Bones 1.03 A Boy in a Tree

[mariposa]

Ok, I watched this episode very late last night on Fancast, but I'm quite sure I didn't fall asleep at the end ...

Was it just me, or did they not solve the case completely for us? The perpetrators were the victim's classmates and Brennan figured out that the gastric juices caused the victim's neck bones to snap when they typically don't in a person that age ... but it seemed like one second, the kids were confessing to their motive and the next second, B&B were notifying the mother of all the people who would be in custody or leaving their jobs as a result of the murder. Did they skip the whole "how" of the murder? Or did my cursor skip and miss something? It's hard to rewind on FanCast and it was too late for me to go back.

I am still working my way through S1 and S3. I saw most of S2 and smatterings of the other two, so I'm working, I'm working ...

Anyone remember the epidsode I'm talking about?

[mariposa]

BTW, this is the first episode in S1 where I get a real sense that J&A have something playful in their future. Re-watch the opening scene when you get a chance - they're so cute together when they're bored!

TJ 's mannerisms are also hilarious in this episode, more so than usual, I thought.

[jordle]

I actually watched this episode yesterday. I think they did skim over the 'how' he was murdered. I guess the ep was pretty full and they thought we wouldn't notice.

I have no idea how they would have got him up the tree!

I love Hodgins' part in this episode. The scenes with Zack are hysterical - and you're right about the first scene with Jack and Angela. They're so made for each other!

[Tara]

I think it's just a line of dialogue where they admit to drugging Nestor and hanging him, very quick.

[Sinkwriter72]

I just browsed a transcript of the episode over here on Bones Fans Online. Tara's right -- it occurs near the end of the episode, during an interrogation between Booth & Brennan and the young female student, Camden:

***********
Camden: Mom, deal with it, okay? You're the one that's the perv, so... when my mom gave Tucker money to keep him quiet, we got the idea to blackmail her with the tape. I was mad at her, I guess. Then Tucker said it was my turn.

Booth: Nestor was rich, lonely, Catholic and he had a thing for you.

Camden: And he was cute. People didn't notice because the way he talked but he was really cute. I liked him. We made the tape and showed it to Nestor. It made him really upset. Really upset.

Brennan: Because you threatened to show it to his mother.

Camden: Or because I broke his heart? I still can't believe he killed himself. I'm really sorry he did that.

Lawyer: What Camden did was wrong, which she's acknowledged, but she can't be held responsible for an unstable boy's overreaction.

Camden: I said I'm sorry.

Booth: Yeah. Camden Destry, I'm placing you under arrest for the murder of Nestor Olivos.

Lawyer: What? She's admitted to blackmail and attempted blackmail. That's all.

Brennan: Nestor was going to go to the headmaster and expose you, so you dosed him with Ketamine and hauled him up into the tree. The DNA traces in the rope will prove that.

Booth: Plus, you've already confessed to the motive.

Camden: If I cooperate and tell you everything Tucker did, do I get some sort of deal?

Booth: That depends on what else you got.

[Cut to Brennan's Office]

Booth: The Headmaster and Head of Security will both lose their jobs over what happened to Nestor. The Sheriff will resign. The two kids who killed your son are both in custody.
***********

I'm guessing between the two of them (Camden and Tucker), they were able to haul Nestor up into the tree in order to hang him from it.

[English Al]

I watched this last night having received my DVD's of the first series. This was the last one we (me and the missus) watched before falling asleep.

I loved the scene at the start and thought "J&A are going to make a great couple" even though I know they end up together.

I felt sorry for Zack in this episode too.

[Violaine]

It's Saturday night, and time to review some Bones episodes! Tonight, I'm starting with 1.03 - A Boy In A Tree. This review is from the DVD version, not a rebroadcast.

Victim: Nestor Olivos. Suspected suicide at an exclusive prep school, Hanover Prep Academy.

We open up the episode with lots of interior shots of the Jeffersonian. Hodgins and Angela are watching Zack's conversation with a former lover, and gossiping a little.

Zack is back to being super-logical, more like Sheldon Cooper than anyone I've seen (which is what I initially thought Bones would be like). However, when he said, "She said ask your friends if I had any", I laughed out loud.

Bones, Booth, and Zack travel to Maryland to investigate the death of a student that's hanging in a tree on the campus. Ooh, grisly.

Hodgins and his lurking conspiracy theories: "That wasn't a high school. It was an experimental eugenics program." Well, Angela laughed.

Bones is *ticked* that Booth referred to her research as "all the boring details". Hah. And that he's still calling her "Bones". I don't recall when she stops protesting over that, but I know that she does, eventually.

Hodgins: "Some things you learn by doing: riding a bike, driving a car, pleasing a woman." This is where Zack looks to Hodgins for advice on women because, according to Zack, Hodgins had "slept with like 10000 women." Whoa!

Angela: "You have no idea how open-minded I can be." Foreshadowing for the future, perhaps?

