I really wanted to like the B plot of this episode, but I just don't think it was executed in the best way. Earlier on in the episode, we meet Booth's mom, who has been absent for 24 years after abandoning her family to protect herself. The B plot this week deals with Booth's emotions as he tries to process this. While this is an interesting story idea, and something that the fans have probably been wondering about because there is only one other mention of Booth's mother before this episode, I think it was not done in the best way.
First of all, I feel like this came out of the blue. As an audience member, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel about the mother because we never hear Booth talk about her. Suddenly, I was racking my brain to try and remember if we had any mention of how she was to Booth growing up and why they no longer talk. Because of this, it felt like I was playing catch up the entire time trying to figure out why she left. Now, after watching the whole episode, I am still not fully clear on why she left. I know she was leaving an abusive situation, however, they didn't cover why she did not take her kids with her and why it has been 24 years without contact. I feel like all this could have been remedied with like one scene with Sweets in an earlier episode just quickly covering Booth's mom. Especially because obviously Sweets and Booth have talked about it, because Sweets seemed up to date on what was happening between Booth and his mom.
Next, I feel like it is really odd that Booth did not try and contact Jared about this whole situation. If I am remembering correctly, he and Jared left on pretty decent terms, so I would have liked to at least see a phone call with Jared talking out this situation. I also would have liked Booth's mom to say something about Jared, even if it was simply "I tried to talk to your brother but he said he wants nothing to do with me."
My biggest issue with this storyline, however, was it felt rushed. I really liked that Bones talked to Booth and said that it took her a really long time to forgive Max, and even still, she gets angry. This seemed like such a realistic way to process that situation and that is what we were missing with Booth and his mom. With Max and Bones, we had episodes and episodes of them working through their emotions and their relationship. With Booth and his mom, we had 42 minutes where he went from happy to mad to accepting, when this should have been spread out over many episodes.
Other than that, the case of the week was pretty good. We have a stock broker working as a stripper on the side. It was fun to here about Bones' paper she wrote about stripping in grad school. It was pretty cringey to see Hodgins strip in Angela's office during work hours. When will they learn to leave that for after hours at home?
Overall, this episode had a lot of potential but I think they missed the mark with the storyline between Booth and his mom.
Best part: The women at the birthday party thinking that Booth was a stripper too - what a classic cop show trope
Worst part: The disappointing execution of introducing Booth's mom.
First of all, I feel like this came out of the blue. As an audience member, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel about the mother because we never hear Booth talk about her. Suddenly, I was racking my brain to try and remember if we had any mention of how she was to Booth growing up and why they no longer talk. Because of this, it felt like I was playing catch up the entire time trying to figure out why she left. Now, after watching the whole episode, I am still not fully clear on why she left. I know she was leaving an abusive situation, however, they didn't cover why she did not take her kids with her and why it has been 24 years without contact. I feel like all this could have been remedied with like one scene with Sweets in an earlier episode just quickly covering Booth's mom. Especially because obviously Sweets and Booth have talked about it, because Sweets seemed up to date on what was happening between Booth and his mom.
Next, I feel like it is really odd that Booth did not try and contact Jared about this whole situation. If I am remembering correctly, he and Jared left on pretty decent terms, so I would have liked to at least see a phone call with Jared talking out this situation. I also would have liked Booth's mom to say something about Jared, even if it was simply "I tried to talk to your brother but he said he wants nothing to do with me."
My biggest issue with this storyline, however, was it felt rushed. I really liked that Bones talked to Booth and said that it took her a really long time to forgive Max, and even still, she gets angry. This seemed like such a realistic way to process that situation and that is what we were missing with Booth and his mom. With Max and Bones, we had episodes and episodes of them working through their emotions and their relationship. With Booth and his mom, we had 42 minutes where he went from happy to mad to accepting, when this should have been spread out over many episodes.
Other than that, the case of the week was pretty good. We have a stock broker working as a stripper on the side. It was fun to here about Bones' paper she wrote about stripping in grad school. It was pretty cringey to see Hodgins strip in Angela's office during work hours. When will they learn to leave that for after hours at home?
Overall, this episode had a lot of potential but I think they missed the mark with the storyline between Booth and his mom.
Best part: The women at the birthday party thinking that Booth was a stripper too - what a classic cop show trope
Worst part: The disappointing execution of introducing Booth's mom.
