I didn't see it coming either, but you know what. I think they totally blew it. It doesn't make sense to me. No one with Zack's intelligence and dedication suddenly turns to murder.
The thing is that Zack doesn't have the anger or hatred that serial killers have. He's too successful. Sweets said Gormagan was nothing, no one which is probably true, Zack might be looking for something, but he's not a killer. Not a cold blooded one, anyway.
But he can be swayed by logic. I think that's what the writers were trying to convey through telling the audience about his listening to Hodgins' conspiracy theories and being swayed by Gormagan's dominate personality.
I think Brak may be right. The story arc was a casualty of the writers strike.
Being swayed by logic in an intellectual capacity is one thing, but to be swayed to commit cold-blooded murder? That's not even in the same realm of possibilities. Zack just doesn't fit the profile of a serial killer -- which is what they were telling us he'd become.
What would it take for you to commit that kind of murder?
I can't speak to specifics on Zack fitting the profile. Certainly, he doesn't seem to from what I've learned in the popular media. However, all profiles have outliers and perhaps Zack would be one. ::shrug::
What would it take for you to commit that kind of murder?
::blinks::
Are you asking me because you think Zack and I are similar enough in personality/outlook to make my personal motivations have some meaning in this discussion? If so, I am flattered. But as I am neither a genius nor as detached from my emotions as Zack appears to be, I don't think my motivations do have relevance in a discussion of how Zack would become a killer.
Or are you asking me because you are changing the discussion to what I think my personal tipping point is? If so, I really don't know. I tend to eschew extremes of both logic and passion.
Actually, it was just a question about motivation, not really directed at you per se. What would it take for anyone one, but especially someone as smart as Zach, to be convinced to commit cold-blooded murder. What logical argument could you use to convince someone, who as far was we know has not criminal history at all, to do this thing. And to believe it's the right thing to do.
To me, it doesn't seem possible that Zach could be convinced to do it. Which is where the show fails and becomes ridiculous unbelievable.
The problem with logic is that it is cold-blooded. Zach has always been disconnected from the humanity of his work. I don't have a hard time buying that he could be talked into killing someone with a persuasive enough argument. And if there hadn't been a strike the show probably could've sold me on it. As it is the didn't, but I imagine they could have.
My main problem with the whole thing is that while I don't have much trouble believing that Zack could be convinced by a good logical argument that murder and canibalism might serve some useful purpose, he knows Brennan well enough to know she would object. And I think he respects her enough to give her the opportunity to convince him she's right.
Hmm. I think that inconsistency was to have been explained by the domination that Zack supposedly was under by the "master". If the master was someone whom Zack came to see in higher regard than Brennan, he may not give her such an opportunity.
My problem is that I don't see Zack as being that type of weak-minded. Zack has never struck me as easily lead and the master was not presented as being massively charismatic and persuasive, except by backward reasoning (Zack was persuased so the master must have been persuasive), which isn't very convincing.
Exactly my problem with this whole thing. Zack has too strong a support system, too much going for him to be easily swayed. He had really been coming into his own as an adult and anthropologist.
The only thing I would have bought is if he started suffering from PTSD after going to Iraq. It was his first, true upfront taste of violence and horror. He got to be Bones, traveling out of the country and doing IDs, for the first time. Maybe this was the storyline they would have developed if not for the strike. They tried to fit way too many things in the last episode.
I'm even more bitter now, learning that the actor didn't want to leave. The finale was not worthy of the talent they have on the show. As I posted in my LJ, for me this episode ranks up there with the Dalls Bobby was never dead it was all a dream thing. It really sucked.
I was hoping for it, I'm not gonna lie. It's been a long time since I was watching a show that actually allowed stuff to happen to one of the main characters in such a way and I wanted it so badly. Don't get me wrong, I love Zach and I hope he comes back as some kind of recurring crazy Hannibal Lector like consultant. But I wanted it to be Zach especially because to my mind, making it Sweets would have been such a cop-out. I haven't been able to watch the full episode yet (I can't wait to get off work so I can!!) but for me it's the same thing that Sweets said about Bones at her father's trial "the danger of a truly logical mind".
I'm not terribly happy about it because I like Zach and I like Eric and I feel bad for him that he doesn't have a job now and it wasn't really his idea to leave the show. But from a story perspective, I do appreciate that the show had the guts to go there with an established and well-loved character. I just wish we'd gotten a full season of episodes for this story to unfold in the way it should have.
Oh, I love Zach and am super sad he's going to be gone. Personally I'm still hoping that he'll be back in some Psychiatric Hospital visits, where they need to consult with him. The Exec. Producer said they're looking into ways to bring him back in a guest starring role which I really want to happen. And now that I've seen the episode you're so right they really needed to expand this storyline to the first few episodes of the next season because it was way to compressed. I wanted to hear the logic that convinced Zach to kill. Also I loved that the team was still outside his hospital room supporting him after they found out, it filled me with warm fuzzies.
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OTOH, we got to see Booth with his shirt off :)
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I think Brak may be right. The story arc was a casualty of the writers strike.
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What would it take for you to commit that kind of murder?
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What would it take for you to commit that kind of murder?
::blinks::
Are you asking me because you think Zack and I are similar enough in personality/outlook to make my personal motivations have some meaning in this discussion? If so, I am flattered. But as I am neither a genius nor as detached from my emotions as Zack appears to be, I don't think my motivations do have relevance in a discussion of how Zack would become a killer.
Or are you asking me because you are changing the discussion to what I think my personal tipping point is? If so, I really don't know. I tend to eschew extremes of both logic and passion.
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To me, it doesn't seem possible that Zach could be convinced to do it. Which is where the show fails and becomes ridiculous unbelievable.
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My problem is that I don't see Zack as being that type of weak-minded. Zack has never struck me as easily lead and the master was not presented as being massively charismatic and persuasive, except by backward reasoning (Zack was persuased so the master must have been persuasive), which isn't very convincing.
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The only thing I would have bought is if he started suffering from PTSD after going to Iraq. It was his first, true upfront taste of violence and horror. He got to be Bones, traveling out of the country and doing IDs, for the first time. Maybe this was the storyline they would have developed if not for the strike. They tried to fit way too many things in the last episode.
I'm even more bitter now, learning that the actor didn't want to leave. The finale was not worthy of the talent they have on the show. As I posted in my LJ, for me this episode ranks up there with the Dalls Bobby was never dead it was all a dream thing. It really sucked.
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