Watching Bones

I can’t believe this. I never saw it coming. Don’t know how really, the signs were there, but somehow it’s a complete shock that Zack Addy, the baby-faced, innocent, genius squint on Bones’s team is in fact the Gorgomon’s apprentice. I’m shocked. I’m disappointed. I’m a little bit in denial.

This is a sad, sad, day for us.

Like I said, there were signs. I’d heard the rumors that Eric Millegan may not be coming back next season - even after he said he wasn’t leaving the show. And there had been speculation, although the same discussion boards also offered Hodgins and Sweets as possible Gorgomon suspects. I didn’t take any of those seriously. How could it be Zack? I feel like we’ve missed a big part of his story - due in large part to that stupid strike that took away so much time from us! Is this in some how related to what he went through in Iraq?

The people in charge of the show have pointed out that since Zack wasn’t killed, they still have the option of bringing him back as a guest star - but short of having the staff of the Jeffersonian visit him in the looney bin, I can’t see them giving him a day-pass to help out on a case. Even as silly as having his ex-co-workers visit him may be, I suppose it would be better than not finding out the why’s and wherefore’s behind what happened. How in the world was someone as brilliant as Zack conned in to becoming the apprentice to someone so obviously sick? Bones said on the show last night that his intelligence got in the way. Well, I’d still like a better explanation than that.

How about you - did any of you see this coming? I have to say that even my husband who’s usually annoyingly good at figuring out the plotline before it’s revealed on the show didn’t see this one coming.

We’ve heard the rumors, we’ve watched anxiously for some kind of clues about the ending, but tomorrow night we finally get to see what brilliance the writers have come up with for the season finale of Bones. Below, Zap2it has an interview with the cast and crew of Bones to give us a little (very little) insight into what we can expect to see. Oh, yeah, just in case you don’t want to know:

No, really, the article is great, but it’s doesn’t’ reveal anything terribly earth-shattering. Filled mostly with a lot of vaugeries and illusions to things we’ve heard elsewhere, the interview basically just whets our appetites for tomorrow night. Oh, and Hart Hanson works hard to steer us onto the wrong path and gets himself a little confused in the process, but that’s something you’ll just have to see for yourself. Read on below to see for yourself…

It’s April on the set of Bones. The beautifully dressed stage that represents the Jeffersonian is bathed in a murky haze and smells of manufactured smoke and Chinese food. The Gormogon killer has struck again.

[This story contains some spoilers and some speculation. Be warned!]

To be fair, craft services deserves the credit for the Chinese aromas. The Gormogon is only responsible for the odor of sulfur, which is pumping from long tubes onto the set, setting the stage for the show’s third season finale, which will air on Monday, May 19.

A bomb has gone off at the Jeffersonian, but I probably shouldn’t tell you who its victim was. I probably shouldn’t mention which regular member of the cast is wearing tattered gloves and having his or her hands slathered with KY-Jelly to simulate what looks to be a potentially crippling injury. I probably shouldn’t tell you what’s happened to David Boreanaz’s Booth in the aftermath of the bullet he took to the chest in last week’s episode, except to say that Boreanaz is the only major cast member I didn’t talk to for this story.

Any context for the explosion and the events of the finale might, in fact, might be damning.

As Bones creator Hart Hanson puts it, “We can’t have you getting the context. Because if you knew what happened at the beginning, it would be a disaster and if you knew what happened at the end it would be a disaster.”

The most important thing that can be revealed about the finale is that not only will the Gormogon return, but the killer’s reign of terror will come to an end after a season of steady investigation.

“He worked slowly into this,” reflects T.J. Thyne of the killer, whose appearances have been woven into the third season. “He’s been around a while at this point.”

“I’m glad he’s back, though,” adds Tamara Taylor. “It’s just such a creepy, creepy storyline.”

“Creepy” is, in fact, the first word that comes to several of the stars’ lips when attempting to describe the killer, known for his appetite for flesh-eating and skeleton sculptures.

