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'Bones' Season 6, Episode 9 Recap (VIDEO)
by Rich Keller, posted Dec 10th 2010 6:30AM
['Bones' - 'The Doctor in the Photo'}"We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons." -- Jim Rohn
There comes a time at least once in a person's life where the death of a total stranger has a profound affect on you. It may be due to a similarity in age or other characteristics such as profession or social life. Regardless, when you hear about that person's death it can be a harder blow for you than the death of a close relative because, as you gather more information, you realize that this person could have been you.
Such was the case with Temperance Brennan in this week's episode of 'Bones,' in a story that focused more on the good doctor rather than the victim.
It all started with the dolphin ring Temperance discovered on the victim's hand. From there, similarities began to pile up. The victim was incredibly smart, logical and a hard worker who wanted those around her to work just as hard. Friendless with a potential lack of social skills, the victim spent most of her time alone at the office.
If that didn't freak Bones out already the victim's employee photo and dictation CDs did. It was like looking at and hearing from her twin. Though no one else could see the resemblance between Bones and the victim, the similarities were all too clear to her. Which is why she became so obsessed to determine how the victim was killed.
But that investigation was really superficial. Her main goal was to prove that she was not like the lonely workaholic that died without the merest thought of mourning by those she worked with. Of course this won't be the case with Bones since she has a circle of friends tighter than most of us. However, in her mind, she was just as lonely in this world as the victim was.
This caused a number of sleepless nights, conversations with the victim's dictation notes, and a number of slip-ups during the investigation that were very unlike Bones's precise techniques. Also unlike her was the emotion connected to the victim and how it bled into the questioning of some of the prime suspects in the murder. Even Sweets's professional opinion that she and the victim were not alike couldn't deter her from her single-minded determination.
What finally stopped Brennan was her own realizations that while they may have had the same thought processes and work ethics, the victim didn't have her own lust for life. It was clear from conversations with the helicopter pilot, who tried to hook up with the victim time and time again, that she wanted to end her life but couldn't do it herself. So, she relied on others to help her.
While this allowed Temperance to understand the victim, it also caused something else to bubble up to the surface. One of the things the helicopter pilot regretted the most was that the victim didn't take advantage of the opportunities she saw in front of her for friendship and love. Taking this to heart, she finally realized that she had made a grave mistake in not accepting Booth's invitation for a relationship.
And she told him so. We all knew this was going to happen sooner or later between the two, and we all knew that Seeley wasn't going to drop everything he had with Hannah to be with Bones; despite the fact that everyone knows Booth's love for Hannah is forced. Still, it was hard to watch Temperance break down in tears when Seeley said he had moved on and that she needed to as well.
While some may say that the plot of this week's episode was trite and predictable, the fact that it put a human face back on Temperance makes it one of the better episodes -- if not the best -- of the season so far. Just the fact that the sword hanging over Booth and Bones is finally gone clears the air for the next phase of their relationship, and it puts up a question mark of if these two will ever get together in the near future.
Two other items of interest this week:
-- No Squinterns this episode. Instead, we were treated to the philosophical mentorings of Micah, the Jefforsonian night watchman played by Enrico Colantoni. At first, there was a potential that Micah was being set up as the murderer. But, as the episode moved on, the character turned out to be more like Brennan's subconscious than anything else. It might be good to have Enrico back once in a while.
-- This episode was continued proof that Hannah is not right for this show. Why she was even in this episode is unknown because she barely contributed anything other than a reveal of the victim's name and the fact she doesn't like to see Booth and Bones argue. From now on, Hannah should be mentioned and not seen.
Next week on 'Bones': The series takes its annual Christmas break. When it returns in January look for it to be on Thursdays at 9PM ET. Until then, have a happy holiday season.
'Bones' airs Thursdays, 8PM ET on FOX
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