Note: This thread will contain spoilers for all of Season 3 (3.01 -3.14).
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We might want to call this rewatch thread a 'saudade' thread.
(
Saudade is a Portuguese term for yearning, or a deep longing for something just out of reach.) And I thought it might be interesting to begin a discussion about a second viewing of Season 3 now that we've seen
Pain in the Heart.
Personally, I expected to be wound up in all of the plot holes and red herrings in this episode, but I was pleasantly surprised -- and found myself watching with the same enthusiasm as I did the first time.
This episode was a great set-up for an intriguing and ambitious story arc. Each character had something complex and interesting to work out on his or her own. My picks are Brennan's struggle with the impossibility of replacing the irreplaceable -- she can't replace Zack because he can't be replaced, and she's lost too much already; Booth's desire to please the women in his life -- he charms and wheedles and brokers Brennan's trust because there's a level of atoning for past sins that extends to the women in his life; Hodgins' need to be heard, seen, and understood; Angela's need to be right about love; Zack's need for stability; and, Cam's need to ...um... be a great cat herder. So maybe the overall theme is 'acceptance.'
Plus, it's a neat mystery.
When I first saw the episode, I felt the scene where Angela explains to Brennan that she's running from an 'iconic image' was ridiculous, but on second viewing I thought it was great -- because Angela was so painfully wrong but so completely self-assured. It's a recurring theme for her, and very well done -- especially the call back to it when she's assisting Booth. She's right on the money until she veers off into the weeds. It's a great commonality for Jack & Angela to share, too. Subtle. Hilarious.
Don't mind me if I zip forward here... I don't have the patience for deep meta and I'd rather leave it to you all. But I do want to get to the scene where Zack comes home. Booth's reaction was just spot on. He knows there's a deeper reason for Zack's return, and he knows what it is. And if there's anything on second viewing of this ep that I am bothered by, it's when Booth confesses to Brennan that he was right by not intervening when Zack went to Iraq; even though it was not the right decision for Zack to make, it was his right to make it, and Booth (or anyone else) had no right to rob him of that autonomy. Agreed. Why, then, was there no follow through with Booth and Zack? Zack admires and looks up to Booth, he seeks his acceptance as much as he does Brennan's -- and yet there's no interaction beyond Booth's accusatory greeting when he arrives. Booth should know that Zack would be humiliated to face him under the circumstances...and yet, nothing? The compassion that endeared him to Brennan had it's use.
I'm not sure if I buy that, or worse, that I do. You guys know me -- always happier looking on the dark side.
All in all, this was a great episode. I was surprised and enthralled. But the
saudade lingers as I wonder why it all fell apart.