Tonight on Bones we welcome back Dr. Fisher, while investigating a kidnapping and murder. Bones receives a lot of money, and Hodgins’ world will never be the same. The case is hard to crack and there is an abundance of love, so lets dig in.
Our episode begins with Booth and Brennan getting ready for another day of work, however a check will definitely make things a little awkward. Seems that Brennan has received $75,000 for her book advance. It throws Booth for a loop, and you can tell he is feeling a little emasculated. Yet, they must not bicker, because work awaits!
In the lab, Hodgins and Angela are greeted with some more surprises when a doctor from a mental hospital comes to see Jack. He is there to talk about his brother Jeffrey’s care. What?! His entire life Jack has been an only child…..he sends the doctor off thinking there must be a mistake, but this is not a mistake, and Hodgins is going to have to deal with this.
At the same time this madness is happening, the Smithsonian gets a delivery. It is a huge chunk of sand and dirt from a park, and it contains the remains of their newest victim. The remains are covered in lye, and the skull is missing teeth. Whoever killed this person, did not want the remains to ever be identified; and it resembles a gang or mob hit. This will not be easy for the gang, especially with Booth and Hodgins being as preoccupied as they were.
Upon excavation, they find out the victim is a female in her mid twenties. Her toe is missing, and she has multiple injuries that suggest someone smashing her skull. With a little help from Dr. Fisher, Bones identifies the girl as Lauren Frank. She is from a divorced home and resides with her dad and step mother. As they are just finding out who she is, her parents rush into the department looking for her. It is very strange, and they seem to think Lauren should be there. It is apparent that this was a case of kidnapping, and Lauren’s dad supposedly met the demands and thought she would be returned. Now that Booth knows this information we can dig in, and find out what really happened.
We are introduced to a few usual suspects: the step mother, the house keeper (Chuck) and even a dog walker, who just happened to be on the property when Booth was investigating. Nobody seems particularly guilty, and Booth is sure there had to be two kidnappers. The dog walker tells Booth about how sad Lauren was, and about the evil stepmother’s cheating. Could this just be a case of another wicked step mother? After a sweep of the victim’s computer another suspect emerges; Lauren’s tutor and boyfriend. He is planning on leaving the country in a week, so it seems like there are many possible motives….by several different people.
Dr. Fisher and Brennan work hard to figure out what the injuries were, and which caused Lauren’s death. They realize she had injured herself…and Hodgins discovers large amounts of penicillin in her system. Lauren was poisoned. She was allergic to penicillin, and from the rest of the evidence they conclude she was killed by accident. It was somebody who was trying to save her life!
If it was unclear before, it’s obvious now. Lauren set up her own kidnapping with the help of someone else. We find out it was this dog walker. He wanted to help her, and Lauren literally executed it all, even cutting off her own toe. It got infected and he killed her accidentally while trying to treat her with antibiotics. It was very sad, because she had been planning on pinning the whole crime on this poor patsy. She was an unhappy, mean girl.
Now back to Hodgins!!! He goes down to the facility where this brother of his has lived for more than 30 years, and it is true. He has a brother, and he is Schizophrenic. His parents never even told him he had a brother, and now the money has run out. If Hodgins can’t afford his care he will be moved to a crappy state facility. He is overwhelmed, and it is heartbreaking. He doesn’t have the money, and coming to terms with this is difficult. He feels he never had a chance to love his brother and wants to help take care of him.
I know what you are thinking…..and Booth asks Brennan to give Hodgins their new check to pay for the care. It is beautiful, and Temperance is just amazed at how wonderful Seeley is. They offer it, but Jack decides to take a loan. He will make it happen, and be a good brother now that he has a chance. It is very sad, but heartwarming too. If that wasn’t amazing enough, Brennan and Booth decide after that to give all of their money to charity. You totally need tissues by the end of this episode!
I felt so much Hodgins love in this episode. It was a great storyline twist for him. And really liked Ana Alexander as the evil stepmother (full disclosure — I know her from other stuff). Great episode!