“It’s pretty creepy, when you think about it,” agrees Emily Deschanel, whose Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan somewhat gives the show its name. “Maybe because I got buried alive by The Gravedigger, I’m more terrified of the Gravedigger? But now it’s hitting close to home with the Gormogon thing. It’s creepy, the secret society thing, killing all these people off, and just secret societies in general. And then you have people eating not just one person, but they’ve invited people to dinner, quote-unquote.”

In the process of catching Gormogon, the Jeffersonian team will inevitably have to reveal his (or her) identity, a process that’s stymied fans of the show throughout the season.

“There really haven’t been that many clues and I don’t think anyone could have guessed,” Taylor, who plays Dr. Cam Saroyan on the FOX drama, admits.

Thyne, known to fans as Dr. Jack Hodgins, insists, “I had a few hunches.”

He doesn’t offer to share.

Don’t expect Hanson to offer any hints either. Quite the opposite.

“I’m not telling you who it is, but it’s shocking,” Hanson offers. “It’s shocking and it’s not not someone you have never seen before. No. Yes it is. It is someone you’ve not… No. No. It’s not not someone you’ve seen before.”

Did Hanson just confuse himself? Or is the Gormogon indeed somebody we’ve met before this season?

Another person not prone to giving away excessive information is John Francis Daley, whose baby-faced shrink Dr. Lance Sweets also first appeared earlier this season, which more than a few viewers suspect isn’t a total coincidence.

“I can’t really get into it, but everyone gets to go to a pretty dark place by the end of the season,” Daley says.

Michaela Conlin, whose Angela Montenegro has spent much of the season trying to track down her first husband to open the door for new nuptials with Hodgins, says that there are certain advantages to the murky places the finale gets to go.

“This episode in particular, it’s a very intense episode,” Conlin says. “When I read it, I nearly fell off my chair. I think it’s incredibly surprising for many reasons and shocking from start to finish. The great thing about these episodes is that we’re all working together in the show. A lot of times the show will be split between David and Emily and maybe T.J. and me, but this episode is a lot of us working as a team and those are always… they promote a lot giggling on the show.”

Perhaps the combination of giggling and intensity is why Thyne says, “It’s been a rollercoaster, this episode. Emotionally, it’s been a crazy rollercoaster for the actors as well as the characters. There’s a lot happening.”

And where will the episode find our heroes when it ends?

“Devastated in the beginning,” Taylor says. “Devastated at the end.”

Now that the episode has aired, this isn’t exactly ground-breaking, but I wanted to go ahead and share it anyway. This is the full page shot TV Guide had in their magazine this week to promote this week’s episode of Bones. It was labeled a “Must-See of the Week,” which is how I think it should be every week, but hey, what can I do?

Hart Hanson was quoted as saying, “It’s funny because Emily is a good singer…and Brennan is not.” Well, I hope you enjoyed the hilarity of watching Bones perform! It’s a good thing she’s got a good day job! Too bad she couldn’t take Sweets and Booth’s comments to heart, but I understand why she wanted to believe her mom that she sang better than Cyndi Lauper! Too funny!

I wouldn’t mind seeing a clip of Emily singing for real though - since she’s gotten props from Hanson, I mean, it’s not like her mom swearing she was a good singer!

Tonight’s episode looks like it’s going to be another great one! Not only are we going to see several American Idol contestants on the show, but more interestingly, it looks like we’re going to get to see Bones sing!

According to the write-up on Fox’s site, tonight’s episode will guest-star Ace Young and Brandon Rogers from American Idol.

“Brennan and Booth probe the murder of an aspiring young singer, Tommy Sour (former AMERICAN IDOL contestant Ace Young), whose body was discovered on a rural roadside. They investigate the singer’s many fans and foes in the music circuit, and, in particular, one obsessed woman who redirects her affections toward Booth after Tommy’s death. As the team searches to find out who silenced Tommy once and for all, a shocking occurrence may change the Jeffersonian team forever as one member is caught in the line of fire in “The Wannabe in the Weeds” episode of BONES airing Monday, May 12″

There are several videos available to see quick preview clips of tonight’s episode, a few that I didn’t post because they were mainly musical performances (and not Booth’s or Bones’s). The funny part about those clips is seeing Booth cringe and say that some of the people actually think they’re good. Sounds true to life to the real American Idol!