Hodgins: "Hey. Bugs buzz but they do not lie."

Uhoh. Sex video! Busted.

Bones: "Dude. Minty burp is still.. burp."
Hodgins: "Yeah, well who took me to Wong Salmonella's?"

Annnnd we get to see the Angelator again. It's 30 minutes into the ep, I was beginning to wonder.

Angela's advice (well, sort of. mostly insight): "That cynicism you affect, Booth? It's your way of hiding a deeply romantic nature."

and

Angela: "When you're with someone, the gymnastics aren't what matter. It's who you are. It's in your intentions and how much you care about the other person."

Zack: "If you don't want to help me, just say so."

Angela: "All right.. I'm gonna let you in on a secret. This is a female secret. Go to Naomi and tell her that you don't know anything about lovemaking. Sex, yeah. Lovemaking.. you're a blank slate. You'll do anything she wants if she just introduces you to the secrets of love. She'll be more interested in that than if you were the most imaginative lover on the planet."

Zack: "That is totally counterintuitive."

Angela: "Just do it, Z-man. Reap the benefits of my sexual wisdom."

[AmyLynn]

There were a lot of funny exchanges in this episode as Violaine had pointed out. I love that kind of stuff!

I also love Boothe's feelings on prep schools/rich people. I confer.

The episode was ok. I hated the 'headmaster' as much as Booth. Don't have a whole lot of opinions on this one though. Brennan's reassurance to Nestor's mother at the end got a big applaud from me. Love seeing the bits of humanity in Brennan that usually doesn't surface because it's buried under all that rationality.

[skftex]

This one started off with a weird flash of a lot of scenes, I don’t remember that but maybe it was common back at the beginning.

This episode is actually one of my favorites of season 1, the case was very sad, but all cases are sad with a murdered person, I just liked how the case was handled plus the whole thing about Zack and Naomi in paleontology was a funny side story. Hodgins gets some great lines out of it.

Angela and Hodgins are bored. Etruscan burial crypts are so boring. They get so excited trying to rush Zack off to “bring us back a case”. Booth doesn’t like Zack talking about his sex life and doesn’t like Brennan saying good morning. He’s cranky isn’t he! He doesn’t even want them to talk. Sheesh.

“Omnia Mea Mecum Porto” Booth thinks it means “regular people stay out” then Zack and Brennan know what it means, which sort of proves Booth’s point. The actual translation, Carry with me all my things, doesn’t even make sense to me.

I don’t like the headmaster and the security guy. They think they can pressure Booth to say it is a suicide. HAHAHA Goodman, “we at the Jeffersonian prefer science to digestive tracts”.

Hodgins doesn’t want to talk to Zack about how to please a woman. The gesture Hodgins does when he tells Zack needs to find someone more “earthy” just cracks me up every time. That and the face he makes just is priceless and one of the reasons I loved Hodgins right away. “Hey bugs buzz but they do not lie.” Then eating the 7 organ soup and trying to get Angela to eat some of it, with whatever that was hanging out of his mouth. Sounds gross! I wonder what he was really eating?? Or maybe it was really 7 organ soup. Just the idea of that makes me want to gag.

These kids at this school are horrible, kill Nestor and then try to blame the tapes and everything on him. Parents aren’t a lot better, at least the girl’s mother having sex with a teenager. They could get her for statutory rape! Booth isn’t right about all prep school kids but he definitely is right about these particular kids! Yikes.

I feel so badly for the parents of Nestor. This one really is sad, but I love the scene at the end with Brennan and the mother. It is well done.

[stargazer]

I caught a little of this episode yesterday at lunch. I love watching these early episodes because it truly shows how much the characters have grown over the years. Hodgins is much more abrasive but I enjoyed his scenes with Zack in this one. It's just weird to me that Zack mentions that Hodgins has been with a lot of women but the current Hodgins is not like that at all. He's definitely a one-woman man. I also enjoyed Booth calling Brennan "Bones" and her repeatedly telling him not to call her that. I need to pay more attention and figure out which episode was the first where she didn't tell him that. The case was interesting and sad but I did feel that the actual "how" of the murder got skimmed over pretty quickly like several people have previously commented here.

[Sinkwriter72]

I wasn't completely sold on the show yet, but I remember liking large parts of this one. Like the mother's love for her son, and the side story fun with the squints. Lots of funny lines going back and forth between the squints, especially Hodgins. Hooray for that.

Brennan showing a little more compassion by the end of this episode, as she talks with the mother of the victim, was the start of me warming up to Brennan's character. By episode 5, I was sold on her character at last. But this was the start of it. Baby steps.

