way that moment was played, I’m keener to go with the idea that she really is asking him if she is abrasive, that she was lying to Wendell when she said she was well aware that she is. Yes, she obviously knows is abrasive to some extent before it is ever even brought up, but I think Wendell bringing it up makes her question just how abrasive she is, that perhaps she is more abrasive than she actually thinks herself to be. When she asks Booth about it, it’s not in the simple “I’m not really asking you I just want to know what you think of me” way – she is really asking him.

“I didn’t lie to you, I just didn’t tell you just how much it meant to me.”

“Why is it so difficult to tell me something I already know?”

“It’s hard to explain.”

Alright, now bringing the “spare my feelings” dialogue from earlier and connecting it to this. Why would he not tell her just how much it meant to him? To “spare his feelings”. Or, in other words, to spare himself from being open and vulnerable to her again. After what happened in the 100^th episode, it would make sense that it would be extremely difficult for him to open himself up completely to her – he doesn’t want to get hurt again. But, he has told her, now – he’s getting less protective again. Things are changing.

(also, less importantly because it is less able to be backed-up, I also kind of see that whole exchange as a very indirect apology on Booth’s part for how he treated her that night. He could have chosen from several lies, I’m willing to bet, but he chose that one partly because, I think, he realizes how mean he was that night, and he wants her to know that it really did mean a lot to him that she stayed with him, despite how angry he was. Now, this comes from no more than maybe the vibe I got from one or two line readings, so I don’t declare it to be likely or even probable, but it’s just an idea I’m throwing out there.)

“Some things are better left unsaid.”
“To the things that we don’t say.”

Well, they have a LOT to toast to, then.

In Which This Really Shouldn't Even Be Its Own Post

Season 6, Episode 19

The Finder

Really, this shouldn’t even be its own post. Considering the main purpose of this episode, there were very few scenes with the Bones team in general, let alone B&B moments.

However, there are a couple things to note:

-The finder asking Booth and Brennan if they’re sleeping together. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that hasn’t happened as much as it used to since Hannah happened, and now that she’s gone, it’s happening again.

-The science fair medal. Or, specifically, the fact that he knows about the medal. Or, even more specifically, the fact that all he has to say is “the thing you won and lost” and she knows what he’s talking about. I mean, honestly, they could have it where they have an example of just how well they know each other by bring up one of these little things from their past every damn episode, and it would still make me happy. And it would still mean something, as well. Every time they bring one of these things up, every time they show just how much they know about each other, they increase the normalcy of it more and more, which can definitely help in them getting together.

In Which They Don't Make Any Sense At All

Season 6, Episode 18

The Truth in the Myth

Oh, car scenes. You're always such a good way to get a conversation started with these two.

“...the backside of YOUR moon!”

And how she's laughing SO HARD at her own jokes.

But then he's looking at her as she's laughing at her own jokes... and he gets that Booth-y look on his face again. It's happened dozens of times. She's doing something silly, and she's looking somewhere else, and so he can get away with stealing an admiring glance at her, so he does. When she's trying to be funny or is acting silly, he has these moments of mini-realizations of how 1) she CAN be “human” and silly and “normal” sometimes, and 2) how she's changed and grown to gotten to that place. Every time, he realizes it a little more. It's a mix of admiration, fondness, a touch of amusement, and, of course, love. It's his Booth-y look at her. And it's glorious, watching it appear.

Then, the diner scene. Nothing really notable, until:

“You're no different than the people who were certain the sun revolved around the earth.”

And the look on her face after he says that, her defense – she is NOT happy that he says this.

It brings up an interesting point – in “The Killer in the Crosshairs”, there was a lot of Brennan bringing up the similarities between Booth and the sniper, and Booth feeling majorly upset over it, because he uses her as a sort of mirror for him to evaluate his own personality, because to him, she's the most accurate “mirror” for him because he thinks so highly of her.

Three episodes later, we've got the same thing going on, but reversed – she's using HIM now. Even certain, impervious Brennan if affected GREATLY by Booth's opinion of her. It's just with this instance, the result of this reaction is different. With Booth, he just lets it effect him and pesters Brennan about it until she re-phrases her thoughts to get down to the essence of what she really meant. With Brennan, it drives her to research and find evidence to prove that she was technically right, but also that she believes him (and of COURSE she reacts this way – it IS Brennan, after all). But still, the fact that she let it bother her enough to do all that work is blatantly telling.

