Critique of 'Bones' Season 7 Episode 1

How did you feel about the 7th season premiere of 'Bones'?

Oddly enough Booth and Brennan's occasional moments of affection didn't feel strange. Each time they kissed I didn't feel shocked, in fact if anything I felt a little too desensitized to it. It used to be that a Booth/Brennan hook-up was something that fans looked forward to and that there was a lot of excitement associated with a kiss. Now it doesn't carry much weight. I'm not sure why this has happened, but it just seems as though they have always been together.

The storyline itself was a little weak. Frankly, I can't even remember what the murder was, and I only watched the episode a day ago (to be fair to the show, I have watched half a season of 'Castle' since then which does muddy my memory with its own murders).

Also, although I know that Sweets is investigating crimes with Booth because Emily Deschanel asked for reduced screen time due to her pregnancy, I miss the old scenario where Booth and Bones interrogate witnesses. I hope that a few of the episodes this season still have that.

In a way I was pleased to see that Booth and Brennan are not having a perfect relationship, and that decisions over their living situation caused tension in this episode. The fact that they said "I love you" to each other was also nice to hear, although I feel as though we got cheated out of the six months or so at the beginning of the pregnancy that lead up to that moment.

The scene where Brennan falls down and gets stuck behind the crate and calls Booth to help her was also telling. Despite the fact that it was a little too ridiculous, and didn't fit with the general tempo of the show, it did help the writers highlight the fact that Booth is the first person who Brennan thinks of when she needs help. She even said as much.

I knew there was no way that the episode could live up to its hype, but I also thought that it could have been stronger. It was a relatively enjoyable episode, but nothing extraordinary. 

Funnily enough the thing I disliked the most was the new opener. Superimposing still images of the main characters over a moving background really bothered me. It  reminded me too much of the opening credits of a sitcom. However, I do understand that if there is any time to introduce a new opening it's now, when large parts of the actual show are also changing.