When I first watched this episode, I took nothing from the fact that Hodgins gave Zack morphine.  I thought it was placed there to throw the fans off the trail.

But it turns out that Hodgins was being Hodgins.  I’ll explain after the click.

With the sinister music setting the scene, I had all but written off this scene.  But, I watched the season finale a second time and realized that Hodgins knew it was Zack when he was at the hospital.

He’d already discovered the lead levels pointed to his house and he obviously ruled out Angela and figured out it had to be Zack.  Putting that together with the knowledge that no one could have switched the chemicals to start the explosion, he had to have realized Zack was Gormogon’s new apprentice.

And in that knowledge, he tried to save Zack by administering enough drugs to shut Zack up at the hospital.  What looked like a sinister act was one of loyal friendship.

When viewed in that light, this scene stands out as one of the best scenes for a secondary character on Bones.

What are your theories?  Think I might be mistaken?  Let me know below.

FOX

This show really isn’t afraid of doing what it wants.

Sometimes, shows become complacent and formulaic the point where it becomes a detriment.  And, whether it works or not, you have to give credit to those shows that try and change things up once in a while.

Hart Hanson and the Bones crew definitely shook it up to finish up the shortened third season of Bones.

I must confess I’m a recent convert to Bones.  I’m not usually into the crime scene shows, although I have been caught watching the original Law & Order.

But, with repeats on CBS, I switched over to FOX and caught the second-last episode of Bones (S03E14) and got hooked.

Initially, I was mostly intrigued by the shooting of Booth, one of the main characters.  I actually thought the bastards were going to make me wait until next year to see what had happened.  So I decided to do some catching up.  I obtained the first 2 seasons of Bones and starting watching. I found out that Bones has repeatedly put Brennan and Booth in harm’s way and the pair have always lived to tell the tale.  We’re not talking minor brushes with death, but Jack Bauer type survivals (being buried alive, captured by a serial killer, fighting a pipe-yielding bad guy with no weapon, being blown up, etc).

I’ll forgve them their tendency to almost-kill too frequently on Bones–I would do it too.  That’s because they lead to these tender moments between Brennnan and Booth that make the show great.  Their chemistry is what separates this show from every other crime drama on TV.  I think those 2-3 minutes every few episodes are the reason I haven’t got tired of show.

But those almost-kills create another problem and here comes my biggest gripe with Bones so far…it has no impact on their relationship in the following episodes.  Booth will save Brennan’s life in dramatic fashion one week and the next she’s very removed from him.  It’s like each episode they press a reset button and the characters have to build their relationship back up from scratch.  And they did exactly that this episode.

In the last episode, we were left wondering if  Booth would even survive after heroicly taking a bullet in the chest for Brennan.  Instead of continuing where it left off, we skipped ahead 2 weeks to a supposed funeral for Booth.  This might have worked on other shows that left the possibility of killing their lead characters open, but on Bones it fell flat.  I knew it was fake and it took away any emotion from the that scene.  It’s a minor grip for the show in general, but every time the overlook the emotions of dramatic events, I feel it’s a wasted opportunity.

I know a lot of Bones fans detested this episode.  Some hated this episode enough to write off the show for good.  I think those people are liars.  They’ll be back watching next season.  Another group of fans suggest that with all the inconsistencies in this episode that it will be revealed as a hallucination or dream sequence. I’m not like Hodgins, and so I take what was presented at face value.  Zack’s the apprentice and he won’t be back in the Jeffersonian in the near future.  Not to mention his motor skills will take considerable recovery.

Sure, there were inconsistencies, but I think that was an effort on the part of Hart Hanson et al to try and throw suspicision on as many false suspects as possible in order to keep the suspence going.  Everyone became a suspect in the episode with the frontrunners always a toss-up between Hodgins and Dr Sweets.  The writers certainly played those two characters odd behaviour to another level to paint them as possible suspects, but that’s always a good sign that it’s not true on TV.

I have to admit, I only figured out who it was when Hodgins made his discovery that lead levels concluded the killer lived in his neighbourhood.  It couldn’t be Angela, so it had to be Zack.  It’s unfortunate this decision wasn’t made in time to have Zack actually killing the person he supposedly killed. Check out this picture:

Count me among those who would have never suspected Zack for this and to be fair, it’s a stretch going by what we know of his character.  In defence of this choice, remember, we barely know Zack.  I mean, only recently did we find out that Zack not only has a good singing voice, but is also “deceptively strong” because of his home gym workouts.  We also never found out what happened in Iraq (People, please stop pronouncing it EYE-RAQ.  It’s frustrating and wrong.  If you’re going to do that, let’s start calling Italy EYE-TALY so we can hate on country’s names equally).  Potentially, Zack was just a messed up guy who got caught up with the wrong person.

Seeing the rest of the squint squad react to the Zack-Gormogon situation was great.  Cam doesn’t always fit in to the group, and her reaction in the hospital really helped solidify her as part of the group.  I don’t think any of us will know whether this was a smart move yet.  It’s always risky to kill off a beloved character, so let’s hope Bones makes the best of it.  It could be a good thing to shake up the cast a bit and create new storylines and new characters.  It’s always better to stay ahead of the game and make changes out of choice rather than necessity.  Boston Legal has done it, 24 does it to the extreme, and now Bones is doing it.

There was a lot to cover in this episode, and I didn’t even come close to touching on all the subjects (The Bath Scene and Booth & Bones relationship, Sweets, etc).  But, at the end of the day, we are forced to say goodbye to Zack.  It was certainly an interesting way to go.

Spoonfuls (thoughts in smaller portons):
1. Grandfather Gormogon
I wonder what will happen to the old man in the old folks’ home we saw earlier in the season.  Old Man Gormogon will hopefully be caught for a past crime at some point.
2. Angela & Hodgins Non-Wedding
They’re an odd couple, so let’s stop draggin our feet with their wedding.  A full season is enough.
3. Brennan Left at the Altar
At the beginning of this season, Angela made a point of tackling the awkwardness between Brennan and Booth after being left at her altar.  This never ended up going anywhere, but it should be revisited.
4. The Pain in the Heart was..
The titles of Bones’ episodes are always a reference to the case being solved.  This one seemed to be the most figurative title in all 3 seasons.
5. Where was Zack’s Family
Ok, there was a lot going on, but no one in Zack’s family could make it to see him?  They were quick to get to Washington to see him for Christmas.
6. Parker and Rebecca
Speaking of missing people, after 2 weeks, where were Parker and Rebecca for Booth’s funeral?  My only guess is that they were told he wasn’t dead.  It’s still strange.
7. Those Soldiers don’t like to Fight
Those soldiers at Booth’s funeral were averse to fighting it seems.  Booth was taking that guy alone and the only person who stepped in was Brennan?  Interesting.
8. That’s What She’s Saying!
Prosecuter Caroline Julian calls everyone by the same name, which I couldn’t figure out, but I think I have.  She’s calling everyone Cherie (as in my cherie)
9. Hodgins Knew.
He knew about Zack.  I think this deserves it’s own post, so read that for details.