Release the hounds!
Jun. 4th, 2010 04:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mistletoeThe subject line has nothing to do with the post I just like the phrase. So remember Season 4? It seems so long ago now and so much has happened since that it's almost like a different show. Anyway, we are up to one of the steepest learning curves Brennan essayed in that season with Con man in the Meth Lab. I have quite a bit of meta here, not surprising really as I almost know the episode off by heart.
First of all the title has more significance than just an indicator of the episodes content. We have several conmen on display within in the episode. As with many conmen some of them are charming and worm their way into lives by using that charm. They appear honest and even upstanding members of a community who apparently earn an honest living. Underneath, however, there is a rotten core that infects the people near them with their lies and failings. Why hello Jared!
Brennan is in Sweets office waiting for Booth at the start. She is calm, and when Booth arrives immediately shows her knowledge of him. a) she assumed he was late because of traffic or work. That proves to be correct. b) she knows about the RICO case even though it is a secret whereas Sweets, who works for the FBI doesn't. c) when Booth gets a phone call from 'Jared' she knows that he is Booth's brother . All of this shows she knows more about Booth and his personal life than we may have been led to believe before.
Booth for his part is bouncing with excitement. It will be his birthday soon and he is going to reward himself for this success in the RICO case with a holiday in Hawaii and Shark Adventures. Plenty of recognition from the FBI too including 'My face on a coin'. Plenty of shiny baubles and a crown then. A call to a case precludes further revelations, but it is apparent the alpha male is about to leave the building.
Brennan is now placed in her correct milieu: with Booth, on a case, examining a rotting corpse. The police instructor proves to be a bit of a wuss in comparison not only to Booth, but to Brennan too. Back at the lab work continues efficiently until Booth turns up with Jared in tow. Brennan is immediately impressed. Plenty of shiny baubles in evidence here - and a uniform of a Lt. Commander. Also bone structure that is even more symmetrical than Booth's.
BRENNAN: Definitely. (Jared laughs) I was thinking how Booth would be bored, at a function like this.
JARED: This kind of event would make Seeley very nervous. I don’t mean he’s incapable, my brother’s very very capable. It’s just, it’s like Seeley’s afraid of success. He stays in his comfort zone. Drove our dad nuts. (He sips his drink).
BRENNAN: Really?
JARED: Maybe that’s what made him a good sniper. He doesn’t like to be visible above the ridge line so he keeps his head low – instinct. Me on the other hand, well I cannot help but run that ridge.
BRENNAN: Can you give me an example?
(Jared leans in and kisses her)
JARED: I bet you Seeley never took that risk.(Oh really?)
BRENNAN: Nope. (Liar)
JARED: (They clink glasses.) To a good night.
BRENNAN: Yes, so far.
Ignoring the retconned kiss from The Parts in the Sum of the Whole, this exchange reveals a side of Booth we and Brennan have not considered. Was he just a good sniper because he didn't dare fight in an open battle? Was he afraid of success? Did he not take risks like kissing Brennan? What will Brennan do in response?
Well, she doesn't sleep with Jared thank heavens or I don't know what Booth would have done. Indeed she is super-rational in the face of an aghast Angela and a concerned Cam, while Booth is worried where she is. Angela is pretty clear what she thinks of Jared, while Brennan is still operating on face value and the evidence she has about Jared. What she thinks of Booth will become clear and this was where I felt the writers let her down in favour of plot devices.
Anyway, Angela and Cam:
CAM: Can I offer you a little insight into Booth’s little brother.
BRENNAN: I didn’t have sex with him Cam.
(Angela enters)
ANGELA: Didn’t have sex with who?
CAM: Jared Booth.
ANGELA: . Good (She hands a file to Clark, he leaves the room).
BRENNAN: Why good?
CAM: Because… because…
ANGELA: Because he’s Booth’s little brother and it would just be a creepy way to have sex with a Booth without having sex with the real Booth.
CAM: Kudos Angela. I would not have had the guts to say that aloud.
BRENNAN: N… Jared is a real Booth.
