At the rate I am currently going, this season 11 recap is feasibly going to take months. But what else do we really have to do until 2017? I personally will be spending this time constantly watching reruns and reliving past seasons. No reason to rush this along. I want to ensure that I touch on everyone’s wonderful tales this season. So here we go. Part 2 of infinity. This week I’ll be highlighting Daisy’s season 11 story.
Source: Marla @ The Game of Nerds
Daisy Wick Season 11 Episode Appearances:
11×09: The Cowboy in the Contest
11×21: The Jewel in the Crown
We did not have the pleasure of seeing Daisy in the lab very much this season. But it was a joy to have her in the episodes in which she did appear. She is part of the family for sure. The previous season was the very definition of bittersweet for this character. She lost Sweets, and later gave birth to his child. It was absolutely heart-wrenching to watch Daisy lose him after they finally figured out their relationship. Long ago, they were together. They were even engaged. But then Daisy decided to go off to Maluku. And when they finally rekindled their romance the second time around, Sweets realized that he was not quite ready for that big commitment anymore. Finally, years later, this adorable pair was on the same page. We did not get to see their romantic reunion. But we saw evidence of it in 10×01. They were together, and having a child. At last. But then- well, we all know what happened.
In season 11 there was something of a calmness and acceptance about her. I cannot quite articulate what it was. She just exuded tranquility somehow. I am certain Daisy still thinks of Sweets often, she definitely says as much whenever has been back on the show. But she is also just trying to live the best life she can, and be the best mother she can be to their young child.
In The Cowboy in the Contest, Daisy is working the weekend at the lab while Brennan is undercover with Booth participating in the shooting competition. Most of Daisy’s scenes are pretty standard case scenes. She is examining the remains and working with the rest of the team to put the pieces together, so to speak. Her really meaningful scene during this episode came after she overhears a personal conversation between Sebastian and Cam. After debriefing Cam on some case findings, Daisy stops her from leaving the bone room.
“And I know it’s absolutely none of my business, but I understand how hard it is to open your heart again… after a loss. It takes time, and it takes courage, but at some point, you have to risk it. If you don’t, you just… shrink a little inside.”
Cam thanks her for her words. She tells Daisy that coming from her, it truly means a lot. And I think it’s a really emotional and important moment. For both of these women. While Cam’s loss is obviously vastly different, Daisy does not make the distinction. There was no need. Because sometimes, a loss is a loss. Even though there was no death involved, Cam is facing a similar void in her life. Someone extremely important to her is no longer there. Cam let him go. She made the choice. She doesn’t see him when they wake up in the morning. He is no longer there at work. A huge part of her life is altered. I really love that Daisy relates to Cam in this way. They have both arguably lost the loves of their life, no matter the circumstance. That is something that takes time to get over. But Daisy has been going through it for a while now. And Cam and the others were instrumental in getting her through the hard times. This is Daisy’s family. And now Daisy has advice to reciprocate because she has been there. She wants Cam to be happy again. And so she tells her boss (and friend) that at some point she is going to have to take that risk. Maybe this new man won’t be “the one.” Maybe she will never find “the one.” But if she never puts herself out there, if she never even tries, then it becomes a certainty that she will never love again. While Cam did make the choice to stay in D.C., it doesn’t discount the depth of her grief. She chose herself. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I applaud her for it. Because that can be an impossible choice sometimes.
At the time of this particular episode, Cam seemed to have some semblance of feelings for this new man. Daisy picked up on that as well. And even though it ultimately did not work out, Cam tried. She took that step to move on. She made the leap. I think this scene meant so much because their relationship wasn’t always like this. It was never bad, by any means. But it was more of a “business only” dynamic. To see how close they have all become warms my heart.
The pain that Daisy carries with her is still evident. Her son will never know his father. And she only got a small window of time to be happy with Sweets again. Yes, she is more at peace than she was at the time of his murder. But it will always hurt. That said, she will never regret the time she did spend with him.I would be willing to bet that she would not trade a moment she spent with Sweets for anything. Daisy has grown up so much over the years. And she has become one of my favorite characters for sure (okay, I love them all).
Daisy’s second appearance this season was The Jewel in the Crown. This time she was aiding a different member of the team- Dr. Hodgins. Now that I have written that sentence, I am comforted in the fact that both times Daisy appeared this season, she truly helped two important characters overcome something substantial with which they were dealing at the time. Cam with her breakup, and Hodgins with his paralysis. This was toward the end of the season, so there was definitely much more acceptance on Hodgins’ part in terms of his new reality. He had moved through the more severe stages of anger and grief. Yes, he was still saddened and frustrated at times. And yes, he still desperately wanted to believe that someday he would walk again. But after almost losing everything, he finally realized what was truly important. He was still alive and in good health. He has his wife and son who love him unconditionally. He has his family at the lab and a job that fulfills him. These are the most important things in his life. And after a pretty painful downward spiral, he realized that he has not lost everything. Not even close. The most precious parts of himself and his life are fully in tact.
