Bones Season Premiere

[qos]

I wish the writers and producers would let drama and comedy happen in accordance with established characterization, not in defiance of it.



I hate it when producers break up a good couple in order to create drama. Bad enough that they did what they did to Zach! Breaking up a lovely, fun, so-well-matched couple like Angela and Hodgens is more gratuitous "shaking things up".

Also, what's with Cam? Sleeping with the gorgeous man with the even more gorgeous voice I totally get. Dragging a new employee into her confession with Angela is totally unprofessional -- not to mention grounds for a lawsuit by Clark, which I would think she of all people would 'get'.

On the other hand, I enjoyed the London storylines and the interaction between Bones and Booth and their counterparts. The second murder was a bit far-fetched, but it did produce some good drama.

Booth's lack of adaptability really bugged me, however. This man was supposedly a Ranger (right?) and an effective sniper. I have a hard time believing he's the kind of guy to throw tantrums in the middle of a city street because he can't adapt to driving on the other side of the road.

Comments

[saskia139.livejournal.com]

I was disappointed by the A/H breakup as well. And I would never take Sweets' advice on *anything*--not even which flavor of ice cream to have. I also refuse to believe that Booth is so stupid he can't drive on the left without major catastrophes, or thinks English culture is actually stuck in the Middle Ages. Sure, an American in England might get confused by the lingo or occasionally forget to drive on the left, but the ongoing dumb was OOC. My take is that Booth *plays* dumb when necessary, but he isn't. The Rangers and the FBI don't rely on dumb.

[qos.livejournal.com]

You're absolutely right about Sweets. Again, Cam should know better.

I think your characterization of Booth is the way he should be -- but the writers aren't that subtle.

The thing is: I don't think that Booth "plays dumb". He strikes me as being a man who is almost entirely without guile in his personal life. Dealing with suspects is another matter; that's a job, perhaps even "war" on some level. But where his personal life is concerned, Booth is almost painfully straightforward. Sometimes he plays devil's advocate with Temperance to make a point, but he doesn't ever lie to her about what he feels.

I've suspected for a while that the writers really don't like smart people. Bones, Zach, Sweets all have great book-learning, sometimes multiple degrees, and have high IQ's - but they're a mess in interpersonal stuff. The very bright like Hodgens and Angela and Cam are relatively more balanced. Booth -- not dumb, but definitely not squint-caliber in IQ -- is presented as being the smartest emotionally. Bones is being presented as smarter emotionally directly to the degree that she lets Booth influence her (as in last night not sleeping with Wexler).

I think they do the best job with the prosecutor (her name escapes me) who seems to be smart, savvy and emotionally in-touch.

[saskia139.livejournal.com]

If you'd hung out in online fandoms as much as I have, you'd have heard all the arguments about how nobody in Hollywood actually likes smart people. Dozens of shows have run on the chemistry of a brains/brawn team, and the Brawn is usually the more sympathetic, the more emotionally savvy, and the one the writers make Right, in the end. Jim and Blair in The Sentinel come to mind--seasoned cop and dissertating anthropologist. Laura Holt and Remington Steele--she's the trained detective, but his wacky references to old movie plots turn out to be correct.

I agree with you that Booth is a very straightforward person on a personal level, an Israelite without guile. But I also think the "squints" (and the writers) downplay his intelligence because he's not an expert in some really obscure field of knowledge like The Deeper Meaning of Bugs 'n' Slime, *and* because he doesn't define himself by his intellect the way Bones et al. do.

I might take a stab (heh heh, joke) at Reichs' books if I can find the first one. I'd like to see how she handles the lab vs. field, squint vs. jock situation.

[qos.livejournal.com]

Good point about the brains-brawn, especially the Remington and Laura observation. Heck, Kirk and Spock run on the same dynamic.

I thought about reading the books, but it's immediately obvious that it's not the same situation at all. For one thing, the Dr. Brennan in the books has a sixteen year-old daughter.