Bones & Booth: Don’t Hook Them Up! [Guest Post]

by Lynn on June 20th, 2008

Jamie Frevele lives in New York where she writes for Huffington Post & Newsday. She became hooked on Bones during a short period of unemployment. She says that she became bored and picked up the Bones DVDs. She watched seasons 1 and 2 nonstop and instantly “fell in love with the uniquely character-driven procedural comedy drama.” She also writes her own blog, http://flummoxology.blogspot.com

And suddenly, a lot of people don’t like me anymore.

Here is my rationale for not letting Brennan and Booth become a couple.

First of all, in TV land, it’s storyline suicide. Look at Moonlighting. Once that tension and chemistry was resolved, the show went downhill. A steep hill. It was a warning to X-Files creator Chris Carter, who smartly kept Mulder and Scully platonic throughout the series. (You guys may remember the Bones pilot, in which Booth cited plainly, “I’m Mulder, you’re Scully.” Take. This. To. Heart/Hart.) We already have Hodgins and Angela playing the Ross and Rachel roles of “will they, won’t they,” even though in their case it’s a matter of “will they ever marry” and not “will they ever be together.”

But we don’t need more drama with these two. It’s not unheard of to have platonic relationships between a man and a woman who find each other attractive, have great respect for each other, and clearly have a lot of chemistry. I know this, because I have a best guy friend. He’s like my brother, except that we flirt. So, like a step-brother that you technically could hook up with, but it would be so wrong if you actually did. In TV land, the kiss from Season 3 was a great experiment. It was executed perfectly in the context of the show and the relationship between Bones and Booth. And sometimes, in real life, things happen between two people who swear they’d never hook up. But it doesn’t always happen, and maybe that’s what needs to be proven on TV. And I think Bones has just the right attitude and tone to maintain the platonic relationship between these two.

Besides the professional risks, I just don’t see Bones and Booth as a couple. That doesn’t mean that there is something missing in their relationship. The only thing that could be considered missing is that one extra step. But that step is just that: extra. It’s a bonus. You may find someone with whom you have the greatest rapport, the most comfort, the most trust and the greatest mutual respect…but if you’re satisfied with that, that’s okay!

Take Hodgins and Angela, one of the most believable, organic TV workplace romances ever. They had a rapport, were comfortable with each other, trusted each other and respected each other…but they were also attracted to each other. I remember watching Seasons 1 and 2, knowing they would eventually hook up, and by the end of Season 1, it was clear that something was happening. It was something that worked between the actors, who’d made unconscious decisions for their characters that there was something else to be explored, and TJ Thyne and Michaela Conlin allowed it to happen - with a little help from the writers, of course - and so we got Hodgela. For me, I just don’t see that with Emily Deschanel/Brennan and David Boreanaz/Booth. They have all the puzzle pieces to form a beautiful picture, but they don’t really want to go so far as to glue it together and put it in a frame. The curiosity just isn’t there. And they’re okay with that. There is a different curiosity between them, but it isn’t romantic. Booth wants Bones to allow herself more openness, express herself more. But Booth, a father and law enforcement official, is a nurturer, a helper and a fixer. Bones, at the core, is happy she has someone with whom she can be herself, as much as she can. But her purpose is more defined and concrete - she knows what she wants, even though she may not always feel it’s right, she probably feels it’s correct.

Could Bones and Booth go further? We’re told that they will, but I really hope this isn’t how they’re addressing the lack of addressing Season 3’s kiss. I hold out hope that Hart Hanson won’t take the show in this direction and hook Bones and Booth up romantically. If they find themselves in a situation in which they need each other for a moment, that’s one thing. We all do strange and wild things in the heat of the moment. (I’ve sure got my stories…) But I implore the writers - remember The X-Files like
Chris Carter remembered Moonlighting.

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