It also looks like we’ll get to see more of Sweets. I love his lines about being mocked (by Booth). Poor guy. Can’t get any respect!

And Bones lets on that we should expect a great performance from her, because her mother told her that she sang better than Cyndi Lauper. Because moms always tell you the honest truth…

Don’t miss it!

Oh, and Happy belated Mother’s Day!

Not really sure if this counts as a spoiler, so I didn’t post the uber-huge black and red “spoiler logo” - so please be warned. Really, this is just the preview for this coming Monday’s episode The Baby in the Bough, so it shouldn’t be anything terribly spoil-y about it, unless you don’t even watch the previews. In which case, you get the drift.

Here’s a quick clip to preview tonight’s ALL NEW episode of Bones. I don’t need to tell you it’s going to be great, but if you have any doubts whatsoever, just check out the preview below. But, if you don’t want anything spoiled for our return to new eps, please just stop here. I mean it!

Otherwise, watch away! You’re going to love it…

What did I tell you? The cast is back in their usually great rare form and it’s going to be a great final few episodes of this season. (Curse that writers strike that kept us from new episodes this long! Oh well, sucks for us I guess.)

I’m curious to see if the horse is really his and was that a moment of male bonding with the “cheese” thing? That and the “brook trout” line - they’ve got to have so much fun making this show… Oh the drama - the suspense! Can we wait another - how many is it? - hours?

If you like to just watch the episodes as they come, DO NOT read or view any further! Here are some GREAT clips - NOTE!! I said CLIPS, not previews!!! - from tonights episode - just enough to whet your appetite even more before we start back with tonight’s ALL NEW episode of Bones! (Like any of us needed the additional suspense! At least our wait is over! Hallelujah!)

A special note of thanks to supernatural66 for posting these!

I LOVE the cheese joke (from the previously posted preview) - it goes so well with the “serious as a gas attack” line. The writers of the show are just too awesome. So enjoy the clips - or don’t and wait until tonight. But either way, don’t forget that tonight we start back with all new Bones. There’s only a few episodes left before we’re back to waiting until next season, so enjoy them while they last!

Hallelujah, we’re finally getting back to new episodes of Bones! Starting next Monday, April 14th, we’re back on with the first post-strike episode, and this isn’t just any episode. Booth and Bones go on a double date - with their therapist and his girlfriend!

Just in case you don’t remember, Bones and Booth’s new “couples therapist” Dr. Lance Sweets is played by John Francis Daley. He’s been around for a few episodes, tormenting Booth and occasionally antagonizing Bones as well. Although we’ve grown accustomed to him, we have yet to meet his girlfriend, even though we do know she’s around. (Remember when he was “helping” with a case and said that it would be a very good night for him?)

Well, not only is this episode going to be interesting for the double-date alone, it’s also the first episode since their kiss over the holidays. While a double-date with their therapist may not be terribly romantic, the situation alone should be full of repressed sexual tension. At least, let’s hope so!

My apologies for not posting the “spoiler” warning before - the good news is that nothing critical is completely and hopelessly ruined for you, the bad new is that we now know that Sweets’ girlfriend is in fact a reality…

Well, we’ve been promised more background on Booth’s family, and it looks like we’re going to get it after all, just not this season. Understandably due to the strike, the writers are working doubletime to readjust the final episodes of the season and are having to streamline the stories. Regardless of the extra work, everyone is excited to be back to work, and some are even a little emotional. “The moment I drove on the lot for the first time in three months, I got a little choked up,” said Executive Producer Hart Hanson. He went on to say that as far as Booth’s storyline goes, “Booth’s family story is just gone. It will go into Season 4… We don’t want to give it short shrift.”

As you probably know already, the new episodes for the end of Season 3 will resume in April, and we’re going to enjoy six more episodes before we have to break for the summer. Among them will be the episode that was pulled from last season due to the VA Tech shootings.

Meanwhile, if you’re still jonezing for a Bones fix, TNT has picked up Bones reruns and is airing them as part of their weekly schedule. So, just a few more weeks of reruns and then we’re back to the real deal. Yay for us!

