Bones Season 10 Episode 3 Review: The Purging of the Pundit

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After two weeks of intense emotion, Bones Season 10 Episode 3 opens in a pretty classic way - with two random civilians, in this case, teenage girls, happening upon a dead body.

I usually find this to be a bit trite, but for this episode, I found it to be a welcome relief. It gives us a break from the high emotions of the past two episodes.

Something that I had trouble with in Bones Season 10 Episode 2 was the lack of interaction between Booth and Brennan, especially in discussing everything that has happened to them -- Booth's imprisonment, the conspiracy, and the death of Sweets.

So I was glad to see that right at the beginning of the episode, Brennan shows concern for Booth. She tells him she's worried that he hasn't been sleeping, and that he hasn't been dealing with the trauma in a healthy way. I'm so glad this is addressed, because I felt it was glossed over in the last episode.

I'll sleep when I'm tired. But for now, I'm gonna make you pancakes.

Booth

Last week, our Bones Round Table Participants discussed which squintern they hoped to see next. While no one mentioned Rodolfo Fuentes, I thought he was a lot of fun to watch in this episode. He's a sort of smooth, suave guy that makes everyone smile. He loves to flirt with the ladies, and at least one of those ladies doesn't mind it one bit.

Angela: What? He's eye candy. Just deal with it.
Hodgins: You here just to gawk, or did you finish your reconstruction?

I was also really happy to see more of Angela and Hodgins this week. These are fun characters that mean a lot to the story, and I've missed seeing their interactions. Hodgins rolls his eyes when Angela flirts with Rodolfo, but he isn't actually jealous. He just makes a joke out of it.

And Angela and Hodgins both helped solve the case this week: Angela with her growing technology and computer skills, and Hodgins with his love for inspecting rodents and goop. These are the kinds of scenes we need more often.

The case, by the way, was a really interesting choice to follow the past two episodes. The victim is a controversial talk radio host who happens to be into S&M, which caused some the injuries that confused the team until the put all of the puzzle pieces together.

This was a good choice not only because it led to some humorous moments, but also because it very quickly changed the mood from the beginning of the season -- in a way that a traditional sort of case might not have been able to do. It also gave Booth and Brennan plenty to talk about.

Some of my favorite scenes in this series are when Booth and Brennan are driving. Their chats about cases reveal a lot about their characters, their relationship, and their differing views on the world. This week's conversation about S&M is just one example.

Bones: Sex and violence are two of humanity's most primal urges. An amalgamation of them is a logical bi-product.
Booth: Bones, S&M isn't a peanut butter cup. It isn't two great tastes that go together.

And Brennan's reaction to the sex dungeon? Priceless. I wish this scene would have been longer.

Then there's Aubrey. Even if you don't like this guy, you probably aren't going to have a choice. He's confident and quirky, and he has a sort of fast-paced speech that makes him a unique character (no matter how badly we want to compare him to Sweets). It was fun to see his reaction to the mutilated body at the beginning of this episode, too. It actually reminded me of how repulsed Booth used to be by these sorts of things. But now, Booth joins Cam in ranking the body in its grossness.

Aubrey also starts to show a little emotion in this episode as he tries to convince Booth to trust him. Booth shuts him out of the investigation as much as possible in this episode, claiming that he doesn't need his help.

Look, I know that what happened to you is messed up. And then what happened to Sweets. But remember that Sweets trusted me to work with you, So when you treat me like crap, you're treating Sweets like crap too.

Aubrey

It makes sense that Booth would have trouble trusting him, but even Brennan tries to convince Booth that Aubrey is good. She does something that she might not have done years ago, and has Aubrey take her place in the interrogation room. Of course, she makes sure he knows how to pronounce some words correctly beforehand. This is Brennan's way of getting Booth to trust Aubrey, and it seems like it may just work.

Aubrey shows a bit of a vulnerable side at the end of the episode. Booth and Brennan are back at home, making drinks and even laughing a little. Aubrey shows up with a bottle of wine, and thanks them for allowing him into their group. Of course this moment reminded me of Sweets. I think there was even a similar scene when Sweets first joined the show.

Aubrey doesn't stick around, though. Booth actually invites him to stick around for a drink, but Aubrey says he can "get obnoxious" when he drinks, and he doesn't want to mess up a good thing. Aubrey is trying, and I can see him forming a good friendship with Booth.

Overall, I thought this was a pretty good episode. We're still only scratching the surface at Booth's trauma, but it is being addressed. And I think we needed an episode with a fun/weird case and some light-hearted jokes like this. Personally, I don't know if I can handle much more emotion on this show for a while!

So what did you think of this episode, Bones fans? Leave a comment -- we want to hear your thoughts!

And if you can't wait for next week's episode, you can always catch up with Booth and Brennan when you watch Bones online via TV Fanatic.

The Purging of the Pundit Review

Editor Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 3.6 / 5.0 (66 Votes)

Ashley Bissette Sumerel was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in September 2017. Follow her on Twitter and on Google+.

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Bones Season 10 Episode 3 Quotes

Angela: What? He's eye candy. Just deal with it.
Hodgins: You here just to gawk, or did you finish your reconstruction?

I'll sleep when I'm tired. But for now, I'm gonna make you pancakes.

Booth