BONES Season 8 Finale Recap: ‘The Secret in the Siege’
April 29, 2013 by Sarah Curtis
Hey BONES fans! It’s so hard to believe it’s the end of season 8! I have enjoyed this season for the most part, certainly more than the past two. I have many thoughts about the season finale, “The Secret in the Siege,” and I’m not certain I’ll be able to articulate them perfectly, but here goes. One quick note before we get to the details of the episode — I really like it when David Boreanaz (Booth) directs episodes; it’s like seeing a good picture of someone you care about, taken by someone else you care about. He’s talented, but he also gets how talented his co-workers are. Okay…moving on!
THE CASE:
The Scene of the Crime: B&B are called to a scene where a man has been shot repeatedly. They take him back to the lab to investigate the wounds and reveal it is retired FBI agent Alan Friedlander.
The Victim: Booth worked with Friedlander in the past, specifically a decade earlier during an FBI raid of a religious cult group at a place called “Crystal Creek.” Sweets suggests Pelant could be responsible, particularly because of the ‘showy’ method of the killing.
The Case Progression: Booth assigns an Agent Walters to set up headquarters at the FBI, though the man is annoyed by it. When another agent comes up dead, Booth rushes to the scene. Walters is there as well, having gotten a call nearby. Booth finds a witness to the shooting, a young woman named Alison. She tells him she saw a killer with tattoos on his arm.
Agent Stone and Friedlander both had connections to Crystal Creek, appearances of 12 gunshot wounds, and 10 year old dog-bite markings on their leg bones. Caroline asks Booth when he’s going to tell Brennan he also was at Crystal Creek. He hedges, but in the end, does tell her. Brennan grows worried, but Booth insists he will be fine, declaring her smarter than Pelant and everyone in history, etc, etc. Brennan shuts him up with a kiss and tells him he is not allowed to die, which was sweet.
Sweets is now convinced Pelant is using a surrogate for the murderers, figuring that the killer is a child of someone killed at Crystal Creek. Angela is able to identify Zane Reynolds, a Crystal Creek member, and a man with a tattoo. Booth and other FBI agents go undercover as a surveying crew on Zane’s land. He pulls a gun on them, but Booth is not deterred. After taking him down, Booth and Sweets question him at the FBI building. Zane is mostly stoic, clinging to the religious notions of his cult. Sweets and Booth realize there is not much info they can get from him, and later Booth tells Sweets Zane had an alibi.
Sweets then suggests Pelant is using someone within the FBI to do his work, and he’s not far off. The camera shows Pelant making videos, superimposing a former FBI agent’s face onto his own. The videos are encouraging toward the killer, making it seem as if it was an FBI conspiracy that took down the Crystal Creek gang. Angela posits the theory that instead of Pelant working with a Crystal Creek descendent, he might be working with a child of a fallen FBI agent from that raid. The database pulls up a young woman, Anna Samuels. At the FBI building, Agent Walters recognizes her photo as the girl “Alison” who was the “witness” at the second murder.
The Verdict: Pelant has shut down all systems and phones in a DC area (not plausible, but at this point, well…moving on), leaving Booth somewhat on his own, with Sweets stuck in a traffic jam. Angela is able to hack into Anna’s computer, and finds out that Sweets is the next target. Booth calls Brennan on a payphone and she warns him of the plan. Booth runs to help Sweets, and Brennan leaves the lab to help as well. They get there in time, and Booth shoots Anna, though he doesn’t kill her.
Booth, Caroline and Sweets talk about how Pelant is still out there, though completely off the grid…for now. But when Booth and Brennan are talking about their possible upcoming wedding, Pelant calls Booth and tells him he must refuse Brennan’s proposal. Additionally, if Booth tells her why, Pelant will kill five innocent people.
THE SQUINTS:
The scene at the lab with Brennan, Angela and Cam where Brennan tells them she asked Booth to marry her is why I really don’t like Cam and Angela. At the risk of sounding like a broken record (kids, just imagine a song on your iPod only playing the beginning of one song over and over), it’s really the writers who do Brennan a disservice when the other characters are so condescending to her. Cam is snarky and questions Brennan’s timing — this is why I didn’t care AT ALL when she herself had emotional trauma. And I HATE IT when the writers have Angela “translate” Brennan’s words for her, in this case, telling her she was happy. It’s another example of Brennan being (allegedly — this is not her “truth,” in my opinion) unable to handle her own emotions appropriately.