ANGELA: Hmmm. Jared’s Booth lite. Booth is the real Booth.
BRENNAN: W… what if Booth is Booth lite?
And here we have the problem. Brennan is really questioning her perception of a man she has worked with for 4 years based on one conversation with a man she has known for one day. Admittedly, Jared has known Booth his whole life but I am disappointed that she sees no need to defend Booth or even argue the case that he may be a better man than Jared has painted him. What is her evidence for Booth being Booth-lite? The fact that he has never kissed her? The fact that he doesn't wear a medal bedecked mess jacket to a reception? The fact that he doesn't run the Pentagon or rub shoulders with the great and good at the White House? It seems so.
Furthermore, after Booth has saved Jared's bacon, career and reputation by giving up his own chance of glory in the RICO case she questions how he did not get the merit he deserved.
BRENNAN: What happened with your RICO bust? (Booth turns back to her).
BOOTH: Nothing, why? Huh, you been talking to Cam? (Cam has already figured out what happened)
BRENNAN: No. Did you do something wrong?
BOOTH: What d’you mean?
BRENNAN: Well you didn’t get the credit you deserve. What did you do?
BOOTH: Life is not always about credit.
BRENNAN: Well that’s not what you said before. You said life was all about credit and you were going to Hawaii and they were going to put you on a coin.
BOOTH: Uh, you know what, let’s just forget about it. Okay Bones, forget about it. (He turns to go again).
BRENNAN: Jared warned me that you tend to sabotage yourself. (Booth turns back).
BOOTH: Jared said that?
BRENNAN: Mm-hmm. He said that you were afraid of success.
BOOTH: Mmm, so basically I’m a loser.
BRENNAN: No, he never said the word loser.
BOOTH: Do you think I’m a loser, like that guy in there. Some clown in some dumb-ass uniform who basically can’t do any better? Is that what you think?
BRENNAN: Well, anthropologically, males tend to rank themselves into a hierarchy. There’s no shame in not being at the top of the hierarchy.
BOOTH: You’re not answering the question Bones. Answer my question. (His cell phone rings, he answers).
She doesn't answer his question and she still doubts him. Booth is angry but introduces the word 'loser' himself. However, she doesn't say 'you're not a loser'. She doesn't say 'I don't believe him'. She talks about anthropological hierarchies. Scientific jibber jabber is not what Booth wants now. He needs affirmation that he is right to trust her with his secrets and she is not giving that to him. So he tells her they need to get back to their work.
I was disappointed in her here. She really doesn't understand who Booth is and what makes him tick. As a scientist she seeks empirical data and that is where the logic of this for me breaks down. What empirical data does she have that Booth is afraid of success? The RICO case apparently. What empirical data does she have that Jared is not afraid of running the ridge? He told her so and he kissed her. Plus he is the head of strategy and planning at the Pentagon at a young age. And of course he kissed her. That seems to be it. Nothing that Booth has done in his work with her or in his position with the Bureau measures up to Jared. Anthropologically speaking.
Time for an intervention and even then she is depressingly rational, not to say downright stubborn. Cam has known the Booths for 15 years; Sweets is a psychologist who heard something that alarmed him when he met Jared. Both of them have Brennan's interests at heart but she will not take their word for it.
SWEETS: I was troubled by a conversation I had with Jared Booth.
CAM: Sweets came to me with some theories about Booth’s family life, and he pretty much nailed it.
BRENNAN: Nailed what.
SWEETS: Sit down. (They all sit; he places the tray on the table.) Booth and Jared are children of a physically abusive alcoholic father.
CAM: Booth’s been digging Jared out of trouble since they were kids. Jared always comes up smelling like a rose and Booth takes the hit.
SWEETS: He’s denying his brother the opportunity to take responsibility and learn from his own mistakes.
BRENNAN: You have no evidence of that.
CAM: I’ve known the Booth boys for 15 years.
SWEETS: Now it’s natural to be protective of a younger sibling. Of course Jared is a grown man, an intelligent, talented, capable adult.
BRENNAN: I like him very much.
CAM: Yah? Well, cut it out.