Yes, I realize that this news came out a few days ago, so forgive me for my lateness. (I’ve been fortunate to have a healthy baby up until this past week or so - we’re having fun with the croup!)

Anyway, according to the Ausiello Report, the remaining 3, actually 4, episodes of Bones have been pushed back and will not air until May. The only good news about this is that the people in charge have decided to give us the episode “Player Under Pressure” that was previously canceled due to the school shootings at Tech. Although even that episode is said to have been “tweaked.” Wonder what that means… And of course there’s always the comment I read by one fan that basically said “sure, they say that they’re going to show it to us now, but by the time May gets here there will be another school shooting and we won’t get to see it then either.” Terribly pessimistic way to look at things, but in today’s world, maybe not so far off the mark.

Also, while we were expecting Bones to move to Fridays, it’s supposedly moved back to Mondays, following Canterbury’s Law. The Monday combo of Canterbury and Bones will begin on April 28th. Or so they say for now… The bottom line in all of this is that the network is settling in for a very long strike. Sucks for us fans!

We’ve seen various members of the Bones cast at different American Idol performances, so I guess it was just a matter of time before we saw a little bit more of our current pop culture in the show itself. Coming in March, one of the new episodes we’ll get to see, one of the last ones shot before the strike shut everything down, is called The Wannabe in the Weeds. And, it wouldn’t be a true American Idol-esque show without someone from the show. No, we’ll not see Simon, Paula, or Randy on Bones (wouldn’t that be weird!), but we will be getting some previous contestants.

Season 5 contestant Ace Young and season 6 contestant Brandon Rogers will be guest starring. Brandon talks about it briefly on his Myspace page, sharing that “[Ace’s] part in the show is WAY more integral to the story line than mine, but I’m not jealous.” Good sportsmanship, and besides, a role on Bones is a role on Bones.

Oh yeah, and there’s a rumor that “something bad” may happen to Booth and Bones at the end of the episode, but according to the “great intel” on Michael Ausiello’s “Ask Ausiello,” all the verification we’ll get for now is that no one dies. Thanks for the great info Michael! However, Kristen at E!Online gives us a little bit more – she tells us to expect a cliffhanger episode, and that the ending will most likely “be more difficult for Brennan than for Booth.” (Oh yeah, and she also refers to someone “suffering physically as well…” like I mentioned earlier – so maybe I’m not as out of touch as I’d thought since she was referencing episode 12 and we’re waiting until next stinkin’ year to see this episode!)

I love how Booth smashes through the maze. It kind of seems like Bones’ analytical mind would have helped them find their way through the maze a little faster, especially with someone giving directions, but I guess since she couldn’t correctly identify a scarecrow, maybe that’s a bad assumption…

And Booth is afraid of clowns? Maybe that explains why he shot the clown on the ice cream truck last season. When the lady says the corpse she saw in the funhouse was past the killer clown the panic was written all over his face! His little girl-like yelp when Bones came up behind him and later when the clown moved was priceless!

I also got a big kick out of how Bones joined into the interrogation of Greg. When Booth starts smacking him around, instead of defending Greg’s rights or questioning Booths’ tactics, Bones joins in and hit him also! It’s great – she’s going with Booth’s lead and almost seems to enjoy herself!

There was one exchange between Booth and Bones that really sums up their working relationship on the show. (Notice I didn’t say relationship as in their entire relationship – that’s way too complicated to sum up easily!)

Booth: I’ll deal with Lola, you go back to the lab.
Bones: Why? I won’t hit her unless you say so
Booth: Look, I’ll do my street thing, you do your lab thing. Together, we catch bad guys. That’s good math.

And in all fairness, I have to say that Bones’ terrified reaction at the snakes was pretty amusing. Considering how she is so emotionally detached for almost everything else, her fear of the snakes seems a little irrational for her.

Her line about not being totally in control of her actions was a little understated as she stood on top of a barrel and then jumped on Booth’s back. (Okay, she didn’t technically jump, but you get the picture.) The fact that she allowed herself to be carried, piggy-back style, by Booth was pretty funny, and stood as good evidence that her statement was very accurate! And after she had shot him!

