S11.E20: The Stiff In The Cliff

[WendyCR72]

For the record, the last two episodes of this long season are 07/14 and then the season finale on 07/21.

The Jeffersonian and FBI investigates when the remains of famous billionaire explorer Henry Charles are found in Antarctica. The team confirms he was killed when he went missing ten years ago, but the timeframe puts Dr. Clark Edison on the short list of suspects. Meanwhile, Cam's sister comes arrives to help with wedding plans.

[Panopticon]

Only half-watched the episode, but...

I liked the case of the week, especially Clark and Wendell's interaction. 

I don't believe for a second that deep down Cam wants a fluffy princess wedding. 

[Julia]

Well, I'll bet you wouldn't have guessed she would want a less-competent guy 2/3 her age to tell her what to think and judge her, either. Apparently, Cam contains multitudes.

That or she's written by a room full of men who think independent professional women need to be put in their place before they can have love.

Edited June 24, 2016 by Julia

[Mama No Life]

That dress was so horrible it matched her hair.

Do you think Booth and Brennan are the kind of roommates who see other people or are they just totally asexual these days?

[Lizzing]

The other day, I caught a rerun of Sex & the City where Carrie and Miranda decide to go try on horribly, ugly wedding dresses for laughs.  Somehow, Cam was wearing one of those...it was remarkably similar to Carrie's purposefully ugly choice.

For as good as the supporting & guest cast was, the mystery didn't hold my attention at all this week.  Not that it always does, but I was less invested in the whodunnit than ever.  I do wish they would have let Jay Jackson be Perd Hapley rather than a generic news anchor.  Might have livened up the show a bit.

[Sarnia]

I couldn't relate to this episode at all.

Nobody knew that Clarke was a member of a 5-person expedition team that made polar exploration history but his full-size picture (and I guess his name) is in major position on an exhibition at the Jeffersonian?

I'm a bit interested in polar exploration history myself and to see the "Frank party" exhibit illustrated with pictures of Shackleton's Endurance expedition was funny (but OK, let's assume these pictures were there only for general mood purposes). But it is extremely unllikely that historical remains of such importance as the hut could have been brought back from Antarctica to be displayed in a public exhibition. Antarctic historic sites cannot be damaged or removed, and an archeologist doing this would be very badly considered. This is what is done : http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/02/150212-antarctica-huts-scott-shackleton-history-culture-science/

Cam's meringue lace dress was horrendous and did not fit her at all (physically and mentally).

[possibilities]

I'm so relieved that I'm not the only one who thought the poofy dress was horrendous. I am not always attuned to fashion, but I'm not inherently opposed to ALL lacy extravagances-- and that particular dress looked so bad to me, I thought it was downright ugly, and that it was supposed to be a nightmarish joke. When it turned out Cam actually liked it? The mournful look in the dressing room was because she wanted it, not because it was being forced on her and she suddenly had lost the ability to speak up? Shudder.

[BooksRule]

I didn't think that the poofy dress suited Cam, but neither did the first one her sister picked out (the one that Cam said reminded her of her work clothes).  I picture Cam wearing a long white or off-white wedding dress, but something a little more sleek and modern.  Kind of like the first wedding dress she tried, but a little more formal and long instead of short.  I think a wedding style that falls between her sister's no-frills wedding and Cam's fairy tale wedding would suit her.  Wedding-like for sure, but classic.

I know that the Jeffersonian would be a big place, but it's absurd that no one had noticed that big picture of Clark on the wall.  

[Willowsmom]

they are busy people. It's possible they don't go to see all the exhibits.

[shapeshifter]

If they actually did have the bones of the canibalism at the Jeffersonian, wouldn't someone have examined they to verify their authenticity, and in the process notice the problem with the markings?

Did they recast Cam's sister?

[Willowsmom]

If the scientific team that found it was involved in the curating they could have easily avoided it. And the murder investigation would have called for a much more thorough exam.

[Frost]

Bones not wanting Christine to stand up for her friend against a bully really bothered me.  She was bullied for being weird, did she forget about that?  Or more accurately, did the writers?  I hate when characters act completely out of character just to make a ham handed point.  It was like when Brennan decided younger brother Jared was actually the hero and Sealy was just some kind of wimp- after she'd been working with him for years!  Bad writers!  

