BONES Recap: ‘The Carrot in the Kudzu’
March 25, 2014 by Sarah Curtis
Hey BONES fans! How did you like this episode, “The Carrot in the Kudzu”? I thought it was a nice blend of case and character work. And any Mary Poppins reference is good with me! There is a lot more to discuss, so let’s get to it.
THE CASE:
The Scene of the Crime: This week’s case doesn’t start with unsuspecting people coming across a dead body, but instead with Brennan getting a call about some remains being brought to the lab. The victim’s body is encased in kudzu, which is taking root in any remaining tissue and causing damage to the skeletal remains. We know Brennan doesn’t like anyone messing with her evidence, so we can guess she’s not a kudzu fan here. I thought it was very creative!
The Victim: Joe Starkell, locally famous for playing the part of “Carrot Bill” in VegetaBills, a children’s television program designed around encouraging kids to eat veggies. Joe recently quit the show to start his own program, but it wasn’t a success.
Primary Suspects:
• Ken, Joe’s brother. They reputedly fought all of the time, but Ken’s wife Marilyn insists it wasn’t any worse than normal brothers who fight.
• Jake, the producer for Joe’s new show. When the show was cancelled, Jake and Joe got into a physical fight.
• Deborah Ann, a woman known to send Joe inappropriate messages on Twitter, crossing the line into sexually psychotic.
• Tommy, Joe’s replacement as Carrot Bill. He wasn’t in it for the money, but for the way moms would give him their numbers after shows.
The Case Progression:
Booth and Sweets talk about where Joe’s body was dumped. There aren’t any signs of struggle or injury, which doesn’t bring them any closer to figuring out who killed him.
At the lab, Clark, Brennan, Cam and Hodgins examine the remains for more clues. Clark and Brennan identify various bone remodeling on Joe’s sternum and ribs and injuries to the skull. But while they are damaging wounds, they aren’t cause of death. And as there is no sign he tried to catch his fall, Joe was apparently unconscious when he fell.
Hodgins identifies motor oil and traces of cement on the victim, and Angela brings Deborah Ann’s tweets to Sweets’ attention. He speaks with her at the FBI building, and she admits that she was a little crazy on Twitter, but that Joe was her inspiration for losing weight. She was afraid that if he quit the VegetaBills, she would gain weight again.
Sweets and Booth discuss the likelihood that she would kill him, and though Sweets posits that while she has Celebrity Worship Syndrome, Booth doesn’t see any hard evidence to prove she killed him. That entire conversation about how people can treat celebrities online (especially Twitter) was just deliciously done.
Angela finds out that Joe wanted to return to the show as Carrot Bill, so Booth goes to the TV set to question Tommy. Tommy insists he is innocent, that he and Joe were working out another character for him to play, probably an asparagus.
At the lab, Brennan and Clark discuss how Joe’s tox screen came back clean, but damage to his sternum suggests he’d received CPR. Brennan later tells Booth that Joe suffered from a heart arrhythmia-inducing condition but had stopped taking his meds — likely because the beta blockers affected his sex life. They wonder if someone knew that and used it as an opportunity to kill him.
Angela traces Joe’s credit card purchases along with the credit card purchases of each suspect. She notices a trend between Joe’s purchases and Marilyn’s.
Booth brings Ken in for questioning, suggesting that Ken found out his wife was sleeping with his brother and that he killed him. Ken admits that he knew about Joe and Marilyn, but that he was fine with it — they had an open relationship. He insists he loved his brother and would never kill him.
Booth, Brennan and Cam examine the parking lot of the TV studio. They find traces of blood and skidmarks from a car. At the lab, Hodgins identifies additional traces of cosmetics, traced back to the company Deborah Ann works for.
The Verdict:
Booth and Brennan interrogate Deborah Ann, telling her they found Joe’s DNA in the trunk of her car. She admits it was an accident; she just wanted Joe to notice her. She pulled up behind him in her car and honked the horn. This startled him and stopped his heart, causing him to fall. Instead of reporting it, she dumped his body on the side of the road.
THE SQUINTS:
I liked all of the squint action on the case in this episode. The sub-plot of Clark writing a novel was…interesting. I definitely liked that it didn’t turn into a competition between him and Brennan. It was clear that Clark wants Brennan’s approval though, and it was nice when she congratulated him on finishing his book.
