More Booth

[mistletoe]

Just a bit of transition for the episodes up to The Man in the Cell. I think this part is looking at what might have been; what was; what is to come.

A BOOTH FOR ALL SEASONS

I’m fine it’s just, you know, the sound of the winning. It’ll...it’ll pass.

SEASON 2 - Tony the Tiger

When looking at Booth it's interesting to look at what might have been if he hadn't picked himself up off the floor when he , as it turned out, met Brennan for the first time. If we ignore their real first case, it would appear that Booth himself got on a programme to quit gambling, and left that life behind him. In Woman in the Sand we see what could have happened if he hadn't left Las Vegas. Incidentally, how does Brennan know about his gambling pre-100? He has not told her about it that we have seen up to this point in Season 2, yet she has now mentioned it twice.

His game he says was craps, hence the dice that he still carries with him and put in his pocket as he became Tony and no doubt accounts for his sudden liking for Guys and Dolls.



While pursuing a loan shark Booth runs into an old army buddy, one who didn't make with the program.

FRANKIE DANIELS: Seeley?
BOOTH: Frankie?
FRANKIE DANIELS: What are you doing back in Vegas huh?
(Booth & Frankie 'guy hug')
LOU MACKEY: (to Brennan) Your man’s got a lot of friends.
BRENNAN: So it would seem.
LOU MACKEY: I'll catch up with you later, Frankie.
BOOTH: Hey, Lou-
LOU MACKEY: See ya, friend. (he walks off)
BOOTH: Is he a problem?
FRANKIE DANIELS: No, no. It’s all good, huh. Hey, look at you, huh?
BOOTH: Yeah, Frankie Daniels, hey. Temperance Brennan, Frank Daniels. We served in The Gulf together.
FRANKIE DANIELS: That’s right. Hit the strip the minute we got back.
BRENNAN: And you never left?
FRANKIE DANIELS: I bounce around, you know. Here, Chicago, L.A. You know me, huh Seel? Always chasing rainbows.
BOOTH: Good old Frankie boy huh? How’s Karen?
FRANKIE DANIELS: Nah...nah. It's over, ya know. She ran off with some loser stockbroker. Ya know, it’s just as well. I don’t need that.
BOOTH: Oh, come on, Frankie. You all right? I mean, you don’t need any-
FRANKIE DANIELS: Don’t start with that, huh? It’s been too many years. I’m getting by all right?
BOOTH: Yeah. Guys like Lou Mackey?
FRANKIE DANIELS: Yeah, well ya know, minor, uh, minor occupational hazard.
BRENNAN: Have you considered medication?
BOOTH: Oh, Bones...
BRENNAN: An anti-depressant might raise your norepinephrine level. It could help control the impulsivity.
FRANKIE DANIELS (to Booth): What are you, a drug rep now or something?
BOOTH: It's – excuse us, Bones, Okay? (he moves Frankie away from Brennan – then to Frankie) Wondering if you know anything of these, uh, underground fight clubs?
FRANKIE DANIELS: Yeah, actually I do know one. Bare knuckles. No rules.
BOOTH: Great. I need to know where.
FRANKIE DANIELS: It moves around. This guy, uh, this guy, Joe Nolan. He sells 800 numbers. You call, you find out the time, the place, code to get in.
BOOTH: The old boxer, Joe Nolan?
FRANKIE DANIELS: The heavy weight champ in ’92. He owns a gym here on, uh, on Federal.
BOOTH: Thanks.
FRANKIE DANIELS: Hey, uh, think you can spot me a couple of bucks? I think I forgot my wallet at the house today, you know?
BOOTH: Yeah.
FRANKIE DANIELS: Just something you know, I’ll get you back.
BOOTH: Yeah.

Of course Booth knows he will never see him again. This is a clear indication of where a weaker Booth would probably still be, ATM tapped out and bumming dollars from anyone he knows. If Frankie has been there since coming back from the Gulf War then Booth has had a lucky escape.

His Army past also helps out though. He and Brennan go under cover and Booth reveals he boxed in the army. The persona he uses, Tony, seems to me like what a younger Booth would have been like: cocky, brash, bold. His clothes from the sock suspenders to the hat speak of someone from the cheap side of town trying to dress to impress and failing. His St Christopher medallion is on prominent display just like the Italian punk he is portraying would have.



But he can box.



And he can win, though it takes Bones to spot his opponent's weakness. He still knocks him out.



This sort of existence would very much have been on the cards if Booth had not decided to join the FBI. He was still gambling, but he is at least away from the major temptations of Vegas.

How is 'Tony' doing on the love front? Well, he and Cam are trying to play it cagey. I don't think Brennan is aware of it although Hodgins is having overheard Booth and Cam talking in The Girl in Suite 2103 and observed the following which also clues Angela in.



