This week on Bones, Booth is not only investigating a crime in which a dismembered body is found in a mailing box, but he’s given some devastating news that brings out a very emotional side of our favorite FBI agent.
You’ve Got Mail
Hodgins and Clark totally geeking out over finding the murder weapon reminded me why this show makes me so happy. They love their jobs and have fun with it, even though it’s gross (for me to watch, I mean) and half the time, well ALL of the time, I don’t understand scientific-speak. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
A butchered body is found inside of a box in the mailroom with other packages that can’t be delivered. The victim worked at a copy and shipping store, where he and a few other workers hit the lottery. Those who shared in the winnings become the focus of the investigation at first, like the woman who was cheating on her husband, also a worker at the store, with the victim. Was it the woman? The husband? Nothing sticks.
So it’s up to the rest of the Jeffersonian team to find the murder weapon, so Clark and Hodgins go through the French Revolution exhibit in search of it, having too much fun trying to figure out which one killed the victim.
It turns out it was a tape gun. And then a discovery of a bone that isn’t the victim’s leads to the real killer.
Getting the News
When Booth’s grandfather “Pops” delivers the news that Booth’s father passed away from liver failure, his reaction is nonchalant. In fact, in the middle of the conversation, Booth’s phone rings about the latest case, and he’s eager to go to the crime scene. We can’t really blame him for his reaction, as we know Booth’s feelings toward his father isn’t positive: Pops raised Booth his whole life, and Booth also hasn’t even seen his father in 20 years (there also was history of abuse).
As the episode goes on, Pops really tries to get Booth to understand where HE is coming from. He’s the one who feels guilty for the way his son (Booth’s father) turned out. I’m still wiping a tear over the scene where Pops visits Booth in his office and reads a letter Booth’s father wrote to him, a letter that wasn’t written to Booth because he would not have read it anyway. Booth, your father did love you. It’s the way Pops read that letter that was so moving, with so much pain in his emotions.
Still, Booth doesn’t budge. And he won’t open his father’s box that Pops leaves on his desk. But we know he’s got to be hurting inside.
Quiz: How much do you remember from “The Male in the Mail”>>
Seeing the Light
Enter dutiful girlfriend Brennan. I know I’ve been critical of her in the past, but she completely redeemed herself by the end of this episode. Really needing and wanting to be the supportive girlfriend, she turns to Angela for help at first, asking what she’d do. Angela tells Brennan: figure out what you can give him that no one else can.
And what she does for him by the end of the episode is remind him that despite the bad memories, the good ones are there and that’s what he should remember. And she urges him to open the box, which he eventually does. Booth is reminded of all the fun memories he has with his father as a kid, and he breaks down, a very big moment for him. It was touching and heartbreaking at the same time, but at the same time strengthening his relationship with Bones.
Enter to Win great Bones themed prizes, a Kindle Fire and more in our BuddyTV Holiday Trivia Contest.
Esther Gim
Contributing Writer
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
