Bones—The Man in the Mansion

Back on the job, but still undergoing therapy (no, it's not therapy, it's an official evaluation--sorry, Seeley), Booth is trying to suppress his bad impulses by wearing boring ties and socks. Everybody razzes him. I think he should not suppress his bad impulses, personally. But the razzing is hysterical. Apparently everyone is aware of Booth's crazy sock, tie and belt buckle wearing habit. As his "evaluation" with Wyatt continues, the crazy socks become a representation of Booth's need to rebel and express his inner rage against the entitled. Except for the belt buckle, which is the modern version of the medieval codpiece, designed to draw attention to his groin.

I do love this show.

Oh, right, and aside from Booth's clothing issues, there's a case to be solved, complete with gross putrid corpses. Tonight's victim is a millionaire who's been found dead in his mansion. Jack hides evidence that he had a previous relationship with the victim's wife, knowing that if this comes out, he'll get thrown off the case. This leads to all kinds of trouble for Jack, and ultimately endangers the case when the suspect is brought to trial.

In other subplots, Sully and Brennan have been dating, but Sully hasn't made a move, other than to ask her to come to his basketball game so she can ogle his buttcrack (damn, he's such a romantic), so Brennan's confused. In the meantime, Sully goes to Seeley for advice on how to approach Brennan, which doesn't go well at all. Sully accuses Seeley of having the hots for his partner. Brennan does go to the basketball game, where she falls upon rumors that her new boyfriend is--how does one say this delicately?--lacking in the filling up of the codpiece department.

The case progresses a bit differently than usual, with a sharply written courtroom scene. I really liked the way this was put together--it moved along quickly, with neat dialogue transitions from witness to witness. The case, though, nearly falls apart when Jack's tampering is revealed, leading to some nice scenes between him and Booth. Booth has a very clear-cut sense of right and wrong. Jack violates this, but then he fixes it later, in another nice scene between the two of them. They're not girls, per Booth, so Jack gets pie for doing the right thing so they don't have to actually talk.

Another nice tidbit tonight was the return of Caroline the Prosecutor, always a welcome addition. She was spunky and sassy and usual, and her lecture to them all at the end was hysterical, especially her proposal that if they win the case, Jack gets his job back. If they lose, Booth shoots him.

In the end, all is well as the verdict comes in as guilty when Angela saves the day by identifying a strain of aspergillis on the body. Brennan gets some nookie from Sully and discovers the truth about what he hides in his codpiece, then tells Booth all about it, somewhat to his annoyance. As for Booth, he switches to the trademark stripey socks (I'd put money down that these came out of Boreanaz's actual sock drawer) and feels he needs perhaps a flashier tie to deal with all his suppressed issues.

Overall, great fun. But now the dreaded behemoth that is American Idol puts us on hiatus again until March.