BONES Recap: ‘The Turn in the Urn’
April 1, 2014 by Sarah Curtis
Hey BONES fans! It’s time to discuss another episode, this one called “The Turn in the Urn.” And there certainly was a turn in the usual events when the case started with a presumed victim, Todd, walking (and alive) from his own home at his own funeral. Good times! There is a lot more to discuss, so let’s get to it.
THE CASE:
The Scene of the Crime: B&B attend the funeral for Todd, but are as shocked as everyone when he is alive. They are attending because Todd helped fund a lot of Brennan’s research, and she wanted to pay her respects. Once they see that Todd is alive, they can’t help but wonder whose ashes are in the decorative urn — and whose dead body was pulled from Todd’s home’s safe house a few weeks back. I think this was a creative case scenario!
The ashes are sent to the Jeffersonian, and Brennan, Hodgins, Cam and Finn all work to pull out traces of skeletal bone, hoping to get an identity. Angela uses the safe room’s temperature and humidity tracking to retrace the room’s heat and moisture. She is able to reverse engineer a plausible identity.
The Victim: Daniel Barr is the victim, and he is also Todd’s personal concierge, often responsible for helping Todd with major purchases, including expensive antiquities.
Primary Suspects:
• Todd himself is a suspect, but he insists he was in Costa Rica in drug rehab for a heroin addiction. He used an alias so his high level investors didn’t find out about his whereabouts.
• Todd’s mother, Mrs. M. She despised all of the women in Todd’s life (including Brennan) and Todd’s girlfriend Sarah. She also resented Daniel and filed a restraining order against him for seemingly no reason.
• Sarah Metzler, Todd’s girlfriend. Booth suggests that she didn’t like having Daniel around, but Sarah insisted that Todd loved her and that she was friends with Daniel.
• Satimah Najjar, an antiquities dealer. Booth and Brennan question her about the location of the “slaughterer’s chalice,” and Satimah verifies that while Daniel asked her to locate it for a sum of approximately 50 million dollars, it would be impossible to find it.
The Case Progression:
Booth and Sweets talk to Mrs. M. She tells them it is unfair they are questioning her. Booth says it is procedure, but she replies by telling him he’s just mad because her son slept with Brennan — a recurring theme with Mrs. M. Booth gets back to the case. Sweets says her relationship with Todd was strained because she took things of his, so much so that Daniel tried to get her to leave the house, which is why she filed a restraining order. Mrs. M says they should talk with Sarah Metzler.
At the lab, Brennan and Finn examine the skeletons again and find part of the occipital bone. The damage to it is not a result of the cremation but instead of blunt force trauma, likely cause of death. Hodgins also tells them he found a small piece of tusk in the remains, over 1000 years old. It is possibly from what Daniel was struck with.
Brennan wonders if the slaughterer’s chalice is possibly the murder weapon. At the diner, Booth and Brennan discuss the case, and Brennan says that messing with art like that is more than just a crime, it is a crime against historical humanity. Booth is just annoyed that billionaire Todd gets tax breaks for his friends. Brennan says it isn’t illegal. Booth insists it is still wrong. Brennan tells him he is a good man. He says it’s not about being good, it’s about being normal — interesting commentary. It is annoying that Booth is constantly being called “a good man” in the series. He is one, but the weird “pat on the well-behaved puppy’s head” vibe that goes along with it is cloying and kind of gross…as gross as when Booth sometimes applauds Brennan for “acting human” or whatever. To me, it is a major writing issue of the past few seasons, where B&B can’t be equal any longer — emotionally or intellectually. If one is being sensible, the other acts as if it’s Nobel-prize worthy instead of just…a normal thing. Moving on.
Booth gets a call about the chalice, and he and Brennan go to question Satimah. She insists she doesn’t deal in stolen artifacts, but Brennan proves her wrong by pointing one out immediately in her store. Booth arrests her.
At the lab, Hodgins has also uncovered some diamond powder, not likely from the chalice.
Booth and Brennan talk to Todd about the slaughterer’s chalice. Brennan asks if he knows Satimah. He knows who she is but has never met her. They find it hard to believe Daniel would spend 50 million without him knowing. Todd said Daniel might have been working for someone else. He insists he is innocent.