I love that this show breaks some of the stereotypes about "geeks" or "nerds" or science smart people. Hodgins is talked about as if he's quite the ladies' man, and Zack isn't some virginal newbie. He may not have known how to please Naomi from Paleontology, but at least he's in the game! *GRIN*

I do love the running gag of Zack trying desperately to gather information so that he can do better with Naomi, and that ultimately Angela is the source he learns the most from. And Hodgins' refusal to give Zack any sort of tips -- "Because our relationship is all about what’s up here; what you need to do is talk to someone more earthy" -- is pretty darn hilarious. That's why I love TJ's approach too. He's so good at throwing in little details to make it all seem so natural, the way he talks and gestures, there's no "ACTING" felt. He's very real.

One thing I don't love is Booth's dismissal of Zack throughout the series. This is one of the first times we see him completely ignoring everything Zack says. That drives me nuts. I mean, I get that he doesn't want to talk with Zack about sex, and he's feeling defensive about not being a smarty-pants prep student like Zack and Brennan were, but he doesn't have to be mean to Zack or ignore him like he doesn't exist. That's cold. They're supposed to be working as a team. I always wanted to see the relationship between Booth and each of the squints expanded upon much more than what we got.

I think they did a paraphrase on a line from Jaws in this episode: "We're gonna need a bigger bag." (Instead of, "We're gonna need a bigger boat.") Of course, Brennan wouldn't know what that meant anyway, but I like the detail.

I love the side story with Sid from Wong Foo's making recommendations for each character on what they should eat, and how Hodgins (of course) defies that option and instead goes with his own choice, which gives him enormous heartburn throughout the rest of the episode. It's a little silly, but it amuses me quite a bit. Especially because the dude is so smart, he can't even say "Do you have Tums?" or "Got any antacids?" Instead he's got to go with the full on science word: "Does anyone have any bicarbonates?" LOL. Oh, Hodgins. Never change.

And of course he's got some fun lines as others have mentioned above, like "Hey, bugs buzz, but they do not lie." LOL.

Side note: Um, excuse you, Booth. I organize my music in categories like "musicals/movie soundtracks" and "groups/solo artists." Organizing music alphabetically is not a "girl" thing.

Hilarious Hodgins line to Zack: "That was not wild and kinky sex. It was very, very basic beginner stuff. "

I like the conflict throughout the episode, how touchy Booth is about his more modest schooling background, compared to Brennan's and Zack's (and Hodgins, and everyone at the prep school). It makes for interesting character detail for Booth and a great contrast to Brennan.

I also like David's facial expression at the end, as he looks at the Jeffersonian ID card that Brennan has given him. It's comical, and it amuses me. He did a nice job there.

He was a big baby about "this restaurant is MINE MINE M - I - N - E" though. Making all the squints sit in one booth and kicking both Hodgins and Brennan from the counter stools was very petty and childish. (But funny. Especially the look on Hodgins' face as he gets up from the stool and takes his meal over to the booth, away from Booth. Heh. Nice touch on TJ's part there.)

Overall, still not my favorite episode. I was warming up, bit by bit. Loved Hodgins in this one and again all the squint stuff. Liked the mom stuff. But I wasn't completely sold yet because Booth was a brat and Brennan was kind of snobby too. That was the part that I couldn't relate to. The case was good. And I liked the finding of the DVD and getting the kids to admit they did it.

And that's it for that episode for me!

On to episode 4! Whoo!

[skftex]

I do love the running gag of Zack trying desperately to gather information so that he can do better with Naomi, and that ultimately Angela is the source he learns the most from. And Hodgins' refusal to give Zack any sort of tips -- "Because our relationship is all about what’s up here; what you need to do is talk to someone more earthy" -- is pretty darn hilarious. That's why I love TJ's approach too. He's so good at throwing in little details to make it all seem so natural, the way he talks and gestures, there's no "ACTING" felt. He's very real.

That's one of my favorite season 1 Hodgins scenes, the way he looks when he says earthly plus the hand gesture. Also the whole thing about some things you learn by doing, riding a bike, pleasing a woman.

I love the side story with Sid from Wong Foo's making recommendations for each character on what they should eat, and how Hodgins (of course) defies that option and instead goes with his own choice, which gives him enormous heartburn throughout the rest of the episode. It's a little silly, but it amuses me quite a bit. Especially because the dude is so smart, he can't even say "Do you have Tums?" or "Got any antacids?" Instead he's got to go with the full on science word: "Does anyone have any bicarbonates?" LOL. Oh, Hodgins. Never change.

Ah he does change though. Not that I don't still love Hodgins but stuff like this was great. Bicarbonates HAHAHA

Side note: Um, excuse you, Booth. I organize my music in categories like "musicals/movie soundtracks" and "groups/solo artists." Organizing music alphabetically is not a "girl" thing.

I organize mine by genre then alphabetically.

As I said before I like this one quite a bit, probably because lots of funny stuff besides the case being really interesting, the whole thing with the mother at the end, Brennan telling her that she wanted to raise him to be a good man, and that he was a good man, he did the right thing. I've always liked the cases where you cared about the victims and who they were.