I have to admit, as the story was unfolding, I was guessing it was going to be the pastor that was behind the murders. Seems like religious leaders always get the bad wrap in the media… it just made sense. But when it turned out to be the paramedic and Booth was the one who identified him, that was good logic. Although I’m a little confused about how Booth knew the guy had had military experience. Regardless, this episode was really awesome.

Of course, their costumes were pretty awesome too… I loved to see Bones spinning around, in her Wonder Woman costume, wielding her arm cuffs as if fending off bullets. It shows us a little bit of the girl she used to be before she became Dr. Temperance Brennan. Who knows, maybe we’ll get to see a little bit more of her as their sessions with Sweets continue. After all, didn’t they actually put some stock into the profile he provided for their killer? I guess stranger things have happened…

Great episode last week – Booth and Bones finally begin their therapy session, and that’s how we open this episode. Everyone welcome Dr. Lance Sweets, Booth and Bones new therapist! Only 22 years old, “Sweets,” as Booth so lovingly dubs him, doesn’t hav nearly the presence or effectiveness as our beloved Dr. Gordon Garrett. What he does have, however, is a keen ability to patronize and irritate Booth. Since Bones doesn’t believe in psychotherapy, she is patiently cooperative if not a little condescending.
After leaving their first therapy session, they received the call t hat a body has been found. Even thought the crime scene is on VA Hospital grounds, the site is oddly populated. Booth explains to Bones that teenagers come there on weekends to “get together,’ to which the light bulb in Bones’ head goes off and she responds “to fornicate!” Just the logical, removed, factual kind of response only Bones could come up with.

The body appears to have been decaying for a few weeks, but it doesn’t make sense that with so many people around it wasn’t found earlier. When Bones mentions that the body seems to be putting off a lot of heat for someone that’s been dead for so long, they take the corpse’s internal temperature and find that with a temp of 127 degrees, this body was cooked. (Looks like another cannibal story, doesn’t it?) Upon checking out the body, Hodgins finds pesticide on the clothing of the victim. Since the victim turned out to be Frank Curtis, the owner of a nationwide organic supermarket chain, it doesn’t make a lot of sense that he would be covered in something he supposedly stands against. Since the family of the victim admitted that Frank tended to pressure other farmers to go organic, and if they didn’t he would push them off their land and buy them out, it stood to reason that he didn’t make a lot of friends that way. Plenty of farmers seemed to have motive.

The most recent farmer Frank was “working” with was Andrew Harding, a tobacco farmer, Harding admits that he isn’t upset to hear about Frank’s death. When Booth mentions the pesticide found on Frank’s clothing and asks about Hardin’s use of the same pesticide on the day of Frank’s death, Harding admits to having sprayed him with it, although he claims he did not kill him. Back at the lab, Cam and Angela identify marks on Frank’s body as button impressions. The big deal about this is that his clothing didn’t have buttons. There was a second body pressed up against his as he decomposed – a second victim. When Bones learns about the second victim, she makes the connection that tobacco needs to be cured, which would account for the temperature needed to cook Frank’s body – and also the “skin slippage” that occurred from the second body to his. Booth and Bones head back to Harding’s farm.

While searching the farm, Hardin’s wife makes everyone lemonade and entertains them all with stories of how Frank used to infuriate Harding by hitting on her. She tells Booth that he was a real ladies man, and that he was known for his flirting. Things don’t look good for Harding until Hodgins identifies a bug found on Frank’s body. The bug is usually found on pineapple plants. It turns out that there is a farmer in VA trying to grow tropical fruits in a hothouse. When they go to interview Lyndon Page, he says that he never had a problem with Frank, and jokingly says that maybe that was because he didn’t have a wife for him to hit on! While checking out his hothouse, Booth picks on Bones about a smell, asking if it was her. At first confused, when Bones finally smells what he’s talking about, she turns around and blames him for it. Page joins them and points out that there’s a compost facility nearby. This makes Bones realize that a compost heap’s temperature gets pretty high. After checking with Hodgins, who verifies that the temperature of compost heaps can get up to 170 degrees (a temperature high enough to cook a body), Booth and Bones go to check out the place. At the discussion of a trip to the compost heap, Hodgins wants in and asks to join them. Booth comments on how he is way too excited about compost.

