Bones Review: The Perfect Pieces in the Purple Pond
September 25, 2008 by Kath Skerry
Oh ho! So…Zack never killed anybody? Discuss….
Okay…okay…so, this was a good episode, wasn’t it? Alliteration aside, maybe the best so far this season, yeah? I can’t wait to hear what you think in the comments.
The Case:
A young man’s body (except the head) is found in 12 (perfect) pieces in an evaporation pit. A few suspects, and even a confession from one of the toilet mint gang. I never know who is guilty till the end, and I’m okay with that. I like being surprised. What I don’t like is seeing a human head in a box. You hear that, Bones? (Bones, the show, not the person, ha.)
The Squints:
Well, well, well. Things are progressing quite interestingly, if I might say so.
1. The young smart, cute guy, Wendell. I liked him; I think he was smart; he would have a lot to offer the J-team.
2. Cam: Will someone please tell me what her purpose is on the show? I need to know this. I don’t get it. Is she fun, casual boss Cam who sleeps with exes and hangs out with the gang at the diner, or harsh, bossy boss Cam who is always demanding respect? Someone help me out here, please.
3. Angela was great in her Angela-ness this week. The best this season, for her. I loved her convos with Wendell, and I (and probably my sister Elizabeth) liked that she still seems upset about Hodgins.
4. Hodgins was good, and I loved his visit with Zack. I appreciated their “King of the ________” stuff. Good times. Hodgins is a good friend.
5. Sweets = good. I like him better when he is helping solve cases and not being a nosy buttinsky into their personal lives. I think Booth and Brennan proved they do fine on their own. But, more on that later.
6. Zack…Zack, Zack, Zack. So…is he back? Glad the show didn’t go the Hannibal Lector road, make him all creepy while helping with cases and what not. I didn’t 100% buy the whole Zack and Cam and Angela and Hodgins laugh and drink chocolate milkshakes at the diner bit. I mean, what is Zack doing? Telling jokes? Not likely. I’m anxious for your thoughts. And I’m wondering if this is what HH had in mind all along, or if he felt the heat from the finale so much that he had to do something about it.
Brennan and Booth
I’ve said it before, but I love their friendshippy stuff. And all the partner goodness. I liked the bickering, fo shiz, especially when Booth let Brennan drive. Brennan is looking very beautiful this season, isn’t she? I liked that she was in the lab a lot this episode. I’m not sure how I feel about her reaction to Zack’s return. Total happiness? What are your thoughts? I will say I’m not surprised that she was happier than Booth. I think hurting Brennan in any way makes a person an enemy of Booth’s. Brennan also says she doesn’t want to be a sexy scientist, but…Booth says it’s inevitable. It would be like saying he’s not a sexy FBI agent, and we ALL know that’s just not true. But I especially like that Booth has read every single word. Booth, you can be all over my real world AND my fantasy world, too. I liked how they both kind of froze when she put her arms around him. And I’m wondering whether she’s going with him to the Capitals game.
Favorite line of the night:
You guys…I could not choose. I need for you to tell me your favorite lines of the night. Zack’s ‘King of the Loony Bin’ was great, and so was Sweets saying his ex most definitely was not his mother. But…Brennan saying Booth didn’t have to ‘fix everything for everyone all the time’? Classic, and Booth, later, “That’s for me to know, and you to find out?” sigh…you guys pick…
Seeleybaby is GMMR’s resident BONES expert. She’ll be following the show all season for us, and we couldn’t be more excited to have Booth and Brennan (ok especially Booth) well covered this year!
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I really enjoyed this episode although I thought Zach came across as kind of looney for a not murderer. And maybe that was the point?
I loved that people visit Zach in the LB that Hodgins still plays King of the Lab with him. I miss that part of the show.
I think Booth froze when Brennan went to pop his back because he felt boobs, man!
PS, I don’t like Cam either. But I guess we need that random female to sleep with the guest stars, right?
Do we get to keep the new cute lab guy? I liked him too. And he seemed to fit in a little better than all the previous ones. He is like a young, guy Brennan.
An amazing episode. The interaction was perfect, Zack’s return felt natural. I didn’t guess the mom as a suspect. And a cute lab guy. I mean, seriously, what could be better?
I didn’t buy the Zack twist (of course, I didn’t buy him being the assistant either).
And I don’t really see the point. He still can’t be a part of the cases – in any attempt at maintaining reality – and he really was part of a plan to murder and eat people. That is not nice. And he still feels his only mistake was an error in logic.
He is in the mental hospital because he was judged not guilty of murder by reason of insanity. He doesn’t get to just waltz in and out as he (or even his psychiatrist) pleases.
It was nice to see him, but I don’t want to ever see him again.
Thanks for the recap. I was glad that Zach didn’t actually murder someone. It made my heart feel better. I’m glad that I got to see some Angela reaction to the breakup. I sure hope they get back together cause this is making me sad.
I can kind of buy Brennan’s reaction to Zack’s appearance – it’s very reminiscent of his return from Iraq. My guess, from her demeanor, is that she’s been too unsettled by the whole situation to actually visit him in the LB (like the other squints), so she honestly expected to never see him again.
My take on the diner scene between Zack and the squints is that it was more about closure – saying goodbye to the team dynamic, which is something that none of them ever really had. Sure, they are able to individually visit him in the LB, but the way he went straight from the lab to the hospital to the LB means that they never really got to sit there with Zack as a group and have their last ‘hang-out’. Then again, I’m not a shrink; what do I know? 🙂
I’m still not sure how Zack got into the LB in the first place – if he was judged incompetent to stand trial, or if a jury ruled that he was insane. Either way, I have a hard time believing that Zack could consult meaningfully on these cases – and I completely understand his reluctance to tell the truth and try to get out of the LB. If he’s out, he still can’t go back to his life because his career is ruined. What reputable institution would want a FA that took confidential case information and gave it to a serial killer? There’s no way the FBI would allow him to continue working on cases through the Jeffersonian. And it’s not like he can take the stand as an expert even if he stays in the LB; the squints would essentially have to get on the stand and lie to cover up the fact that they consulted this person to get enough evidence to identify the murderer.
