NaBloPoMo 3 G man
Nov. 3rd, 2010 04:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mistletoeI've been watching season 1 this morning and as a result I need to split what was going to be one post into two so that it doesn't get too messy. Today I am looking at Booth the FBI man.
Quit using my Federal Bureau of Investigation as a stepping stool into something that you think is better because in my book there is nothing better.
SEASON 1 Part 3
According to Amy in The Man on Death Row Booth has been in the FBI for more than 7 years and, 7 years before, he was very angry. Don't know why he was angry but I can assume it has something to do with why he left the Rangers. I won't bother trying to work out a time line for Booth because it puts him over 40 now and he claims to be in his mid 30s in Season 3 so it's pointless going there. Suffice it to say Booth has worked for the military and the FBI and no one else. If we look at his office in season 1 that seems to be borne out.
In later seasons his desk and walls are covered in memorabilia, but at this stage it is hardly filled out with character references beyond the mementoes of his previous life and statements reflecting his patriotism.
The most interesting features of his desk are a pen pot of little flags, which at some points includes the stars and stripes, and a grenade.
The walls and shelves include a photo of a warplane of some sort and some tanks, a large stars and stripes photograph, an American eagle statuette, framed medals and something that looks like a scope on a tripod a sniper would use to check the target. There are some trophies and possibly a baseball bat. No evidence of the Philadelphia Flyers or Pittsburgh Steelers, depending on who is telling you where he came from.
This is a very serious place staged to be reflecting a sombre man with little to interest him beyond what he has accomplished in the Army. There are no family photographs, no intimate items, no clue of what lies under the suit or uniform. Even the walls are dark blue and severe. There is no doubt in this, or The Woman at the Airport, or The Woman in the Car that Seeley Booth is very good at his job.
However, not only does he care passionately about his job, but he is also sensitive to how crimes affect victims and their families and how he can make things better. Howard Epps presents the perfect dilemma in that quest. Epps proves to be an escalating case. Initially, he was a man Booth arrested 7 years previously for the murder of a 17 year old girl. He is in no doubt that Epps is guilty; he reiterates that on several occasions. But he also cannot resist making sure that justice is served and so he reopens the case 36 hours before Epps is due to be executed.
As a result, Epps is found to be a serial killer, responsible for at least 2 other young girls' deaths. Booth is presented with a quandary: does he call the lawyer with the news that more bodies have been found, or does he delay and let Epps be executed knowing that he is guillty of the charge he was originally condemned for? Being Booth, he makes the call. The irony is, that is exactly what Epps hoped for. In a typically sociopathic way, Epps has used the good guys, acting in the name of jurisprudence, to serve his purpose, which is to save his life. That is not the last we see of him and his two further outings cause Booth to pay a steep price for doing the right thing.
At no point does Booth present himself as being on Epps' side. Indeed, he has to tread a very careful path trying to placate the Wright family, David Ross, the lawyer Amy, the Judge, the prosecutor, Brennan and his boss. He is able to deal with them all successfully and catch his man if not get him what he deserves. I'll come back to Epps. No matter how you spin it, and Brennan does, Booth's actions and use of the law have spared a guilty murderer the punishment for his crimes under the law. He never is executed and more people die by his will and hand.
Booth's encounter with his boss brings us to his dealings with authority specifically Cullen and on one occasion Santana. They clearly respect his abilities allowing him to stretch the boundaries and even go out on a limb. They do this because they trust him and he gets results because he is a good agent.
What makes Booth a good agent? Apart from his determination to catch the bad guy, there is his skill in the interrogation room to get what he wants, whether it be a confession or evidence that will help him find the guilty party. He knows how to reach people whether it be to offer Rulz time behind bars in exchange for the information he needs to find the murderer or the lawyer David Ross who agrees to statutory rape charges so Booth can clarify the timeline of the night April Wright was killed. He can read what is going on with people which can provide a motive for the crime. These instincts, his gut, serve him well in his job.
An episode that brings together these facets of Booth's character as well as his paternal instincts is the little regarded Woman in the Car.
As an FBI agent the case brings him into conflict with the needs of Federal Marshalls and the Justice Department. Yet he prevails. His instincts as a former assassin lead him to the whereabouts of Carl Decker's son; his knowledge of professional mercenaries allows him to realise the significance of the South African connection and reveal a little more about his army time to Bones.
