A man dressed as Santa Claus walks into a bank with a bomb strapped to his chest. Booth arrives on scene as the man flees with the bank’s cash. The man tells Booth, “I just answered the call” seconds before the bomb is remotely detonated, showering Booth and a female eyewitness with human remains. Booth and the witness report to the Jeffersonian to be inspected for evidence.
The bomb blast made for higher stakes than usual. Booth traced the radio frequency that detonated the bomb to an anti-government talk show host. He made a good suspect, but also seemed genuinely taken aback by Santa’s death.
I liked how this episode set up an opening scene and then gradually revealed that scene wasn’t what it seemed. As often as I’ve seen similar episodes of all sorts of series, I didn’t predict any of the true details here: Santa was the innocent. The host’s frequency inadvertently set off the bomb. The eyewitness brought to the Jeffersonian was in on the bomb plot. Her accomplice: a cab driver severely injured in the explosion. Well done.
Meanwhile, Brennan’s father (Ryan O’Neal) proposed she spend Christmas with him and her newly-discovered second cousin Margaret (Zooey Deschanel). I enjoyed seeing Zooey and Emily together, but as a character, Margaret—obsessed with Ben Franklin—made Brennan seem well adjusted. I found the other subplot, Cam’s adopted daughter Michelle wanting to spend Christmas on her own in Hawaii, the least moving. Their relationship has always felt rushed to me, but it was nice that Cam insisted Michelle stay with her, and that Michelle agreed. It was also nice that the radio host took partial responsibility for Santa’s death and took himself off the air. These happy endings are typical of a Christmas episode, but ’tis the season, after all.
In closing, Bones‘s character chemistry across the board has never been more appealing. It can carry both weak episodes and weak aspects of an otherwise solid episode like this one.
