The Pain in the Heart

[doc_3]

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.
 
 

Comments

[la-tante.livejournal.com]

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

[bertie456.livejournal.com]

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* :)

[tempertemper.livejournal.com]

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*

[ggjunkie33.livejournal.com]

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! :)

[wimseynotes.livejournal.com]

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.