After a tumultuous two-part premiere, Bones is resetting back in its socket. In this week's episode, "The Donor in the Drink", we saw Booth and Brennan returning to their familiar roles as FBI agent and Head of Forensic Anthropology, respectively. It's sort of inevitable that they return to these roles, but do you think they did it well? Let's talk through the finer points of the episode and decide.
RECAP
Booth's brother, Jared, turned out to be hard to keep track of, even from beyond the grave. The episode started with Booth complaining that Jared's remains had gotten lost somewhere between the morgue and his home, and it was clear that the missing ashes were putting Booth on edge.
Of course, the best way to forget your personal issues is to dive into work, and that's exactly what Booth and Brennan did, by investigating the murder of a man who turned up in a trout pond.
The Jeffersonian team quickly identified the body as an inventor named Lloyd Nesbit. Over the course of the investigation, we discovered that poor Nesbit had been beaten to death, had several of his organs harvested, and was then dumped in the trout pond where he was later discovered. (It turned out that a coworker of his had lost his temper - and his kidney - to Nesbit's shenanigans).
Outside of the victim's storyline (which was honestly the least compelling part of the episode), coworkers were behaving more admirably. Aubrey welcomed Booth back to the FBI by giving up his office, and he attempted to locate Jared's remains. Wendall and Angela both invited Cam out to distract her from her recent breakup. Hodgins coordinated a show for Angela's newfound photography skills.
Even Booth and Brennan's daughter, Christine, was showing love to those around her by supporting her new brother (named Hank - I finally caught his name)! Brotherly love passed from father to daughter at the end of the episode, when we learned that Christine had been using the box containing Jared's ashes to climb in and out of her little brother's crib.
Things ended on a happy note, but felt a little too squeaky-clean for me. In the next session, I want to explain why.
DISCUSSION
I kind of touched on this last week, but I'm baffled by how easily Booth was able to return to his job as an FBI agent. He was just involved in the theft of two million dollars, helped dispose of his brother's body, and lost a family member. Seems like even the most basic psychological evaluation would raise some red flags, and that could make for some interesting conflict this season. Why do we have to rush back to "the way things were" on the show? Is "FBI agent" the only role we want to see Booth in? The first episode mentioned that Booth was training new FBI recruits. I would've loved to see him do that this season, just to change things up.
Finally, I want to salute the show's commitment to Aubrey's food addiction. When a box that he suspected was Jared's remains turned out to contain marmalade, Aubrey dug through Booth's trash to fish out the sugary goodness. The show's dedication to these little character quirks is definitely one of the reasons I keep coming back. What are your favorite character idiosyncrasies?
As always, I'd love to know your thoughts on the episode! Leave me comments.
