BONES Recap: ‘The Friend in Need’
February 19, 2013 by Sarah Curtis
Hello BONES fans! How did you like this episode, “The Friend in Need”? It felt like a season 1 case to me; the case was sad but relevant, and the suspects were flawed but realistic. I liked it, even if it was gruesome and troubling. Actually, the more I think about the ep, the more I like it. So let’s talk about it.
THE CASE:
The Scene of the Crime: The episode begins as a man brings a worn and dusty suitcase to a pawn shop. He wants $10 for it, but as the storeowner denies him, he quickly works down to just $1. Hoping to entice the owner, the man opens the suitcase, finding some bent and bloody remains inside.
The Victim: The body and suitcase are shipped to the Jeffersonian, and Brennan, Cam, Finn and Hodgins examine the remains, quickly determining that the victim was a male in his mid-teens. Dental records reveal the victim as Martin “Manny” Manicone.
The Case Progression: Booth and Sweets go to Manny’s home and talk to his mother, Mary. They are joined by their neighbors, Delores and Kat Miller. Kat and Manny were childhood friends and classmates. Delores is resistant to Sweets’ advice toward Mary and suggest that they aren’t psychology people but friends and family people. Sweets notices that Kat is visibly upset by the news. When Sweets and Booth examine Manny’s bedroom, they find many smartphones and computers. Kat tells them that Manny was very smart and good with technology and that he liked to play video games. She last saw him at a party a couple of weeks before. Booth’s suspicions rise when Cam calls him to say they found Ketamine in Manny’s skin and when he finds a big wad of cash in Manny’s room.
Angela analyzes the phones from Manny’s room and identifies Nick Pavonetti, a young man who works for his father’s moving company. Booth questions him, and Nick states he really liked Manny and he was trying to help him be more social. Booth suggests drugs and Nick insists that didn’t happen. Nick also saw Manny at the party.
Finn and Brennan realize Manny died from asphyxiation and that many of the injuries to his bones were caused after he died. Also at the lab, Angela finds an online picture site and sorts pictures of the party in chronological order. The team spots Manny in several pictures, and he’s always following Kat around while she flirts and dances with Saunders.
Booth questions him at the FBI building, and he insists he didn’t know that Kat was only 15 and that she was the one who yelled at Manny to leave, that she hated him.
Meanwhile, Kat approaches Sweets in his office, wanting to talk to someone. She confides in him and says she was raped at the party. She doesn’t remember it; she just knows it happens. They discuss whether it could have been Manny, and Kat is sure it wasn’t. She only remembers one green eye and she tells Sweets that when she told her mother about it that Delores told her not to tell anyone. Sweets talks to her a bit but can’t promise confidentiality. He talks to B&B in Booth’s office, and Booth calls the local cops and Delores. Kat is visibly angry with Sweets when the cops come to take her for some questioning.
Booth and Brennan talk with Delores and want to know why she didn’t report what Kat told her. She says it was to protect Kat. Brennan is incredulous, but Booth suggests that perhaps Delores “protected” Kat by killing Manny. Delores tells him to charge her or let her go.
Sweets runs into Kat again at the FBI building, and she accuses him of betraying her trust. He apologizes but insists he wanted to help her. He confesses that he was abused when he was young and it took other people to help him see that it wasn’t his fault that it happened. He promises he will help figure out who raped her. He goes to the lab and convinces Angela and Brennan to reexamine the pictures from the night of the party — this time, following Kat’s movements and not Manny’s.
Sure enough, the results are clear. Kat was rejected by Saunders and then grew dejected, going outside, where she was approached by a young man with a drink.
Hodgins also figures out that Manny’s bones were crushed in the suitcase by someone using ratcheting straps, and Angela is able to recreate the possible scenario. The graphics are sobering and sad as Brennan remembers Nick Pavonetti’s work with the moving company.
The Verdict: B&B visit Nick and Brennan identifies blood on some ratcheting straps. They bring Nick in for questioning, and as Sweets listens in from the observation room, Nick denies that he did anything wrong. Sweets notices a necklace around Nick’s neck and barges into the room, accusing Nick of raping Kat. Booth gets on Sweets case, saying that if Nick confesses to the rape, he can’t also convict him of murder. Nick sees his opening and admits to the rape. Booth and Brennan tell him he’s dumb — Booth can still charge him with murder, since the local cops who helped Kat will be the ones to charge him with rape.