At the compost facility, Booth talks with some of the men and finds that while some like him pretty well, some disagree. One of the men, Charlie Rogan, dated Frank’s daughter all through high school and really looked up to Frank. Another man, Clay Ansley, disagrees, saying that Frank was only in it for the money. He points to his large house and continual use of air conditioning as proof that he didn’t really care about the environment. Just a little later, Hodgins takes a step in the compost and causes a “crunch” – something compost doesn’t normally do. He and Bones overturn the top layer of compost and find another body - this one a woman. Back at the lab, Zach shows Cam that he has found what appeared at first to be a stab wound on Frank’s body. He has determined that it was actually a congenital abnormality, and had nothing to do with his death. He has also found several puncture wounds that he has yet to determine what weapon created the wounds. With the addition of the second body, Zach and Cam check out the body as Hodgins discovers that the woman was dead a day before Frank. Angela comes back with her sketch of the woman, noting that she doesn’t match any of the missing persons on file. At further examination, they find that various wounds on the body show that someone tried to perform CPR on her, meaning that someone tried to save her. It looks like her murder was not intentional.

When Booth and Bones go back to talk to Frank’s wife, she admits to knowing about Frank’s affairs but says she was trying to protect her daughter. Her daughter, Kat, comes in and admits to her mom that she knew all along but was pretending not to know in order to protect her mom. When they find out that Frank kept an office in town, they check it out and find that it’s really an apartment and that it seems that a woman lives there. When Bones searches the room, she finds dried blood on the edge of the coffee table. They also find a photo of Frank and a young woman on the fridge. The picture of the woman matches Angela’s drawing of the victim. Booth finds a receipt signed with the name Emma Billings. They now have the ID of the second body.

At first glance, it looks like Frank was having an affair with Emma, who was a cashier in one of his stores. Emma apparently moved to get away from a stalker, Noel Liftin. Turns out, Liftin had a motel room right across the street from Emma’s. When the bring Liftin in for questioning, he claims that he loved Emma, but doesn’t seem to know that Frank is also dead. He talks about how possessive Frank was of Emma, and says they should talk to him. Liftin’s alibi is questionable; he claims he was out selling homemade hemp oil body products. When the lab finds some kind of oil product on the furniture and carpet from Emma’s apartment, things don’t look good for Liftin. Things get even a little more complicated when Cam calls Bones back to the lab to show her something they found. They were comparing the bodies and found that both Emma and Frank had a similar congenital defect. Being a little odd, Cam ran the DNA of the two victims. Frank and Emma weren’t lovers; they were father and daughter. Zach continues to work to figure out the murder weapon and with Angela’s help, they call up an image of Frank’s torso. Imagining that Frank may have been a little broader than Zach has recreated the skeleton, they spread the image of the wounds out, creating equidistant stab wounds. Zach realizes that the murder weapon was a pitchfork. As he makes this discovery, Hodgins comes in with test results on the oil found at the apartment. It wasn’t hemp oil, but biodiesel fuel, as used by the trucks at the compost facility. The day Booth and Bones first visited the facility, one of the employees was complaining about the truck acting up ever since they converted it to biodiesel fuel.

Since Liftin had been watching Emma’s apartment, they go back to him to get a composite drawing of who might have been at Emma’s apartment on the day she died. He admitted to seeing a truck from a compost facility, and identifies a man with sandy-blond hair and bamboo sunglasses. Drawing in hand, Booth and Bones return to the facility and search their tool shed. With the help of her trusty spray-on luminal, Bones identifies the murder weapon as a pitchfork in the shed. Booth arrests Charlie Rogan for the murders of Frank and Emma. But, it can’t be that easy – it never is. Bones gets a call from Cam who tells her that she ran a diagnostic on the skin beneath Emma’s fingernails and her attacker was female. Not only that, but there was a 25% match. Emma was attacked, and ultimately murdered by her half-sister Kat.