Like he said, it was a LOT of research that she did.

The rest of the episode is fairly quiet on the B&B front, until when they're leaving the bar. And he reveals he didn't really see the Yetti.

Or did he?

And cue the always-amusing Confused!Brennan.

Their discussions of ideology and epistemology, and how they both try to change the other in regards to that, has always been one of the best parts of their dynamic, in my opinion, and this discussion was no exception.

And finally, they bring that conversation, to them.

“...it's like us. We don't make any sense at all.”

HELLO THERE, FAVORITE LINE OF THE EPISODE.

See, this line is exciting for several reasons. First, he's stating what we've always known about them, one of the reasons we're so damn invested in them – they don't make any sense together. That's part of what makes it just so awesome. And to have one of them actually say that out loud is pretty satisfying.

Second, bringing up discussion of “them” in any way is good, because they aren't used to doing that. Any time they talk about “them” in any way, as partners, friends, romantic interests, whatever, it's a whole ~big thing~ for them. It's difficult for them, because discussion of “them” even just as friends will so-very-easily lead to discussion of “them” romantically, and for so long they've been practically hardwired to avoid that as much as possible. So them acknowledging something about them as “them” (convoluted sentences for the win?) in a casual way like that is a move in the right direction.

And third, and most importantly – here, he is basically proving false both their fears that they wouldn't “work” if they were together because they're so different. It's a subject they've both brought up before, and one of the main reasons it's taking so long for them to get together - despite their feelings for each other, they think they just wouldn't work as a couple, practically. But he says it right there – the hard evidence doesn't always determine what's true and what isn't. Because even though on paper they're as different as can be, in reality, in actual practice, they do work together. The fact that they are a “they” doesn't make any sense at all, theoretically. But alas, they are still a “they”. They are still a unit, if you will. And while you can't definitively say yay or nay in regards to this, with the way he said it, I think it's implied that he meant “we” at least partly in a romantic sense. I believe he was talking about “them” as a whole, and at this point, since especially recently they have openly discussed “them” in a romantic sense, “them” as a whole includes “them” romantically.

Now he's said it. And she's heard it. And they both know it.

Steps are still being taken.

With the cab, I would say that I'm not sure they put it in purposefully, to parallel with the 100^th episode and the season 5 finale and such, but the fact that they had her turn around and look at him once she was in the cab and driving away, just like the other times, pushes me over the line slightly to believing it was purposeful. As for that purpose, honestly, I think it's just a reassurance to the viewers that things are going in the right direction. The first two times she gets in the cab and leaves him standing there (yes, it's a metaphor of how she leaves him behind in their relationship), it has a very sad connotation both times. This time, it's right after he's said this awesome thing about them, and they're laughing, and she gives him a light-hearted “good night” before she drives away. It's not a bad thing this time.

Things are still changing. They're still changing.

They're getting there.

In Which She Thinks His Socks Are Silly

Season 6, Episode 17

The Feet on the Beach

Oh Bones. Some things about you will never chance.

Like how, the episode after a ~big event~, B&B act like nothing happened.

Which is understandable. It's how it's always been. It's how they function.

Although with this one, it's not as bad because they also include another one of their “usual” things – Booth making fun of her for her over-objective thinking skills over someone's feelings (“how about you try being a person?”) and she protests that her prioritization is correct. It shows they still have that tension, that disagreement – without it, they're as good as dead.

“He's a grown man.”

“Sometimes it makes that worse.”

And alas, another thing “Bones” does, and does well: Alluding to said previous ~big event~ later in the episode after in the most indirect yet certain of ways. With a grown man, it's worse. Booth feels that it's worse for him to get rejected like that, to be angry at Brennan. And it also acts as a way for Booth to get through to Brennan over the whole Philmore issue, to get her to parallel Booth with Philmore so that she can be more open to the whole thing. Because with Booth, she sees things differently.

“I know the kind of person that you are and I think you should let other people in on the secret too.”

The look on her face, the look on his once she looks away... see, that's the thing with them: you can literally SEE them affecting each other.

The ending wasn't all that juicy, no. But back in season four I was talking about how they have to balance REALLY BIG MONUMENTAL THINGS with smaller, cuter and less monumental things. Especially right after possibly the BIGGEST MOST MONUMENTAL HAPPENING FOR THEM EVER.

So juicy, no, but flat-fucking-ADORABLE? Oh, yes.

