Ditto Metalrox - I've got a lot of favorite episodes from Bones but this is my sentimental topper mainly because of Ms. Applegate's performance and a script that keeps its focus on the unraveling of her story.
Often forgotten in the grit of the realism that has pervaded the medium since Hill Street Blues is the fact that TV is Fantasy and there is always room for a happy ending now and then; this is one of the better ones.
A P.S. After the first watching, looked up Ms. Applegate and was surprised that she wasn't deaf, making her performance that much more impressive.
10-23-13
Just reviewed the reviews and that one negative review does make a good point about Amy's initial presentation - she's shown as being virtually feral and Brennen's is, in the beginning, totally unsympathetic and cold towards her. But those parameters are essential to to the episode's impact.
Through Brennen, as she learns how to humanize Amy, the audience shares that experience - the experience of personal growth triggered by the realization that her initial attitude was inconscionable. As Bones slowly recognizes that Amy has been a life-long victim of severe abuse and trapped by her deafness the echos to her own story, inexplicable abandonment and the dehumanization of the foster-care system, resonate. Brennan's native, undamaged but deeply hidden humanity emerges in a virtually cathartic response to Amy's case. That case's resolution becomes a very personal reprise of her own search for answers. By making Amy whole she takes a step towards accepting the emotional damage she, herself, has suffered and understanding that resolution is possible.
That's what makes this episode a classic fairy-tale and is why it's fairy-tale ending works.
Often forgotten in the grit of the realism that has pervaded the medium since Hill Street Blues is the fact that TV is Fantasy and there is always room for a happy ending now and then; this is one of the better ones.
A P.S. After the first watching, looked up Ms. Applegate and was surprised that she wasn't deaf, making her performance that much more impressive.
10-23-13
Just reviewed the reviews and that one negative review does make a good point about Amy's initial presentation - she's shown as being virtually feral and Brennen's is, in the beginning, totally unsympathetic and cold towards her. But those parameters are essential to to the episode's impact.
Through Brennen, as she learns how to humanize Amy, the audience shares that experience - the experience of personal growth triggered by the realization that her initial attitude was inconscionable. As Bones slowly recognizes that Amy has been a life-long victim of severe abuse and trapped by her deafness the echos to her own story, inexplicable abandonment and the dehumanization of the foster-care system, resonate. Brennan's native, undamaged but deeply hidden humanity emerges in a virtually cathartic response to Amy's case. That case's resolution becomes a very personal reprise of her own search for answers. By making Amy whole she takes a step towards accepting the emotional damage she, herself, has suffered and understanding that resolution is possible.
That's what makes this episode a classic fairy-tale and is why it's fairy-tale ending works.