Later at home, Booth is annoyed that Todd doesn’t want to play by the rules. He wants Brennan to find something to catch him. Brennan suggests that there are parts of the victim missing and that the rest of the body is probably in the cremation equipment.
Finn, Hodgins and Cam examine the cremation equipment, and they do find additional remains. Cam is able to analyze some tissue to determine that Daniel was also on heroin, and Finn finds out that at some point, Daniel was shot. It’s not cause of death, but when Hodgins is able to find parts of an antique bullet, they can trace it back to an antique gun Todd recently acquired at an auction.
When Booth and Brennan question Todd again, he admits that he accidentally shot Daniel while they were messing around, but that he paid for his medical expenses and gave him a raise. Booth suggests that perhaps Daniel was blackmailing him. Brennan mentions the diamond powder, and Todd is visibly surprised by that. His demeanor changes, and he basically admits to B&B that he is responsible for Todd’s death. He also requests his lawyer, though it’s hard to believe that someone of Todd’s financial stature wouldn’t have had a lawyer with him this entire time.
Booth and Brennan are still suspicious. Brennan wonders if all of the evidence caused him to confess, but Booth doesn’t think that is how Todd is. He still wants Brennan to find evidence against Todd’s mother.
Finn, Hodgins, Angela and Cam discover diamond pieces within Daniel’s bone structure, combined with some sort of lacquer as if from a nail polish. They research and find diamond nail polish as part of a “million dollar manicure” auctioned off in Johannesburg. One of the three lucky winning bids belonged to Sarah Metzler.
The Verdict: B&B bring Sarah in for questioning, and she admits that she was trying to take care of Todd. If Daniel brought him more drugs, Todd would relapse. She was just looking out for him because she loved him.
THE SQUINTS:
I really liked how each of the squints worked the case; it was a great balance of each person’s skills in the lab.
On the personal side, this episode focused on Finn and his relationship with Michelle and some new-found wealth. It appears his hot sauce business with Hodgins has the potential to take off, and he’s finding it hard not to spend his money. Cam and Hodgins both warn him to back off on the extravagant spending, but Finn is confident.
He takes an emotional hit when Michelle breaks up with him. In that moment, I felt very sorry for Finn, and I thought he handled it nicely — it broke my heart, really, because we can see that he has low self-esteem in terms what kind of happiness he thinks he really deserves. It will be interesting to see if that storyline is developed at all. Also interesting is that Finn was assigned the Ghost Killer files to examine — looks like that storyline is coming back on the scene!.
BOOTH AND BRENNAN:
Remember that s3 scene in “The Pain in the Heart,” where Booth and Zach visit Brennan at her apartment to find evidence against Max? There’s a moment where Booth tells Brennan to put her brain in neutral and her heart in overdrive. It makes her laugh, and she tells him “Sometimes I think you’re from another planet…and sometimes I think you’re really very nice.” Booth is kind of dazed in that moment, and it is a nice little scene that showcases their differences.
In this episode, the B&B “differences” between archaeology finds and sports were way too…well, literal, to use a show phrase. Brennan likes scientific finds! Booth likes sports! Argue, argue, bicker, grunt, grunt! Too literal! The show built this relationship up based on the fact that while they often didn’t agree with one another, they could at least respect one another. The respect for one another’s interests was missing in this episode, which made the disagreements petty and grating. It’s all the more frustrating when Booth and/or Brennan have insightful moments with other characters, like the excellent Brennan and Finn scene in this episode. Sure, it is realistic that sometimes the people closest to you are the most frustrating/annoying, but I prefer it when B&B are the most supportive toward one another. I think that is where their strength is, and it is what helps them reach out to others more.
I think there is a balance between lighthearted episodes (vs. the weightier, serious ones) and being foolhardy, and this episode (particularly the end scene) was more of the latter.
What I did like:
• The flirty way Booth tried to get Brennan to confess that she thought the mother was guilty — and how she refused to
• The way B&B worked together in the interrogation room against suspects
Okay, enough from me. What did you like about this episode? What didn’t work? We’re getting down toward the end of the season — what do you think will happen next? The comments are open; speak up!
