BONES Season 10 Finale Recap: ‘The Next in the Last’
June 11, 2015 by Sarah Curtis
Credit: Fox
Hey BONES fans! Here we are at the end of season 10! What did you think of this episode, “The Next in the Last” (also sometimes referred to as “The End in the End”)? I would have previously said I didn’t have some internal list of wants/needs for a BONES finale, but now that I’ve seen what COULD have been the series finale, I realize I had/have some expectations. This episode was an exercise in relief and frustration for me; moments I disliked had more weight as I thought “THIS IS HOW THEY WERE GOING TO END THE SERIES?!” but ultimately brought relief because there is another season. (Yay!) What I *did* like was tinged with frustration because what would have been terrific endings now seem hard to top…and so on!
Have you seen the older Adam Sandler movie, BIG DADDY? In it, a surprise party is planned for someone but the wrong people show up first and get the “SURPRISE” yell. The guest of honor shows up a bit later and the reaction is subdued, and the party planner yells to Sandler’s character, “WE WASTED THE GOOD SURPRISE ON YOU!” I loved so many moments in this episode (like the Booth/Caroline scenes), and in last week’s episode (like Brennan and Angela’s conversation) that I couldn’t help feeling, if somehow all of these characters are around next season again, that WE WASTED THE GOOD GOODBYES ON YOU! about these episodes, haha. But of course, if the show HAD ended for good and not done any of this stuff, I would have led the parade to set the internet on fire or whatever. So yes, haha, conflicting emotions. More on this later. For now, let’s discuss the case.
THE CASE
The Scene of the Crime: The team gathers in Adams Park, where a flayed body has been found impaled on an Egyptian obelisk. The work mirrors that of Christopher Pelant, and a flower is found in the victim’s mouth—a warning.
The Victim: Franklin Holt, a computer whiz with possible ties to Pelant.
The Suspects:
- Leelah Strawn, Franklin’s girlfriend. When Aubrey and Booth go to Franklin’s house, they find her there. She is shocked by his death and says it’s possible Pelant was tied to an investment firm Franklin consulted for.
- Owen Ellickson, a security officer/IT rival. When Owen’s boss, Kevin Dunlop, hired Franklin to look at his security systems, Franklin found weaknesses and Owen was fired, giving him motive.
- Kevin Dunlop: The team suspects Pelant used Dunlop’s firm to store the $4.6 billion he stole from Hodgins. If Franklin was getting a piece of it, Kevin could have killed him.
- Duncan Klee, pizza shop employee: Holt frequently ordered the same pizza from the same place, and when his last, uneaten, pizza shows signs of gunpowder residue, it might be connected.
The Case Progression:
The team combs Holt’s home for information, but though there is blood and tissue everywhere, all of the computer drives have completely cleared.
Aubrey questions Owen Ellickson, who says Franklin had it out for him. He also admits to being a fan of Pelant’s work…his hacking skills, that is. He says Dunlop had many shady dealings.
At the lab, Brennan pushes Wendell and Clark toward finding evidence on their own. They can see that while the kerf marks and damage to the skeleton are very similar to Pelant’s work, the killer did show signs of hesitation, likely not having Pelant’s “evil drive.” Daisy also stops by the lab for a quick au revoir to Hodgins and Angela, and she comments on a VHS copy of STRANGE BREW. (Sidenote: STRANGE BREW is a Canadian TV show starring BONES writer/producer Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis. Other sidenote: VHS tapes were the pre-cursors to DVDs!) Angela figures Holt’s data might be encrypted on the VHS tape. Clark and Wendell enlist Daisy’s help on the skeleton. (Which left me hoping she hasn’t left her baby in the Jeffersonian’s coat check or something!)
Booth, Caroline, and Aubrey question Kevin Dunlop. He is cocky and insists he doesn’t have a 4.6 billion dollar account. Aubrey immediately calls shenanigans; he knows how guys like Dunlop work. It’s wordplay, little white lies. Perhaps the account is now at 4.65 billion, etc. He took his own father down; he’ll have no problem taking Dunlop down too. Kevin finally admits the account is gone. The minute Holt was discovered to be dead, the 4.6 billion disappeared.