And it had one of my absolutely favorite little details about their relationship: how she notices all these little things about him and always says them without thinking of or realizing what her knowledge of them AT ALL implies. The thing about the coffee.

She notices him.

(This is nothing new, of course, but the reminders pf it are always lovely.)

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”. 

In Which She's Standing Right Beside Him

Season 6, Episode 15

The Killer in the Crosshairs

Let me just say first off that I absolutely adore the fact that I no longer have begin watching a new episode in fear that the first scene will be a Booth/Hannah cutesy and/or sex scene. I VERY much like that.

And let me continue on with talking about that first scene. And the fact that he appears out of nowhere and is running with her. Now, we can assume that, being the close “partners” they are, he's known for awhile that she runs in this area around this time. And so he just decides to sneak up on his “partner” one day and go running with her. No big deal, right?

They get to the coffee cart, and he's won, so he says. But no, she tries to claims she won using science, and he calls her on it, of course, but he's a humble winner, so he buys the coffee. But only because he's a humble winner, because they're just “partners”.

And then, there's the war lecture. Oh, he'll go with her to that, if she wants some “company”. But... it's a LECTURE, Booth. A fancy-smarty-pants lecture. “But it's war!” he says, as he brushes it off. And so it gets dropped.

But, um. It's a LECTURE.

Do “partners” go to lectures with their partner even though it's the last thing they would normally do in their spare time, only in order to give their partner “company”?

Juuuuuuust saying.

(This'll come up again later.)

Then there's this whole business of her pointing out to him all his similarities to the sniper. And of course, this upsets Booth. So why does Bones do it, then? Well, first, she's Bones, and doesn't always get that she maybe shouldn't say things, no matter how logical, if it is upsetting someone. Second, though, I think she doesn't relent on it because, out of love, she knows she has to keep him honest. Not that there's anything to be kept honest about, but what I mean is that there ARE parallels between Booth and the sniper, and he needs to be confronted with them in order to affirm for himself that he is better than Broadski. In his subconscious, he knows that these parallels exist, but he can't allow himself to think about them, even though he needs to do so. So Brennan makes him.

And then we have a Protective!Booth moment to rid the mind of the complicatedness of all that, though, when he insists she stay in the car, and also a Defiant!Brennan moment when she's like “OH HEY RAVENS!” and jumps out of the car without hesitation.

But, uh-oh, Booth's having some ~serious~ times. He goes to Sweets, he's upset that Bones thinks killing is nothing for him. He cares what she thinks about him.

But when Sweets suggests he talk to Brennan about it?

“I don't go there anymore, it's over.”

Oh, yeah, Booth, you definitely don't go there anymore. Not at all. That's why you're so upset because you think she thinks poorly of your character. That's why you're going with her to a lecture you would never go to otherwise, just because you want to keep her company.

Yeah, sure, it's “over”.

It's ok, though, because his worry is (at least temporarily) put to ease in the ~super-intense~ scene when they're shooting at Broadski. When he asks her just to trust him, and she says “I trust you.”

She doesn't think he's bad, she doesn't think he thinks killing is “nothing”. She trusts him, not just in general, when everything's fine, but in that high-stakes, make-or-break moment. Even in life-or-death situations, she trusts him. And he gets that.

And, as always, we have the aftermath scene. Founding Fathers. And Booth is still upset that she thinks him and Broadski are alike.

(Let me just say first though that although they didn't make it into a moment or anything, when she says “You can't say 'forget it' to your partner, you taught me that”, I melt into a puddle of fandork goo because I love anytime they talk about him teaching her things.)

She breaks it down for him: from where she stands, Broadski is bad and Booth is good.

And he accepts that, because even though he still can't quite deal with the fact that they have any similarities at all, he can see that that is not what matters. What matters is that she thinks he is good and Broadski is bad.

And then, the big one. The Hart Hanson “I'm going to make those fandorks squee like hell” line.

“I'm standing right beside you, Booth, as always. And I always will.”

I, for one, take this as not just a promise from Brennan, but a statement from TPTB (which they have been doing off and on all season, really): even if it seems like shit's going bad for them, they will still have hope, because they will always be there for each other.

She is standing beside him, now, and always.

In Which It's A Valentine's Day Massacre

Season 6, Episode 14
The Bikini in the Soup


Who's got two thumbs, speaks limited Spanish, and got out of rehearsal early so she got to watch the show this week actually when it aired?

THIS GAL!