By The Girl with the Curl, Booth is excessively jumpy, trying to act nonchalant around the others in the Lab and thus drawing attention to himself and then choosing to stay and help Brennan write up the case notes rather than keep his appointment which was plainly a date with Cam. So at best Booth is pretty ambivalent about this latest rerun of an affair that seems to be for old time's sake. It keeps going, though there are clues that Booth is feeling uncomfortable.
CAM: What do you say we go to New York for the weekend?
BOOTH: Yeah, I don’t know..
CAM: Come on! We’re two adults with no obligations. (Booth’s phone rings) Let it go to voice mail. We’re not cheating. We’re not hurting anybody, Seeley.
BOOTH: Then why are we keeping our relationship such a secret, Camille?
CAM: Because we work together and we’re professionals and it’s nobody’s business. That’s all. So come to New York. We’ll go to a musical
BOOTH: (laughs) Talking and singing and talking and dancing and more singing (pulls out his phone to check his voicemail) Ya know, if you want to stop what we’re doing – just say so.
CAM: You can fantasize about pulling out your gun and shooting everyone on stage. You know you like that.(Booth puts his phone to his ear to check his message – As Cam continues to talk you can tell something’s wrong) Seriously, we’ll do something you like. Like, climbing the outside of the Empire State building or swimming the East River…or..(she sees panic in Booth’s eyes) What? What happened?

What's happened is the Gravedigger has taken Bones and Jack so the weekend is off. This is typical of Booth. Does he want Cam or not? Does he want people to know or not? I don't think he knows himself. While he is comfortable with Cam outside the workplace he feels it is inappropriate to acknowledge what is going on judging by his reaction to her in the previous episode. What might have happened with them is, of course, decided by the actions of Epps. After that all bets are off. At least she holds his hand when she is scared of the video in The Headless Witch in the Woods and he lets her.

Two other things from aliens in a Spaceship are further examples of Booth's religious convictions and his underlying violence when his frustrations cannot be released.
 Vega bears the brunt:


 BOOTH: Here’s the deal, all right. You have a relationship with this guy, what they call symbiotic – you benefit from each other – hmm. So know this. That deadline comes around, and my partner is still underground – I will end you. You understand? Yeah? (he picks him off off the table) Three hours to live. (He throws Vega out of his office) Better hurry.
Then he calmly sits on his desk and seethes.

Religion comes up twice. Booth is dumbstruck in the first with Brennan:
BRENNAN: Had it occurred to you that God, is a lot like The Grave Digger?
BOOTH: Wha…What?
BRENNAN: He lays down the rules. Not way to question him or negotiate. Then it’s almost as though he doesn’t care how it works out. Either you do as he says – make some sacrifices and they’re delivered or you don’t and you end up in hell.
BOOTH: You know what? I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say things like that because I really don’t want to get struck by lightning.
BRENNAN: Do you go to church every Sunday?
BOOTH: Yes, I do.
BRENNAN: Can I come with you?
BOOTH: No. You can’t.
BRENNAN: Why? It might help me to understand.
BOOTH: I am not going to help you disrespect God in His own house. Okay, if you want to do some kind of , ya know, anthropological study – turn on the religious channel.

Booth takes attacks on his religion very seriously and feels he has to prove that Brennan is wrong about God, for his own peace of mind if not hers.
BRENNAN: These injuries are classic human vs. car.
BOOTH: Ryan interrupts the kidnapping of his brother…
BRENNAN: ..and The Grave Digger runs him down.
BOOTH: It was a mistake. The Grave Digger is not God, Bones, because God does not make mistakes.

Yes testicles on the outside Angela, but there is a reason for that.

Finally Booth prays:

BRENNAN: What did you ask for?
BOOTH: That’s between me and a certain Saint. Although, I did ask for a little help finding The Grave Digger.
BRENNAN: Good move. (she sniffs the air) What’s that smell?
BOOTH: The candles. And I said Thanks. You should try it sometime.
BRENNAN: If I were going to pray, I would have done it just before we set off the explosion
BOOTH: And you didn’t?
BRENNAN: No. See, if there was a God – which there isn’t –
BOOTH: Shhhh. (whispers) Do you see where we are?
BRENNAN: And if I were someone who believed he had a plan…
BOOTH: ..which I do…
BRENNAN: Then I’d be tempted to think He wanted me to go through something like I went through because it might make me more open to the whole….concept.
BOOTH: Mhmm. It obviously hasn’t.
BRENNAN: I’m okay with you thanking God for saving me and Hodgins.
BOOTH: That’s not what I thanked Him for. I thanked Him for saving…all of us. It was all of us. Every. Single. One. You take one of us away, and you and Hodgins are in that hole forever. And I’m thankful for that.
BRENNAN: (voice breaking a bit) I knew you wouldn’t give up.

He does not and never will. I'll give the next two episodes a post each because they are two of the pivotal moments in the search for the inner Booth. This was rather bitty because the episodes were concerned with topics beyond Booth's past, although it impinged a little in Las Vegas.

He now has an ice hockey picture in his office.

 

Comments

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

Excellent insight on his and Cam's relationship.

[a-mistletoe.livejournal.com]

Thanks. In many ways I think they might have worked as a couple. They are very similar.