It will be interesting to see how Hodgins and Sweets act in the next season, with Pelant still around, though technically off the grid, especially if either of them are still feeling responsible for Pelant’s actions. I do like how Sweets (and Cam and Angela, so presumably Hodgins) know that Brennan asked Booth to marry her — if anything, they may be able to push more to see the truth come to light.
BOOTH & BRENNAN:
Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel (Brennan) were both so wonderful in this episode, as always really. They are seriously pros, and if there is one thing I’m looking forward to in season 9, it’s seeing how they tackle the B&B storylines.
I loved the way B&B interacted in this episode. I’m a person who doesn’t need to see Booth and Brennan get married to be happy or feel fulfilled in the series. I also have believed that Booth was genuinely happy being with Brennan as is, and that she would marry him to make him happy — that part all worked for me. It was a little strange how Booth reacted to the proposal. It made sense that he was slightly suspicious of Brennan’s motives, but he was also just very…calm when he accepted.
Later, he told Sweets he’d been waiting for that moment for a really long time…which possibly upsets my theory that he was perfectly happy just being with her as is, haha. I’m okay with that…less okay that he showed more happiness, giddiness and emotion when he talked about it with Sweets than with Brennan, but…whatever, I guess! The end of the chase scene, when they ran into one another’s arms made up for it.
As far as the very end scene, with Booth telling Brennan he’d reconsidered, I am torn. On the one hand, I liked that we knew the reason he did it and could see how hard it was for each of them, even as Brennan didn’t know Booth’s true motivations. As I mentioned, the proposal was a little weird to me, so the idea that it’s not the final note on B&B happiness actually makes me happy. Then again, it’s not like I have a lot of trust, because I haven’t quite gotten my mind around the idea of Booth giving in to Pelant that way. On the fourth (and last) hand…I do at least like this sort of “rift” more than a different type of manufactured fight or bickering between them. It could be so much more petty, but this feels (again, at first watch) somewhat noble on Booth’s part, even as it crushed me to see Brennan.
I think we all have ways we come at BONES and what we want to have happen, and so much of that is why I have mixed feelings on this episode. I remember back in season 5, when B&B were so crushed after the 100th episode. It was just incredibly sad, but I was willing to trust the writers to make it right.
The same thing happened in season 6, when it was just really hard to see Brennan sad, even as she grew stronger in some ways. It feels like a grudge, and I know it is, but when the writers didn’t really deal with those things but (in my opinion) instead wrapped up that entire storyline with a “some things are better left unsaid” between B&B…I was upset, and honestly, I still am. It was hard to see B&B hurting for the sake of a plot/storyline, and the same was true in this episode. I don’t mind struggles for the sake of overcoming hardships, but it needs to be a fair game. All of the previous “the timing was out of the writers control” excuses for quickly whipping up semi-ridiculous storyline twists (i.e. the writers’ strike in S3, getting rid of Hannah ASAP as well as ED’s real-life pregnancy in S6) don’t apply here, and as much as I didn’t hate this finale, I am still frustrated by some parts of it.
When I ask myself the questions “How does this benefit the characters as people?” or “Is this a necessary test of their relationship in terms of character development?” I don’t foresee a lot of emotional growth — and to take a page from Brennan’s book, the evidence the show has provided over the past couple of years indicates it may just get happily swept away as a big funny misunderstanding, or worse, another “be careful what you wish for, fans” from people who manipulate the plot but gush with gratefulness over the ratings the next morning.
If it’s any consolation, the show is generally terrible at letting finale issues fester past the season premieres! I guess we’ll find out when season 9 rolls around. See you then! For now, the comments are open, so sound off!
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Not happy with the way the finale ended, but I don’t think I’m in the minority. Sometimes I think HH likes jerking us around just because he can! I see Brennan putting her walls up and being cold again. She took a chance and was shot down. I don’t see their relationship being the same…I foresee a break coming.
I liked it. I see Booth killing Pelant and doing everything he can to get Brennan back, and I’m excited!!