BRENNAN: Booth shouldn’t be threatened by the fact that his brother is more successful.
CAM: I am absolutely certain that however it is Booth lost all the credit for that RICO bust, it’s because of Jared.
BRENNAN: We’re all scientists here, right? Well, not you. (She points to SWEETS). What is your evidence?
CAM: How about this, the last time I told Booth what I thought of Jared, he didn’t speak to me for six months.
BRENNAN: That is an anecdote.
CAM: We’re saying maybe Booth deserves the benefit of the doubt here, until all the evidence is in.
BRENNAN: Evidence, I am comfortable with evidence.
But apparently not that from her own eyes. However, she goes to see Jared to see for herself and at last realises that she was wrong. Then she gets angry:
BRENNAN: I need to know the truth.
JARED: I’ve heard that about you.
BRENNAN: Do you know anything about Booth losing credit on the RICO case.
JARED: No. What, I mean that’s the first I’ve heard of it.
BRENNAN: People are telling me that somehow all the credit went to the State Police because of you. Is that possible?
JARED: (He sighs) Oh.
BRENNAN: So, it is possible.
JARED: What did he say to you?
BRENNAN: Nothing.
JARED: I think this is something between brothers. No offense.
(Brennan starts to leave)
JARED: Tempe.
(Brennan turns back to him).
BRENNAN: You took advantage of him. You know you made me think that he’s a loser. And what really makes me angry is that I believed you. You know I wouldn’t blame Booth if he never spoke to me again. You’re the loser.
Then she pushes him off the barstool.
So she has listened to the others; she has gone to the source and got the truth. That is her evidence. Based on that evidence Brennan comes to a pretty startling conclusion as evidenced in her speech at Booth's birthday party:
BRENNAN: I would like to propose a toast, to my partner, Seeley Booth.
ALL: To Booth.
BRENNAN: I know who he is, but I forget sometimes, because… because, he never shines a light on himself. He shines it on other people.
BOOTH: Yeah, right after I conked them on the head with it.
(There are quiet chuckles from the table of friends.)
BRENNAN: Anthropology teaches us that, the alpha male is the man, wearing the crown, displaying the most colorful plumage and the shiniest baubles, he stands out from the others. But I now think that anthropology may have it wrong (Booth looks puzzled.) In working with Booth… (She turns to face him.) I have come to realize that the quiet man, the invisible man, the man who is always there for friends and family, that’s the real alpha male. And I promise, that my eyes will never be caught by those… shiny baubles again. Happy birthday. (She clinks glasses with Booth).
Yes she has learned. She has seen that Booth is a good man and doesn't need the trappings of success to be a successful agent. Having told his brother he has to stop Booth then returns to his trust in Brennan and tells her 'My dad drank'. That is all he needs to say.
The other aspects of the case that helped Brennan to see her way are honesty and family. There are several references to telling the truth and the consequences of not doing that. There are also references to family and what people are willing to do for them.
People make stupid irrational decisions says Brennan; They act from the heart sometimes. It's no crime replies Booth. Booth also points out that she has done questionable things to save her father from a murder charge. Brennan tells him he is right but Booth sees that he is wrong to keep on bailing out Jared, because at some point he could kill an innocent. Max will not.
Initially, I thought this episode was a massive backward step for Brennan. By the end I saw that she had in fact made strides forward. She has used her scientific approach true. But she has seen that Booth has an integrity she now knows to be valid. She has regained his trust and allowed him to share something beyond their work together on a personal level. She is a part of his family.
First of all the title has more significance than just an indicator of the episodes content. We have several conmen on display within in the episode. As with many conmen some of them are charming and worm their way into lives by using that charm. They appear honest and even upstanding members of a community who apparently earn an honest living. Underneath, however, there is a rotten core that infects the people near them with their lies and failings. Why hello Jared!
Brennan is in Sweets office waiting for Booth at the start. She is calm, and when Booth arrives immediately shows her knowledge of him. a) she assumed he was late because of traffic or work. That proves to be correct. b) she knows about the RICO case even though it is a secret whereas Sweets, who works for the FBI doesn't. c) when Booth gets a phone call from 'Jared' she knows that he is Booth's brother . All of this shows she knows more about Booth and his personal life than we may have been led to believe before.
