Last night, I got home around 8:30 with the intention of finally watching the season five premiere of Bones (bless you, Hulu) and turning in early. Three hours later, I'm powering through the latest episode (damn you, Hulu!) in a fit of Brennan/Booth shipper glee. Booth has been hit with a giant-sized clue hammer, in the shape of the kick ass, Love-Letter-to-All-Fangirls season four finale/coma dream. Hearts and flowers, he sweeps her off her feet and they live happily ever after, right? Ha, of course not.
Before our boy can confess his feeling, Cam and Sweets introduce a seed of doubt - Brennan seems all tough and robotic, but underneath is a scared little girl. No one actually said, "if you fuck this up, we will fuck you up." But I thought it was rather implied.
So he does the logical thing. He tells her he loves her - and then takes it back. Anybody else flashing back to The Nanny? The actual line is, "I love you ... (awkward pause) ... in a professional, atta-girl kind of way." *shoulder punch* I laughed my ass off. The beauty is that Brennan fails at emotions, so even though he's giving her the Soulful Puppy Eyes (SPE) the whole time, she doesn't get it. The next two episodes include further SPE moments and further obliviousness from good ol' Tempy.
I imagine that hardcore fans of the show might be tired of the writers teasing them like this. They're probably screaming 'JUST GET IT ON, ALREADY!' and trying to reach into their TVs to force Booth and Brennan's faces together. Or maybe last season's finale was enough of a pay-off that it will keep the rabid fangirls at bay ... for now.
Personally, I've joined the party late enough that I still find these shenanigans amusing. Plus, there's definitely a feeling that something big has changed (at least, for Booth). I don't get the impression that they're going Mulder-and-Scully us forever. In the meantime, enjoy this picture of the Soulful Puppy Eyes.
Awwww...
7 comments:
I give the show props for holding out. Half the reason we all (ok, I) watch it is because of the deliciously unresolved tension, and once you resolve it, all you have is a big helping of "now what?".
I actually found that finale irritating, myself, and I spent most of those first two episodes yelling at Booth to not ruin everything, but I guess I'm not a proper shipper. I LOVE their relationship and the way that the show keeps pushing the limits of it to keep us on the edge of our seats, but I think I would be horribly disappointed in the show if it ever stopped teasing us and just gave in. The tease is what keeps me coming back. But that's just me.
You definitely have something there. I mean, TV formulas are formulas because they (usually) work. Some shows do Unresolved Sexual Tension better than others. Crossing Jordan, for example, comes to mind as an example of what *not* to do. I really liked the show, but they tried too hard with the UST and it ended up muddled and confusing. The X-files' subtler brand of UST was great, but when DD left the show it left everything feeling so unresolved. And then in the movies, we jumped straight from almost-kisses to old-marrieds.
I'd like to see a show deal with an actual burgeoning relationship between coworkers - I think Bones may be a little to high-personal-drama to do it well. Funnily enough, I think I can use The Office as a good example of this. Anyway, sorry for the rambling response - thanks for you comment!
I agree with the Office as a great example of RST (resolved sexual tension). We've seen Jim and Pam from the very beginning, all the way to their wedding, which I believe is coming up this week. And in my opinion, it's always worked, never gotten stale, and one of the only instances I can think of where a television couple resolved their tension and everyone was happy.
I don't watch Bones so I can't really weigh in. But I saw enough at the panel at Comic Con to know that people were PISSED with the finale last year.
Really? I don't remember that ... but at that point I had been camping out all day in room filled with sweaty nerds, so I think the fumes may have been getting to me.
Ok I'm going to rant for a little bit because I have very strong opinions on the so-called "Moonlighting Curse." Basically, it's a myth. a show's success or failure has more to do with how it's written.
Jim and Pam aren't the sole focus of The Office. The writers built a world full of characters that we want to watch independently of their love lives, so when Jim and Pam got together, it was like 'yay, now what are Michael and Dwight up to?'
Shows like Bones that rely so very heavily on the will they, won't they UST with no exit strategy are doomed to fail after the tension is resolved, but it's because of poor writing/planning not because viewers only want to see teh sexin' and for producers to blame it on that is kind of insulting.
That's the gist of my theory, but I won't bore you with any more details. Just had to get that off my chest.
I see your point (though I never heard the term 'Moonlighting Curse' - tell me more!). But I think the characters/plots of Bones go beyond UST, and could survive a resolution. Maybe. I hope.
And I just thought of another example of a show about co-worker RST ... any Scarecrow and Mrs. King fans in the audience?
Wow, Scarecrow and Mrs. King! That's stored away in the same crevice of my brain as Moonlighting! :-) (Alas, it's not a well lit crevice, so name recognition is about all I've got. Speaking of Booger, though...)
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