doc_3 | The Pain in the Heart

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The Pain in the Heart

Just my initial thoughts:

1. This definitely should have been a two-parter.

2. Tamara and T.J. were fantastic in this. Both of them took a mediocre/bad script and worked miracles.

3. David and Emily seemed rushed in their scenes (see number 1). I could have done without the bathtub scene, it was contrived.  I think this ep opens a lot of doors for them though.  Them together at the end really got me.

4. I don't know how I feel about Zack being the apprentice and losing Eric. I just can't wrap my brain around it all.

I need to sleep on this and maybe watch again. My head's still spinning.  Ugh.

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yep and uh huh to all. not the best place for it all to go, imho.

Okay, I so need to get myself better taste in episodes. I disliked Verdict in the Story (which most people seemed to love) but really liked this one.

Admittedly, there were flaws with it, but I'm inclined to leniency because of strike-tinted glasses. The whole Booth-getting-shot storyline was resolved was too fast for me but I can definitely see how that's a product of the strike and the need to wrap up the season in very few episodes. Also bathtub part, as nice as it always is to see semi-naked Booth, was unnecessary in my opinion.

But I loved that the apprentice was Zach. Loved. I know people have been saying it was too out of the blue, but it seemed to fit perfectly to me. (It's always the quiet ones...)

Even as far back as the beginning of the season, where Zach was sleeping on autopsy tables and getting concerned looks from Cam, it was made clear that he wasn't mentally sound post-Iraq and thus his susceptibility to Gormogon's persuasion didn't seem surprising or OOC to me. As for him killing people, I can definitely see the logic behind his actions and why he'd do it. (Not that I subscribe to the murder=yay view, but Zach's reasoning did make sense from a logical standpoint.)

Random(ish) aside: I adored shifty Hodgins. Even as a red herring, he was so awesomely creepy.

So yeah, I liked this one. *sighs and goes to get better taste in episodes* :)

1. Yup.

2. Weren't they just - Cam's face when BB come to Zack's room and she realises was just perfection, and I loved the scene between them when Hodgins startled her. He played the panic and worry about being a suspect perfectly, and somehow behind her eyes you could see her saying 'I don't think it's you'. Plus I loved her implicating Sweets ;)

3. My god. Did they ever. SO disappointed. Beyond words really. I have an idea for a re-write of the bathtub scene ;) We'll see if I get around to it LOL. I feel it does open doors in a kind of taking a step back type way, extra tension etc. But don't trust the writers to pull it off now!!

4. I still have no words!

*head spins too*

I've decided I like your plan to view through strike-tinted glasses. If I do that, then I think this was actually pretty good. Considering.

And while I didn't want it to be Zach, I agree that he has seemed 'off' lately. But I don't get the logic, nor the way it was set up. I mean, we're really supposed to believe that after the investigation started - with the original apprentice dying in that jail cell - that *then* Gormogon contacted Zach?

But someone had to be Gormy and the apprentice so I can live with it being Zach.

And TJ was phenomenal. He was so creepy with that pain med button in the hospital that I was freaking out.

So don't worry about your taste in eps. This was not my favorite but it definitely wasn't the worst.

On the B&B front, I feel better about them than I have in the last few eps.

Her reaction about going to the funeral, and then punching Booth, was awesome. Although it was corny as hell, the bathroom scene was also some more forward motion for them. And at the end ... guh.

For all the things that the writers got wrong this season - strike or no, they just plain screwed up at times - the evolution of this relationship has been very realistic. It feels very much like they're on the cusp of something, and it feels like it's the right time.

Strike-tinted glasses are the way forward... Seriously, you can basically see the pattern this season should've taken from the gaps that were left. (Booth getting shot, Booth's family being introduced, Brennan's father going to jail, more Zach hints, then the Gormogon resolution.) *sighs* It would've actually been a good run but I still think they did pretty well with what they had, even if the Booth-getting-shot storyline was hugely short-changed.

There are definitely some gaps to be filled in with the Gormogon thing, but I can buy that he went after Zach on purpose when his apprentice was dead to get his hands on the silver skeleton. In spite of Brennan's hugely complicated explanation, the logic just seemed like a greater-good type deal: you kill members of a secret society which would help the human race as a whole. Admittedly, it's not the most sound logic, but the argument's valid and consistent and I can definitely see Zach believing in something he can follow. (Sorry, I'm Logic Girl at the minute - I'm studying it this term. *g*)

Out of interest, which was your worst episode if not this one? *curious face* :)

I hope you're right - I just wanted a touch more emotion in the bathtub scene (hence my re-write LOL) but I loved the closing scene yes :)

Worst Episode = 'Baby in the Bough'

The pacifier at the end made me nauseous. And the 'Auntie Bones' - I don't know, I just didn't like it.

I'm still really annoyed about sweet Zach. I get why and I agree that he would be the most likely of that group, but I'm still peeved.

WHile they skimmed over it in the ep, I think the emotion was there in the bathtub scene. She obviously touched a nerve about him not caring, when he jumped up all unconcerned about his naughty parts showing. Looking forward to the rewrite!