Booth for his part is bouncing with excitement. It will be his birthday soon and he is going to reward himself for this success in the RICO case with a holiday in Hawaii and Shark Adventures. Plenty of recognition from the FBI too including 'My face on a coin'. Plenty of shiny baubles and a crown then. A call to a case precludes further revelations, but it is apparent the alpha male is about to leave the building.
Brennan is now placed in her correct milieu: with Booth, on a case, examining a rotting corpse. The police instructor proves to be a bit of a wuss in comparison not only to Booth, but to Brennan too. Back at the lab work continues efficiently until Booth turns up with Jared in tow. Brennan is immediately impressed. Plenty of shiny baubles in evidence here - and a uniform of a Lt. Commander. Also bone structure that is even more symmetrical than Booth's.
Clearly, smitten she is soon out to impress herself, but Booth is already deflecting by offering Cam as a date to a cocktail party at the White House. These are successful circles indeed with people who already have their faces on a coin. It is clear that Bones may at least have heard of Booth's brother but there is something off about him. Cam has clearly known him a long time with a nickname for him and readily falls into Booth's plan of fixing Jared up.
However, the plan goes wrong and Booth is more or less forced into having no objections to Bones going instead. His abrupt manner while dealing with Jared's request seems to alert Bones that there is something amiss, but she doesn't pursue it. This is where it becomes apparent how much Brennan trusts Booth. She is willing to take Jared at face value because he is Booth's brother, basically runs the Pentagon and has symmetrical bone structure. Also, because Booth tells her everything she needs to know about himself, she assumes that Jared is equally honest.
So when he plays his charming hand at the party, Brennan has no reason not to believe him. This is how it goes:
BRENNAN: You’re good at this. They listen to you when you speak.
JARED: You wanna know the secret? (He leans in close to her.) You have an incredibly beautiful, incredibly intelligent scientist slash novelist sitting alone waiting for you to bring her a drink. (Brennan laughs.) Nah, it’s too corny.However, the plan goes wrong and Booth is more or less forced into having no objections to Bones going instead. His abrupt manner while dealing with Jared's request seems to alert Bones that there is something amiss, but she doesn't pursue it. This is where it becomes apparent how much Brennan trusts Booth. She is willing to take Jared at face value because he is Booth's brother, basically runs the Pentagon and has symmetrical bone structure. Also, because Booth tells her everything she needs to know about himself, she assumes that Jared is equally honest.
So when he plays his charming hand at the party, Brennan has no reason not to believe him. This is how it goes:
BRENNAN: You’re good at this. They listen to you when you speak.
BRENNAN: Definitely. (Jared laughs) I was thinking how Booth would be bored, at a function like this.
JARED: This kind of event would make Seeley very nervous. I don’t mean he’s incapable, my brother’s very very capable. It’s just, it’s like Seeley’s afraid of success. He stays in his comfort zone. Drove our dad nuts. (He sips his drink).
BRENNAN: Really?
JARED: Maybe that’s what made him a good sniper. He doesn’t like to be visible above the ridge line so he keeps his head low – instinct. Me on the other hand, well I cannot help but run that ridge.
BRENNAN: Can you give me an example?
(Jared leans in and kisses her)
JARED: I bet you Seeley never took that risk.
BRENNAN: Nope. (Liar)
JARED: (They clink glasses.) To a good night.
BRENNAN: Yes, so far.
Ignoring the retconned kiss from The Parts in the Sum of the Whole, this exchange reveals a side of Booth we and Brennan have not considered. Was he just a good sniper because he didn't dare fight in an open battle? Was he afraid of success? Did he not take risks like kissing Brennan? What will Brennan do in response?
Well, she doesn't sleep with Jared thank heavens or I don't know what Booth would have done. Indeed she is super-rational in the face of an aghast Angela and a concerned Cam, while Booth is worried where she is. Angela is pretty clear what she thinks of Jared, while Brennan is still operating on face value and the evidence she has about Jared. What she thinks of Booth will become clear and this was where I felt the writers let her down in favour of plot devices.