Booth: Polina didn’t make any phone calls after she was kidnapped but nobody turned it off, when she left her coverage area the cell phone was automatically assigned a routing tower.
Bones: You could triangulate her position.
Booth: To within seventy-five square miles. There were six abandoned gas stations in that area. There were five urban, one rural. Swat’s going to check them all out but I think it’s the rural one we want.
Bones: Why?
Booth: Cause I used to do this kind of work.
Bones: Rescuing people?
Booth: Or being the person they needed to be rescued from.
Bones: Oh.
Booth: If I had a choice, I’d pick an isolated rural area. This place is perfect. It’s an abandoned truck repair depot. Swat team will meet us there.
Bones: Why don’t we ever take my car?
Booth: Do you have bullet proof vests in the trunk?
Bones: No.
Booth: That’s why.
Having told the SWAT team that he is going to go straight for the boy while they do their thing he then shoots two of the mercenaries himself before rescuing Donovan.
His own fatherhood is brought into play when Decker goes missing from protective custody. Brennan is the one to point out to him that in many ways he is in a similar position to Decker with regard to Parker and she asks him what he would do if he were Decker. This tack gives him the clue to track Decker down to the firm he has accused of negligence in providing defective body armour used in Iraq. Once Brennan has talked him down Booth barely speaks again as the Prosecutor tries to talk Decker into testifying knowing it will mean his son's death. It is clear that Booth's sympathies lie with Decker and he recognises the predicament he is in. Cullen backs him up in the belief that the Justice Department are to blame. That fellow feeling of a father allows him to guess that Decker and Donovan have a code word. The word Paladin, as Cullen remarks, sums up Booth himself: defender of the faith, protector.
In every case so far, Booth has done his duty, shown his commitment to the Bureau and to protocols. When necessary he will bend the rules but never knowingly break them. He will do what has to be done and will not openly criticise the outcome if it is not perfect. By this stage we know his preferred type as a girlfriend, his favourite hangout and a little of his past as a sniper. Tessa has balked at the pre-moving in 5th step of the vacation together and Booth has thought about going away and not coming back. He hasn't done that yet.
No idea what will be in my next set of thoughts but it will have something to do with Two Bodies in the Lab and The Soldier in the Grave.
I am also about to embark on my first 20in20 Challenge for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
bones20in20 . I hope I can do something with it! I have chosen A Night in the Bones Museum as my episode. You'll hopefully see the results within the next 3 weeks. Heeee!
A BOOTH FOR ALL SEASONS
Quit using my Federal Bureau of Investigation as a stepping stool into something that you think is better because in my book there is nothing better.
SEASON 1 Part 3
According to Amy in The Man on Death Row Booth has been in the FBI for more than 7 years and, 7 years before, he was very angry. Don't know why he was angry but I can assume it has something to do with why he left the Rangers. I won't bother trying to work out a time line for Booth because it puts him over 40 now and he claims to be in his mid 30s in Season 3 so it's pointless going there. Suffice it to say Booth has worked for the military and the FBI and no one else. If we look at his office in season 1 that seems to be borne out.
In later seasons his desk and walls are covered in memorabilia, but at this stage it is hardly filled out with character references beyond the mementoes of his previous life and statements reflecting his patriotism.
The most interesting features of his desk are a pen pot of little flags, which at some points includes the stars and stripes, and a grenade.
The walls and shelves include a photo of a warplane of some sort and some tanks, a large stars and stripes photograph, an American eagle statuette, framed medals and something that looks like a scope on a tripod a sniper would use to check the target. There are some trophies and possibly a baseball bat. No evidence of the Philadelphia Flyers or Pittsburgh Steelers, depending on who is telling you where he came from.
This is a very serious place staged to be reflecting a sombre man with little to interest him beyond what he has accomplished in the Army. There are no family photographs, no intimate items, no clue of what lies under the suit or uniform. Even the walls are dark blue and severe. There is no doubt in this, or The Woman at the Airport, or The Woman in the Car that Seeley Booth is very good at his job.