I like the fact that HH used this to try to appease the fans after the finale. However (and maybe it’s my overpriced law school education here), I really think this new development stretches the boundaries of reality even more than the ‘Zack is a killer’ revelation.
I loved the episode, especially the “That’s for me to know, and you to find out.” The whole Zack-didn’t-really-kill-that-guy twist seemed a little shoehorned in, however. I really think HH was responding to the people who were upset about last season’s finale, but it seemed way too out of place to me.
I actually enjoyed seeing Zach again but I am not sure how I feel about him showing up in the future. I enjoyed the episoe for the most part. What annoyed me about it that still kinda drives me nuts is that Booth was bothered more by his back pain on an ongoing basis than he was by his very recent gunshot wound at the end of last season. It just really bothered me for some reason.
My comments on this episode are way too long. I’ve decided to shorten it to what won’t get my blood pressure to rise:
I’d like to begin my comments by saying 2 things:
1. Let’s give Seels a hand for doing these fantastic recaps for us every week! And GMMR for giving us a friendly, cool place to hang out and discuss our shows the morning after.
2. I am a ‘true fan’. There are some people that think that a ‘true fan’ can only be someone who nods happily at everything Hart Hanson does. This is not me. Questioning the show is healthy – if I didn’t, I’d be like one of those mothers that think her child can do no wrong. That being said, here are my thoughts:
The case! Yes! For the first time in a while, I’ve felt like the case was up to the standards of the first and second seasons. Anyone love that it was Zack that cracked the case even though the giveaway clue was Sweets’ area of expertise? Interesting.
Wendall….I liked him. I could actually see him sleeping with Brennan, but that’s another story…
Cam: ???????? I’m a huge Cam supporter, but…? I am lost. They need to give her a direction and stick with it.
Angela: It was nice to see she cares about Hodgie, especially since neither of them looked like they cared much when they broke up. That was disturbing.
Hodgins: Once again, TJ Thyne did SUCH a great job. When Zack mentioned that he knew that he had split up with Angela, Hodgins’ stoic effort to act like everything was cool just broke my heart. Why wasn’t this man nominated for an Emmy?
Sweets: Did anyone find him very all-business and sexy in his first scene with Zack? Perhaps I just have a problem. And the poor guy, he tries so hard – you can tell his is way bummed that Angela is blaming him and not seeing the bigger picture. It was nice to see him doing his job and not lurking around for no reason. And all the stuff with discovering Zack had swiped his card out and standing outside the loony bin, impatiently glancing at his watch like a mother hen was great. It was so hot and …ADULT of him. Also, him being scared to be left alone with Zack – that was good. All the other squints know Z-man well enough to not be afraid of him – Sweets not so much.
Yeah…this is where I stop. I will say this. I love Zack. I love EM. I love my show, and consider myself a ‘true fan’ even though I don’t pant happily like a dumb dog at everything HH does (note: that is not directed toward anyone who enjoyed last night’s episode, just one specific person who thinks you can’t be a true fan if disagree with something going on in the show 🙂 ). Let’s just say I found the way that this Zack stuff was handled so disturbing that I wasn’t able to enjoy Bren fixing Booth’s back…and to tell the truth am a little unsure if I would have even enjoyed that regardless.
P.S. I love my show
Quote: King of the Loony Bin…sure, we all knew that was coming, but I still enjoyed it
this episode wass soo cute with all the Booth and Brennan stuff LOL. It soo looks like booth is in love with brennan and she too un-sociable 2 c it BUT ITS SOO CUTE! i love watchin this show.
In her office, Bones is throwing away her last manuscript. Booth enters.
Booth: What are you doing?
Bones: Throwing out my book.
Booth: It’s still on your harddrive.
Bones: Nope, not anymore it’s not.
Booth is shocked. “You erased it? WHOA!” He lunges forward and grabs the manuscript before she can throw it into the trash. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop!”
“But I don’t want to be a writer anymore.”
“Why because of what that publisher said?” Booth asks, still pulling papers out of the trash. “He was an idiot, did you see his glasses?”
Bones: I don’t want to be a sexy scientist.
Booth: That’s like me saying I don’t want to be a sexy FBI agent. We can’t change who we are.
Sulking, Bones sits down at her desk as Booth continues to pull out her manuscript despite his bad back. She lets out a long breath and he says, “Suspenseful and chilling. Temperance Brennan leads the pack. Anthropology has never been more exciting.”
Bones is more than a little surprise. “You memorized my reviews?”
Booth holds up her book. “Angela can scan these and get them back on your computer.”
“You’ve known my reviews, Booth, but do you ever read my books?”
He grins at her. “Every single word.”
(Awwwww!)
“You never said anything.”
“Well I figured I’m all over your real word, why would want me in your fantasy world too?” He hands her her manuscripts. She doesn’t want to take it. He won’t give up. Come on, you know you want to.
Finally she takes it back. “I can appreciate that.”
“See how this works?” Booth gets all enthusiastic. “Give and take? We’re PARTNERS, huh?”
WHEN R THEY GOING TO GET TOGETHER LIKE come on this has been going on for way too long ………..
i reckon brennan throws out her book and re writes it including booth!! 🙂 and booth sees it and he will be like 🙂
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