Booth questions Ellickson again; they have info from Holt’s computer of emails between the two of them and great admiration for Pelant’s work. Booth figures Ellickson knew about the money and killed Franklin for it. Owen admits he was part of the scam; Franklin was scamming Dunlop and wanted his help hacking into the servers, and he was to get a cut of the money. After all, Pelant’s money was dirty, so what did it matter? “The judge will explain all of that when you’re sentenced,” Booth tells him. Good one.
Angela’s theory about the encrypted data on the STRANGE BREW VHS was correct, but she also knows it will take her months to get through all of it. Brennan continues to push Clark, Wendell, and Daisy toward figuring out what clues the skeleton can provide, and they realize the killer didn’t necessarily have hesitation in their actions but instead suffered from a loss of range of motion. This will greatly help them identify the killer.
When Hodgins does one final experiment and finds traces of gunpowder in the pizza box, Booth and Aubrey visit the pizza restaurant. Duncan is at the desk and he admits Franklin always ordered the same thing and had it delivered. But on the night he was killed, there was no delivery; instead, someone came in and picked it up. The team is able to view security footage from the restaurant. Brennan once again pushes her team to put the clues together, and they do—the person who picked up the pizza is a woman. Brennan agrees and says it is Holt’s girlfriend, Leelah. Angela is shocked by the girlfriend title: in all of Holt’s data and emails, he never once mentioned a girlfriend. They realize Leelah was lying about her relationship with Franklin.
Angela is able to track Leelah to a train yard, and Booth and Aubrey go to apprehend her. Another sidenote: David Boreanaz’s “Sorry I’m late” as he hopped on the moving train was so funny and Boothy, aka Booth can still get it. Leelah is elusive for a bit (and even uses a taser on Aubrey), but they eventually catch her.
The Verdict: Unconfirmed, but assumed, as Leelah is arrested.
EVERYTHING ELSE:
Reliefs (but ultimately frustrating):
- Like I said above, I LOVED the Booth and Caroline scenes; oh my gosh, those were so satisfying to me. Caroline has always been a motherly-type figure for Booth, and seeing her pride in him (and him soaking it in) was so good. But it was so good, they can’t possibly bring Booth back to the FBI and work with her, right? Love hurts.
- I loved that Daisy, Wendell, and Clark all worked this case (and that other squinterns didn’t). The way they (and later Arastoo) got into the stories were a little cheesy, but ultimately worked in the spirit of a finale.
- I did like the scene where Booth tells Brennan he is also going to leave the FBI. Mixed feelings on Booth’s motivations for it, especially because he still says he’s had some major screw ups lately. Again, in terms of an addiction and character development, that seems somewhat harsh toward himself. Words have meanings! But I liked when Brennan suggested moving to Kansas and he recommended just having a baby and living a happy life (and Brennan loved that idea!). First of all, yeah—no one is moving to Kansas on this show. (No offense Kansans!) Secondly, sorry Christine—you’re not mentioned; you’re out! Contact your brother Parker with any questions, haha. But more seriously, I don’t know how GA processes work, but I feel like uprooting your entire life and making huge life/job decisions is kind of dangerous. Then again, if the job is the trigger (but we’ll never know!), it is probably good?
- I liked the Booth/Aubrey heart-to-heart, but like the rest of the goodbyes, it just makes me wonder what the show will possibly do next season. So, while very sweet, it was tinged with uncertainty
- I liked the end scene with the hugs, but it did leave me wanting a little bit in terms of B&B. Creator Hart Hanson has sometimes teased what he’s had in mind for the show’s ending. Was it really B&B walking out of the lab with one box while the rest continue? Possible…but for me, it was somewhat frustrating that (due to scheduling or Emily Deschanel’s real life pregnancy or whatever) there were only a couple of B&B scenes in this episode and they were both so casual about leaving in the end. Again, I’m relieved that there are more episodes (and B&B moments presumably) to come, but slightly miffed that this ultimate ending and case etc. (including Booth…with chickens?) even could have been a possibility in the first place.