[Panopticon]

Every time the show does a story about Christine's little kid issues I'm struck by how much better those same issues were handled with Parker a decade earlier. The story about Parker not wanting to walk away from a conflict because he felt like his father wouldn't, and also not wanting to hit a girl, and also looking for the line between walking away for himself versus defending a friend was actual character development for the adults. This was just "let's trot out Christine for fan service fluff." 

But hey, this wasn't as bad as the time Booth said "we turned out okay" while giving no thought to whether Christine should have the same early educational experience her parents had. Why would super-protective Booth ever be okay with Christine having his childhood school experience, let alone Brennan's? And why was he much less nuanced than he had been years before when he angsted about not having money for private school for Parker even though he doubted that the school in question would have been the right fit?

That Jared thing was stupid as well but at least it climaxed with Brennan realizing--  passionately, painfully, and completely-- that she'd been ridiculous and owed Booth an apology. 

Edited June 25, 2016 by Panopticon
wrong word

[Mama No Life]

You do realize that we've given more thought to the writing, just on this thread, than anyone in the writer's room during the entire process?

[Julia]

10 hours ago, Frost said:

Bones not wanting Christine to stand up for her friend against a bully really bothered me.  She was bullied for being weird, did she forget about that?  Or more accurately, did the writers?  I hate when characters act completely out of character just to make a ham handed point.  It was like when Brennan decided younger brother Jared was actually the hero and Sealy was just some kind of wimp- after she'd been working with him for years!  Bad writers!  

Or a few episodes ago when she endangered both hers and Booth's job by punching out an MRA for being rude?

[secnarf]

I dislike Christine quite a bit. I dislike Cam's sister even more. 

[Panopticon]

I don't think I've ever disliked the small child of a couple I shipped at all, let alone as intently as I dislike Christine. 

I kind of like that Cam has a mundane set of issues with her sister rather than the melodrama of Booth or Hodgins with their brothers. (Brennan and Russ had a sweet relationship but their backstory was wildly melodramatic.) Which is not to say I need to see Cam's sister again. 

[Slj]

Jesus Christ. Could they have made Brennan any more Clark's white saviour? And did no-one even acknowledge that Clark had even good reason to get legal representation, and to be wary of law enforcement. 

As some said this show is written by a room full of men, and I'm guessing they're all white. 

And yes Cam's sister was recast. 

Why were they going on about Cam's sister making out with Booth. That was more than eight years ago, and they didn't argue at the time. 

[mojoween]

It wasn't even a make out.  She kissed him to be annoying to Cam.

I actually liked the poofy dress for Cam, because it was out of the ordinary for her.  I did not like the anvils the sister was throwing about how "this is all you, beige and sedate and boring", especially since they made a point to say the sisters are off and on estranged, so how the hell would she know what Cam really likes?

You want the dress that Arastoo's mother will most likely hate on sight?  You get it.

[laredhead]

I did not like the poofy sleeves on the dress Cam liked, but I did think the rest of the dress was pretty and very flattering on her.  Remove the sleeves and I think the dress would be lovely. 

[Willowsmom]

You've got to remember Cam's age. That dress was the height of wonderful when she was young. Remember Bones carrying around a photo of a wedding dress from her teen years?

[Panopticon]

36 minutes ago, Willowsmom said:

You've got to remember Cam's age. That dress was the height of wonderful when she was young. Remember Bones carrying around a photo of a wedding dress from her teen years?

Yes. I can't decide whether I hated Brennan carrying around that dress more because she was the main character and her emotional journey was the center of the show, or whether I hate Cam's recent choice more because what I most dislike is the pattern.

There is nothing in the world wrong with a woman wanting a puffy dress, dreaming of her wedding, or setting marriage as a goal. No one should judge her or try to "fix" her for wanting any of these things. Though of course her views can evolve as she gets older.

There is also nothing in the world wrong with a woman NOT liking the princess aspect of weddings, not liking fluffy dresses, not dreaming of her wedding, or not wanting to be married at all. No one should judge her or try to "fix" her for wanting any of these things. Though of course her views can evolve as she gets older.

The problem is that this show has pulled the "she only felt that way until she met the right man" with every one of its female leads and at least some of its female recurring characters. Over and over, we meet women who don't believe in monogamy (Brennan, Jessica); don't believe in marriage (Brennan, Angela); don't want children (Brennan, Cam*); and are fiercely practical, non-girly-girls (Brennan, Cam). Every single time, the woman throws out her previous convictions and/or personality when her designated love interest bats his eyes.