As far as Cam, Hodgins and Angela all not liking the book, I thought it was a pretty funny sub-plot, and I am okay with how it turned out. I think it is probably lying by omission, but there wasn’t much harm done.
I also liked Sweets’ interaction with B&B in this episode — it was interesting that Sweets confessed he too had never had a birthday party. Seems like a stretch, since he has complimented his adoptive parents before, but not impossible. I liked the conversations he had with Booth about childhood birthday parties.
BOOTH AND BRENNAN:
The main B&B plot centered around planning a birthday party for Christine. As the story continued, it was pretty clear that both of them were coming to the idea of a party from their own experiences as children — Brennan didn’t see the importance, as she didn’t have parties when she was young, and Booth always had parties, and it was some of the only times he remembers his dad being sober. I’m glad that (for the most part), the storyline didn’t get too heavy into those issues and instead focused on how B&B could work together to plan the party.
It made me laugh when Booth was dressed up as the one-man band. It was silly and fun and showed a lot of a father’s love. I also liked how Christine wanted to play tag at Brennan’s suggestion. It was great to see them all running around as a family, and I think it is always fun to see Brennan get cocky with Booth over sports and such.
As for Max, I don’t know that his presence added much to the storyline; I think it could have worked without him being there. And I’m not sure what these additional secrets of his past will turn out to be. I did like Brennan basically telling him that she didn’t like his reasons for keeping secrets.
Okay, enough from me! Did you like this episode? Were you surprised by the killer? Did you agree with how Cam, Angela and Hodgins responded to Clark? What could Max’s secret be? The comments are open — speak your mind!
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I enjoyed this episode in many ways. The writers have chilly imanginations to come up with such bizarre ways to make the bodys icky and gory. Brennan is not as determined to be the first one at the crime scene as she once was. They don’t go into the field together or interrogate the suspects as much anymore either, I miss that. I feel like Booth seeks Sweets out to discuss the cases more than Brennan anymore. I prefer Sweets as a profiler then an investigator. Overall it was a enjoyable episode. I know the show must change as the charactors grow but I miss many things of past seasons.
I liked Booth & Brennans different feelings about birthday partys. I was curious how old Christine was going to be. She has grown up fast, I know there are no time constraints on Bones. I loved Booth as the one man band. DB always has fun being playfull he does it so well. The complete story on Clarks book was helarious. Angela, Hodgins & Cams reaction when Clark told them his book was published was priceless. It was all fun.
Good review and a solid ep. I thought Clark and Brennan’s congratulations scene would have been even more powerful, had Clark responded to Brennan, in kind, and called her Temperance, as she invited him to do in the Ghost ep.
I found the moment between Max and Brennan very touching; there is still secrets about her family (could this be a hint on possible threats next season). Oh loved how Booth mentioned Pops in this ep, which an episode done before the passing of Mr. Ralph Waite. Regrading Max presence remember that Max technically babysits Christine so he is supposed to be around most of the time to help out. Hodgins breaking the skull was hilarious. Clarks book was an interesting story I wish they can they upload a couple of pages of that book I would love to read about MacDonald home.
I did enjoy this episode. I was smiling well after the end of the last scene. Did everyone notice the plaque with Vincent Nigel Murray’s picture on the wall of the Jeffersonian? Remembering his presence on the show was very touching.
I have always been a loyal Bones fan. But I’ll be honest, I miss the Brennan we had in earlier seasons (1-4). I feel like they are trying so hard to use her character as comic relief now, that the emotional growth she had shown is all but gone.(Even though the show runners somehow believe she is showing emotional growth) I had hoped that once her character had a child, we would see more of an evolution. But even in last night’s episode, her crass remarks and lack of tact not only made me cringe, but I see more eye rolling and frustrated looks coming from Booth. As it is, I don’t see what he sees in her now. You saw them grow together in earlier seasons and have those intimate revealing moments together, and now she just spouts so much mumbo jumbo that I don’t see anything that really establishes that they really love each other. No flirting at the diner, no subtle touches or even lingering eye contact.
