I love Evelyn and Bill for several reasons.
1. Wonderful actors! The actors, John Ratzenberger and Millicent Martin, often play frenemies on sitcoms and other shows: combative or long-winded characters against whom the main characters react. They are both fantastic comedic actors, and I love that they get an episode where, yes, okay, they are villains but they are so darn funny and nice! Their blithe confession is delivered with perfect comedic timing, especially the line about the victim: What kind of man is he? He brought his mistress on a couples' retreat!
3. Wonderful foils! They mirror Bones and Booth. At this point in the show, Booth has turned down Bones's marriage proposal but won't tell her why. At the marriage retreat, undercover as Tony and Roxie, they demonstrate that despite this temporary snag, they are still better at cheering each other on than many of the other couples. (Many of the other couples demonstrate what Gottman says is the primary marriage-killing emotion: contempt.)
Like Bones and Booth, Evelyn and Bill are supportive teammates.
