Bones 4.18 The Doctor In The Den

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ThyneAlone
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Bones 4.18 The Doctor In The Den

Post by ThyneAlone »

I'm starting off a thread for this because, after Herculean efforts online (site too slow, site doesn't work, site is subscription only, vid hiccups constantly thanks to incredibly slow buffering etc <sigh>), I have finally managed to see this ep. Come on people, some of you saw it trouble free, I was expecting a comment today!

No matter. Another one with a theme! Things are looking up, because that means the episodes are becoming more coherent. The thread of this one appears to be male/female relationships, but pretty much excluding Booth and Brennan, which is refreshing, and offering more on Cam's background, which is frankly elating and promising (more on other squints please!). Question...given previous information, should Cam be allowed to work, and work so intimately, on this case? I mean - should she not be a suspect?? Like Hodgins, whom she allowed to resign in MitM? Or even Booth in Fire In The Ice. Not to say that personal connections with cases are not satisfying and great for character development, but... And why does everyone known to the team have to be found in freakish and unpleasant circumstances? Booth's ice hockey opponent in an ice hole, Angela's boyfriend with the head, Hodgins' mate with the sitting in his chair bleeding out with the maggots, and now an ex-lover of Cam's in a lions' den being digested bit by bit? Yuk.

That was my big opening with all the rhetorical questions, I'll try not to annoy you with them further. So what male/female relationships do we look at (oops, there goes another one)? Well, omitting the various revelations on how male and female cats relate to each other and to their families, we see infidelity (Andrew/Cam, Andrew and all his other women. You might say the victim was literally eaten up by someone else's jealousy), then compassionate friendship (Booth/Cam) then monogamy (dismissed by Brennan, espoused by Clark the 'briefcase bomb' -very cute, especially as Clark is finally taking charge and allowing people to see that his personal life is very happy, thank you), then Angela's so-far sad attempts at celibacy - love the masturbation advice! - and also parental feelings father/daughter and mother/son. With a sly look meantime at that amazing female camaraderie you see on girls' nights out and hen parties - groups of women discussing men. Luckily Hodgins has the self-assurance not to be too fazed by walking in on such a discussion and is merely amused. I'm sure lesser men would have walked away! He certainly does know women. Interesting that though he is happy to remark flippantly on the increase in Angela's libido and smile at her being affected by the pheromones in feline urine, he still has a serious comment to make which almost sums up the episode - sex is not enough.

By the by, I really missed the Angelator in that moment when Angela had the possible murder scenarios up on screen.

I did feel there was some great acting going on here. Even Silly Booth (not intended as a pun, but it's come out that way) was pretty much confined to the first few exchanges in the animal park, and the rest of the ep showed more of the instinctive investigator and compassionate man that he really is. And Emily stepped back just a little to allow others to shine. Michaela, though given a fairly one-dimensional script where all she had to do was lust after various men all the time, still managed to convince (I am now getting a strong sensation that what she needs is a serious relationship with someone who isn't Hodgins), and TJ was even more subtle than last week, with his hints at real feeling and a slight sense of regret beneath the roguishness, and yet still projecting fabulous enthusiasm whenever he discovered something useful. Totally King of the Lab, and I did enjoy it when he walked away and Angela watched him so meaningfully. Well yes, I watched him too, but she had a better view, alas (does anyone else, btw, use coffee, drinks etc as a euphemism for sex, because we totally used to do that all the time at uni?).

In the end of course, Tamara was the star. At last the woman gets something to do that stretches her a bit, and she grasps the opportunity with both hands. There was intense, if understated, emotion in everything she did, but particularly in her scenes with Michelle, who was also excellent. I surrendered to my familiar 'parent' reaction and shed a couple of tears at the end. So in the end a female/female relationship comes strongly to the fore, but both women very much loved by the same man.

I liked this one because it felt like a team effort. The story was still very slight, though, with not enough evidence pointing us to the culprit and too much going off in red (haired) herring directions. Nevertheless a fine relationship study with definite character progression. What did everyone else think?
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Sinkwriter72
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Re: Bones 4.18 The Doctor In The Den

Post by Sinkwriter72 »

Sorry, Steph! I haven't seen the episode yet! :shock: :oops: In fact, I had to scroll right on past your wonderful commentary after only reading the first paragraph because I don't want to know what happened before I watch it.

But last night was the final episode of ER (a two-hour long series finale), plus they did this hour-long introspective about the program and all it's done over the last 15 years that it's been on air. Though I haven't watched that show in a few seasons, I wanted to see the final episode, for sentimental reasons. Many of the original cast members returned. In fact, the introspective (which was on at the same time as Bones aired) showed all sorts of moments that I fondly remembered from back when I watched it regularly, so that was really amazing to see. I found myself getting quite emotional, remembering the episodes that had made me laugh or moved me emotionally. Great episodes always make a strong and lasting impact! (As we well know, impacted as we have been with the great episodes that have occurred for Bones.)