So, I've noticed something: every time something goes down (the hundredth episode, doctor in the photo, and now Booth's drunken ultimatum) with them, afterward, the next day, episode, whatever it is, they are perfectly fine, they act like everything is ok, except in their first case. During their first case, after he tried to fire her after getting her drunk and they made out but she wouldn't go home with him and that whole thing, they blew completely UP at each other the next day. And that is the only time (that we know of) when that has happened. With all the other shit they've been through, shit way worse than that first case, they hardly say a peep to each other about it the next day, if anything at all.

It makes sense, though. In that first case, they weren't in love. They could sense their attraction, obviously, and Booth definitely sensed that they could have more than that attraction, but they didn't know each other like they did at the end of season two, three, five. And so when both their personalities and values got insulted by the other, they didn't have much to lose by laying it all out on them. They didn't have this partnership, this underlying bond, to lose yet.

Now, they do. They have everything to lose.

So they stay quiet.

But enough about that. Let's talk about Cam's little slip. The “I'm not that much older than you and I have someone” line.

COME ON, CAM. REALLY NOW.

But, oh no. Look at Bones. Very little reaction, physically, at least. “No, you're correct”. Oh, Bones. :(

Her lack of a larger physical reaction, though, is not a good sign. It means she's going back into herself, going back to compartmentalizing, hyper-rationality, etc. Which, again, makes sense, considering what just happened to her with Booth, and her not even having Booth to talk about it with.

(also, not saying that Booth can't hold his liquor, but with how utterly drunk he was, I wonder how much he actually remembers about that conversation. Obviously, he'll probably remember at least talking to Brennan, but whether he remembers the specifics, or the ultimatum itself, at all... I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't remember it all, or if it was at the very least fuzzy.)

Now, I'm not sure there's much really to be derived from it, but the phrase of “moved on” with Booth is an interesting thing. That's what it was with Brennan - “I've got to move on” - and now he's saying it again with Hannah - “I've moved on.” Yes, it's a common phrase for getting past an unsuccessful relationship... but there could be something there, I believe. Perhaps in the fact that with Brennan, if my memory is serving me right, he never actually said he had “moved on” from her until he met Hannah, and now with the Hannah break-up, just an episode later, he's said he's “moved on”.

Curious.

Just saying.

“Are you happy?” “I'm happy!”

I remember this part, I don't remember the context, all I wrote while it was happening was “CUTE!”, so. There you go. CUTE.

Unrelated to B&B, but Brennan after Booth is all “Has your acting gotten better?” is one of the most adorable things I've seen all week.

It just needed to be said.

And then, finally, the end. The scene those of us who read spoilers have been waiting for for weeks to find out exactly what activity they would be doing that was “very Booth and Brennan” when they “spent Valentine's Day together, alone.”

Honestly, I feel dumb for not figuring it out earlier.

Of COURSE they are going to shoot together on Valentine's Day. Of COURSE.

Her giving him a Valentine's Day gift is something on which to be ruminated, though, considering the last episode.

Two possibilities pop out to me (there are more than two, obviously, but these two are the most obviously possible): 1) She's going back into herself, like I said earlier, denying everything, denying her feelings, denying what happened has any effect on her, and so, just treats it like any normal time, treating Booth as she would any other time were he to break up with someone he loved, or 2) She knows he was drunk. She believes, or wants to believe, he didn't actually entirely mean what he said, and she thinks that even if he did mean it, that she'll take it, because losing him in general is infinitely worse than losing him as a romantic prospect. And she understands that he's in a horrible, awful place right now. She's sensitive (Brennan, sensitive?! Gasp!) to his needs. And so she brings him 1920's guns as a valentine's gift.

Were this to have happened pre-6.09, I'd probably go with option one as most likely.

But not now. Not after she had that breakthrough. I still believe she is logical, rational, etc., and I still believe after emotional events, like the last episode, she will temporarily go back into robot-mode (at least on the outside), but I think now it is temporary and fleeting, as opposed to the beginning of this season, where it just got progressively worse and worse.

So she brings him his guns. And they shoot. And talk in 1920's slang.

And he looks at her. He has a prolonged look at her.

I repeat:

PROLONGED LOOK AT HER.

There's the money shot, kiddos. That's always the sign, moreso than anything, than his words, than his cocky belt buckle. His prolonged looks at her are always the giveaway, because he cannot control them. He has never been able to keep his eyes off her. And he still can't.

Ultimatum?

What ultimatum?

See you in three weeks.