THE SQUINTS:
The main B-plot of this ep revolved around Michelle coming back to visit Finn and not telling Cam about it. I really liked the way Finn couldn’t keep a secret and I was glad that by the end of the episode, it was resolved, but in terms of B-plots in general and in the scope of this episode, it was mostly fluff.
I liked how Angela and Hodgins worked this case. It was just good, straightforward, procedural with heart stuff, you know?
As for Sweets, I really liked his work in this episode and that he used psychology for good. Great use of Sweets, writers! His backstory also worked and was relevant in this case, which was nice. It also made me laugh when, as Booth and Sweets were approaching the Maricone home, Sweets suggested they were going to play it was the “understanding psychologist” and “flinty FBI agent”, and Booth was like “let’s just be what we are.”
BOOTH & BRENNAN:
I’m kind of torn on the B&B stuff in this ep. I liked that there wasn’t a ton of romance so to speak, because they were both focused on the case and passionate about it, and those are qualities I love in them, so yay. The opening scene was cute, with Brennan noseying in on Booth’s crossword puzzle. I liked that she knew a lot of the words, but he knew about GILLIGAN’s ISLAND, and I loved that when she apologized for being a know-it-all, he just smiled and kissed her because, as we know, she’s his know-it-all. Very cute all around.
The end scene felt a little different, and I think it’s because it wasn’t as flattering toward Booth or Brennan. Where the opening scene had them both more aware of their own characteristics/flaws, the ending was more condescending toward both of them — Brennan literally to Booth when she suggested it would be ludicrous of him to ever be smarter than her on a case (and to basically pat him on the head and say that trying is one of his strengths), and the writers through Booth to Brennan, when he lies and says he never “lets” her feel smarter or win cases when he already knows the answer. Not sure I’m explaining it right, but basically, while I liked that Brennan showed she knew just what Booth had done for Sweets (and that he agreed, because Sweets is a good kid and was right), it just felt off… both of them either played dumb or looked dumb, and it was sort of disconnected in comparison to the opening scene. Not gonna lie, though…Booth’s offhand comment that the interrogation room is his “domain” was kinda hot.
Okay, enough from me. Thoughts from you? Did you like this case? Were you surprised by the killer? How about the Cam/Finn/Michelle scenes?
The comments are open, so feel free to discuss this episode.
P.S. – A shout out and 1,000 times YES to Emily Deschanel’s PSA about sexual assault awareness. If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault, please do utilize one of these resources: RAINN www.rainn.org 1-800-656 HOPE.
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It was ok, nothing more, nothing original or different, we’ve seen stories like this a bazillion times. I have grown to expect more from Bones. At least they used Sweets appropriately, he wasnt all over B & B, both at home and work, that worked for me, but, sorry, he still needs to move out of the MH. He needs to get on with his life.
I really liked it but then I can see past Sweets living with B&B long enough to enjoy the show! In fact Sweets, Booth and Brennan really worked for me here with their shared troubled childhoods and their need to bring justice to the girl. I also agree it was a good old school type Bones which will please the fans who think the show has changed too much. They dealt with the subject of rape in the respectful way I have come to expect Bones to do every time they address a difficult subject.
I really enjoyed this ep. It was thought provoking and very well acted. Absolutely loving season 8 so far. Keep it up!
Another meh episode for me. I don’t see how anyone could think that this was old school Bones when Booth and Brennan had only 6 scenes together AND if you were a new viewer would be hard pushed to see how B&B were even work partners. Old school Bones would of had Brennan connecting to the victim in someway, with her and Booth striving together as a team to help her. . . it is obvious, imo, that this writer particular has a fanboy obsession with Sweets/JFD and his influence in the writers room is ruining Bones for me this season….Also Hodgins had like only 2 or 3 scenes and the writing of Michelle/Cam/Finn was just weak, Pfffff…I mean seriously this season nor this ep is not old school Bones, not at all for me. jmho
Geez. The writing in this ep,.imo, was just a pity party thrown for Sweets to make me feel sorry for him, to make the fans who have had a problem with him this season to feel bad for him….well it didn’t work. I dont respond to emotional manipulation to make me feel bad for a character, who is most of the time the most overused and useless character on Bones….even at the end writer had Booth feel bad for Sweets and allowed him to think he solved who the murderer was. *heavy eyeroll* when infact Booth already knew. Geez we get it: SWEETS PITY PARTY EPISODE
Season 1? Really? During season 1, Booth still admired Brennan’s intelligence and took pride in it instead of feeling threatened by it.
