Bones Review: The Senator in the Street Sweeper (Season 11 Episode 6)

We’ve been promised a stronger focus on Booth and Brennan with Bones Season 11, and that’s just what “The Senator in the Street Sweeper” delivers.

It’s a light, fun episode that reminds us all over again why Booth and Brennan not only make a great couple, but also why they make a great partnership. Their contrasting personalities complement each other as they work a case, despite Brennan’s awkward blunders.

In fact, Booth knows that if Brennan is herself, they’ll be able to use that as an advantage. Why? Because he knows her better than anyone.

Brennan gets excited about the idea of going undercover as herself, offering up a few possibilities including being “saucy” or basically doing a bad impersonation of Humphrey Bogart. This episode offers several fun moments like this, and it makes it one of the more entertaining episodes of the season so far.

More than that, those opportunities are present because of the fact that Booth and Brennan spend so much time working together on this particular case. There’s still an occasion for Brennan to be in the lab, of course, and there’s still the occasion for Aubrey to work with Booth. But everything is just a bit more balanced, and it works really well.

That balance seems to come from the fact that Aubrey has a separate story, in which he’s tasked with getting background information on Jessica Warren (smooth, Caroline).

Aubrey and Jessica seem to be moving forward as our next adorable couple, despite the things that Aubrey learned about her. I mean really, could these two be cuter together? They’re both quirky, and they have the ability to share their passions with one another — whether that’s binge-watching Battlestar Galactica together or trying the best pigeon in town.

Their relationship could also offer Booth and Brennan some interesting opportunities. At this point, Booth and Brennan have been together for a long time. They would certainly be able to share advice with a brand new couple, which would only reveal more about their own relationship. And who wouldn’t want to see those four double date? Aubrey and Jessica really would be like a 2.0 version of Booth and Brennan.

Back to Booth and Brennan, the whole TV in the bedroom thing makes for a side story that lets us see more of what life is like at home for Booth and Brennan. It’s an everyday sort of a conversation, and really, it’s an important one. It also gives a reason to see more intimacy, which is done in a way that is both tasteful and humorous.

Other Thoughts:

• Brenda Strong guest stars on this episode, and she’s fabulous, as always.
• I’m so over the opening scenes that show how a dead body is found. I find them to be useless, especially since they nearly always involve characters we won’t see again. it’s just all about shock factor.

What did you think of this episode of Bones? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Bones airs Thursdays at 8/7c on Fox.

Ashley Bissette Sumerel

Ashley Bissette Sumerel is a television and film critic living in Wilmington, North Carolina. She is editor-in-chief of Tell-Tale TV as well as Eulalie Magazine. Ashley has also written for outlets such as Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, and Insider. Ashley has been a member of the Critics Choice Association since 2017 and is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. In addition to her work as an editor and critic, Ashley teaches Entertainment Journalism, Composition, and Literature at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.