Bones Review: A Kick in the Head

We return to relationship Bones land this week, but it isn’t as awful as it could have been. It has an interesting side effect, though I’m surprised to find myself torn over whether or not to be pleased.

Sweets (John Francis Daley) and Booth (David Boreanaz) spend the first five minutes of the night getting wasted and talking about girls, after which they both decide to propose. Sweets is talked out of the idea by ring shopping sticker shock, but Booth pulls the trigger and purchases a stunning diamond for Hannah (Katheryn Winnick). I’ll get back to this part later.

In yet another disgusting opening, we find a corpse on the roof of a building covered in “dog vomit slime mold.” Yet another reminder we shouldn’t sit down with a nice plate of food. Cam (Tamara Taylor) agrees, especially when Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) discovers the slime has been transported onto the body by bedbugs. She requests that he refer to them as bunnies so she can finish her snack. It doesn’t work out so well. I miss these types of scenes at the lab.

I don’t like what they’re doing with the interns at the lab. In the middle of last season, the rotating cast of “squinterns” were the only aspect of the show that remained bearable. Now, they’re changing them all up, because the writers for this show apparently do not adhere to the axiom, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. I don’t like Clark (Eugene Byrd) all warm and fuzzy. I don’t want a calm, sane Fisher (Joel Moore). Don’t even get me started on Wendall (Michael Grant Terry) the car mechanic. I have no idea why they’re messing with their carefully cultivated cast of oddballs.

Anyhow, tangent.

Fisher is now listening to the sounds of the ocean and drinking stinky tea to stay calm. With his help, they discover the victim has suffered hundreds of bone breaks over the past several years, along with more injuries sustained at the time of death. The information leads them to the local BMX park, where they discover the victim’s identity.

He comes through again when he discovers cause of death. Someone kicked the victim in the jaw, separating his head from his neck.  Once they determine the death was violent, the hunt for the person who had the most reason to commit murder commences. The case turns out to be interesting, and we get a nice glimpse into that soft, sensitive side of Angela (Michaela Conlin) when she gets help from an aspiring engineer at the BMX park. It turns out the victim is more than just another BMX biker, he’s the one with potential. The one with the advertising contracts and the sponsors – plenty of reasons to make someone want to kill him.

They go through the interviews with everyone, but it’s Hodgins that cracks the case. The victim injured himself in a massive stunt, but got in a tussle with a jealous competitor afterward, which led to the kick in the head.

Speaking of kicks in the head…Hannah rejects Booth’s proposal. She’s told him before that she’s not the marrying kind, but I’m guessing the fact she gave up her career to move back to the States, not to mention went out of her way to bond with his son, may have given Booth the wrong idea. Hannah wants to act like it never happened, just go back to the way things were, but Booth can’t do it. She goes to get her things out of his apartment, letting him know that though she’s going, she doesn’t think they’re over.

I thought I’d be more happy, or relieved at her departure. The thing is, I feel like things are going to be a little boring without her. It’s been nice to see Brennan (Emily Deschanel) with a friend, in an atmosphere other than the lab or with Booth. I don’t know. We’ll have to see.

Hannah sends Bones to check on Booth, who’s getting smashed again at their bar. When Brennan asks what’s next, Booth gives her a choice: stay, be his friend, drink with him, be his partner in the morning – or walk out and he’ll find her a new partner.

She chooses to stay, because she’s his friend. Friends stay and drink with you when it’s been a whopper of a day, even when you’re being annoying, whiny, or even mean. I have to mention Boreanaz’s performance in this scene, because it’s tight, and tragic, and wonderful. The choked quality of his voice conveyed real heartbreak – one that transferred to me when he tells Brennan that something must be wrong with him.

Nothing’s really wrong with Booth (unless you count his impending schizophrenia), but he does seem to be attracted to women who aren’t ready to settle down.

I guess that kind of makes him a woman. Welcome to the club.

Season 6, Episode 13 “The Daredevil in the Mold” (original air date February 10, 2011)

Bones airs Thursday nights at 9/8c on Fox.

Photos Courtesy of Ray Mickshaw and FOX