Bones - The Life in the Light - Review

This week, FOX aired the penultimate episode of season 10. But for several reasons, "The Life in the Light" felt like it was the final episode, as it resolved several of the season's overarching storylines. Presumably, the showrunners have some newfound conflict coming at us in their final episode, but for now, things are looking pretty comfortable. Let's review.

Of course, there was more drama surrounding Booth's struggle with his gambling addiction. But things were looking up for him: Brennan had invited him to visit Christine, he was working the program, and he was even about to celebrate receiving his 30-days-sober chip from Gambler's Anonymous. But when his sponsor mentioned inviting Brennan to the event, Booth declined and tried to play it off as no big deal. When Aubrey brought it up later on, though, he was extremely sensitive and evasive...so it was clearly a sore point for him.

Back in the lab, the Jeffersonian team was busy solving the murder of a biker-turned-yogi named Micah. Although suspicions were cast on his former gang boss, his mistress, and his girlfriend's lover, it turned out that his girlfriend whacked his head with a tablet and sent him crashing through a glass coffee table.

Although most of the forensics used to determine this were fairly straightforward, Angela did work some interesting magic with social media and facial recognition software to track down the victim on the day of his death. It was just the latest example of how essential Angela has been to the team, and it makes this next bit of news all the more sobering: Hodgins and Angela decided to move to Paris.

This step has been alluded to for several episodes now, but watching Hodgins and Angela finally make the decision has made it real. It also left me wondering about the next season. We know that Stephen Nathan (one of the showrunners behind the camera) will be stepping down, but what will be the status of TJ Thyne and Michaela Conlin? My gut instinct is that, like many of the characters' forays into other fields (like Booth in the military, or Brennan in the jungle), they'll be coming back for more. Perhaps they won't like Paris, or they'll just get that Jeffersonian itch to solve things...

For now, though, it looks like we'll be saying farewell and bon voyage to Hodgins and Angela. That's one big resolution for the episode. The second resolution provided by "The Life in the Light" was - drumroll - ANGELA'S REAL NAME! As devoted Boneheads will remember, Angela's quirky musician father had a habit of suggesting unusual names, and her own name has been a longterm enigma of the show. Discovering that her name is actually "Pookie Noodlin" came as an unexpected surprise, and resolved a mystery that has spanned several seasons of the show!

The last big "resolution-y" thing that happened in this episode involved Booth and Brennan. She was hurt and confused when Booth didn't invite her to his 30-days-sober celebration, and confronted him about it. He admitted that he still felt like he had a long way to go, but Brennan replied, "No, Booth, WE have a long way to go," meaning she still perceived them as getting back together eventually. Although she was worried that inviting him back to the house might stall his progress, she ended the episode by asking him to stay overnight at the house. It looks like our favorite couple cannot be torn apart, even from within.

I actually found this resolution a little bit disappointing. As I mentioned a few episodes ago, it's been refreshing to see Booth humbled and having to confront one of his biggest flaws. He and Brennan are just so perfect and so awesome...it was nice to see that even perfect people have their demons. Making so little of this VERY BIG source of conflict between the two of them seems like an instance where the showrunners are sort of pulling their punches. I was predicting that they would end the season without bringing the couple together, so we could fret about it over the summer. Maybe I was wrong, but there is one more episode to go...what do you think will happen? Tell me in the comments section below.

About the Author - entropyki

Ki (aka entropyki) is a UX Researcher, roller derby enthusiast, Star Wars nerd, and road tripper. When she's not at a computer, she's driving, singing, watching TV, and generally being a badass, plus-sized twentysomething.

Favorite shows include Supernatural, Bones, Party Down, Futurama, Orange is the New Black, and the Big Bang Theory.