In the Bones season 8 finale, “The Secret in the Siege,” the very Two-Face lookalike Pelant returns, wreaking havoc on the Jeffersonian and the FBI. The tense situation has Brennan thinking about her long-term plans with Booth as a couple.

Is Booth a Target?

It doesn’t take long for everyone to realize Pelant’s back. There’s the dead body and the specific way it’s positioned — Sweets had written about it, but it was unpublished. The body is that of a former agent, specifically the one that Booth worked with when when he first joined with the FBI.

At the scene of another death, Booth gets a call from Pelant, making it official that he’s behind the chaos. Another victim, another agent. Booth sees the connection — they were there 10 years ago at Crystal Creek, when the FBI raided the area of the cult. It was a bloody battle between the agents and cult members. It was controversial, and those files have been sealed. Pelant’s killing those agents. Is Booth next? Brennan certainly believes so.

Another one of Sweets’ papers makes him realize how Pelant is killing these people: via a surrogate, and it’s someone connected to what happened a decade ago. They hit a dead end with the person they initially believe is the killer. Which is kind of a shame since Booth dresses up as a construction worker for nothing.

Watching a Happy Moment

Brennan asks Booth to meet him in the middle of the day, in the middle of everything going on. She offers him a bag of jerky — and then asks him to marry her! She says she’s stubborn, afraid and in love. It’s not overly sappy romantic, but it’s not without feeling and emotion. It’s just them, and it’s quite perfect. Leave it to Pelant to make Brennan realize that she wants to marry her baby daddy.

But Pelant’s been watching Brennan and Booth and her proposal. He’s always been obsessed with them, and this just brings on the chills. When Booth breaks the news to Sweets — a cute moment because Booth is so happy and laughing — Sweets becomes a Debbie Downer. He tells Booth that Pelant might act out because of the engagement since he needs to feel important. A proposal means he’s not as important to them as he was.

The Real Target

Meanwhile, it’s figured out that Pelant’s surrogate is the daughter of one of the agents who died at Crystal Creek. She blames the government for everything that happened and might have a reason to want to kill. Pelant has been creating videos and sending them to the surrogate. But when she sees it, she sees his father and hears his voice telling her to listen to Pelant, which is why she’s carrying out these murders.

The connection leads to a raid at her house. She’s already left — because she had called Booth wanting to meet him about the second victim, as she had introduced herself as a witness under a false name. They’re frantically trying to get a hold of Booth, but he’s not picking up. Neither is Sweets, who’s on his way to meet Booth as well.

Angela successfully hacks into the surrogate’s computer and unscrambles the message Pelant had sent: Booth decoy target Sweets.

Booth isn’t the target; Sweets is!

Cutting Off Communication

Sweets gets stuck in terrible traffic, as Pelant has messed with the traffic system. He also tampers with the cell phone towers, basically killing communication. Meanwhile, Booth is left waiting for the “witness” to show up, and of course she’s not. So he manages to find a payphone — funny how those are still up and running in Washington, DC, these days — and gets filled in on what he’s missed out on.

He gets Sweets’ precise location too — thanks to traffic cameras and thanks to traffic, he’s not going anywhere — and goes after him. Meanwhile, Brennan leaves the Jeffersonian in order to go after Booth, which is totally a dumb and illogical move. 

The next sequence is all without dialogue, which adds to all the suspense. And it feels something like an action movie and Booth is running on top of cars, one after another in order to get to Sweets. At the same time, Brennan is running through the maze of cars as the killer is also looking for her target.

With everyone within distance, Sweets gets out of his car, looking annoyed as he surveys the scene. That’s when he’s spotted by the killer, and she aims her gun out at him. Booth sees this from his vantage point and takes aim as well, and shoots out the back of Sweets’ car, propelling the girl back and effectively saving Sweets.

This isn’t complete without Brennan and Booth running toward each other, happy to find each other safe. Now that his plan has been foiled, guess what? Pelant’s gone off the grid. He has escaped. Yet again.

Another Trick Up His Sleeve

Unfortunately, there’s more to the story. Pelant needs the final say because that’s the attention whore that he is. He’s watching Booth, Brennan and Christine at the park and calls him. He not only tells him that he cannot marry Brennan but that there are five innocent lives at stake. Pelant knows — and tells him as much — that Booth won’t let innocent people die just for his own happiness. The last words Pelant hears Booth tell him is a promise that he’ll kill him.

Booth follows through with Pelant’s demand. It’s heartbreaking to watch, especially for Brennan’s reaction. I was just waiting for Booth to do some ESP or write a message about how he’s being forced to call off their wedding. 

Booth asks whether they’re okay, and Brennan says yes, but are they really? We’ll have a long summer before finding out in season 9.

‘Bones’ Season 8 Finale Quiz: ‘The Secret in the Siege’

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(Image courtesy of FOX)

Esther Gim

Contributing Writer, BuddyTV