Written by Megan LaBruna
The Loyalty in the Lie Plot Summary:
Over the past few years we have seen Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) fight the battle against evil. That is, until last season when they chose to walk away from it all to raise their family in peace and quiet. Unfortunately, picking up six months later, we find that they have been sucked back into an all too familiar situation in which Booth has gone missing and may even be dead and Brennan is back at the Jeffersonian trying to put the pieces to this gory puzzle together.
Season 11 of Bones picks up six months after the last season. At this point we can see that Brennan and Booth have the ideal life. Brennan has finished two books and is able to spend time with her children and Booth is working with the FBI on a free-lance basis training new recruits. They are both out of harm’s way and enjoying the good life, or so they thought. Our first clue that something is about to go down is the look Booth gives to Brennan before he leaves for work. There’s something off about it, like he knows he’s lying to her and that he might not be back.
At the Jeffersonian, things are still hectic as always. Angela (Michaela) and Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) are the new power couple and Cam (Tamara Taylor) is debating on whether to appoint Arastoo (Pej Vahdat) to Brennan’s old position for good. As is the case with prior episodes, a body is found unrecognizable beyond belief with the only visible surviving items being a gun and the steel part of a boot. With these clues Angela uncovers that the gun belongs to Booth and unfortunately, Arastoo’s preliminary report of the victim’s description also matches Booth’s description.
We knew they couldn’t keep Brennan away from the lab, she’s just too good at it, but we never anticipated that the potential death of her husband would be the catalyst that brings her back inside the walls of the Jeffersonian.
The last few seasons of Bones have been sub-par at best. They’ve attempted to spice up the show by having repeat villains, such as Pelant (Andrew Leeds), invade the personal lives of our beloved characters to shake up plot lines, they’ve continuously rotated between interns ever since Zack (Eric Millegan) left and they’ve even surprised us by killing some notable characters. (I’m still broken up over Sweet’s death). But honestly, it just hasn’t been the same since Booth and Brennan started playing house. Much like a marriage, the show became repetitive and predictable which, in their defense, is a hard thing to avoid after a decade on the air.
Luckily for loyal fans, the season 11 premiere felt much more like the earlier seasons that made me fall in love with this show. Booth is missing and involved in some plan that neither we nor Brennan know anything about and the “squints” at the Jeffersonian must ban together to help solve the mystery through science! Spoiler Alert: the body that was found ends up being that of Jared Booth which explains the similarities to Sealy. I personally was upset, because that means no more cameos for Brendan Fehr, but it does mean that Booth may still have a chance at reuniting with his family. That is, if he can staunch the bleeding from the gunshot wound he endured during an unexplained fire fight with 3 other men we know nothing about. It appears there are many skeletons in the closet this season.
After this premiere I have renewed faith in season 11. Any fan of the show knows how much Brennan dislikes change, and having been gone from the Jeffersonian for six months, a lot has changed. I anticipate some conflict between old friends since the hierarchy of the lab has evolved. I also anticipate some great special guests this season, including Betty White! I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Pelant from beyond the grave and we still don’t know what Booth has gotten involved in, but I have high hopes that season 11 will rekindle the old magic of seasons past that have been missing for some time now.
Rating: 8
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