I was so happy when Bones proposed to Booth. Though I find it odd when women propose to men, but in their situation and knowing them it was perfect! I agree that I can see Bones putting back up her walls, but at the sametime I think that when she finds out Booth’s reasons she will see the reason in it just like she helped Booth see the logical reason she ran away with Christine at the end of season 7. I think there will be a huge strain on their relationship until this whole Pelant thing is resolved. Can I just say how much I dislike him! I wonder how the rest of the cast will react to Booth’s rejection. Do you think they will get mad at him?
Sarah,
I love your reviews, and I always read them, although I’ve just recently begun commenting (a friend got me on Twitter!). For me, the problem is two-fold — The Pelant storyline makes no sense. None. Who is Pelant’s target? Booth? Brennan? Hodgins? Sweets? Random FBI guy’s daughter? There’s nothing that shows his motivation for playing this game with the team, and every episode his motivation seems to change. Added to that, he’s all knowing with unlimited resources, interfering in impossible ways. It’s just so silly. For me, the ending felt like something out of a soap opera, but more than that, the Bones writers are terrible at follow through. Terrible. They set up these huge emotional moments and never deal with them. And, when fans express a desire to see these moments worked through, Stephen Nathan and Hart Hanson openly mock the fans that have kept this show on the air for so long.
So the ending is frustrating because it was incredibly contrived and because Brennan will never get the emotional follow up that she deserves for what she was just put through.
Excellent acting by the cast and DB’s direction was superb. They were undermined, however, by the writers’ contrived and false ending for the finale. Booth betrayed his character, logic (note could be written in the office to Brennan) and the audience who were slapped by this mean-spirited soap opera ending. I have loved this program, and thought this was a very good season, but now feel I have been disrespected by the writers. Reminded me of how I felt when Bobby Ewing stepped out of the shower years ago: You just lost me.
wow..so I just watched this finale with just a little bit of trepidation after reading all the rage filled rant reviews from some viewers..I expected some lame ass ending but wow.. it was really well done.. nothing overly dramatic or relationship breaking.. this will be resolved next season of that I have no doubt.. Pelant will die and we’ll all get our happy ending for Booth and Bones before the end of what I am thinking will be Bones last season
It was a solid, beautifully directed episode. It seem like the old adage ‘the bigger they are, the harder they fall’ will come true cause Pelant thinks he’s untouchable now that he thinks he’s caused B&B heartache. I for one cant wait to see where this heads next season!
I tuned in after giving up on the show earlier this season. I was feeling good about most of the hour. I think they could’ve made Pelant a better villain. Even though Broadsky had computer bullets he remained a believable villain because he didn’t become all powerful and able to all do things. He simply killed his targets with a gun–something people do everyday. I enjoyed seeing B&B together for more than the last 3 minutes of the episode, that was one of the reasons I stopped watching. I probably wasn’t bowled over enough to watch S9. Pelant’s story will continue. There’s a time jump so we’ll miss the most crucial part of the fallout. I do hope that HH and the writers can turn things around and end Bones on a high note and viewer return.
Episode season finale was well done. Acting and directing terrific. Lots of emotion in the episode development. I was very disappointed that Pelant was able to manipulate B&B like puppets at the end. I want to see B&B together . I don’t think being married will hurt the show. It will continue to develop the characters. Sometimes the lack of continued development in their relationship retards their growth. The fact that Pelant could manipulate by remote using all the cameras and tech is frightening in this day and age in society. Catch him already. I don’t want to see him dropping in out of no where. Catch him and let B&B move on to greater emotional and character development. Develop the other characters too. My husband and I won’t watch it if this doesn’t happen.
I loved Booth jumping/running on the cars, that was flat out awesome!!
I DO NOT like what they did at the end. It is so hurtful to both Booth and Brennan and I really dislike that Pelant is so active and still alive. I have liked other serial killers in the past because, for the most part, they were hidden until the end. Pelant’s involvement is way to much and at the end for him to be playing God was just irritating. No one person could do all the things he is. And I realize it would be very un-Boothy to let people die for his happiness, but to watch what he did to the love of his life was just as heart breaking. I know it was heart breaking for him, but it felt just doubly for Brennan. For her to realize she wants to marry him only to being “turned down” was crushing. I harkened back to something Cam said in Season 4(?), she said something like “once you crack that shell, you better not hurt her, because she will never recover”. I feel like this is like that. How will she recover from his and still want to marry Booth?