But back to Daisy (Hodgins’s story will resurface in a few weeks). I so adore all of the interns’ relationships with Hodgins. He just has this incredibly unique bond with each and every one of them. It’s amazing to watch. Different with each one. His scenes with Daisy, in particular, usually range from completely goofy (the “poo” truffle scene immediately comes to mind!) to absolutely lovely. In this episode, a lot of very strange and seemingly random occurrences appear to be happening in the vicinity of Hodgins. Items are crashing to the floor and shaking around him. Hodgins believes that perhaps it could be some sort of seismic movement with the fault lines underneath the Jeffersonian. However, no one else feels any sort of quake. Daisy comes in and initially believes that this mysterious disturbance may actually be the work of a poltergeist. This sounds just a bit ludicrous coming from someone who idolizes Dr. Brennan. Brennan would absolutely never put stock in such a theory. To me as a viewer, I honestly knew that there had to be a rational explanation for it. For another show, sure, a ghost could certainly be plausible. And maybe I would have bought into this theory a bit more if Cyndi Lauper was billed for this particular episode. Daisy explains that she has learned to open her mind as of late. And she posits that Hodgins could actually be a magnet for a poltergeist. Hodgins is not buying into this theory without scientific basis. But as she walks out, Daisy warns him that he could have company for a while- until the “ghost” has delivered his message.
All that aside, I could not help but tear up as Daisy explained her recent susceptibility to believing in such a supernatural presence.
“You know, I wouldn’t have believed it either, and then after Lance died, I saw him, and he was telling me to move on. And it really helped, so I wasn’t trying to be funny or flip, I just… if someone’s trying to give you a message, I don’t want you to miss it.”
Since Sweets’ passing, Daisy has felt him. Who is to say whether she is imagining it or not. I am of the opinion that if it makes her feel better to believe that Sweets is communicating her, who can really begrudge her? And in the end, you really never know what is real and what is fiction…(don’t tell Brennan I said that). Hodgins begins to get frustrated at Daisy’s hypothesis that ghosts are sending him messages. He is just exhausted, as his “sadistic” trainer has been wearing him out in physical therapy. He knows that Daisy means well- and she does. But he wants to just leave it alone, and get on with the case.
Later in the episode, Angela catches Daisy crawling around and measuring something on the floor of the Autopsy Room. She claims that she merely lost a thumb drive, and also admits that she was probably wrong about a ghost haunting Hodgins. Daisy seemed to let that go a bit too easily…She also is overly agreeable when Angela says that the cause of the incidents could potentially be earthquakes. So obviously, Daisy was harboring her own suspicions, which she was not quite ready to share.
In the end, Daisy solves the case at hand. Not the episode case, though she did help with that of course. But the case of the mysterious shaking. It was Hodgins. Daisy was emotional when sharing with the entomologist that he was the one who kicked the table.
“It’s science, Hodgins. You were right. It wasn’t a poltergeist. It wasn’t an earthquake. It was you. Your muscles spasmed. I read about it. It means that they can fire again. This might be the first step.”
Angela walks in and inquires as to what exactly Daisy meant by a “first step.” In tears, Hodgins explains.
“We’re talking about a-a first step to… a first step. M-My leg, it, uh… So all this stuff’s been moving around me… because it’s moving. I can’t control it. I-I can’t feel it, yet. Angie, I think Nurse Ratched’s gonna help me walk again.”
Hodgins is emotional. He barely knows what to say. Angela is shocked. And Daisy is beaming. She did this for her colleague. She did this for her friend. Without sacrificing the integrity of the case, she solved this mystery and delivered some really hopeful news to this family. She wanted to help Hodgins. He is her friend. He is a part of her family. Hodgins probably would have eventually figured it all out when he began to feel the more painful spasms in his legs. But it doesn’t matter. Daisy made it her mission to find out. Because she cares. And she loves Hodgins. She loves all of them.
I sincerely hope Daisy appears in a few episodes in season 12. She was there from the beginning of the intern rotation years. We have seen her essentially grow up before our eyes. Thinking about her in that first episode to now, the main characters are not the only ones who have experienced this remarkable evolution. Somehow in only a few dozen episodes, many of these interns have almost equally well-developed stories. We love them as if they were featured in every episode. They are so vital to the story. I feel myself going off on a huge tangent. So I’ll stop here. I just love this show.
This was far more than I intended to write for a single intern. Next week, we’ll cover another one (maybe more). It’ll be a surprise, as I am still not entirely sure who I want to follow next. After that, I will post recaps of the main characters’ season 11 journeys. As I mentioned previously, we have ample time. Might as well go slow and steady for the foreseeable future.