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Sometimes I wonder if I’m just weird or I’m really watching a different show LOL!! I thought the banter between B&B this week was perfect and so them. I absolutely adore watching them act like a completely normal in love couple and this was front and center in this episode. The love struck glance Brennan gives her husband in the diner being a perfect example of this. There was certainly no disrespect for each other – far from it in fact – I love them like this!! Although we know this is the calm before the storm B&B have never been better IMO – go figure!!
I liked this episode, and I loved to see Booth being protective of his wife when she was called a whore. In general, the bickering between the two of them is always nice too see and I liked the “you can´t name one Flyer player can´t you? banter, showing that Booth has found a way to go with Brennan’s excessive rationalism, which is cool actually. I absolutely adored the glance Brennan gave Booth when she said that he was a good man, there was love in her eyes, so nice to see. As fans we still need to see this interaction between B & B, although they are already married and have been together for a couple of years, we still need to see more…. I guess we will never be able to recover from the sudden season 6 finale and they way how their relationship was handled…
I agree with Deborah 100%. They are perfect with each other. The only thing I would have liked to see was when Booth saw Brennan all dressed up he would have taken her in his his arms telling her how beautifull she looks then kiss her. I can see and feel the love they have for each other, DB & ED make it so believable. Bones is my favoriate TV show I look forward to it every week. I’ll be lost when it is no longer on TV. I know it has to end sometime but I hope that will be long time away.
In general, I thought the episode was good. Certainly, it was much better than last week’s episode, at least until the end scene. For the first time, I actually thought Booth was made into a ridiculous caricature this week. It was like the writer (Pat Charles) was deliberately sucking up to DB by putting in as much Flyers and Stanley Cup references for Booth as he could get away with. The end scene where he grabs the chalice and holds it up in the air like the Stanley Cup was appalling to me. Even if Booth doesn’t understand or relate to Brennan’s love of cultural anthropology, he has always been, at the very least, respectful. Carla Kettner and Josh Berman, who wrote Night at the Bones Museum, would never have dreamed of making Booth act that way. This was just ridiculous. Also, chug bonus for “You’re a good man, Booth” being said in yet another episode.
Great Review Sarah. I liked the case and thought the episode was decent. But the B&B interactions, like you said, were a bit too literal. They used to have such deference for each other and their differences. Now maybe this comes from being a married couple where they don’t have to censure themselves and just say what’s on their mind but we should still be seeing why they like each other. Brennan’s words to Finn were so sweet and it reminded me of DitP.
Personally, I don’t understand why Brennan was calling Booth a good man for being prejudiced about rich people. There was no indication that Todd was actually getting tax breaks that were inappropriate. Booth was being horribly single minded and callous. Its not like Todd was abusing his position to impede the investigation in anyway, he didn’t even get a lawyer. Also, Booth was incredibly insensitive at the funeral by watching a hockey game. To top it off he completely disregards the museum rules by abusing his FBI position to play with the chalice. If a normal person did that they would be arrested or thrown out. How am I supposed to think he is a good man when he was whining all episode about not liking people that think the rules are above them when he does the same thing?
While I agree that the differences between Brennan and Booth’s interest were on the rather obvious side, I thought their banter worked. I didn’t feel like either one of them were being hypercritical or disrespectful of the other’s view. Maybe if they had more of a sense of humor – like the attempt at the end, it would have come across slightly better. ie: teasing. I thought Brennan’s agreement that the photo with the chalice was misplaced (but not as bad as the women scientist calendar girl thing – that was awful), and I would have liked her teasing him about the Stanley Cup.
Probably one of my favorite relationship moments, though, was just before they were leaving for the funeral in the opening scene. “No tribal music, I want to listen to the game.” Ha! I loved the A) teasing moment and B) that Brennan DOES win and they listen to her music when they’re together in the car. It was a fun, fleeting thing that shows more than anything else did.
I feel like the whole “you’re a good man” thing in this episode was planted so obviously as a foreshadowing thing. I’ve seen one or two things that indicate some sort of “who can you trust” kind of thing as the season ends. I liked that Booth finally just said, “it’s more that I’m just a normal person” – because you’re right, enough is enough on that one. Just having Brennan smile at him the way she did was sufficient – we didn’t need the comment.
Casewise… teamwork was good and suspect list was good. Evidence? I had to do some major suspensions of belief in my head for the credibility of all those bits of nothing leading to even the chalice guess.
Loved the Finn story.