Bones 7x02: The Hot Dog in the Competition

Original Air Date: 10 November 2011

Storyline: The Jeffersonian team identifies the remains of a competitive-eating champion, just days before the start of the Gluttony Games, a premiere eating competition with a $10,000 prize at stake. The remarkable work of new squint-and former juvenile delinquent-Finn links obscure evidence found in the belly of a snake with laws of physics that helps solve the crime. Despite his brilliance in the lab, Finn is met with hostility and skepticism, leading Cam to question her decision to give him a chance to start anew. Meanwhile, Booth is caught off-guard by an announcement Brennan makes about their baby. To diffuse the tension between them, the couple agrees to experiment by putting themselves in each other's shoes.Trivia: The Thurston reference refered to Thurston Howell III from Gilligan’s Island. Thurston Howel was a rich snobbish guy who was stranded on the island with seven other people.

The Opie reference was from The Andy Griffith Show. Opie was played by a very young Ron Howard. The show took place in a small southern town called Mayberry, and most of the people were country hicks.

Best Quote:

Brennan: Did your interest in forensics stem from a plan to murder your stepfather? 
Finn: ...Yes ma'am. It did. 
Brennan: Dr. Saroyan mentioned that he was physically abusive to both you and your mother. 
Finn: He had a temper. Probably why I behaved like did. Never could find a way to make the mad to go away. 
Brennan: So did you murder your stepfather, Mr. Abernathy? 
Finn: No ma'am. I did not. 
Brennan: What stopped you? 
Finn: I read a paper - you wrote. "Post Mortem Dismemberment Recovery Analysis." I knew no matter how careful I was, I'd never get away with killing him, at least not with y'all around. 
Brennan: I'd like to think that's true.

Review: Sometimes it pays to be a TV geek. Thanks to this week's Bones episode, I discovered Mindy Gledhill and her "Anchor" song, an amazing waltz which now I can't stop playing in my head. Not to mention that the song itself is perfect for the Brennan/Booth couple.

The Jeffersonian gets a new intern this week, a brilliant young man who finished university at 16 and will have a doctorate by the time he is 20, but his troubled past of joyriding and assault might not be exactly compatible with working in a forensics lab. Not to mention that his background as a country boy, paired up with his Southern accent, the colloquialisms and the poor grammar attract the disapproval of Dr. Hodgins, who starts calling him Opie, after the character from The Andy Griffith Show.
It's a hard job to replace someone as beloved by Bones fans as Vincent Nigel-Murray, whose trivia facts I deeply miss. And I understand Hodgins' reticence towards him, because of how things ended with Zach. Although I found him uncharacteristically mean to the boy, I must admit that their banter was hilarious, especially because Finn was not star-struck by a guy with two doctorates and had great comebacks. I love the Thurston/Opie joke and the dynamics that were established between these two by the end of the episode.
As for me, I liked Finn instantly. Yes, his colloquialisms tend to wear me down after a while, but I don't mind the accent and the country boy look. He's brilliant, and being funny and good looking just add up to the charm. It'd great that the showrunners created such different characters when it came to selecting the interns, this way they made sure each episode will bring something new.
The gave made me nauseated and it wasn't because of the body found in the terrarium, half-eaten by hairless rats, not was the python crawling from inside the victim. It was because of the eating contests. I don't eat hot-dogs from principle, because of all the meat scraps and conservatives they contain, and seeing people actually gulp them down without any regard to their own health was gross. But it did allow for a cool "let's scare the snake" experiment, so it gets some points for that.
And in terms of the relationship between Brennan and Booth, things are far from being smooth. She still takes the rational to extremes without regard for his feelings, and he still hasn't learned that he will probably never be able to change her completely, and this makes for good television. Their differences are hilarious and I'm glad to see they're not lovey-dovey all the time. I was amazed though by Booth's patience after finding out Brennan had her first ultrasound without including him, not to mention learning the sex of his baby incidentally during the investigation. He even had the presence of mind of suggesting a walking in the other's shoes experiment, one that was hilarious because of Brennan's idea that Booth wants to have intercourse at any time. If that was a broad generalization of men, it was a hilarious one and one I don't disagree with in the slightest.
But the final scene, with the two of them watching the DVD of the ultrasound, with Booth obviously excited about having a girl and seeing her heartbeat, was just sweet and heartwarming. Having moments like these to balance out the gore makes this show so much better.
Other highlights: Booth calling Sweets a Jedi, since "most kids" like that. Booth and Sweets thinking Tina was a prostitute and their reactions when her husband told them he used to watch her conduct her business. Brennan's John Wayne impersonation, in what was an attempt to create a connection between her and Finn (which is a rare thing for her), as well as her bluntness with him, something that she knew would be appreciated more by a rational person than handling him with gloves, like the others did. Bones 7x01: The Memories in the Shallow Grave Back to Season 7