what the hell?

[Phyll33]

So, there are some on the Bones board that believe the ep was a Booth dream. I have doubts, but some of the points make sense... the number of "out of character" moments, nonsensical tech/science speak, how easily suspicion shifted from Hodgins to Sweets, then to Zack (why would they accept that any of them were the killer so easily?), the whole Booth in the tub scene and Bones saying she found Booth's key under a rock by his front door when he lives in an apartment... And then there is the Eric Millegan post... yes he says he will not be a series regular anymore, but it could all be ruse to get fans to think he's not coming back?

  One can hope but for some reason I think this was a screwup episode from writers that weren't in their
groove because of the strike. Some speculated this was supposed to be a 2 hour finale and they had to fit
it into one. As much as I hate these dream type episodes I kind of hope this was one.

[SerenityValley]

So, there are some on the Bones board that believe the ep was a Booth dream. I have doubts, but some of the points make sense... the number of "out of character" moments, nonsensical tech/science speak, how easily suspicion shifted from Hodgins to Sweets, then to Zack (why would they accept that any of them were the killer so easily?), the whole Booth in the tub scene and Bones saying she found Booth's key under a rock by his front door when he lives in an apartment... And then there is the Eric Millegan post... yes he says he will not be a series regular anymore, but it could all be ruse to get fans to think he's not coming back?

Good call.  Hmmmm....

[Phyll33]

  I was just on the Bones board and wanted to scream. It is just like those in entertainment and
some of their gullible audience to buy into Zack having PTSD coming back from Iraq. Yep, everyone
that goes off to war and comes home has to have been traumatized by it all. No one can ever be
strong enough to overcome the horrors. A therapist must be your first line of defense. 

  I'm sure every soldier that has ever served this country will be enlightened to know that they have
to have some mental condition in order to have survived fighting in a war. Blah!!

[Saxon]

I thought it was odd that they had Zack's character leave to go off to the war, only to come back right away with a flimsy story about 'not fitting in'.

I wondered if the actor wanted to leave, but seeing it posted that he didn't seems odd.

I too hate the 'Bobby Ewing in the shower' angle...but that would be a good thing. That just left a really bad 'taste in my mouth' (okay, pun intended due to the cannibalistic theme).

And yes, trading a loveable geek for a slimy one is not a good thing. If they were going to bring in a younger guy for possible demographic reasons, why did they go with one so annoying? (I do love how they 'get him' though).

I still LOVE this show, and will watch...but I'm curious as to how and why they did this.

[Phyll33]

  I can't imagine why they did it. It makes a lie out of his character from the git go and I personally
feel duped they decided to change his personality in this way. It was totally unnecessary and to say
his character had run it's course is a writer just being lazy since they hadn't ever tried to explore his
character. He was a part of the show's comedy relief and gave Booth and Hodgins someone to play
off of and the women someone to mother. They lost part of the soul of the show when they did this,
on the other hand that last show just was odd. It came across as very off so I'm hoping something
is up with that but I think the writers strike played a big part in this finale and how poorly it was
set up.

[TinkTanker]

There was supposed to be a whole story arc about him not adjusting to the real world and slowly going nuts. They did this to make the show edgy. Some would probably say they gave us what they thought we needed, not what we wanted. That coupled with that dork with the red lips being a major character next year has slid this show down the 'must see' list quite a bit, maybe off entirely.

[Phyll33]

  Edgy!! Good grief they have enough of the gore to keep the edge on, the show definitely needs the light in it sometime.
The Post Traumatic Stress Theme idea just got to me considering he strikes me as the last type of person to be affected by
something like that. All of the blood and guts he sees on a regular basis with his work, why would seeing things in the
war bother him? That was really a lame thought except for a political message some felt the need to send on the boards.
I understand from reading something the writer said that they were thinking of going down that road too to explain why
he went off the deep end.

[Saxon]

He wasn't even gone that long...from what I got watching, he'd barely gone through some kind of 'doctor orientation' (as opposed to a 'boot camp' type thing), and couldn't cut it...that's why they sent him home. He shouldn't ever have seen 'war', he just couldn't take orders (being the Spock-like king of logic, always wanting to know the 'why').

The reason he got sent home would fly in the face of him getting pulled into a cult. He doesn't just follow blindly...and Bones was able to show him the folly of the 'logic' behind his process in, like, two sentences. Dumb.

I think they messed him up when they had him cut his hair and 'grow up'...he was supposed to be the 'kid', the wunderkind...even as he aged, he'd always be that socially inept 'child'.

This better be a 'nightmare' Bones is having while Booth is recouperating from the bullet! Seems like it's got a bunch of her fears all rolled into one there.

They need to get rid of that slimy, smirky 'Sweets' too. He would have been a much better 'accolyte' (I thought it WAS him all along).

[Phyll33]

He wasn't even gone that long...from what I got watching, he'd barely gone through some kind of 'doctor orientation' (as opposed to a 'boot camp' type thing), and couldn't cut it...that's why they sent him home. He shouldn't ever have seen 'war', he just couldn't take orders (being the Spock-like king of logic, always wanting to know the 'why').

The reason he got sent home would fly in the face of him getting pulled into a cult. He doesn't just follow blindly...and Bones was able to show him the folly of the 'logic' behind his process in, like, two sentences. Dumb.

I think they messed him up when they had him cut his hair and 'grow up'...he was supposed to be the 'kid', the wunderkind...even as he aged, he'd always be that socially inept 'child'.

This better be a 'nightmare' Bones is having while Booth is recouperating from the bullet! Seems like it's got a bunch of her fears all rolled into one there.

They need to get rid of that slimy, smirky 'Sweets' too. He would have been a much better 'accolyte' (I thought it WAS him all along).

  Yep, the war story line was not logical at all and I agree with the make over they did on him. It didn't
suit him at all. I hope it is a nightmare episode to. There is no way that Booth could have healed that
fast when he was shot to be able to attend that false funeral. That was the part that struck me right
away and other odd things followed. Bones not knowing that his death was a fake when she was right
there at his side when he was shot. Not realistic at all nor that stupid tub scene with his crazy hat on.
The whole episode was a farce.

I agree on Sweets, he has got on my nerves from his first show. His red lips are so distracting, I know
he isn't wearing lipstick but it sure does look like it. They need to tone them down and the character
itself is just not likable no matter how they try to make him be one of the guys.

[Saxon]

Maybe he IS the accolyte! Remember Cam said it was him, maybe this is a really bad dream, and the dreamer is going to figure out how wrong it wall was, and that Sweets IS the 'bad guy'!!

I never thought it was going to be a dream ep, but now I'm hoping that is the case. The ads they are running show all of them. huh.