Frustrations (but ultimately relieved)
- We can see that, for the most part, B&B have resolved any issues between them. I was fine with this, though it is sort of annoying. But it’s also fun being right that the show would likely just move on from the gambling storyline for the most part. I’m not proud of that reaction, haha. Okay, maybe a little proud! I thought Brennan using Booth’s job in Germany as evidence that he should be on board with a change was off. “Remember how good you felt about that?” Booth says nothing, but what I hope he was thinking was, “Um, no, that was a government set up that landed me in prison and our friend dead, so I’m gonna pass on that.” Again, it was weird in this episode, but hopefully meaningless in the long run.
- I’m in the “please stop bringing Pelant up” camp, so it was annoying that he was brought up one last time in this finale. Like, of all the storylines on this show—that is the one you feel needs more time dedicated to it? I thought there had to be a lot of “hey, remember when Pelant did this?” exposition, which took away from the flow. But, if B&B are truly done and won’t focus on Pelant at all, I guess it doesn’t matter?
- I have zero problems with Brennan not wanting to be in the field or at the Jeffersonian any longer, but I do have a problem with the way they basically de-clawed her in this episode.
- Instance one occurred at Holt’s house when Aubrey and Booth arrived, and Aubrey said he couldn’t believe Brennan used to do it. Um, do *what* exactly? Work cases? Go to suspects’ homes with Booth (and his gun?) In the words of Angela, Sweetie please. Why, in the whole stretch of this season, is he just saying this now? Good on Booth for sort of disregarding it, but it was indicative of a greater problem—which is that the writers are manipulatively telling us what we should be thinking/feeling about Brennan.
o The second instance was how Brennan acted toward Clark, Wendell, and Daisy—specifically how overly dramatic she was about her teaching abilities based on their failures/successes. Her “I’ve always planned to turn over this role to a qualified group of people” doesn’t hold up because, while she certainly has trained them all throughout these years, she has never really mentioned it as part of a succession plan. And it then became this weird aggression toward them, like “well, prove your worth then,” which was sad (especially considering it could be the final scenes with them?). And, why would the Jeffersonian be as involved with cases if Booth isn’t with the FBI any longer? The B&B partnership is the entire nucleus of that whole plot.
- Instance one occurred at Holt’s house when Aubrey and Booth arrived, and Aubrey said he couldn’t believe Brennan used to do it. Um, do *what* exactly? Work cases? Go to suspects’ homes with Booth (and his gun?) In the words of Angela, Sweetie please. Why, in the whole stretch of this season, is he just saying this now? Good on Booth for sort of disregarding it, but it was indicative of a greater problem—which is that the writers are manipulatively telling us what we should be thinking/feeling about Brennan.
- Again, I have no problem if she organically doesn’t want to be in the field or at the lab any longer (and there is some evidence of the field at least, no question), but the heavy handed character analysis from other characters or even through Brennan’s speech herself is tiresome. This of course is from the same writers who, between seasons 6 & 7, told the audience (through the show and/or the press) that we shouldn’t WANT to see B&B together as a couple in the early days because couples are annoying. DO NOT TELL ME WHAT TO THINK OR FEEL ABOUT THEM. And DO NOT take away some of Brennan’s historically core qualities just to fit some new plot. If writers have to constantly tell us about a character’s actions or motivations, they’re doing it wrong. So that this was, basically, how they wanted the entire series to end for Brennan—well, that fired me up! That it’s NOT the end of the series for Brennan cooled me back down. Yay?