I agree that the last scene made them both look pathetic, but IMO so did the opening scene. It looked like all Booth cared about was to bask in the knowledge that he had made Brennan look stupid while she was too much of an idiot to get it.
Judging by the promo for next week, it’s only going to get worse. I miss the time when the show portrayed intelligence as a good thing (even *gasp* in women) and let Brennan be confident in her abilities instead of always painting her as socially inept and conceited when the topic of her intelligence comes up.
I think anyone that has to constantly trumpet their own intelligence and deny it to the person they supposedly love has a real problem. In the first season or two it was used for humor. After eight years, it’s a psychosis. Enough already.
“I agree that the last scene made them both look pathetic, but IMO so did the opening scene. It looked like all Booth cared about was to bask in the knowledge that he had made Brennan look stupid while she was too much of an idiot to get it.”
I totally agree. I didn’t think either the beginning or the end scene was cute or funny. Brennan was written more clueless than normal and Booth comes off looking like an a** for the way he rubs it in. Dean Lopata always tends to write Brennan in a way where she comes off as an idiot, or clueless, or says something socially inappropriate, and while I know Booth has teased Brennan about her lack of pop culture knowledge from the start, in this episode Booth didn’t have the tinge of playfulness that he had in the earlier years. There was a bite to Booth’s ribbing in this episode, and I didn’t find it endearing at all. I thought both Booth and Brennan were both written in an unflattering light in the home scenes.
I actually liked the case more than the interpersonal scenes for a change, and I can’t remember the last time (or even if) that has ever happened. While they continued the trend of having the murder victim made out to be someone who deserved it, at least this time the subject matter surrounding his death was of a serious matter such that the other characters weren’t joking about it. I felt Sweets was used wonderfully in this episode, and I really enjoyed his scenes.
Did not have half a crap to give about Michelle/Finn/Cam, though.
I thought Stephen Nathan said that Michelle was going to blow a gasket over Arastoo and her mother hooking up. I saw hugs and schoolgirl giggles over the disclosure. What am I missing? Also Brennans inquiring about Finn sexual life was blatant sexual harassment with the lab director standing right next to them. Wtf?
I thought this was a strong, solid episode. The opening crossword puzzle scene was great – especially with Booth’s smile at Brennan’s apology for being a know-it-all. “…she’s his know-it-all. Very cute all around.” Definitely.
Kudos to a case that had me more involved with than normal – and for a sympathetic victim. The whole situation surrounding Sweets and the young woman who was raped was done very well and realistic.
I was happy that the whole Cam-Michelle-Finn thing wasn’t blown out of proportion and the “set-up” scene made me laugh – made even better that Cam came clean with it later. The only thing that could have made that sideline story even better was if it somehow tied in better with the case, but it was a fun side of fluff.
Regarding the final scene, I really liked it. I think I can see the condescension that could have been there, but in the end, I think they pulled it off just right. I thought it was fun that Brennan recognized what Booth did, and I also like that she decided to believe that Booth has never done that to her. I also got a kick out of Brennan doing her research about Gilligan’s Island and dove into the litany of facts that she learned. You mention this episode being “old school” and I agree… and I think everything about that final scene was old school without being regressively so.
Is everyone kidding? Sweets tricks a girl into admitting she was raped (she’s a minor and even if she was 25 she’d not get the subtlety of “I’m not YOUR doctor.”) It is not a crime to fail to report a crime. A rape victim is the only person to decide whether or not to inform law enforcement of what happened to them and in as many words HOW DARE HE, and how dare the rest of them LET him. I honestly have no idea how the show ended. Once my google skills told me that Mr Daley was not leaving the show (and therefore this would not end with Sweets fired for his egregious behaviour,) I stopped watching shortly after the police officer forced the girl to go with her by grabbing her arm.
If they wanted justice for her, then it was their duty to convince her to come forward. NOT to force her to. They have no legal right to force her to.
Actually most therapists / psychologists adhere to holding the confidence of some-one if there is no harm to them or anyone else. Otherwise they are obligated to report it. In this case a girl who has been raped and kept it unreported because her mother told her no-one would believe her / care IS harming herself and potentially letting the rapist find another victim so Sweets was definitely acting appropriately.
BTW I agree with those who though the B and B scenes were done well for those who don’t maybe go back and watch a few season 1 and 2 eps …
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