When brought in for questioning, Kat admits to killing Emma, although it seems to have been an accident. She went to the apartment to tell her to stop seeing her father, and when they fought, Emma fell and hit her head on the coffee table, killing her instantly. Kat didn’t realize it was too late and tried to perform CPR, but called Charlie for help when she realized it was too late. Charlie agreed to help and took care of hiding Emma’s body. Later, when Frank came to Charlie looking for Emma, he charged Charlie who stabbed him with the pitchfork he was using for work. They also buried his body in the compost with Emma’s. Later, they moved Frank’s body so that it would be found so Kat’s mother could collect the insurance money, because with no body there was no money.

Bones tells Kat the truth about Emma, that she wasn’t her father’s mistress, but was really his daughter and her half-sister. Kat had no idea and was even more upset about the accidental murder. Later, back in therapy, Sweets comments that they should be happy that they solved their case. Booth tells him that it doesn’t always work out that way, that sometimes solving a case just brings more unhappiness for the people involved. Sweets starts to get on Booth about this but Bones stands up for him and tells Sweets to back off. Sweets admits to seeing how much Booth and Bones compliment each other in their work, and announces that he plans to keep them together as partners, but that he will also want to continue to see them for the next few months to work on some other “issues.”

Well, thanks to the country’s weird obsession with sports, Bones took a break this week so we could all watch baseball. Yay for us. No, not really. I don’t enjoy going to sporting events, so I really can’t imagine sitting on my couch to watch one. (My apologies to my sports-fanatic readers.)

Anyway, next week we should be back on schedule with a brand new episode of Bones. According to the Fox network website, it should be another great show! Apparently we’re finally going to get Booth and Bones into the couple’s therapy sessions we’ve been promised for this season. With the threat of being separated hanging over their heads, it will be interesting to see what lengths they go to to keep their partnership together. There’s a great video clip of them in the waiting room discussing what they’re going to talk about in therapy. Booth suggests Bones talk about her dad. When she balks at the suggestion, Booth hesitantly admits a dream he had that they might talk about, but when Bones gives him a hard time about it, he takes it back. Realizing she’s upset him, Bones agrees that maybe she could talk about her dad. You’ve really got to check this out!

Also, for those green-advocates out there, this next week’s episode is for you. It’s about the murder, maybe double homicide, of an organic farmer. Check it out…

Booth and Brennan go in to investigate when teenagers find a severely decomposed body on the grounds of the V.A. hospital. The man is identified as Franklin Curtis, founder of an organic supermarket chain. The team is puzzled when the body’s high temperature reveals that it had been cooked or incinerated. As they attempt to pin down an initial cause of death at the lab, Brennan and Booth question potential suspects around Curtis’ farm. They suspect foul play by a rival farmer from whom Curtis was trying to buy land to turn it organic. In their investigation, Booth and Brennan also discover that Curtis was a well known philanderer. When the flesh of another body is identified with Curtis’, the team must investigate a possible double homicide. Meanwhile, Booth and Brennan are assigned to a new – and very young – psychiatrist, Dr. Lance Sweets. He warns them that the FBI may separate the two unless they undergo further psychiatric counseling, and they reluctantly cooperate in the “The Secret in the Soil” episode of BONES airing Tuesday, Oct. 23

What a great episode! Pony sex fetish and hypnosis – bet that got your attention! What could be more interesting?

The episode starts with a boy finding a body in the woods. Typical gross Bones episode, right? Seems so, even Bones fights the case when she arrives at the scene to find out the body is still, well, a body – complete with flesh. However as they examine the scene of the crime, they find that the feet have been cut off.

Taking the body back to the lab, they determine that the person had had their wrists bound, had horse feed in their stomach, and showed evidence of wearing a bit. As in a horse’s bit. To make the situation a little lighter, the victim’s name was Ed. The squints and Booth insert “Mr. Ed” joke here. Bones doesn’t get it. (No surprise there…)

With the body identified, they talk to his wife, who says she thought he was at a work conference. She didn’t know where he was or what he was doing in VA. In the meantime, his work thought he took time off to be with his family.

Bones does research on horses and regales Booth with a few lame horse jokes that to her surprise he knows the punch line to – thanks to his son. They track the victim to a fantasy role playing getaway, The Ambassadora lodge, where people are either horses or riders, with the kinky sex thrown in for good measure. Booth, obviously uncomfortable, argues with Bones about this being “not normal.”