I think the finale was a good one, I just didn’t care for the ending. I hope they kill Pelant in Episode 1 of Season 9. Enough of him and lets move on!
I loved this episode for it’s execution – good directing, good pacing, great acting in a lot of super individual scenes.
I did not like this episode for the storytelling. I have not been a fan of the Pelant arc for the ridiculous amount of power and ability given to him. I’m not above stretching my imagination for a lot of things in this show in the face of story and characters, but he is just too much. I hope there is no intention of keeping Pelant through the entire next season.
The end game for Booth both made sense and totally didn’t at all. Sure, Pelant is showing what we know to be true of Booth that he can’t stand to have his own happiness above the lost lives of innocent people. On the other hand (I think I can stick with just 2 hands – 😀 ), after what he and Brennan went through at the end of last season and beginning of this, I don’t see him letting Pelant dictate their lives again or breaking Brennan’s heart like that.
For my part, I think they could have gotten a lot of leverage about the marriage thing by Booth denying Pelant and then having Pelant carry through on his threat. I can imagine Booth’s guilt over that decision and that could, in fact, have still delayed the whole marriage plans. At this point, I feel like the point was to drive a wedge between B/B instead of having them continue to face huge obstacles together.
I really loved the scenes with B/B in this episode, including the last (filled with really well-done emotional appeal), but I’m having a hard time swallowing the premise.
Sorry I didn’t enjoy this season. Maybe 2 episodes and I fell really upset to bring that up.
I love the show but what they are doing? Everything is so poorly done!
This Pelant arc is one of the worst things that the show developed along with Booth mom’s story. WTH!
I just wanna put out there that I miss Carla Kettner at writers room. I really do.
I will not give up the show but I’m not excited for next season. At all.
The ending was a huge downer. Not looking forward to next season since Pelant is still alive and continues to win.
Too much like The Following….makes the FBI look really bad. Booth subjecting himself to blackmail is discouraging. I thought he was made of better stuff.
A very disappointing way to end what had been an enjoyable season except for Pelant and Booth’s mom. I didn’t like her either.
Loved your review and as usual, pretty much agreed with everything you said. I thought I was the only one who HATED the way Angela and Cam reacted at Brennan’s news. The condescension was ridiculous and it’s been going on for years now. Again with Booth’s ‘real’ feelings expressed in front of Sweets and not Brennan. I’ve been lamenting the foursome that is the B&B relationship with Angela and Sweets being the proxies of each of the Bs. Just as I was cheering the progress they made a few episodes ago where they actually started talking to EACH other rather than through their proxies (or in Brennan’s case, taught a lesson in life by Booth/Sweets/Angela) they give us this episode. Sigh…
Like another reviewer said, the pacing, the direction and acting were good but they lost me with the storyline. Hodgins struggling with his conscience was played perfectly by TJ and even Sweets was somewhat bearable. Proving that the return of Booth’s mom was just a contrived plot to push Brennan into marriage. I think anyone who is a Bones fan knows that Brennan would pretty much do anything for Booth, so it came as no surprise that she would propose to him but I did feel that there seemed to be a crucial scene or two missing to help us understand her reasons for doing so. The scene of the proposal was beautiful. Emily Deschanel was breathtaking in her scenes throughout the episode but the emotional ones with Booth this episode were particularly intense. I was surprised at DB too. I don’t usually enjoy his attempt at acting, but found it him to be good this episode.
Regarding the plot itself, I still don’t know why Sweets was the target considering he probably was a little kid during the Crystal Creek incident. Who is Pelant’s target at this point? WHY is he doing all of this? The original motive was to uncover a government cover up but what happened that he escalated so much? They then give us a cover story that he killed his first professor (iirc) but it’s all over the place and I don’t see a reason. Why wasn’t Booth the target considering he was the one who actually shot Pelant in the face? So many plot holes, which as usual I know will go unanswered and unresolved. Pelant as this all knowing and all powerful supervillian passed believable back in the S8 opener when he wiped out his identity and obtained a new one after his arrest. At least Epps, Gormogon and the Gravedigger all had somewhat comprehensible reasons for doing what they did. At this point they are just trying to throw up ways to create conflict between the couple because they’re convinced that is what keeps the ratings up.
