Puppy dog eyes
Sep. 18th, 2008 06:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mistletoeWhat a week! I knew week 2 would be hard and I have found it is a day too long. Why is today not Friday?
Any road up, I staggered home today ready to view this week's Bones and boy was I surprised.
Now, this was definitely right up there in the Top 5 all time great Bones episodes. It was dramatic, witty, angsty and well paced. The writer knew these characters and gave them full rein to be who they are and have been on the show. I have only watched it once so far but I want to watch it again which is a really positive sign for me. I think I'll look at inter-actions first.
Booth and Parker. The teaser was great with really convincing father-son bonding. David is really good with this kid and it must help that he is supposed to be the same age as Jaden. While finding the bone was a bit of a stretch anxiousfather!Booth was a hoot. The worry that Booth had was a typical over compensation for absent father guilt. He was terrified that Rebecca would deny him access if she found out about the bone. So of course his reaction was OTT with Sweets as the cure-all that can help Parker. Once again, Booth's faith in the mysterious was shown: if God can't help then Sweets can. So when the nightmares pop up Booth is sure his fears are proven and Parker must go into therapy. Of course it turns out that Parker loved the bone like a 6 year old would, but was traumatised by the large girl who picked him up and carried him round cos she thought he was cute. And of course Sweets tells Booth all the key things he has tried to teach Parker that he has remembered and tried to follow. Booth positively glows with fatherly pride. Naturally, Booth has never been picked up and carried round like a monkey by anyone, let alone a girl. Equally naturally, Sweets has. So it turns out his experience was what Parker needed after all. Well done Booth.
Booth and Brennan. This was also right up there in correct partners behaviour mode. The banter was spot on and they seemed to tell each other everything just like they should. That a dog lover like Dave should be none too sure of them while Brennan lapped them up was a typical twist but amusing. The last encounter they had wiith an attack dog it was Brennan who initially got it to leave the body by throwing a pine cone for it. Later, Booth settled its hash by telling it he would shoot it if it didn't stand down. The dog did. So this time, Brennan cuddles the toy dog and Booth nearly loses a finger to it. Booth waits in the car until the dog owner arrives making some fatuous excuse about manners out in the country while Brennan throws its squeaky toy for it. However, she isn't omnipotent with dogs and can't control them like the dog whisperer. I suppose the only shippy bit was when she wanted to adopt Ripley because he reminded her of Booth: expressive brown eyes and capable of extreme violence. Tee hee. It is sad about Ripley. Also the way Brennan said that dogs only see the good in humans at the end was very touching. Maybe she wants that for Booth and herself too - that they should only have to see the good in humans. And Booth can hug anyway.
I loved the exchange about bananas just being bananas in dreams that Booth went back to just to make the point. Yet again, Brennan solved the crime. What does Booth do these days on the crime solving front?
Hodgins and Everybody. I hate everyone Hodgins was absolutely excellent. For once Sweets didn't speak before he had empirical evidence: he observed Hodgins before he spoke to him and waited for Hodgins to come round himself to recognise what he was doing. There was a lot of fear in Hodgins this week: fear of rejection; fear of failure; so he overcompensated too by being angry at everyone, dissing the FBI lab guy, showing the old cynical attitude to colleagues and boss and racing with Starret to be King of the lab. However, they were empty victories because he wasn't competing with Zack.
(extra meta thoughts) And the reason for his breakup with Angela maybe became a little clearer. To me it seemed he was afraid to remain close to Angela because of what had happened to Zack. He thought he knew Zack but he didn't. He thought he knew Angela, thought they had got passed the ex-husband. But when he turned up, however much they deny it, both he and Angela have the memory of Zack saying one thing and doing another because of logic. Hodgins is a scientist, and the evidence for him points to the fear that Angela might be hiding an inner life he knows nothing about - just like Zack. The logic of the situation shows what low self esteem he really has. Her husband is 'a giant' in his eyes. In reality he is less of a hulk but I think it is significant bearing in mind that Angela is taller than Hodgins. Logically she would fall for a tall man. They met on a tropical paradise island while he met Angela in the lab all cold stainless steel and reeking of death. Logically that is not a place for romance. Barassa is impoverished yet happy in his existence. Hodgins is obscenely rich, but happy? Apparently not.