There used to be a look of desire in Booth’s eyes when he was with Brennan. It was subtle, but profound. Now I feel like they tied the romance up with a wedding and are done nurturing it….I really hope they can re-establish the emotional and sensitive Brennan. The one that they all but forgot helped the homeless man, gained the trust and related to foster kids, built a bridge to help baby Andy’s town, wanted to save poor Ripley and who responded in kind to Booth’s Japanese friend with the missing sister.
Yes I have to agree with Stacy, something is missing between B & B, it’s like the chemistry between is at stake, and I don’t blame the actors for that, ED and DB are excellent in playing their parts but I still think that some flirting, subtle touches are missing there. We get many nice words from them, like the ones we heard from Brennan in the last episode, but I still think that actions are still needed, and not only kisses but other expressions. At the time I write this, there is an episode on TV from season 6 that is running right now, one where Booth is with H…. and there is a hot sex scene there and I keep wondering why is that we never felt something like that between B&B? they really don’t need to that sort of sex scene but their relationship is getting boring at some level… and I’m a hardcore B&B fan!!!
Lovely review Sarah. I agree with Stacy and Carlis. They are so hell bent on using Brennan as comic relief that she has become a caricature of her former self. Its like a flanderizing effect. She had more sensitivity in her voice delivering the death details to Cleo Eller’s parents than in this last episode. How is that growth? Brennan from the start of the show has had great empathy and care for the world around her. She didn’t learn that from Booth. She had it innately. She only tried to box up her heart to prevent pain. Now that she is able to trust her emotions more, we should see that side more, even at work. But at work they make her almost robotic. Every single other cast member has their own share of flaws why can’t they spread around the comic relief. The show is starting to become repetitive and quite frankly making me lose interest. I love Brennan and started watching it for her because she had such a broader perspective to life.
Also there used to be equal growth of both characters in S1-4. They used to depend on each other. They should be showing scenes where Booth is opening up to Brennan about why birthdays are so important to him and Brennan giving him only what she can. Booth was using Christine’s bday to help him with his insecurities as a father. He was obsessed with giving Christine the one man band but the truth was she didn’t really care either way, she had more fun playing with her friends or playing tag. Also Max was still a better father than his dad even though he had bday parties and Brennan didn’t. They should have spent time teaching Booth that what he thinks Christine wants isn’t what she actually needs. Booth is so hung up on proving he is a good dad that he forgets about the big picture. A bday party or a one man band doesn’t make a child feel loved, its the attention of their parents that does that.
Also do they keep showing Booth opening up to Sweets instead of talking to his wife. The last 3 episodes in a row we had to listen to Sweets’ unnecessary involvement between B&B. I know they need to use JFD somehow but give him his own storyline like the rest of the cast. I don’t need to see sex scenes between B&B but I do need to see that Booth depends on Brennan emotionally as she does him. And I want to hear that she adds meaning to his life and that he wouldn’t survive without her either. If they are supposed to have an equal relationship, let it be equal. Booth should just marry Sweets otherwise.
Stacy, Carlis, and Bountypeaches – I agree completely. The Brennan from the last few season is such an exaggeration. I feel like I’m watching Wanda instead of Brennan. Everything from the voice (it’s like she’s always loud), tone (very little inflection), to the exaggerated insensitivity. While she may have been that way in Season 1-5, it wasn’t such a focus and she really seemed to grow in those seasons. Now, they have her cry now and again and call it growth. Not really. I still watch it because but it’s just not the show it was and could be. Perhaps it was the decision to focus more on making it comedic, I don’t know. Carlis, I totally get what you mean about the subtle flirting they used to do – nothing is subtle anymore. They said so much with their eyes and with nuance and now I feel like I’m being hit over the head with everything – Yes, Bones is a genius, Yes, she is “human”, Yes, Booth is the good man. I don’t need to be hit over the head with this. We knew all of this before just by how they were and we didn’t need them saying it over and over. OK…still love the B&B but that’s how it goes.
Although most of the bones episodes are very entertaining and make sense, this one did not sit well with me. the section above stated as ‘verdict’ is kind of lame. the only thing she is guilty of is hiding the body AFTER THE FACT. A lesser crime was committed. Why the divergence here from the same formula of killer and motive?