Looking for a quiet spot to make out, two high school girls happen upon human remains. The method of dismemberment–removal of the rib cage–is linked to an urban legend from the town where Brennan went to high school. Booth and Brennan fly in, and Brennan identifies the remains as her high school classmate, Evelyn. Booth and Brennan attend her 15-year high school reunion posing as husband and wife to investigate further.
As often as the reunion premise has been done, I was still interested in this episode from its previews. I wondered how Booth and Brennan would react, having to play married when in reality Brennan had just jilted Booth. The episode would have been better, in my opinion, if their cover had been more firmly established. Instead, it seemed hastily planned and, surprisingly, they had no chemistry.
The episode’s tone was also off. It seemed to be trying for funny horror in the vein of the Scream movies, but I thought this lessened the gravity of Evelyn’s murder. Also, Brennan apparently had no friends in high school except for the janitor everyone else–including Booth–thought was creepy (Robert Englund). As socially awkward as Brennan is, I found it hard to believe she was practically friendless. Ordinarily, Booth would come to her defense, but he was stuck in his undercover role, and a little unsure what to do with his feelings after last week’s rejection.
Booth and Brennan kept in touch with the team at the Jeffersonian via laptop video conferencing. I know this is technically possible, but it seemed a flimsy way to keep the regulars involved. I actually preferred the B story of Angela being forced to tell Wendell (Michael Grant Terry) about her recent pregnancy scare, followed by her decision to break up with him. Wendell is a stand-up guy who would have “done the right thing” by Angela, but Angela didn’t want him to be with her out of a sense of duty. The development was true to their characters.
Like Booth and Brennan’s cover, the final revelation of Evelyn’s killer and the killer’s motivation seemed hasty, out-of-the-blue. Brennan said she was happy to have attended the reunion as it proved to her what real friends her team at the Jeffersonian were. All the same, I found the episode excruciating and would prefer to forget it. I expect I would’ve had the same reaction to my own ten-year high school reunion.
Go check out promo images for the next two (hopefully better!) episodes of Bones, The Predator in the Pool and The Rocker in the Rinse Cycle!
I couldn’t agree with you more. This episode was painful, and didn’t address last week’s revelations and tone in an adequate way at all.