BONES Recap: ‘The Heiress in the Hill’

Hello BONES fans! Well, it’s time for another mini-hiatus, and if you haven’t yet heard, the show will be coming back on Monday, March 10th (more info from Marisa on that and the season 10 pick-up here). I have to say that I’ve enjoyed watching the show on Friday nights, and this episode, “The Heiress in the Hill” is up there on my list of favorites of this high quality season. Let’s discuss!

THE CASE:

The Scene of the Crime: A body is brought to the Jeffersonian within a giant vat of dirt. The body was found by a local park ranger. The skull displays damage, including smashed teeth. Additionally, one of the victim’s toes has been removed and the body was doused with lye. Booth wonders if the shallow grave and applied lye suggest a mob hit.

The Victim: Lauren Frank, a 26 year old socialite who still lived at home with her wealthy father Steven and his new wife Katherine. Booth and Sweets get a surprise when Steven and Katherine arrive to the FBI, expecting to find Lauren. They have received a text demanding a ransom for Lauren’s return (as well as a package with her toe); Sweets has to tell them Lauren is deceased.

Primary Suspects:

•    Chuck Winter, Frank family house and security manager. He had access to security footage and certainly had means to kidnap Lauren without anyone knowing.
•    Mauricio Rivas, Lauren’s Spanish instructor. Her computer’s calendar showed she had an appointment with him. He insists they were dating and planning to run away together. Sweets suggests that since Lauren didn’t have that on her calendar that Mauricio killed her and was planning a one-way trip for himself.
•     Katherine Frank, with whom Lauren had a difficult relationship. It’s revealed she is having an affair with her personal trainer and that she took out a kidnapping insurance policy against her family.
•    Buddy Coleman, the dog-walker. He had access to the Frank family property, and after Booth figures more than one person is responsible for Lauren’s kidnapping, he wonders if Buddy had a part of the plan.

The Case Progression:

Buddy tells Booth that Lauren hated her life at home, that she talked to him about wanting to leave and especially how much she disliked her stepmom. The Franks continue to receive text and phone messages from the kidnapper, suggesting that whoever is plotting against them doesn’t know that Lauren is dead. This includes a picture of Lauren with duct tape over her mouth.

Brennan and Fisher continue to examine the skeleton. Fisher notices bone damage to the wrists, the back of the head and the heels, suggesting Lauren was hurt badly. But Brennan posits that she did the damage to herself, during a seizure. The question becomes…what caused it?

Angela figures out that the ransom texts are coming from Lauren’s phone. She traces it back to the Franks’ home, and B&B gather a search, ultimately finding the device among Katherine’s workout equipment. Booth brings her in for questioning, suggesting that because her prenuptial agreement with Frank has a “no-affair” clause, she took out the insurance policy to get some money after Lauren saw her having sex with her trainer. Katherine insists she is innocent and lawyers up.

Sweets wonders if Lauren’s dad was also in on her death, Angela discovers that all of the ransom texts are cued up and ready to go, pre-prepared by someone. Meanwhile,  Hodgins discovers rust along the toe wound.  They also realize Lauren was given penicillin, but was allergic to it. Fisher suggests that Lauren’s death was an accident, that someone tried to help her but ended up killing her and trying to hide her body. Cam runs DNA on the toe wound and traces it back to the Frank family dog and Buddy’s tools. Angela traces the picture of Lauren back to her device, where the full image reveals she took the picture herself.

The Verdict: B&B bring Buddy in for questioning. They tell him they have evidence that Buddy’s tools were used to cut of Lauren’s toe, that they think he tried to dismember her but couldn’t out of love. Buddy admits they were in love and were going to run away together, and he didn’t mean for anything to happen.

B&B reveal to him that Lauren didn’t love him and was just using him to escape. A final scheduled text message from her phone points the police to Buddy’s whereabouts — she planned to set him up for the kidnapping while she escaped, presumably with Mauricio.

THE SQUINTS:

The heart of this episode revolved around Hodgins and the new information that he has a brother. I admit I thought a long lost relative would come up as part of a serial killer arc, so how the story played out was a pleasant surprise. Three cheers for TJ Thyne and his excellent work as Hodgins in this episode. I am hoping the story continues.

I loved how each other character sort of wove into this storyline, from B&B with money, to Brennan’s moment of friendship with Angela, to Fisher’s advice on how to interact with Jeffrey. I didn’t necessarily agree with Cam and Angela wanting to make Hodgins talk about his feelings when all he wanted to do was focus on work, but the underlying idea that they care about him really worked. I loved when Angela told Hodgins that she is with him in the situation, and the Hodgins and Fisher moment was also very special.

So much of this episode was just tremendously…lovely. And the scenes between Hodgins and his brother Jeffrey were compelling, touching, and believable. The dichotomy of Hodgins’ reaction to his former more fortunate life and the somewhat spoiled Lauren Frank was nicely done. Family was appreciated over money. I loved the end scene where Hodgins basically admits that all the money in the world doesn’t fix loneliness or replace family. And the way they connected over 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was just so true to life. It’s the way we recognize our parents’ traits (good and bad) in our siblings or children.  It’s the way your family (or closest friends) just know what you’re going to say before you say it — the perfect movie quote at the right time in unison or when a beloved book’s words or a song’s lyrics just get embedded in your soul and when you meet someone who feels the same way, it’s a kindred spirits moment. It was just so well played out on screen here. Bravo, bravo.

BOOTH AND BRENNAN:

I admit that when I heard this episode was going to be about B&B figuring out how to handle their money, I sort of dreaded it. After all, the money “obstacle” (along with religion and others) has definitely been done as a BB storyline. But I thought this episode was incredibly lovely. There is so much I loved, so it will be better if I make a list:

•    The opening scene with B&B was cute. I liked Brennan putting the check in Booth’s pocket, kissing him, and leaving. In her mind, it is settled.
•    So totally Booth to counter Sweets’ suggestion that money issues might be causing a divide with him and Brennan by insisting their sex life was very good. That is one of his love languages, I believe.
•    While Brennan could definitely have made it to the bank during all the times they TALKED about the check, haha, the storyline did have a good progression, and I liked the scene at the diner where Booth suggests they should give their shared money to Hodgins. I like that Brennan kissed him again. Sweet as the pie she got on his pants.
•    I thought the scene where B&B propose giving money to Hodgins and Angela was also excellent. It was a perfect display of Brennan and Booth as a couple, and it was fun to see Brennan and Angela agree on practicality while Booth and Hodgins understood why Hodgins turned down the money. And Hodgins hugging a non-hugger Booth was the best. Another example of how they never were guy hugs with Brennan.
•    Besides the end moment with Jeffrey and Hodgins, my favorite thing about this episode is when Booth talks to Brennan about investing money in the Wounded Warriors Project. Thank you, thank you, thank you show and (producer/episode writer) Dean Lopata for including that in this episode. It’s a great cause, and it is wonderful to see this be something Booth is passionate about, given his military past. The show did a great job honoring veterans and others in season 8 with “The Patriot in Purgatory,” and this episode follows that same line. And I love that.

If there is one moment I disliked, it was when Brennan suggested that paying a lot of money to go to the Super Bowl was fine because Booth has “been a good man”. What is that supposed to mean? Like, he’s been a good boy this year? He gets rewarded for good behavior? I think the idea was that Brennan wants to lavish him with gifts because he means so much to her, but in my opinion, it came across more like patting a dog’s head for being sweet.  That is nitpicky though, because I really loved this episode.

Anxious to hear what you thought! What worked for you, and what didn’t?

PS…for more on the Wounded Warrior Project, click here!