Well, this was a wholly unexpected ending, but IÂ like it.
Thanks again to Nora for this last batch of Bones episodes. Ugh, I ENJOY THIS SHOW A LOT. The video commission for “The Verdict in the Story” can be streamed or downloaded with Quicktime Pro right here. Otherwise, it is on Dropbox.
- PAGING REDHEADEDGIRL. TELL ME ABOUT LAW STUFF. (Redheadedgirl is one of two new mods on Mark Watches who joined specifically to help with spoilers for The West Wing, and she is brilliant and passed the bar in Massachusetts, so she dispenses lovely knowledge about law, the U.S. government, and politics each day in the comments.) I know that this episode really hinges on the understanding that a person must be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and it’s the method in which the team gets Bones’s father acquitted. It doesn’t mean he didn’t commit the murder, since we all know he did, but the prosecution couldn’t prove that he did. The defense had to muddle up the evidence, cast doubt on the jury, and obfuscate the truth to the point that it didn’t seem like the truth. And it’s fascinating to me that this is the way the writers solve this conundrum! Because let me tell you, when I started this episode, I thought it was completely impossible to exonerate Matthew Brennan. HOW WERE THEY GOING TO DO THAT?
- The writers also make sure to remind us that Deputy Director Jack Kirby was incredibly terrible. Granted, I think this is the only way not to leave us feeling like the show had swapped one moral high ground for another. I mean, what if the man Matthew had killed was an innocent victim and not a corrupt, murderous FBI director? If the writers had pulled off the same stunt they did here, we’d all feel cheated and disgusted. Well, okay, maybe not all of us, but I would be willing to wager that most of the fandom would be super weirded out by that sort of story.
- I’m also way into this idea that Temperance is discovering and building on this idea that she has a dual personality in her life, that she has a set of rules and beliefs that apply to her job, and then there’s a separate set of those in her personal life. More than ever, those two are clashing with one another because Temperance can’t separate them out anymore. I think that makes Dr. Sweets’s role all the more important here because he might be able to help her suss this out in the future.
- AND THEN THERE’S ANGELA’S PLOT. She firmly casts away her work obligations to support her best friend. Unlike Temperance’s struggle to determine what she should do, Angela is the one friend of hers who knows where she stands and what’s right in her worldview. That’s a big deal for Temperance, and I’d like to think Angela helps Temperance decide how to help her father.
- Essentially, this is an episode of relentless anxiety, followed by a wave o’ feelings. Seriously, I never thought Temperance would have her father back outside of prison. I assumed he’d be there for the rest of the series. IT’S REALLY WEIRD AND COOL. Oh god, is he going to stick around? Stay out of trouble? Who knows?
We’ve got a Firefly re-watch tomorrow, the last half of My Mad Fat Diary, and then MORE SEASON 3 OF BONES. Huzzah!