Anyway, Angela and Cam:
CAM: Can I offer you a little insight into Booth’s little brother.
BRENNAN: I didn’t have sex with him Cam.
(Angela enters)
ANGELA: Didn’t have sex with who?
CAM: Jared Booth.
ANGELA: .
BRENNAN: Why good?
CAM: Because… because…
ANGELA: Because he’s Booth’s little brother and it would just be a creepy way to have sex with a Booth without having sex with the real Booth.
CAM: Kudos Angela. I would not have had the guts to say that aloud.
BRENNAN: N… Jared is a real Booth.
ANGELA: Hmmm. Jared’s Booth lite. Booth is the real Booth.
BRENNAN: W… what if Booth is Booth lite?
And here we have the problem. Brennan is really questioning her perception of a man she has worked with for 4 years based on one conversation with a man she has known for one day. Admittedly, Jared has known Booth his whole life but I am disappointed that she sees no need to defend Booth or even argue the case that he may be a better man than Jared has painted him. What is her evidence for Booth being Booth-lite? The fact that he has never kissed her? The fact that he doesn't wear a medal bedecked mess jacket to a reception? The fact that he doesn't run the Pentagon or rub shoulders with the great and good at the White House? It seems so.
Furthermore, after Booth has saved Jared's bacon, career and reputation by giving up his own chance of glory in the RICO case she questions how he did not get the merit he deserved.
BRENNAN: What happened with your RICO bust? (Booth turns back to her).
BOOTH: Nothing, why? Huh, you been talking to Cam? (Cam has already figured out what happened)
BRENNAN: No. Did you do something wrong?
BOOTH: What d’you mean?
BRENNAN: Well you didn’t get the credit you deserve. What did you do?
BOOTH: Life is not always about credit.
BRENNAN: Well that’s not what you said before. You said life was all about credit and you were going to Hawaii and they were going to put you on a coin.
BOOTH: Uh, you know what, let’s just forget about it. Okay Bones, forget about it. (He turns to go again).
BRENNAN: Jared warned me that you tend to sabotage yourself. (Booth turns back).
BOOTH: Jared said that?
BRENNAN: Mm-hmm. He said that you were afraid of success.
BOOTH: Mmm, so basically I’m a loser.
BRENNAN: No, he never said the word loser.
BOOTH: Do you think I’m a loser, like that guy in there. Some clown in some dumb-ass uniform who basically can’t do any better? Is that what you think?
BRENNAN: Well, anthropologically, males tend to rank themselves into a hierarchy. There’s no shame in not being at the top of the hierarchy.
BOOTH: You’re not answering the question Bones. Answer my question. (His cell phone rings, he answers).
She doesn't answer his question and she still doubts him. Booth is angry but introduces the word 'loser' himself. However, she doesn't say 'you're not a loser'. She doesn't say 'I don't believe him'. She talks about anthropological hierarchies. Scientific jibber jabber is not what Booth wants now. He needs affirmation that he is right to trust her with his secrets and she is not giving that to him. So he tells her they need to get back to their work.
I was disappointed in her here. She really doesn't understand who Booth is and what makes him tick. As a scientist she seeks empirical data and that is where the logic of this for me breaks down. What empirical data does she have that Booth is afraid of success? The RICO case apparently. What empirical data does she have that Jared is not afraid of running the ridge? He told her so and he kissed her. Plus he is the head of strategy and planning at the Pentagon at a young age. And of course he kissed her. That seems to be it. Nothing that Booth has done in his work with her or in his position with the Bureau measures up to Jared. Anthropologically speaking.
Time for an intervention and even then she is depressingly rational, not to say downright stubborn. Cam has known the Booths for 15 years; Sweets is a psychologist who heard something that alarmed him when he met Jared. Both of them have Brennan's interests at heart but she will not take their word for it.
SWEETS: I was troubled by a conversation I had with Jared Booth.