Which brings me to the ridiculous but nevertheless heartbreaking ending. Of course Pelant was going to stick his nose in there but I didn’t think Booth would cave. At the very least I would have thought he’d have found a way to tell her in the way they usually do. Maybe this is just indicative of how badly they communicate. Booth’s first instinct was to lie to Brennan when Pelant called. Why? She’s his partner and this is their case. The woman who has probably never let anyone into her heart as wholly as she did you just made all your dreams come true because they make you happy and you still lie? I know that fans get off on Booth’s protective side and that is part of his personality but it grating because if anything this season has shown it is the continuous professional disrespect that Brennan has been shown by her colleagues not to mention Booth’s own increasing impatience with and eyerolls at her. Fine, I get that the showrunners needed to use this plot device and they used it well. That scene with B&B in the living room was painful. I don’t know if it was more painful for Booth who had to be the person breaking the heart of the woman he loved or for Brennan who just had her heart broken by the one person she finally opened up to fully.
Now, regardless of everything, we all know that B&B will end up together, yes. But I worry that it doesn’t justify putting Brennan through all this pain when she’s already had enough to endure in her lifetime. One of my hopes for S9 is that Pelant will be dealt with swiftly and that the writers will delve into Brennan’s past as an abused foster child. We’ve heard about her childhood and her parents and brother but other than a few comments from Brennan, we’ve not had a chance to fully discover what it was like for her and what actually happens to a teenage girl in foster care and how she worked her way out of the system to become the success she is. What is the real story of how she got out? Who is this fictional grandfather who got her out?
Okay, that was a whole lot of rambling and feels. Thank you for your review Sarah. Happy hiatus. See you again soon, hopefully to a more cohesive and coherent season. 🙂
I was giddy with joy but the ending squashed that joy like a bug. The actors and director did a brilliant job. I normally watch episodes loads of times but l cannot bear watching this one again. The writers had better make this right and soon. Cannot get Brennan’s heartbroken face out of my mind…..
I fully expect when Bones comes back for S9, Pelant will be wearing a monocle and carrying around his fur-less cat. In this finale, he went from a villain whose hacking abilities initially were interesting but still plausible to now being completely over-the-top ridiculous. In the S7 finale, I criticized Carla Kettner for making Pelant seem so ridiculous. I take all of that back now. And I’m even more convinced that since the S8 premiere was cowritten by Hart Hanson & Stephen Nathan that it was HH’s writing that made Pelant more believable and human. Without HH around, Stephen Nathan has taken the character of Pelant and has gone completely off the rails.
We see that Pelant has used Hodgins money to buy the best computer equipment money can buy (And a fancy chess board!) So he’s had this the whole time and is only now messing with B&B? So, despite Stephen Nathan’s numerous proclamations during interviews at Comic-Con and with TV Guide and TV Line, etc, that even when Pelant wasn’t in an episode, his presence would still be felt and the characters would still be affected by him. Clearly, that wasn’t the case. There was never an indication all season that the other characters were worried about Pelant spying on them even if he wasn’t in an episode. So for me, this made the ending with B&B even that much more contrived. There is no way that Booth can’t just write a note to Brennan that Pelant is blackmailing him on one of his hot dog bun wrappers and pass it to her in the dark? In a closet? No? Really? He has to lie to her and knowingly crush her heart? Hasn’t he done enough in his life to hurt her? Come on, writers.
My hopes for season 9 are –
1. End this stupid Pelant storyline already, Stephen Nathan, and do it in the premiere so we can move on to something interesting. He may be an impressive villain to you on paper in the writer’s room, but on screen he is a ridiculous spoof of a Bond villain, and this storyline is beyond old and tired now. Or get Noah Hawley back if you want to credibly write yourselves out of this mess. Howard Epps was the best villain Bones has ever pulled off.
2. That Hart Hanson comes back to write the episode where Pelant gets offed and the S9 (or series?) finale. He hasn’t written the last two finales, and it shows. (And actually, he hasn’t written a finale by himself since S4, and that shows too. The S5 & S6 finales definitely have Stephen Nathan f***ery all over them.)