Angela goes on instinct and emotions. She thought she had read Zach's motives and capabilities. She was wrong. Maybe, she's wrong about the supportive attitude of Hodgins too. She now fears that Hodgins is incompatible as she would be compromising her sense of what is right and what is wrong. I mean, she wouldn't testify in Verdict in the Story because it would compromise her friendship with Tempe. Would marriage to Hodgins be a compromise now? What people say about their feelings, and what they actually feel are not always the same thing and I think she realised their feelings were changed by the arrival of Barassa in the flesh. That bit of meta refers to the events of Yanks in the UK which at the time seemed to be a superficial reason for the sudden fallout.
Intern of the Week was a bonus by his being a guy with experience in a wide range of fields. I think that this was deliberate. You don't have to be a genius, you don't have to be a fly trapped in amber, you don't have to be King of the Lab to solve the case. People who have experience out in the real world have just as much to offer as squints who have known nothing but the rarefied atmosphere of the halls of academe. Even Hodgins comes to recognise that.
As for the storyline, that kept me guessing right up to the end and I thought the red herrings were convincing and dealt with satisfactorily.
The fear of failure, of not living the perfect middle class life pervaded just about everything that happened as did secret or unsuspected lives going on beneath the surface. Striving to better yourself was also in there and the sense that we are all just weak humans after all - and a dog is for life.
All in all the season is improving exponentially and I wasn't the least bit enervated, which does mean what I think it does.
The sun was out today and it was a pleasantly warm day for a change, almost like proper autumn. The sun allowed Durham to get a start in their important championship game with Sussex. They are only three points behind the leaders in the table and Chanderpaul batted really well for a century, 130 not out to get us a couple of batting points. Forecast isn't so good for tomorrow and they had already lost a whole day to rain. It will probably be a draw with two days to go, but it's been an exciting finale.
Any road up, I staggered home today ready to view this week's Bones and boy was I surprised.
Now, this was definitely right up there in the Top 5 all time great Bones episodes. It was dramatic, witty, angsty and well paced. The writer knew these characters and gave them full rein to be who they are and have been on the show. I have only watched it once so far but I want to watch it again which is a really positive sign for me. I think I'll look at inter-actions first.
Booth and Parker. The teaser was great with really convincing father-son bonding. David is really good with this kid and it must help that he is supposed to be the same age as Jaden. While finding the bone was a bit of a stretch anxiousfather!Booth was a hoot. The worry that Booth had was a typical over compensation for absent father guilt. He was terrified that Rebecca would deny him access if she found out about the bone. So of course his reaction was OTT with Sweets as the cure-all that can help Parker. Once again, Booth's faith in the mysterious was shown: if God can't help then Sweets can. So when the nightmares pop up Booth is sure his fears are proven and Parker must go into therapy. Of course it turns out that Parker loved the bone like a 6 year old would, but was traumatised by the large girl who picked him up and carried him round cos she thought he was cute. And of course Sweets tells Booth all the key things he has tried to teach Parker that he has remembered and tried to follow. Booth positively glows with fatherly pride. Naturally, Booth has never been picked up and carried round like a monkey by anyone, let alone a girl. Equally naturally, Sweets has. So it turns out his experience was what Parker needed after all. Well done Booth.
