msstock87

Right! They were both ready to move forward with their relationship.

Ms Cyatt

Yes they were.

LindaL100

hence my point about their other relationships being more like "distractions" until B&B were both finally ready to commit to a life with each other

Ms Cyatt

Yep, both of them had relationships with other people but deep down they must have known they loved each other.

Jasper1975

It reopened Booth's eyes, as you could see from there... her ephiphany almost woke him up, and made him question and try to prove it was real with Hannah, until it completely fell apart when he tried to push a committment with Hannah even though they both weren't ready.

Maybe for Booth. But for Brennan. As she admits when Sully comes back in Season 12 (saw the episode last night), Sully helped prepare her for the idea of a relationship. Max really messed with her reality of men, when he disappeared. Of course coming back allowed Brennan to work on her issues. But if not for Sully, she might not have ever been ready for Booth.

Booth was always ready for Brennan. So to that end, it might have been a distraction for him until time it came true. But of course he tried to make it more of a distraction with Hannah, more so than any woman before except maybe Rebecca because he didn't know Brennan at that time.

But for Brennan, Sully was a test run. She still needed a lot more time, but still... Sully was more for her even though she was fully committed with Booth, and in love with him. But she would always think positively of him because of how he opened her eyes to the possibilities.


So I don't think he was a distraction... He was a starting point in the terms of true relationships... But Booth was the real deal.

Ms Cyatt

It definitely helped open Booth's eyes to knowing how Brennan felt. Once Booth knew how Brennan felt things with Hannah could never be the same.

I definitely think being with Sully helped Brennan to be ready for a relationship with Booth. Though Brennan knew that going off with Sully would be a mistake.

Jasper1975

She wasn't at that stage yet, and I don't think she felt Sully could have been the one. Ultimately he helped her, be prepared to make a life with Booth. But she still had too much enjoyable of all aspects of her job. She couldn't leave everyone. And I think even Sully knew it. He was disappointed but he knew, and wished it was different.

Heck he was immediately suspicious of Booth's feelings for Brennan during his time there, so I think he knew.

But he was a big help in helping Brennan realize a relationship could work out, with the right person and that one was Booth.

msstock87

I think everyone knew Booth and Brennan knew they were meant for each other, they just didn't know it yet!

Ms Cyatt

Oh yes everyone knew they were meant for each other it took them a while to get there. I love how always assumed they were dating.

msstock87

Right and in the beginning they couldn't understand why people would think that!

Ms Cyatt

Yep, I remember in Passenger in the Oven the kid asked if Booth and Brennan were going to make out and Brennan was like why do people always think that.

msstock87

Haha, I remember that! It's one of my favorite episodes!

LindaL100

good point, I forgot Brennan had told Booth that if it wasn't for Sully she probably wouldn't have been ready for Booth. Sully was definitely her so called "test run", he was the first stepping stone she needed to better understand the value of a true meaningful romantic relationship. Even though Brennan's relationship with Sully was no where near as strong as her love and relationship with Booth, but her relationship with Sully was still significant enough to help prepare her for a meaningful and long-lasting romantic relationship with Booth later on. When Brennan told Booth that she might not have been ready for Booth if it wasn't for Sully, I think she meant she probably would not have been ready for a real meaningful and committed love relationship if she had not dated Sully, Sully was her first ever significant boyfriend, all the other random men she had "dated" besides Booth and Sully were all just very short-lived meaningless sexual liaisons for her, they were just very brief casual flings, nothing important or serious, much like Booth's very brief casual fling with Cam. Sully was Brennan's first ever experience of a true romantic relationship, and while I do not believe that Brennan was ever in love with Sully because by that time I think she was already subconsciously falling in love with Booth, hence why it was alluded that she decided to stay because of Booth, but I think she definitely still had feelings for Sully, she did not love Sully the way she loves Booth, but she still liked Sully enough to have a good relationship with him.
Then in "the doctor in the photo" ep she finally had that epiphany and finally realised the importance of finding true love and living a life without regrets, that epiphany was the next significant stepping stone she needed towards a life she wanted with Booth.

Sully helped her to experience and better understand what a real meaningful romantic relationship was like, thus she would always be grateful to him for the experience and opening her eyes to the possibilities, even though their relationship was rather short-lived. And her epiphany finally gave her the courage and strength to accept her love for Booth and ultimately commit to a life with him Sully was her first real romantic relationship, but Booth was ultimately the greatest love of her life

Ms Cyatt

Yes, same for my mom.

Yes I agree Sully helped Brennan see what a relationship could be. I think he knew that being with Sully and leaving with him wasn't what she wanted.

LindaL100

that's one of my fav episodes too

While Sully really wanted Brennan to go to the Caribbean with him but deep down he knew that her heart wasn't in their relationship, he knew she would've chosen Booth sooner or later. Let alone Sully, anyone paying attention could see that there was something special between Booth & Brennan since the beginning

this is definitely one of my absolutely fave B&B moments!


was that enough steamboats for you?