However, not only does he care passionately about his job, but he is also sensitive to how crimes affect victims and their families and how he can make things better. Howard Epps presents the perfect dilemma in that quest. Epps proves to be an escalating case. Initially, he was a man Booth arrested 7 years previously for the murder of a 17 year old girl. He is in no doubt that Epps is guilty; he reiterates that on several occasions. But he also cannot resist making sure that justice is served and so he reopens the case 36 hours before Epps is due to be executed.
As a result, Epps is found to be a serial killer, responsible for at least 2 other young girls' deaths. Booth is presented with a quandary: does he call the lawyer with the news that more bodies have been found, or does he delay and let Epps be executed knowing that he is guillty of the charge he was originally condemned for? Being Booth, he makes the call. The irony is, that is exactly what Epps hoped for. In a typically sociopathic way, Epps has used the good guys, acting in the name of jurisprudence, to serve his purpose, which is to save his life. That is not the last we see of him and his two further outings cause Booth to pay a steep price for doing the right thing.
At no point does Booth present himself as being on Epps' side. Indeed, he has to tread a very careful path trying to placate the Wright family, David Ross, the lawyer Amy, the Judge, the prosecutor, Brennan and his boss. He is able to deal with them all successfully and catch his man if not get him what he deserves. I'll come back to Epps. No matter how you spin it, and Brennan does, Booth's actions and use of the law have spared a guilty murderer the punishment for his crimes under the law. He never is executed and more people die by his will and hand.
Booth's encounter with his boss brings us to his dealings with authority specifically Cullen and on one occasion Santana. They clearly respect his abilities allowing him to stretch the boundaries and even go out on a limb. They do this because they trust him and he gets results because he is a good agent.
What makes Booth a good agent? Apart from his determination to catch the bad guy, there is his skill in the interrogation room to get what he wants, whether it be a confession or evidence that will help him find the guilty party. He knows how to reach people whether it be to offer Rulz time behind bars in exchange for the information he needs to find the murderer or the lawyer David Ross who agrees to statutory rape charges so Booth can clarify the timeline of the night April Wright was killed. He can read what is going on with people which can provide a motive for the crime. These instincts, his gut, serve him well in his job.
An episode that brings together these facets of Booth's character as well as his paternal instincts is the little regarded Woman in the Car.
As an FBI agent the case brings him into conflict with the needs of Federal Marshalls and the Justice Department. Yet he prevails. His instincts as a former assassin lead him to the whereabouts of Carl Decker's son; his knowledge of professional mercenaries allows him to realise the significance of the South African connection and reveal a little more about his army time to Bones.
Booth: Polina didn’t make any phone calls after she was kidnapped but nobody turned it off, when she left her coverage area the cell phone was automatically assigned a routing tower.
Bones: You could triangulate her position.
Booth: To within seventy-five square miles. There were six abandoned gas stations in that area. There were five urban, one rural. Swat’s going to check them all out but I think it’s the rural one we want.
Bones: Why?
Booth: Cause I used to do this kind of work.
Bones: Rescuing people?
Booth: Or being the person they needed to be rescued from.
Bones: Oh.
Booth: If I had a choice, I’d pick an isolated rural area. This place is perfect. It’s an abandoned truck repair depot. Swat team will meet us there.
Bones: Why don’t we ever take my car?
Booth: Do you have bullet proof vests in the trunk?
Bones: No.
Booth: That’s why.
Having told the SWAT team that he is going to go straight for the boy while they do their thing he then shoots two of the mercenaries himself before rescuing Donovan.
His own fatherhood is brought into play when Decker goes missing from protective custody. Brennan is the one to point out to him that in many ways he is in a similar position to Decker with regard to Parker and she asks him what he would do if he were Decker. This tack gives him the clue to track Decker down to the firm he has accused of negligence in providing defective body armour used in Iraq. Once Brennan has talked him down Booth barely speaks again as the Prosecutor tries to talk Decker into testifying knowing it will mean his son's death. It is clear that Booth's sympathies lie with Decker and he recognises the predicament he is in. Cullen backs him up in the belief that the Justice Department are to blame. That fellow feeling of a father allows him to guess that Decker and Donovan have a code word. The word Paladin, as Cullen remarks, sums up Booth himself: defender of the faith, protector.