They manage to find Mr. Ed’s “rider” and question her. The discover that she knew Mr. Ed was married, but she claims that she didn’t want to marry him, and that she loved him like a girl loves her first pony. She also tells them that she and Mr. Ed were caught by his wife in the stables as she was brushing him down. Later in the car, Bones is throwing out horse facts to Booth and we find out that Booth knows some of his history as well as Bones does.

Booth: Turns out I’m smarter than a 5th grader!

During all of this, Angela is getting ready to be hypnotized to help her remember her husband’s name so they can proceed with tracking him down to get a divorce. She’s not keen on the idea, and seeks out Cam for advice. After reassuring her that hypnotism is a legitimate science and that she had even undergone hypnosis, Angela seems a little more at ease.

While the squints have found that Mr. Ed was murdered by a blow to the head with a hoof pick, Booth and Bones go back to talk with Mr. Ed’s wife and confront her about knowing where her husband was. She admits she lied, but says she did so to protect her children from their father’s perversion. She says she went to the “pony ranch” after receiving a phone call from someone with an English or Australian accent. Back at the “pony ranch,” Booth and Bones find the only man with an accent, and after a little pushing from Bones, he finally admits to making the call, but denies the murder.

Booth: What’s with all the lying? We’ve got voice tapes and public displays of sexual paraphernalia.
Bones: I was role playing. It’s being all lard ass and good cop.
Booth: Hard ass and bad cop, Bones, hard ass and bad cop.

Back at the lab, Hodgins and Zach have arrived at the same conclusion at the same time. Mr. Ed’s feet were cut off by the same weapon that killed him – the hoof pick. Zach doesn’t allow Hodgins to get his discovery out before he reveals that he’s discovered the same.

Hodgins: You suck all the fun out of every moment of personal triumph!

After their last dead end, Hodgins’ discovery of the specialized twine used to tie Mr. Ed’s hands leads Booth and Bones back to the pony ranch and it’s owner, Lucky. They also uncovered that Lucky and Mr. Ed’s rider, Annie Oakley, used to be married. Doesn’t look good for Lucky. He admits to using the twine, but argues that any one of his customers could have taken it off of a bale of hay. He also admits to owning a hoof knife, but said it was stolen four days ago. He also offers a potential suspect – a butcher and former pony-player who broke into his truck the night before Mr. Ed, and his hoof knife, went missing.

When Booth and Bones get to the butchers to question the guy, he immediately looks guilty as he runs.

Bones: Stop! Or I’ll kick you in the testicles!
Booth grabs the man, throws him against the building, knocking him out.
Bones: Wow! You are strong!
Bones: Well, you know, I try to stay in shape. Stop, or I’ll kick you in the testicles?
Bones: Well, it worked.
Booth: Tell you what, you and me, we’re going to work on the cop talk.

Later, they discover that he ran because he deserted the National Guard and was afraid he’d been caught. Since it turns out he has an alibi, it’s back to the lab. At a closer look at Mr. Ed’s body, Bones discovers that his eyes weren’t eaten by the bugs, but rather gouged out with – you guessed it – the hoof knife. The precision used to cut off his feet and all the other evidence points to someone when wasn’t afraid or queasy with blood. Most likely, a butcher – or a doctor. Their butcher had a alibi, but it turns out that Annie Oakley is a doctor.

Cam’s discovery that Mr. Ed showed signs of sex before his murder takes them back to the pony ranch to talk to Annie. When confronted, she sends Lucky to get another player who is a lawyer, but when left alone with Booth and Bones, she cracks as they lay out the scene of the crime for her. Apparently they read it right, because she admits that she killed him because she had left her husband and another player for him, but he was going back to his wife.

Angela’s session with the hypnotist doesn’t go so well as she sees a giant wasp instead of her husband. Feeling disappointed, she leaves the office but discovers the meaning of her subconscious reaction when she remembers what book she was reading in Fiji when she was married. She finds the book and inside is a photo of her husband, complete with his first name on the back.