CAM: Sweets came to me with some theories about Booth’s family life, and he pretty much nailed it.
BRENNAN: Nailed what.
SWEETS: Sit down. (They all sit; he places the tray on the table.) Booth and Jared are children of a physically abusive alcoholic father.
CAM: Booth’s been digging Jared out of trouble since they were kids. Jared always comes up smelling like a rose and Booth takes the hit.
SWEETS: He’s denying his brother the opportunity to take responsibility and learn from his own mistakes.
BRENNAN: You have no evidence of that.
CAM: I’ve known the Booth boys for 15 years.
SWEETS: Now it’s natural to be protective of a younger sibling. Of course Jared is a grown man, an intelligent, talented, capable adult.
BRENNAN: I like him very much.
CAM: Yah? Well, cut it out.
BRENNAN: Booth shouldn’t be threatened by the fact that his brother is more successful.
CAM: I am absolutely certain that however it is Booth lost all the credit for that RICO bust, it’s because of Jared.
BRENNAN: We’re all scientists here, right? Well, not you. (She points to SWEETS). What is your evidence?
CAM: How about this, the last time I told Booth what I thought of Jared, he didn’t speak to me for six months.
BRENNAN: That is an anecdote.
CAM: We’re saying maybe Booth deserves the benefit of the doubt here, until all the evidence is in.
BRENNAN: Evidence, I am comfortable with evidence.
But apparently not that from her own eyes. However, she goes to see Jared to see for herself and at last realises that she was wrong. Then she gets angry:
BRENNAN: I need to know the truth.
JARED: I’ve heard that about you.
BRENNAN: Do you know anything about Booth losing credit on the RICO case.
JARED: No. What, I mean that’s the first I’ve heard of it.
BRENNAN: People are telling me that somehow all the credit went to the State Police because of you. Is that possible?
JARED: (He sighs) Oh.
BRENNAN: So, it is possible.
JARED: What did he say to you?
BRENNAN: Nothing.
JARED: I think this is something between brothers. No offense.
(Brennan starts to leave)
JARED: Tempe.
(Brennan turns back to him).
Then she pushes him off the barstool.
So she has listened to the others; she has gone to the source and got the truth. That is her evidence. Based on that evidence Brennan comes to a pretty startling conclusion as evidenced in her speech at Booth's birthday party:
BRENNAN: I would like to propose a toast, to my partner, Seeley Booth.
BRENNAN: I know who he is, but I forget sometimes, because… because, he never shines a light on himself. He shines it on other people.
BOOTH: Yeah, right after I conked them on the head with it.
(There are quiet chuckles from the table of friends.)
BRENNAN: Anthropology teaches us that, the alpha male is the man, wearing the crown, displaying the most colorful plumage and the shiniest baubles, he stands out from the others. But I now think that anthropology may have it wrong (Booth looks puzzled.) In working with Booth… (She turns to face him.) I have come to realize that the quiet man, the invisible man, the man who is always there for friends and family, that’s the real alpha male. And I promise, that my eyes will never be caught by those… shiny baubles again. Happy birthday. (She clinks glasses with Booth).
Yes she has learned. She has seen that Booth is a good man and doesn't need the trappings of success to be a successful agent. Having told his brother he has to stop Booth then returns to his trust in Brennan and tells her 'My dad drank'. That is all he needs to say.
The other aspects of the case that helped Brennan to see her way are honesty and family. There are several references to telling the truth and the consequences of not doing that. There are also references to family and what people are willing to do for them.
People make stupid irrational decisions says Brennan; They act from the heart sometimes. It's no crime replies Booth. Booth also points out that she has done questionable things to save her father from a murder charge. Brennan tells him he is right but Booth sees that he is wrong to keep on bailing out Jared, because at some point he could kill an innocent. Max will not.
Initially, I thought this episode was a massive backward step for Brennan. By the end I saw that she had in fact made strides forward. She has used her scientific approach true. But she has seen that Booth has an integrity she now knows to be valid. She has regained his trust and allowed him to share something beyond their work together on a personal level. She is a part of his family.