In every case so far, Booth has done his duty, shown his commitment to the Bureau and to protocols. When necessary he will bend the rules but never knowingly break them. He will do what has to be done and will not openly criticise the outcome if it is not perfect. By this stage we know his preferred type as a girlfriend, his favourite hangout and a little of his past as a sniper. Tessa has balked at the pre-moving in 5th step of the vacation together and Booth has thought about going away and not coming back. He hasn't done that yet.
No idea what will be in my next set of thoughts but it will have something to do with Two Bodies in the Lab and The Soldier in the Grave.
I am also about to embark on my first 20in20 Challenge for
bones20in20 . I hope I can do something with it! I have chosen A Night in the Bones Museum as my episode. You'll hopefully see the results within the next 3 weeks. Heeee!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-03 09:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-03 10:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-03 09:45 pm (UTC)Your first picture also made me chuckle. Ah the good times of B/B bantering.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-03 10:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-03 10:40 pm (UTC)Booth is presented with a quandary: does he call the lawyer with the news that more bodies have been found, or does he delay and let Epps be executed knowing that he is guillty of the charge he was originally condemned for? Being Booth, he makes the call.
Interesting dilemma. Booth goes by the book. Following the law/rules blindly and not think for yourself is dangerous, yet it could be a slippery slope to make up your own rules as you go along. Moreover, for someone who's the chosen professions has it's not really an option. Granted he could have gotten away with not calling, but what kind of implications would it have had for his conscience? But morally you could argue that Epps will kill again so wouldn't it be right to stop him and save lives?
That scene in the first pic is so funny. Here Booth is indeed going by the book!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-03 10:46 pm (UTC)But Booth had no way of knowing that, did he? Epps was in jail, so Booth couldn't have known that he'd ever become a danger to anyone again. I only saw the conflict of doing the right thing vs. giving in to the "I just want that guy dead" gut instinct in this scene, so I really liked the choice Booth made because he stayed true to what he believes in - like you said, everything else wouldn't have been an option.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-03 11:14 pm (UTC)True, but with a clever guy like Epps you never know...
I agree with you, Booth wouldn't choose what he wanted to do if it went against doing the right thing.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-03 11:18 pm (UTC)In this he is sticking to the legal right for her to apply for a permit to carry a gun. We know why Brennan was charged with a felony, but for Booth there are no exceptions.
However, he also says: I swore an oath to protect society from people who shoot people (and technically any other form of murder). Booth is all about being American and upholding the American way even if it goes against what seems expedient and 'right'.
Besides, as far as he is concerned Epps is still in jail and still liable to be found guilty of multiple murders. Even he couldn't have expected that Epps would continue his spree from behind bars.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-03 11:35 pm (UTC)To Booth the law is no buffet where you pick the things you like and ignore the others. And he trusts TPTB to make the right choices too, which is why 'the Proof in the Pudding' could have pulled the rug from under him, but I'm getting ahead of your watching.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-03 11:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-04 12:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-04 12:41 am (UTC)Ah. My priorities, they are skewed.
*kisses*
(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-03 11:34 pm (UTC)There's been some debate over time about why Booth has the office - IS he 'Special Agent in Charge' as he told young Alec in 'The Boy in the Shroud'? His status seems to fluctuate. He doesn't seem to do much in the way of 'bossing' the other people in the bullpen, other than Charlie, certainly not to the degree one might expect from someone in such a posh office at any rate. However as I know next to nothing about the inner workings of the FBI I'm probably talking out of my hat.
His integrity as a law enforcement officer is paramount to him, hence his statement to the LA cop that you quoted above. When he came across the cover-up in 'Judas on a Pole' he insisted on doing the right thing even though it cost him the very thing that he cherishes - his job as an FBI agent. He must have been truly gutted even though he didn't show it to the world.
Another brilliant analysis.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-04 12:02 am (UTC)Booth puts personal needs in a very low place compared to upholding the integrity of the FBI as an institution. He seemed more upset about losing the car than his job.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-04 12:17 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-04 12:45 am (UTC)I LOVE "The Woman in the Car" It is one of my fav season 1 eps!!!
Booth, our smart, serious, kick ass wonderful amazing BOOTH shown in all his "I'll never shine a light on myself" glory!!!
I LOVE you for doing this.