- In theory, the Cam/Angela/Brennan conversation was good, but there were some annoying moments. I loved the Angela/Brennan part, but I thought Cam was a little aggressive toward Brennan there. To recap, Brennan apologized and asked forgiveness for a) having a conversation with her best friend, and b) Cam essentially eavesdropping on it. Not cool. Also did not love Cam then telling Hodgins about it, and him saying the lab is Brennan’s life. No to both. But again, none of it matters now, haha.
- I was torn about Angela and Hodgins not moving to Paris. On the one hand, if it had been the series finale, I absolutely would have wanted them to go and move on! Because it’s not, I was okay with how their story ended, but I think this is absolutely the last time they can play this Paris card with them. And they had such beautiful goodbyes!!!! And now what, Hodgins has one last experiment again? It was all bittersweet. The Hodgins/Angela storyline was handled the best of all of them, so at this point, it seems hard to believe it will be topped next season (or beyond). Not a bad thing, just strangely bittersweet!
Ultimately, this episode is just somewhat of a bridge between the seasons. I am not sure how the show will bring characters and plot back, but I am genuinely excited to see what they come up with in season 11. Additionally, it is refreshing to me that Booth and Brennan are not at emotional odds with one another during this break. So for me, it will be a summer of curiosity and not angst, and I’m glad for that.
Thanks to every person who has come around to GMMR to read and comment on these reviews this season; it has been filled with many great episodes and moments, and it’s been a pleasure discussing them with you. See you in season 11!
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I really liked your analysis Sarah. I agreed with most of it. I don’t think the ‘best’ good byes are the ones we’ve seen. They were pretty good but I would hope if the writers really know the show is ending, they will give us better than what we got. I thought this episode was very weak on the B&B dynamic. The hugs were nice, but she walked out of the lab without even taking his arm! They shared very little about how they felt about their past or their future during the episode. And when it comes down to the end, I’m mainly interested in Booth and Brennan. That’s why I’m still here anyway. The ensemble just isn’t that important to me. I’m bad that way.
I was surprised that they opened with yet another ‘previously on bones’ blurb that basically wrapped up the gambling ‘arc’ in 30 seconds. That about sums up my frustrations with that story, it gave us nothing of substance. imo No in depth expression of feelings between the stars. I didn’t feel that Booth saying he had made some major screw-ups lately was harsh. Considering we only saw one episode where he was honest about his problem and wasn’t deluding himself. I want him to continue to be honest about it and not forget about it any time soon! I notice Brennan has not worn the necklace he gave her since she learned about his problem. I would have liked to hear a discussion about that. The first gift of jewelry we’ve ever seen him purchase for her! Booth was excited about going to Germany last year. It wasn’t until it progressed further that the bad side surfaced.
I don’t see an issue with them return next season. There will be a ‘special’ case of some sort. This episode called me back to the s5 finale, and I expect something akin to s6 premiere as the return. I do hope we get a glimpse in the premiere of this other life that B&B created before they are called back to DC! I don’t believe they are going to Kansas either. But the NSA was an interesting option for Booth I thought. Or I could see them at some dig somewhere having a bit of a second honeymoon and enjoying their kids. What a learning experience for Christine!
I too am relieved there are more episodes! This was just not a satisfying ending of the series for me.
I’m glad this wasn’t the series finale because when that happens, I want to feel something, not be disappointed. I know they were between a rock and a hard place with everything so up in the air. This whole season has made me take a look at some things, mainly for me because this has been the hardest season of Bones for me to watch. The only reson i can think of is that there was so little Booth and Brennan in it, especially early on. At on time I even wondered if David and Emily were at odds with each other and they were purposefully not writing scenes for them. Then there was the extra long winter hiatus. i have a friend who was nnot put off by it. She evidently watches for a diierent reason than i do. So, it’s a bit embarrassing at my age to admitt the emotional attachment I developed for them. i know it’s just a TV show. It affected my mood for days when there was nothing in a show that i wanted to rewatch over and over. Along those lines I usually have a whole season of Bones lined up to rewatch over the summer. I think this season I have 7 and only one of those will I want towatch from beginning to end(10×21).
