Bones: Con Man in the Meth Lab

Posted by: Jolee  •  November 13, 2008 @ 5:33pm

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

I missed the first 5 minutes of this episode, but I guess there was a dead guy in a meth-lab-trailer, and during a training exercise the state troopers blew it up and the dead guy went flying.

Also, Booth has just closed a case of very high profile, and is expecting a lot of glory, a raise, maybe a parade, and possibly to have his image put onto a coin. He plans to celebrate by going to Hawaii on a trip. During a session with Brennan and Sweets, Booth's brother Jarred calls! I didn't know he had a brother...

The Case

The victim is misidentified at first as the father of an inventor. He was shot, multiple times, and had a "grate" abrasion on his face. Turns out the Dad had just come back into the lives of his son and son's wife. He had been a drinker, and had left them when the son was a kid. He had only been around for a couple weeks before going missing again (and then being found dead).

Clark examines the skeleton to reveal that it isn't the Dad. Old bone injuries are not present, and there are no signs of a heavy drinker. They find the victim's real identity, Pungetti, from a DNA search. Pungetti was pretending to be the Dad, but we still don't know why. They actually have the real Dad's body at the Jeffersonian as a John Doe– he's been dead for weeks, and was shot and then dumped in the river.

Booth and Brennan are talking to a local officer, who seems to know a lot about the Dad and Pongetti. They think Pongetti was in trouble (gambling) and pretended to be the Dad to mooch off of the son.

B&B go to the son's house, and they hand over a duffel bag that Fake Dad left behind. They also find a package of money hidden in the closet! Fingerprints on the bag of money show that it was the son's wife, Lily, who had handled the money. She says it came in a package and she opened it, thinking that the Dad wasn't coming back. There was a note to the Dad, from Pongetti, asking him to hold onto the money. When Pongetti found out that the Dad had been dead for a while, he had to pretend to be the Dad to get back into the house and look for the money. Also – the bullets that killed both Dad and Pongetti were from the same gun.

The money was bundled with evidence bands – it had been confiscated by police! Turns out that the local officer (remember him?) and Pongetti were in on it together. But now the officer thinks that the rest of the money is at the son's house, so B&B race over there.

The officer's squad car has grating in the back, which matches the abrasions on Pongetti's face. The officer takes the son's wife hostage, and in the midst of things, Brennan gets shot in the shoulder, Booth shoots the crap out of the squad car, and the officer tosses the wife out of the car right before slamming into another parked car. The officer is dead, and everyone else is okay. Case closed.

The Squints

• Clark is back, remember the "Zack's Replacement" that was really professional and hated all the drama in the workplace? He's still the same, but came back because the Jeffersonian is "the finest forensics facility in the world". However, he starts to bond with Hodgins a bit, doing fun experiments like Zack used to do.

• Angela and Hodgins are working very well together now. Oh, and Angela "prefers not to be labeled" when it comes to her newfound lesbianism. She's not with the artist anymore though.

Booth and Booth Lite

Booth's brother, Jarred, is a Lieutenant at the Pentagon, and quite a cute one. He needs a date to some big fancy White House party, and wants Cam to go with him. She can't, so Brennan jumps in! Booth isn't terribly happy about it.

Jarred and Brennan have a good time, and there is major flirting on both sides. Jarred gives Brennan some insight into Booth's childhood, which we've never heard much about. "It's like Seeley's afraid of success" says Jarred. Then he kisses Brennan... ewwwww.

Booth has a run in with the meth lab trooper's supervisor. It is embarrassing for them that they blew up a trailer with a dead guy in it. The trooper wants Booth to omit the fact that it was them that blew up the lab. Booth declines, "why don't we just tell the truth, and take our lumps when we have to." Meanwhile, Jarred gets into an accident while being drunk, and Booth goes to help him out. Guess who the officer on scene is? You bet, the same dude that Booth was chatting to earlier. The make a deal, that Booth will help him out if he doesn't arrest Jarred.

This means that Booth doesn't get his credit for closing down the meth lab. He doesn't get the promotion, and doesn't get to go to Hawaii. Poor Booth. Cam and Brennan question him about "what happened", but he doesn't let them in on the reason. Brennan goes too far when asking about it, and bring up what Jarred said about Booth not wanting to succeed. Booth is furious, and actually, I don't think I've ever seen him that mad before.

Sweets and Cam talk to Brennan about the Booth/Jarred situation. They are children of an abusive father, Booth always protected Jarred, and has continued to do so. Cam tells Brennan that "whatever happened for Booth to lose credit on the meth bust, it almost certainly had something to do with Jarred". Brennan is skeptical, and needs evidence.

Brennan finds Jarred, and asks him point blank what happened with the state troopers. His reaction tells her that is was his fault, and he took advantage of Booth. She is totally furious, and really gives him a piece of her mind. Then pushes him off the stool. It was funny.

Later at Booth's birthday party, Brennan makes an awesome speech:

Brennan: To Booth! I know who he is, but I forget sometimes, because he never shines the light on himself... he shines it on other people. Anthropology teaches us that the alpha male is the man wearing the crown, displaying the most colorful plumage, wearing the most baubles, he stands out from the others. But I now think that anthropology may have it wrong. In working with Booth, I've come to realize that the quiet man, the invisible man, the man who is always there for friends and family – that's the real alpha male. And I promise that my eyes will never be caught by those "shiny baubles" ever again. Happy Birthday Booth.

She takes him aside to talk about Jarred, helping him realize that he shouldn't always protect and shelter his brother. Reluctantly, he figures it out. He tells Jarred that he's done helping him out. Jarred doesn't really believe him, and walks off. Booth and Brennan have a moment over cake. Aww.

Tags: Bones, Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz

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