Bones Review: Up To the Challenge

This episode of Bones begins in a way that reminds me, for the hundredth time, that I shouldn’t flip this show on while I’m trying to eat dinner. A couple of mailmen are working the abandoned mailroom at the post office, where packages and letters end up when they can’t be delivered or returned to sender. The younger one, still in training, opens up a box exploding with bloody packing peanuts, which are covering a decomposing skull.

Strangely, neither of the men in the room threw up, but I almost did in my living room.

At the same time, Booth (David Boreanaz) and Bones (Emily Deschanel) are having breakfast in their diner and discussing potential homes when Pops (Ralph Waite) shows up out of nowhere. If you’ll recall, we left Booth’s grandfather in a home the last time we saw him, so his showing up is a bit of a surprise.

He comes bearing bad news. Booth’s estranged father has died in the VA, probably from complications stemming from his long history with alcohol abuse. Bones and Pops are ready to offer comfort and support (and so is the rest of the cast, for that matter), but Booth claims not to care and wants nothing but to get back to work.

This episode also features the return of “I Always Say the Wrong Thing” Clark Edison (Eugene Byrd) and F.B.I. Agent in brown nosing – er – training, Genevieve Shaw (Tina Majorino). Poor Clark gets distracted by Bones’ constant adjustments of her sore breasts, which results in some funny dialogue, and Agent Shaw looks like she might be worming her way into a more recurrent role with her constant need for Booth’s appreciation and her adoration of everyone at the Jeffersonian.

It turns out the victim worked at a copy store, one where he and five other employees recently won millions in the lottery. The money immediately becomes the focus of the case, and it’s pretty much assumed that the other winners must have killed the victim for his share of the money. In a (far too small) scene, Sweets (John Francis Daley) suggests they try getting the suspects on their side instead of confronting them, because millions of dollars can buy some pretty heavy legal help. A couple of the other winners act suspicious, but without any squinty evidence, they have to cut them loose.

In lovely Bones fashion Hodgins (T.J. Thyne), Cam (Tamara Taylor), Angela (Michaela Conlin), and Clark collaborate to finally come up with some evidence they can use, first identifying the murder weapon as a heavy duty tape gun and then discovering an errant bone fragment that doesn’t belong to the victim – both of which lead to the capture of the killer, who was not included in the original suspect pool. Booth even lets Agent Shaw do the closing honors in the interrogation room, furthering my inkling that she might be around more often.

Bones is worried about her inability to break through the walls Booth has erected regarding his feelings about his father, and while she goes to Angela for relationship advice, Pops manages to break loose a few bricks like only sweet, well-meaning old people can. He reads Booth a letter, in which his father expresses regret over how he raised both Jarrod and Seeley. Both Pop’s sadness over losing his son and the letter manage to thread some cracks in Booth’s emotional defenses.

At home later, Bones reminds Booth of the good times he and his father had, stories he’s confided only to her, and urges him to hold on to those things, that he deserves to have good memories of his father. In a final scene that had me tearing up a bit (and this week showcased some fantastic acting on the part of David Boreanaz), they sit together and sift through some of Booth’s childhood. I am still loving them as a couple, and watching them go through real struggles and grow closer together – especially seeing Bones care about their relationship and wanting to make it work and to be there for him – is heartwarming.

We’ve probably got only a few weeks left before winter hiatus, and I’m loving this series more than ever. What about you?

Season 7, Episode 4 “The Male in the Mail” (original airdate December 1, 2011)

Bones airs Thursday nights at 9/8c on Fox.