S11.E17: The Secret In The Service

[WendyCR72]

A drunk college student discovers the dead body of a Secret Service agent just before a presidential visit to the area. Booth is ready to hit the ground running and turns to Secret Service agent and former colleague Brandt Walker for information, but is surprised to learn the Secret Service has reservations about Booth’s involvement in the case. The team uncovers some shocking evidence that heightens the seriousness of the case, causing Booth to step up for his country. Meanwhile, Brennan is out sick with the flu and former intern Dr. Colin Fisher returns to the Jeffersonian to run lead on the case, but Brennan refuses to be kept out of the loop. Also, Hodgins takes his life into his own hands and turns a corner after a potentially dangerous experiment.

[WendyCR72]

Fisher! It'll be nice to see that oddball again.

[BooksRule]

It seems a little odd that the 'powers that be' would have a problem with Booth working with the Secret Service because of his connection to John Wilkes Booth.  Surely, Booth has proven himself time and again to be loyal.  Also, has he never had the occasion to work with the Secret Service on any case? 

Emily did a pretty good job of acting sick.  Their kids weren't even mentioned, were they?  Do we assume that they were sent away because she was contagious?  

[secnarf]

1 hour ago, BooksRule said:

It seems a little odd that the 'powers that be' would have a problem with Booth working with the Secret Service because of his connection to John Wilkes Booth.  Surely, Booth has proven himself time and again to be loyal.  Also, has he never had the occasion to work with the Secret Service on any case? 

Emily did a pretty good job of acting sick.  Their kids weren't even mentioned, were they?  Do we assume that they were sent away because she was contagious?  

This is just my assumption - and I wasn't watching all that closely - but I thought that the guy saying there was a problem with Booth was due to his paranoia that was apparently caused by the blood clot. That's also why they had him say "it was personal, not procedure" instead of "it was procedure, not personal".

Never mind the ridiculousness of a blood clot in the brain causing those effects, as well as their explanation as to how the clot got there. They should have just said he had a tumour or something.

[BooksRule]

I didn't even think about it being that one guy's decision (which, of course, was tainted because of his blood clot).  I thought it was coming from higher up.  If that's what happened, then it makes more sense.

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, BooksRule said:

It seems a little odd that the 'powers that be' would have a problem with Booth working with the Secret Service because of his connection to John Wilkes Booth.  Surely, Booth has proven himself time and again to be loyal.  Also, has he never had the occasion to work with the Secret Service on any case? 

Emily did a pretty good job of acting sick.  Their kids weren't even mentioned, were they?  Do we assume that they were sent away because she was contagious?  

I seriously wonder if she really was sick?
I forgot about the kids; maybe the writers were counting on that.

Hodgins was very smiley.

Did someone shoot the earlier suspect (who pulled a gun in the crowd, right?) too? I was just waking up from a quick nap at that point.

The motorcade initially gave a very JFK vibe, even though the POTUS was inside the vehicle, not in a convertible. Kudos to the director and camera people.

[mojoween]

Putting aside the ridiculousness of Cam sending Hodgins down the chute, I was so worried he was going to fall and somehow the jarring of his spine when he landed was going to make him able to walk again.  Thank you for not going there, show.

I missed what the reveal at the end was with Mr. Dr. Fisher.  Did he make up the story about being classified and instead he's a tutor?  Is he really a Dr.?

[rainsmom]

21 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Putting aside the ridiculousness of Cam sending Hodgins down the chute, I was so worried he was going to fall and somehow the jarring of his spine when he landed was going to make him able to walk again.  Thank you for not going there, show.

I missed what the reveal at the end was with Mr. Dr. Fisher.  Did he make up the story about being classified and instead he's a tutor?  Is he really a Dr.?

Yes, really a doctor. (They didn't say that, but it's assumed he finished his PhD, or they wouldn't have asked him back.) His job IS classified, because he's the tutor for the daughter of the POTUS.

[NaughtyKitty]

 I was totally expecting that Hodgen's fall down the shoot would miraculously help him walk again. I am so glad that they didn't go there. However, I am still expecting that to happen. 

[Julia]

but you know what penicillin isn't? Effective on virii. 

Did Fisher look unhealthily thin to anyone else? Because Cam is a waif, and Fisher looked frail standing next to her. 

[kili]

How big was this secret service agent who died?

They know he went down the laundry chute because his shoulders were damaged shoving him into it (the chute was too narrow for his shoulders). But, this same chute is also big enough so that Hodgin's can not only sit in it (he's in some kind of harness where his legs are not straight down), he also has enough room too spin around in it. The chute looked positively roomy with Hodgin's in it. 

[Panopticon]

I had such horrible second hand embarrassment from the Brennan is sick plot that I'd prefer never to think of it again. No with her showing her used tissues to strangers in a professional setting because she doesn't know how to function in the world and is more punchline than person.

However, I'm pleased that after all these years Booth shrugs off a reference to John Wilkes instead of having a meltdown or a tantrum. Good for him. And I appreciated that it was Cam, who used to be the one whispering "don't mention Booth to Booth," who came to see him with the answers about the secret service agent. I expected that it would be Brennan or Aubrey walking in when we saw the long shot of Booth drinking, and I said "oh, good," out loud when it was Cam.

So Bones now has a fictional president who's running for re-election and has an academically struggling daughter? I suppose it's for the best for the plot points they wanted to use, but it does make me want to go rewatch the early seasons when Hodgins used to throw shade on the Bush administration. (Or alternatively it makes me want to watch a spin-off with Fisher as the tutor and Aubrey following his political ambitions.)

Speaking of Hodgins... I don't even care about the obvious lack of realism this time. I loved the scenes with Hodgins/Aubrey/Cam in the hotel room. Loved them. Just the right amount of characterization, procedural stuff, and humor for me.

[Julia]

4 minutes ago, Panopticon said:

So Bones now has a fictional president who's running for re-election and has an academically struggling daughter? I suppose it's for the best for the plot points they wanted to use, but it does make me want to go rewatch the early seasons when Hodgins used to throw shade on the Bush administration. (Or alternatively it makes me want to watch a spin-off with Fisher as the tutor and Aubrey following his political ambitions.)

It's funny, because I remember when plots used to be driven by current events, and when POTUS got out of his car, the first thing I thought was "The President is a white guy?" (said nobody ever ten years ago...)

[Clanstarling]

I was surprised too (and how cool is it that we can be surprised - for now - that the president is white). Then given Fisher's ultimate profession (as tutor to a presidential daughter who wasn't doing well), I decided maybe they didn't want to imply that either of the Obama girls were struggling academically.

[Panopticon]

I thought that as well. The running-for-reelection and played-by-a-white-actor aspects had gone to the back of my mind when it came time to reveal Fisher's profession, so when they started emphasizing the "young women", I did revert to thinking of the actual real life first daughters. Then the dialog drove home over and over that there is only one first daughter in Bones-land, so yes... let's remind the audience that we aren't casting aspersions on Sasha and Malia's academic prowess.

[possibilities]

I was glad they at least tried to deflect the implication that it was Sasha or Malia having academic troubles. It's one thing to poke at a president, but I say leave the kids out of it.

[Julia]

It didn't even cross my mind to associate it with the Obama girls, honestly. I figure given how far grandma shepherded Mrs. O and her brother when the family was still struggling financially those girls are probably a pair of hammers academically.