Hee :) It's up now. K xxx

And again, I need me some better taste. I thought the pacifier bit was funny. (But then I do have a ridiculously immature sense of humor/fondness for slapstick.) Worst one of this season for me was either Man in the Mud because of the yawn factor, or Verdict in the Story because I really didn't like the ending.

I was never really that attached to Zach, so having him go/be the killer didn't bother me hugely, but I can see how that would override the story for a lot of people. Poor Zach... :(

Your icon sums it up for me - I felt like putting out someone's eye after that ep. :)

I'll say it again, Tamara and T.J. made this episode. I rewatched last night and that opinion was reinforced. They both turned crap into gold. Emily and David didn't quite get there, but to be fair they had way too much going on with their characters to do it justice. JFD has jumped his own personal shark for me. I really don't want him around anymore, he's turned into a gimmick.

That's too funny. I didn't like 'Baby' because I felt like B&B were about to cross into the "too comfortable, just friends" zone. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but I have this theory that all relationships between men and women reach the point where they are at that proverbial fork in the road - one way is the comfortable, just friends route, and the other is the sexual relationship route. SOmetimes that choice is made immediately, sometimes not. In 'Baby' it seemed like they were about to go the wrong way for all us shippers. I know, it sounds crazy when I type it out :)

JFD has jumped his own personal shark for me. I really don't want him around anymore, he's turned into a gimmick.

Totally!!

What he did to Brennan was absolutely unforgivable, even without his usual unethical behaviour. I have half a mind to write a fic where Angela finds out he didn't tell Brennan on purpose and goes psycho on him. Transference anyone?? ;)

I completely understand what you mean - that was actually a really good description of that little switch moment. (It so needs a name...) I can see why you'd feel it for BitB too, but it just didn't occur to me when I watched it. *has faith that the writers will let them hook up in the dim and distant future* :)

I have half a mind to write a fic where Angela finds out he didn't tell Brennan on purpose and goes psycho on him.

Haha, I would totally love to read that! That would be an awesome image, wouldn't it?!

Ahhh, I totally agree with you here!

Re 1: MMMhmmm! It needed more explanation in my opinion.

Re 2: Totally. I was never really a Tamara/Cam fan (while I didnt dislike Cam, I never really liked her either) and this episode definitely did some good in converting me-her scenes showing sadness over Zack was SO sad and really well done!

Re 3: Yeah, I agree. I felt it was definitely rushing through the after-effects of Booth's shooting/"death", and I'd have loved to see more scenes with them talking about the emotions that came out of that (although I understand that with fitting all this into one episode that was really hard to do).

The bathtub scene was okay, although I felt it wasn't awkward enough perhaps? It may just be that I need to rewatch to catch it, but I really didn't feel much awkwardness and I would've expected at least a little more because of all the UST they have.

Re 4: I agree. On some level it fits for me, but I still think it needed a bit more explanation. I'll miss Zack though :'(

I'm not sure how I feel about the whole episode, and I definitely think I need to re-watch too! :)

I'm glad you didn't think I was demented ;) I got really nervous about them during BitB, but they got back on the right track in 'Verdict', so I feel better. Particularly with the way it ended in 'Pain' with her head on his shoulder.

2. I am a big fan of Cam - I think she's had a great character arc throughout. The scene between Hodgins and Cam was great (and I agree about the painkiller scene - I had a moment of wondering how far he was going to go with that!)

3. Bathroom scene didn't go far enough - either more UST or more anger would have worked better.

4. I think if they were going to make Zack the apprentice, they needed to set up better. Yes, he was clearly suffering from post-Iraq-trauma, but NO ONE (especially the ones who serve in such situations and return damaged) are well-served by such a facile explanation. BONES usually does better with these types of military-response story-lines.

For me, the whole "logical" argument breaks down when Brennan was nearly killed by Gormagon. There is NO WAY Zack would accept the necessity of that - that's why he sacrificed his hands for Hodgins, Killing people? Yes. Having the Master eat them? Well - okay, I can maybe find a way for him to accept that (he is an anthropologist, after all - cannibalism is fairly common in human history). But hurting the people he is most emotionally attached too -next to his 40 family members who love and accept him? No way. Just no way.

A very disappointing outcome, and one which could have been better.

I definitely think the bathroom scene was in poor taste. It was too goofy to come on the heels of such a big thing. They totally wasted their opportunity there.

That is going to be a problem for the next season - this is such a huge affront to the team/family they have created. The goofiness which has predominated in this half of the season will feel so completely out of place under the weight of this disclosure.

I am okay with Sweets, but not as a replacement for Zack. I kind of liked the idea of them playing off each other some more.

I just hope they treat the loss of Zack and Booth's "death" with the weight these two things deserve. If not I'll be extremely disappointed.

I doubt they will - the season opener is supposed to be a two-parter set in London (with Booth being all-annoying-American and Brennan being all cosmopolitan-world-traveller, no doubt). I don't think there will be a lot of focus on past events.

Unfortunately I'm sure you're right. :(

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The Pain in the Heart

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