Side note – Interesting that the writers chose to have Hodgins mention that because he didn’t kill Pelant when he had the chance, he was responsible for all of the deaths that came afterwards – I’ve never blamed Hodgins for not taking out Pelant, maybe because he’s not a cop? But I sure as heck felt that way about Booth/Broadsky!
@FF: Ugh, are you in my head right now?!
“He has to lie to her and knowingly crush her heart? Hasn’t he done enough in his life to hurt her?” IFKR?!?! This is such a ridiculously obvious plot device, just as Pelant is, with the only intention being to disrupt B&B because as SN said, apparently he’s not doing his job if the fans aren’t angry. *rme* But yes, he has hurt her so. many. times! Even when he tells her the truth, I don’t know how he’s going to undo the hurt that he’s caused. I have no doubt that Brennan will forgive him anything, that has apparent for years, but is it the writers’ intention to cause her as much pain and hurt at Booth’s hands as possible?
Exactly my point regarding Hodgins! I didn’t blame him at all and tbh, I would have been more concerned if he had killed Pelant. My precious consipiracy loving bug guy killing a serial killing sociopath with his bare hands? Yeah, i don’t think he’d have recovered from that. But Booth/Broadsky? Hell yes! All because of some cockamamie ‘wouldn’t shoot a man in the back’ principle was it?
I continue to stay with this trainwreck because of a few of the cast members that I love but unless they improve their writing and SN swallows his pride, puts away his ego and actually read what the reviewers’ and fans’ honest opinions are and do something about it, we’re going to be stuck with just another version of this season with more retconning of Brennan to fit their storyboard.
I am so in agreement with what you said above and with what everybody else is saying. Glad I am not the only one here. I thought the ep was going pretty good outside of what you all mentioned as well. There is no way Booth should have given in to Pelant. Not after he just got through telling Sweets he was not going to let Pelant ruin his life and marriage to Brennan. Booth looked like(well I have to say it even though it might come out mean) a wimp with no love at all for Brennan. Was that what the writers wanted the fans to see? What a stab in the backs of the fans that have supported this show for many years. Also, like you all have mentioned too, Hart and Nathan better off Pelant and figure out some way to get B and B back together as a loving couple again before the first ep of season 9 is over. My opinion, I don’t think there is away to be honest. Booth hurt her after she finally opened her heart to him. Unless, he glosses over it like he did in season 6. One minute there is angst, the next everything is magically ok. That is not realistic.
Now that I’ve had time to watch again. I still hate the ending. I don’t get why Booth can’t slip her a note. And it’s really frustrating that I have nothing to look forward to in the premiere.
But it was so nice to read that I’m not the only one that does not like Cam for her snarky condescending tone with Brennan. I find her so insulting. It’s like she’s still jealous Booth dumped her for Brennan. Pathogens did not make me care one bit about Cam/Aristoo. Angela can go either way.
@Ang – Agree with what you said about Booth coming across as a wimp. In what universe does Seeley Booth let himself get blackmailed, especially that easily?
I would have hope that Brennan calls Booth to task on that and maybe this would be a chance for writers could to show a progression of Booth & Brennan growing close to each other again, but given how the writers completely glossed over Booth’s angst when Brennan left with Christine, I’m not counting on that.
Nancy – Now that I’ve had time to watch again. I still hate the ending. I don’t get why Booth can’t slip her a note
I completly agree with you, this is bulshit. Even Pelant can’t see everything, he wouldn’t see a little post-it with some short notes, like “Pelant made me to say that” or something.
I hate this ending very much!
If this doesn’t work, maybe the writers can give Pelant full phaser power, the dark side of the Force, the power to cloud men’s minds, mind meld, double secret probation, the Death Star and Green Lantern’s Light! Enough with this nonsense already! Grow up and write some real stories, you juveniles!
Look at the floating bookcase to get another codex entry
and then examine the font of strength to get a +1
to strength. That doesn’t mean that they have to buy everything, but they shouldn’t make
a fuss over what console anyone else is playing on.
The groups will attack one another though, so run back and give them a moment to thin each other out.