Of course the point of a serialized show is to allow us to see the characters evolve. But when every woman evolves the same way, it gets rather tiresome, as if the message is that all women are the same and none of them know/admit what they want. If Brennan was going to journey from being anti-marriage-and-babies to where she is now, why not have one of the other women say from the first that marriage and babies were in the plan? Or have one of the other women stick to her guns and NOT choose the life she always rejected just because she met a man she likes? Or have each woman put her own spin on the way she approaches marriage-- can't a woman like Cam or Brennan choose a romance/wedding/marriage that suits the badass she has always been instead of suddenly sighing "I never mentioned it but I secretly always wanted to be a princess and all that stuff you thought you knew about my likes and dislikes was just for show?"

*Referring to her apparent plan to have babies with Aristoo; not referring to Michelle. Michelle was a special situation.

[Julia]

1 hour ago, Panopticon said:

Of course the point of a serialized show is to allow us to see the characters evolve. But when every woman evolves the same way, it gets rather tiresome, as if the message is that all women are the same and none of them know/admit what they want. If Brennan was going to journey from being anti-marriage-and-babies to where she is now, why not have one of the other women say from the first that marriage and babies were in the plan? Or have one of the other women stick to her guns and NOT choose the life she always rejected just because she met a man she likes? Or have each woman put her own spin on the way she approaches marriage-- can't a woman like Cam or Brennan choose a romance/wedding/marriage that suits the badass she has always been instead of suddenly sighing "I never mentioned it but I secretly always wanted to be a princess and all that stuff you thought you knew about my likes and dislikes was just for show?"

*Referring to her apparent plan to have babies with Aristoo; not referring to Michelle. Michelle was a special situation.

I also don't think that was Cam's dress. There are a ton of wedding dresses that fit Cam's tiny figure and her clean style and look romantic without looking like Cinderella's ball gown (I'm assuming nobody's in favor of the sleeves being bigger than her head).

What I would have liked to hear more about (maybe they could have cut the horrendous sister negging her for time) was the fact that she had to find a dress for a religious ceremony, so there are modesty restrictions.

Edited June 26, 2016 by Julia

[Panopticon]

1 hour ago, Julia said:

I also don't think that was Cam's dress. There are a ton of wedding dresses that fit Cam's tiny figure and her clean style and look romantic without looking like Cinderella's ball gown (I'm assuming nobody's in favor of the sleeves being bigger than her head).

Absolutely. She generally looks pretty and feminine, classic and classy, and she knows how to dress her body because of course she does. There's a lot of room between wearing a boring work dress to get married (her work dresses are frequently flashier and fancier than the one her sister picked) and the over the top gown which did not match her style or personality. I hadn't thought of the religious requirements but that might have been interesting to explore.

[joanne3482]

On 6/24/2016 at 10:06 AM, Sarnia said:

I'm a bit interested in polar exploration history myself and to see the "Frank party" exhibit illustrated with pictures of Shackleton's Endurance expedition was funny (but OK, let's assume these pictures were there only for general mood purposes). But it is extremely unllikely that historical remains of such importance as the hut could have been brought back from Antarctica to be displayed in a public exhibition. Antarctic historic sites cannot be damaged or removed, and an archeologist doing this would be very badly considered.

This was arctic not antarctic. When Angela was reconstructing the ice she mentioned Alaska. 

[Sarnia]

5 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

This was arctic not antarctic. When Angela was reconstructing the ice she mentioned Alaska. 

Oh OK, I missed that, thanks. So is it allowed for historical remains to be removed in Alaska?

And in that case the Shackelton pictures are completely out of place (but this doesn't probably bother many viewers, I suppose there are stuff like that in every episode that I miss also).

Edited June 29, 2016 by Sarnia

[Clanstarling]

I don't have any trouble with Cam secretly wanting a foo-foo dress (even if the one they showed wasn't exactly smashing). I'll never forget a friend of mine, an efficient no-nonsense sort of woman, decked out in a (to my eyes hideous) Cinderella dress for her wedding and telling me that she'd always dreamed of being a princess on her wedding day. Some of us cling to our girlhood dreams - no matter how much our fashion sense evolves as we get older. I didn't want to pay for the dress of my dreams, so I chose pretty but practical, and have regretted it ever since.

I'm not sure why there's the Christine hatred, but I'll agree the character doesn't really add much to the show.