TVSquad

(S02E14) A bottle of fine wine. A candlelit dinner. A three-week old decomposing body surrounded by flies. What better way to conclude another St. Valentine's Day? Don't get me wrong, I love a decomposing body, but this one was particularly gruesome. I can usually handle Bones' corps de la semaine (that's 'body of the week' in French, you Anglophiles), but I actually had to look away this time. Luckily, the body was stripped of all its needless soft tissue at the Jeffersonian Institution and we were left the usual broken down skeletal structure that Bones and her squints use for their investigations.

Moving on now. I liked this episode . . . kind of. I say this because the episode had a different tone to it, almost like an episode of Law & Order (the original, not the ones with all of the letters.). Being one who didn't watch a single episode of the show last year I don't know if this was something unique or if it appeared early in the show's run. I enjoyed it, I just wasn't used to it.

Particularly of interest were the courtroom scenes. As I have never seen any of the squints, or Booth for that matter, up on a witness stand, it was intriguing to see them in that light. I wasn't too sure why all of them were shown as witnesses for the prosecution. Corroborating evidence, perhaps? Wouldn't it be normal procedure for the director of the forensic institution (in this case Cam) or the head investigator to be the prime presenter of the evidence and then point out to the court what members of the Jeffersonian participated in the investigation. If any lawyers are out there I'd like to know their answer.

Back to the investigation itself, I thought that Jack would have gotten away with removing the photo from its frame. I don't know why this was, perhaps naivete, but I'm glad it wasn't in the end because his stupid move ratcheted up the tension of the investigation and trial. Of surprising interest was the reaction Booth had when he found out that Hodgins was withholding evidence. To put it romantically, he was wicked pissed. Seely thought that it was just another example of how the rich take advantage of the system.

This brings us to Booth's continuing relationship with Dr. Gordon Wyatt. I am really enjoying the get-togethers these two are having. As Bones has split off into her own storyline over the last few episodes (more on that in the next paragraph) it's good to see that Seely still has an adversary he can debate with. Yes, Dr. Wyatt normally shuts Booth's statements down as soon as they come from his mouth, but he does it in that charming British manner that makes it all okay. By the way, Booth's apparent dislike of rich people stems from his upbringing in . . . Pittsburgh? Sure, Pittsburgh was known as a blue-collar factory town for decades, but it has matured over the years into a modern city. They way he talked it sounded like he came from the mean streets of Camden, New Jersey.

Quick mention about Bones' continued relationship with FBI agent Sullivan: meh. I'm rather neutral about this whole plot line. I'm happy that Temperance is being put in a new relationship, but there's just nothing to it. Sullivan just seems a bit to, er, shlubby for someone like Bones. And, yes, we get that Sully doesn't want to be in the shower with the other boys because he's hung like two oxem, four horses, and a small elephant; putting it into anthropological terms doesn't make this tired theme any more interesting.

Before we depart let's talk about the guest stars on this week's episode. You may have recognized Robert Frasier, the man accused of killing this week's victim. It's Reid Scott, who had a role in the recent TBS comedy series My Boys. Also appearing this week was Ernie Hudson. I like Ernie, but he didn't have many lines this week except 'I Object'. It turns out, though, that his character was married to AUSA (That's Asst. US Attorney to you non-politicos) Caroline Julian. This was the first time that I had really seen Caroline in action. Man, she was good! Her best lines came when she dressed down Booth and the entire Jeffersonian team for screwing up over the past few weeks. After her speech I thought about it and realized that they all had gotten a little sloppy over the last few episodes. I wonder if her advice will stick.

All rightee, then. Folks, the big bad bully known as American Idol is taking over the Wednesday 8 pm slot for a few weeks, so the next new episode won't be until March. In the meantime pick up the 1st season DVD set of Bones, watch every single episode (comments turned on and off) and we'll meet back here in a few weeks.