Booth and Brennan. This was also right up there in correct partners behaviour mode. The banter was spot on and they seemed to tell each other everything just like they should. That a dog lover like Dave should be none too sure of them while Brennan lapped them up was a typical twist but amusing. The last encounter they had wiith an attack dog it was Brennan who initially got it to leave the body by throwing a pine cone for it. Later, Booth settled its hash by telling it he would shoot it if it didn't stand down. The dog did. So this time, Brennan cuddles the toy dog and Booth nearly loses a finger to it. Booth waits in the car until the dog owner arrives making some fatuous excuse about manners out in the country while Brennan throws its squeaky toy for it. However, she isn't omnipotent with dogs and can't control them like the dog whisperer. I suppose the only shippy bit was when she wanted to adopt Ripley because he reminded her of Booth: expressive brown eyes and capable of extreme violence. Tee hee. It is sad about Ripley. Also the way Brennan said that dogs only see the good in humans at the end was very touching. Maybe she wants that for Booth and herself too - that they should only have to see the good in humans. And Booth can hug anyway.
I loved the exchange about bananas just being bananas in dreams that Booth went back to just to make the point. Yet again, Brennan solved the crime. What does Booth do these days on the crime solving front?
Hodgins and Everybody. I hate everyone Hodgins was absolutely excellent. For once Sweets didn't speak before he had empirical evidence: he observed Hodgins before he spoke to him and waited for Hodgins to come round himself to recognise what he was doing. There was a lot of fear in Hodgins this week: fear of rejection; fear of failure; so he overcompensated too by being angry at everyone, dissing the FBI lab guy, showing the old cynical attitude to colleagues and boss and racing with Starret to be King of the lab. However, they were empty victories because he wasn't competing with Zack.
(extra meta thoughts) And the reason for his breakup with Angela maybe became a little clearer. To me it seemed he was afraid to remain close to Angela because of what had happened to Zack. He thought he knew Zack but he didn't. He thought he knew Angela, thought they had got passed the ex-husband. But when he turned up, however much they deny it, both he and Angela have the memory of Zack saying one thing and doing another because of logic. Hodgins is a scientist, and the evidence for him points to the fear that Angela might be hiding an inner life he knows nothing about - just like Zack. The logic of the situation shows what low self esteem he really has. Her husband is 'a giant' in his eyes. In reality he is less of a hulk but I think it is significant bearing in mind that Angela is taller than Hodgins. Logically she would fall for a tall man. They met on a tropical paradise island while he met Angela in the lab all cold stainless steel and reeking of death. Logically that is not a place for romance. Barassa is impoverished yet happy in his existence. Hodgins is obscenely rich, but happy? Apparently not.
Angela goes on instinct and emotions. She thought she had read Zach's motives and capabilities. She was wrong. Maybe, she's wrong about the supportive attitude of Hodgins too. She now fears that Hodgins is incompatible as she would be compromising her sense of what is right and what is wrong. I mean, she wouldn't testify in Verdict in the Story because it would compromise her friendship with Tempe. Would marriage to Hodgins be a compromise now? What people say about their feelings, and what they actually feel are not always the same thing and I think she realised their feelings were changed by the arrival of Barassa in the flesh. That bit of meta refers to the events of Yanks in the UK which at the time seemed to be a superficial reason for the sudden fallout.
Intern of the Week was a bonus by his being a guy with experience in a wide range of fields. I think that this was deliberate. You don't have to be a genius, you don't have to be a fly trapped in amber, you don't have to be King of the Lab to solve the case. People who have experience out in the real world have just as much to offer as squints who have known nothing but the rarefied atmosphere of the halls of academe. Even Hodgins comes to recognise that.
As for the storyline, that kept me guessing right up to the end and I thought the red herrings were convincing and dealt with satisfactorily.
The fear of failure, of not living the perfect middle class life pervaded just about everything that happened as did secret or unsuspected lives going on beneath the surface. Striving to better yourself was also in there and the sense that we are all just weak humans after all - and a dog is for life.
All in all the season is improving exponentially and I wasn't the least bit enervated, which does mean what I think it does.
The sun was out today and it was a pleasantly warm day for a change, almost like proper autumn. The sun allowed Durham to get a start in their important championship game with Sussex. They are only three points behind the leaders in the table and Chanderpaul batted really well for a century, 130 not out to get us a couple of batting points. Forecast isn't so good for tomorrow and they had already lost a whole day to rain. It will probably be a draw with two days to go, but it's been an exciting finale.
