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.