Thursday, May 9, 2013

My take on the BONES finale

It has been over a week, but I still find myself thinking about the BONES finale that aired April 29th.  I've been meaning to post about my thoughts on it but life kept getting in the way.  Now that I am somewhat calmer perhaps this is a good time to share my views.
In case you haven't seen the episode and don't want to be spoiled, I'm adding spoiler space.  This is your cue to quit reading this post if you don't want to know what happened...
10...
9...
8...
7...
6...
5...I'm not kidding, you don't want to be spoiled, leave now!
4...
3...
2...
1...
Okay.

I enjoy BONES.  When Brennan and Booth finally got together I was very happy.  What would make me happier?  Easy.  I want them to be married.

In "The Secret in the Siege," what fans have hoped for finally happened.  In the middle of the episode, Brennan proposes to Booth, in a way only she can.  It was completely in character, and a joyful Booth says yes.  I and the rest of fandom go wild with joy.

Alas, what Hart Hanson and Stephen Nathan give us with one hand, they cruelly take away with the other.

At the end of the episode, the season's big baddie Christopher Pelant contacts Booth and tells him unless he calls off the proposal (without telling Brennan why) 5 random people will die.  Booth has no choice but to comply.  In an emotionally wrenching scene he breaks off the engagement, breaking Brennan's heart (and throwing fans all over into despair).  If I remember correctly, we close on a shot of a devastated Brennan.  Fade to black.

I was FURIOUS after this episode.  I wound up ranting to two friends on Facebook about it, and they fortunately were patient with me and let me get it out of my system, even though neither of them watch the show.

I am not alone in my feelings.  Many fans reacted negatively to the end of this episode, with a few vowing they were done with the show.  Just about everyone took aim and Hanson and Nathan for messing around with our favorite couple AGAIN.

BONES fans have had to wait a long time for these two to get together.  We've put up with rivals, miscommunication, lines, and a whole lot of angst to get to see them as a romantic couple.  Now, with one blow, The Powers that Be (TPTB) have put all of that at risk - why?  Do they LIKE causing us pain?  Do they think if we get what we want we'll quit watching?  Do they think?

The ending felt like a slap in the face to fans.  If TPTB wanted to tick off a major portion of fandom, they succeeded.  I'm not sure that's a great business model, however.

They do have a chance to fix this, however.  Season 9 is in four months (and fanfiction writers are already burning up their keyboards with their own versions of fixes).  And Nathan promised in an interview that "Booth will make this right."  So there is hope.

Here, in my humble opinion, is my take on what could possibly happen in Season 9:

1) Pelant has to die.  There is no way that throwing this guy in jail is going to be good enough for anyone.  Who will do the deed?  Booth is the obvious choice, but there are certainly other contenders for the job.
2) Booth will become obsessed with getting Pelant.  I think he will try to get some under-the-radar help from someone not in law enforcement.  My guess is he'll confide in Max, Brennan's dad, who certainly has proven he can live off the grid.
3) Booth and Brennan will not break up, but it's going to be tough for them.  I'd like to think Brennan suspects something isn't right about all this - she is very intelligent - but she may be thinking with her heart and letting it cloud her judgement.  While I don't think TPTB will allow her to discover Booth's real reasons for a while, my hope is she doesn't doubt his feelings for her.
4) It's going to be very tough for Booth with the Squints, since he can't tell them what's really going on.  I'm willing to bet Angela will be on the warpath.
5) Once this is all over?  I suspect it will take time for our couple to heal.  Then it will be Booth's turn to propose, and maybe, just maybe, TPTB will let us have what we've waited for all this time - a B/B wedding.

Final question: Will I watch Season 9?

That choice may be taken from me, at least at first.  I may have a scheduling conflict beginning in September that will last 10 weeks.  So unless I talk my husband into a DVR (no, I don't have one yet, despite my love of tech) or take time to watch the episodes online, I'll be missing episodes.

But then again, I cared enough to do a whole blog post on the topic.  So perhaps it's not so far a stretch to say I'll be watching.

After all, I'm still hoping for my happy ending.