At any rate, I'll definitely come back and eagerly read what you wrote once I've had a chance to view the episode (I did tape it). I love it when you talk themes! Hee heee. ;) And you know I'll probably have something to say. :D
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Re: Bones 4.18 The Doctor In The Den

Post by ThyneAlone »

Sinkwriter72 wrote:And you know I'll probably have something to say.
No really? ;)
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Re: Bones 4.18 The Doctor In The Den

Post by Sinkwriter72 »

Heh. Smart ass. :D
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Re: Bones 4.18 The Doctor In The Den

Post by skftex »

Sinkwriter72 wrote:Heh. Smart ass. :D
I always took that as a compliment, because it is better than being a dumb one! ;)

I watched the episode but have to admit I missed stuff because I was doing physics homework at the same time. So...another one I have to watch again! I do record them all.

Sherry I haven't watched the last ER yet, I always record that so I can fast foward through the commercials. :D And didn't record the hour introspective because I was recording Bones, but my brother recorded it for me so I can see that part. :) Only I've stuck with ER through ALL 15 seasons!
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Sinkwriter72
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Re: Bones 4.18 The Doctor In The Den

Post by Sinkwriter72 »

skftex wrote:I always took that as a compliment, because it is better than being a dumb one! ;)
True enough, Sharon. :mrgreen: And of course I meant it that way. Heeee.
skftex wrote:Sherry I haven't watched the last ER yet, I always record that so I can fast foward through the commercials. :D And didn't record the hour introspective because I was recording Bones, but my brother recorded it for me so I can see that part. :) Only I've stuck with ER through ALL 15 seasons!
That's really impressive! ER is one of those shows that I used to watch every week, but then things just got in the way (working late, not getting home in time to see it, forgetting to tape it, etc.) and eventually, regrettably, my viewing of it fell through the cracks. It's one that I always meant to go back and catch up on, and never did find the time. At any rate, I think you'll find it a lovely finale. Send me a PM sometime; let me know what you think of it! :D

Amd I'll look forward to hearing your thoughts about the latest Bones ep once you'd had a chance to watch it!
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Re: Bones 4.18 The Doctor In The Den

Post by ThyneAlone »

skftex wrote:
Sinkwriter72 wrote:Heh. Smart ass. :D
I always took that as a compliment, because it is better than being a dumb one! ;)
Totally!

Never got into ER, not because I watched and disliked it, but because hospital dramas are not my thing. I do appreciate however that anything that maintains momentum for that long has to be pretty special. I excuse you from instant writeup, Sharon & Sherry.

Btw Sherry - loved your contributions to the bones _206 April Fool. Actually I think it was brave as you had been quite upset by a cyberargument recently and people on the outside might not have perceived the joke! But you did it really well and it was really funny. Props on the enabling.
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Re: Bones 4.18 The Doctor In The Den

Post by Lorenith »

I'm going to post something before reading first, so my mind isn't clouded by new input. I'll read what others have posted after I post :D I just got to see it (have to wait a day for it to get onto Hulu, cause I have no tv.

I liked this episode, it makes me happy to see Cam get some development, and it almost made me cry on a few parts. (the theme of being alone or abandoned can do that to me so no real surprise).

Booth made another callous joke about the victim, which struck me as a little weird but meh. Bones is still seeming to get better at connecting with people.

Angela, was really over the top, can a woman really get that bad over a frustrated libido? She wouldn't be a free spirit though if she had too much self control I guess.

Hodgins had some nice things to say.

One thing bugged me about this episode and it was the girl talk especially where lions are concerned, there was a lot of misrepresented little "facts" about male lions in there and it bugs the animal lover in me.

I suppose maybe they were just trying to twist things to be mean to Hodgins for being male but meh.

I liked this episode, it doesn't come close to being one of my favs, but I think it was good. :) Then again I don't think I've really disliked any episode of bones to date. The closest is maybe the Woman in the Tunnel.
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Re: Bones 4.18 The Doctor In The Den

Post by ThyneAlone »

You're fortunate to have Hulu - it's restricted to the US, isn't it? I depend on places like Megavideo for my regular fixes. Some very good points in your review, Lore. I did like the girl talk myself. That's because I have 3 males at home and rarely get the chance to socialise (or, crucially, SHOP) with my good female friends, mother or sister. The last time I had the opportunity was when a good friend visited before Christmas and we went to watch 'Mamma Mia' together! I wouldn't have got my boys to go to that!!

A very true point about the animal comments. But as you say, I think that in a fun, slightly anti-male discussion, women will probably twist the facts to suit them!
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Re: Bones 4.18 The Doctor In The Den

Post by Lorenith »

I think I'm biased against the girl talk because I've always been "one of the guys" same for most of my family and friends, we all don't really see gender lines just people. Maybe part of that is I know a lot of people who are gay or bi, or have "experimented" so it's easier for the lines to start to blur for me and just say "people suck" rather then "men suck" :P.

I'm not too surprised that Bones joined into the fun, because she's been evolving as a character very slowly from the start. But I think she wouldn't have done so in the first season.

Have you tried foxes website?

Region locking stuff is kind of lame, I'll never understand why it is done. :(
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Re: Bones 4.18 The Doctor In The Den

Post by sundy317 »

I've been avoiding the episode threads,because I'd been stuck at 411 for a couple of months.Finally,during the easter holidays,I managed to get as far as 419...
I start commenting on this ep,because it's still clear in my head (Steph's post also helped my memory-great analysis btw Steph,I must say I agree with you on most parts).
I really liked the fact this ep was focussed on Cam,especially since most of the time she's at the background.I also liked the story,and Cam's scenes with Michelle.
About TJ,the scene with the girl talk was awesome,I watched it over and over again...
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