Disclaimer: The parts and the sum and the whole of the thing belong to Hart Hanson and Fox, etc.
Warning: Spoilers through episode 102, "The Predator in the Pool."
Summary: Ange watches them swim around each other. Like fish in a bowl.
Genre: Humor
Characters: Booth/Brennan, ensemble cameos, Angela at the wheel.
Note: A very short look at ep. 102 as narrated by Angela a la "Someone Call for a Narrator?" but less with the angst. I had plans to take a break from this fandom to make good on some fic promises elsewhere but B&B dating around is just tough on all of us and this little fic didn't take TOO much of my time away. Enjoy.
The Other Fish
Call me Angela
I really considered letting Clark take this one. But he already bent his cardinal once tonight so your stuck with me.
Once upon a time there was a clownfish with a tiny fin whose mother died as Disney mothers are wont to do … nope just kidding. That one belongs to Pixar and I don't work for them. And me? Not up for getting sued. (Though after all the virtual fish tank stuff I just pulled, well, keep me in mind for Finding Nemo 2. I wonder how an Oscar for visual effects ranks against a doctorate. Just saying.)
The fish we have featured in our story is Bob. Bob's a lionfish. He's all stripy and spiny. We're really freaking scared of Bob. No. Really. I mean, it was cute, wasn't it, that we named the murder weapon? It almost, almost was enough to distract from the kind of harsh implications of this little blurb out of our lives.
Okay, so I know I was not the only one who rolled her eyes spectacularly when Booth decides to move on while surrounded by tropical fish. I mean, thank God that marine biologist was reminiscent to the point distracting of the boss-lady from HOUSE. Otherwise, every time she came on screen and Booth (oh, Booth) went all googly, the scene would have reeked with aphorism worse that Hodgins's sunfish smoothie. Really, Booth should have just gone ahead and worn that motivational tie he must own that says, "there are other fish in the sea."
Because there are, Booth. You're right. There are other fish in the sea. Fake it till you make it, darling.
Let's see how well that works out for you.
The first thing fish did for Booth in this episode was scare the puckie out of him. He was all heart-in throat, why don't you just let Hodgins do it, the whole time Brennan was in that tank. And that was just silly. Everyone knows that if a shark comes at you, you punch it in the nose. And who do we know who is an expert nose-puncher?
Yeah. Ain't Hodgins.
So the fish in the sea? They scare Booth. That's fine. He's been away from the sea, hasn't gotten his feet (or anything else, wink-wink) wet in a while. Plus (to help a brother out) the fish are really scary. They are. Check out what else they did:
Ate motivational speaker
Swallowed motivational speaker's skull.
Spat skull forth.
And let's not forget, were used to inject toxin via eyeball wound
And why did they do all this?
Because Motivational Speaker was a big faker. He went out into the sea, faced his fears, and it cured him? Nah. It was stem cells. Cells ripe with unlimited potential made to slowly assimilate to a body and heal the damage within.
Okay, so. We're doing something funny with themes and lessons here (oh, something new and different for us!). We're not actually turning the 'face your fears' wisdom on its head. Not completely anyway. But, there was a lesson to be had from the motivational speaker and the fibromyalgia avenger: facing fears for the sake of facing fears is meaningless. Why pretend you need to face down a lionfish and bathe in Brazil? Why pretend at revelation and salvation?Why pretend the answer is out there with the fish in the sea? Will we think any less of you if the answer is life-long treatment? If you have to constantly seek and strive and heal to make yourself better?
Re-enter analogous fish: Hacker and Marine-lady. Funny as clownfish, flashy as Angels. But how might those two feel about being the "other fish in the sea." What happens when they realize they're their both place holders for someone else?
Because Hacker and Marine? They're being deceived. Because someone told these people they're dating that the answer is out there in the sea, that there are open waters teeming with other fish, waters that heal. So now that's what they are. Other fish. So no matter how funny or smart or tall they happen to be they'll always be set up against the standard and found to be distinctly other. They'll wonder why they can't magically cure the hurts brought to them.
And that's kind of sad isn't it? If they weren't unwittingly, you know, ruining everything, I might even kind of like both of them. They're practically bizarro Booth and Brennan already. I mean, put them in a room together without distractions and I bet we throw together a June wedding.
I digress.
All I'm saying is, Booth and Brennan could really use some Clark Edison style advice. Because dating someone just to convince yourself that you can is, well, almost rude to those other people. It makes fish of them. And in the fish bowl it's eat or be eaten.