Mixing Work with Pleasure Valentine’s at the Jeffersonian – S on Bones 6×14 “The Bikini in the Soup”

A few weeks ago I wrote that I was pleased to have a Cam heavy episode, somewhat of a rarity on Bones.  This week seemed like it had way too much Cam, she didn’t really dominate the screen but her declaration of an end of day deadline and her constant remarks urging everyone to shut up and rush were overpowering. I love when a Cam episode is done right like it was two weeks ago in “The Sin in the Sisterhood” but this week her character was sacrificed for plot as she was the irritating shrewish boss ordering everyone to work faster so she could get to her Valentine’s Day dinner.

Cam is a competent professional woman and I don’t like when she has to be portrayed as unprofessional as she was in “The Bikini in the Soup”. It wasn’t that long ago that she was wrestling with sacrificing one evening at work for a drink with her boyfriend. This Cam was an uncharacteristic 180 from (recovering?) workaholic Cam. I understand that she would be anxious to solve the murder quickly so she could get to dinner, I didn’t like that she tried to explain away evidence that pointed to murder, or tried to avoid doing a thorough investigation in order to get to that dinner on time. It’s only Valentine’s Day, Cam should know that. I would prefer to see compromise, her encouraging a thorough but fast paced investigation. I could have compromised with her rushing if it had been balanced with her having to be a little late, or even postpone dinner.

I liked the twists and turns of the case of the week as we explore the life of a wedding planner before she was found murdered on Valentine’s Day. The list of possible suspects made for a good whodunit. The spoiled bride-to-be who would stop at nothing for the perfect day, the disgruntled father of the bride who was bothered over finances, the abusive ex, the estranged emasculated ex and the business partner who everyone assumed was gay until his proclamations of love for the deceased were revealed to be romantically inclined.

We were given a decent set of possibilities of the Bride and the Business Partner who stood to inherit the whole business, the abusive ex never felt like a real possibility but the estranged husband resolution was a good one, especially right after the fake out with the murder weapon at the wedding.

Poor Booth, everyone asking him if he was okay on this Valentine’s Day fresh out of his relationship with Hannah. It was Brennan who knew exactly what he needed. She was a good friend and listened to him, then brought him a fantastic St. Valentine’s Day massacre gift that she knew he would enjoy. It also allowed them to spend the evening as two single people doing nothing together as Angela so gently phrased it. I really appreciate that the romance between Booth and Brennan wasn’t rushed simply to fulfill a romance quota in the Valentine’s Day episode.

That being said, I’m hardly surprised that the beautiful Dr. Brennan was receiving numerous phone calls from friends and colleagues hoping to be her Valentine. Her stilted, “is this an invitation for a dinner as friends or for a romantic evening” then a decline was perfect for her character, as was her half excuse of why she doesn’t celebrate the day. I like to believe that her declining the dates was for Booth’s benefit. She isn’t completely anti-social and we know that she has carried on romantic relationships in the past. Either way, watching her watching Booth’s face as she was on the phone was priceless.

A few other points:

• Loved Angela/Hodgins, but I was surprised he didn’t come up with something gross and wacky like that earlier on – he was established as the king of romance early in the season with his secret code poetry and playground first date with Angela.  But – It was it was so perfectly in character that he wouldn’t realize that she didn’t actually love the necklace, sometimes he is so intuitive when it comes to romance, other times not so much
• Every time we get a Squintern that isn’t Wendell I cringe. Clark’s openness was amusing the first time but at this point my reaction is similar to Cam’s, his over sharing just feels weird.  His relationship with Nora is however, adorable.
• There was a noticeable lack of Sweets and Daisy, they were probably off being totally gooey, gross and totally in love somewhere, but their antics would have been perfect for Bones’ Valentine’s episode.

– S