That's my muffin at work!
First of all, I stand (sit?) corrected. Second, on the spectrum of fandom emotion, where am I? Let's say...92% gleeful; 8% pissed--but I think that eight percent is valid and deserves a moment. So here's that moment.
I get that there's a time and a place for not giving the audience what they want. I do. And I suppose that there's probably also a time and a place for giving the audience what they want, but not allowing them to see it--though, frankly, nothing much comes to mind. But I'll never understand what writers/producers/networks think is going to happen when they allow these sorts of key plot and/or emotional moments to happen offscreen. If they think an imagined scenario is always better than a possibly flawed real one, they're wrong. If they think it's all going to go Moonlighting on them, they're wrong. If they think we don't care that much about these milestones, they're really wrong--and they're undermining years of their own careful work to make us care.
Here's the thing: it's not just about the sex. Back in the blackout/blizzard episode--and, okay, the hundred-something episodes previous--the writers made (what seemed like) a really lovely promise; ever since B&B burned those little slips of paper, we (I) have been waiting for Booth to stop being angry and for Brennan to consider losing her imperviousness, and it makes me crazy to think that we might have missed the moment where those things happened. (On the other hand, maybe that moment was never meant to happen--see this enlightening interview--which is equally frustrating, even if I get the theory of what they're trying to do.)
So I may only be eight percent irate, but it's an eight percent that deserves to be heard, I think. I wanted to see Booth and Brennan make some truthful decisions about their relationship, and I wanted to see them (attempt to) communicate those decisions, and I wanted them to be happy for just a second--and, let's be clear, by "be happy" I mean "in bed"--and I'm annoyed that those things don't read "character-driven" enough for what they think we want. FOR THE RECORD.
/moment
In other, more happy-making news, BOOTH AND BRENNAN ARE HAVING A BABY!
Man, is this the best-received baby storyline in the history of TV, or what? I hate baby storylines! Everybody hates baby storylines! Because they're terrible! But, maybe, not this one? I recently saw a piece on Bones that said, in defense of the B/B ship (in, like, the legit media, btw), "if you thought Brennan's emotions were weird before, imagine her trying to be someone's girlfriend." Now just expand that a bit: If you thought Brennan's emotions were weird before, imagine her trying to be someone's girlfriend...and someone's mother. All at once!
I think the other reason it'll work is that--as pointed out in that Ausiello piece--Booth and Brennan haven't fundamentally changed. Their relationship has changed, and I think it's fair to say that Brennan has made a few tweaks to her way of approaching the people around her, but the original character-driven conflict between them remains the same--and can only be magnified by the addition of a tiny, dependent person and the billion decisions that come with him or her (I'm banking on "her"). Other baby plots don't work because they don't have anything to do with the basic chemistry of their parents' relationship; this baby will be great because he or she both epitomizes their deep love and brings out their deepest conflicts.
(Obviously, this is the cue for mountains of summer baby fic, but I have to tell you all: the definitive work on the subject has already been written, and it is daygloparker's From the Greek Paradeigma, Meaning Example. In case you were wondering.)
Big talking points aside, I really, really enjoyed this finale--I always think Hart Hanson's voice is, unsurprisingly, the Bonesiest voice. Kudos to Michaela Conlin on her performance; way to totally sell it AND be hilarious. (Remember when Angela was kind of awkward, performance-wise?) Say what you will about this season, but Angela/Hodgins has been pretty excellent, and this was just more perfection from them. By which I mean his voice and how great she smells. Also: is Michael Staccato Vincent(!) Hodgins, or is he not, the best-looking TV "newborn" of all time? He looks like a little Hodgins-Montenegro baby! PRECIOUS.
I know Hodgins and Mr. Nigel-Murray were kind of BFFs, but I love Hodgins and Wendell BFF-hood even better. Maybe it's because of their faces. They're the best faces
(Were we supposed to care that Cam knew Angela and Hodgins's ob-gyn? I feel like there's a deleted scene there somewhere.)
(Requisite shallow note: I feel like they've sort of gotten a handle on Emily Deschanel's bangs, which is a relief. Though it's very dark; what are they going to do when she can't dye her hair? And also, Michaela Conlin just has the most wonderful hair. I persist in believing that I could have hair like that if only somebody would come to my house and make it like that.)
I just really wanted the dude with the ball-shining cloth or whatever it is to say, "Nobody fucks with the Jesus."
DBor's smile of dawning realization is getting a lot of love, but I think Emily Deschanel's take on that scene is just as wonderful. YOU GUYS THEY'RE HAVING A BABY.
In other news, I stalked my future husband through the grocery store yesterday. He was tall and cute and wearing an old-man cardigan, and we both hung around the produce section until we met at the parsley and he found me a bag when I could only find the green organic ones. I've apparently blocked out what happened next, but I'm sure there's an alternate universe where I said something and he said something and now we're living happily ever after and will tell our grandchildren about how they only had curly parsley that day? Or something. So, universe, I will be making an appearance at Von's this coming Thursday around 6:15; I think you know your mission. Let's do this.