It's really unfortunate that this episode didn't get aired in season 2 because it does a pretty good job of completing the story about how Brennan sees some of the men in her life.
In a previous episode, she goes to watch Sully play a game (basketball?) and since she had been instructed by Angela to at least try and act like a girl, she pelts the poor guy with compliments, including that he played like a warrior. The context makes it clear that this isn't serious - it's part of the 'I'm interested in you' dynamics and basically denotes that Brennan tells Sully what she thinks will impress him (and therefore acts like a girl, although she's clearly over the top - something that Sully does notice when he suggests that they can keep some topics to discuss at dinner).
In Player under Pressure we find out Brennan's real opinion about guys and games (fundamentally that guys play at being warriors) but then we have a twist at the end where she says to Booth that he doesn't play at being a warrior, he is a warrior. Since she says this quite seriously, I really think she doesn't try to be girly on this one but instead is honest. The implication is that one of the reasons that she didn't leave with Sully is that, at some level, she realised that he only played around (not that he wasn't serious about her but that he didn't have the intensity she finds attractive or otherwise desirable in an adult male). The key question is, of course, what does this all mean? This is what's interesting for me. On the one hand, poor Booth has no clue that he's being paid an even bigger compliment than he may think he is because of the implicit comparison with Sully (the latter being the perpetual adolescent). On the other hand, I suspect that, for Brennan to be in character, she must be uncomfortable with his being a warrior - after all, this is a very traditional gender role. My solution to this dilemma is for her to see herself as a warrior too - which may be the case since her relationship with Booth is predicated in equality. In any case, I would really like to find some further clarification of this in later episodes.
Since the whole episode is built around the metaphor of games and guys (and the various services of the cheerleaders - I found that more than a bit disgusting but then I never liked cheerleaders), I think this is a very coherent episode revolving around a pretty revealing character development moment. Again, I really wish this had been aired in its proper place, it makes so much more sense.moreless