Going into season 11 I hope they can reset and focus on Booth and Brennan and their relationship. I hope we can have more touching, teasing, hugging, etc. Maybe they can keep the camera angles wide enough we can see it, touching a leg, holding a hand.
I remeber David saying one time in an interview that he would like to play a really old Booth. Maybe in season 11 they can have them on an anniversary after they have loved each other for 30 or 40 or 5o years looking back.and show us some of the things we missed- the pillow talk after Brennan crawled into bed with Booth when Vincent died or when she ask him to stay the night with her after he had moved out for his gambkig relapse, a converstion about Hannah( there had to be one), 4:47, trials they had raising their kids, kids getting married, Booth’s wedding vows that he tore up, sharing some of the emotions they lived through while separted-gravedigger, brennan on the run, Booth in prison, why Booth thought he relapsed, why he lied, Brennan’s loss of trust in him( I am glad they didn’t go there whne he came home late from work), Booth’s “you are my home” to brennan. That in my mind would be a great send off. Based on the last few episodes, not including the finale, i am cautiously optimistic about season 11.
Paige, my friend, you just said everything that I have been saying ALL SEASON LONG-word for word!! I am the same way, only I cannot come up with 5 episodes this season that I care to see again – my DVR is emptier than it has ever been! I fast forward every episode to get to the B&B scenes, which means I have seen (maybe) a total of an hour and half of Bones this season (when I watch at all)! Sadly; as you said, even those scenes have not been the best quality – due to the lack of intimacy and poor camera angles when there is actually a tiny morsel of romance! No Booth & Brennan = BOREDOM!! To me, that relationship is more important than the cases! If they are not together, the cases are not as interesting. Aubrey has been nothing but a useless scene thief. Even Sarah wants to see more B&B scenes! I am glad to see that I am not the only one who has been totally disgusted with this “milestone” season!
Totally agree Paige and Diane! Turn this show around with more B&B next season. Booth is back in the house without so much as an ” I’m sorry” out of his mouth for gambling. Why cause so much hurt and conflict without doing the work to mend them back even stronger than they started?
I get not having a renewal may have hurt the story line, but SN knew he was taking that very risk when he started the gambling at the end of the season just so he could likely create some cliff hanger. Well SN gambled and lost. It was a very disappointing story in my eyes. Left me not thinking very highly of Booth frankly. And I don’t like that when B&B are the ONLY reason I’m still watching this show!
I am just so frustrated with Bones at the minute…Stephen Nathan’s vision of Bones of showcasing every character that is not B&B is not the reason why Bones is on air for 10yrs, this is what happened all season and he continued it into NOT!series finale too. WTF man?….As a Bones fan from day one I find this ep insulting that he thought that this could be a possibility to do a potential finale like this with B&B only having 10 minutes of screentime together. This was B&B last case together, yet we didnt even see them working the case together, there was no meaningful B&B scenes showing how much their 10 partnership meant to them, how life changing it was to them – there was nothing. Compare this to the last case senario in the season 5 finale, where we saw B&B emotionally connect to them not working together for a while, their LAST CASE meant something and compare this to the emptyiness of the S10 finale – they didnt even give us one last B&B closing the case interrogation scene…Booth & Brennan work partnership is just as important to nourish & showcase as is their personal partnership, there has been no balance between the two this season NONE…I get that Emily was pregnant but they did not utillized her scenes very well throughout the season, I dont need to see endless Brennan lab scenes when she could easily do sit down interrogation scenes with Booth that ARE NOT taxing to do…B&B are suppose to be the center of the Bones not pushed to the margins.
The actual case in this finale was a HOT MESS…I cant believe that two showrunners wrote it tbh…It was established that the killer had crippled wrists, now tell me how she was able to kill the victm, move him, truss & tie him up…then go on to beat the living snot out of Aubrey, who granted was so pathetic & cartoonish in that scene, a 5yr old girl could take him down…but anyhoo, you see my point? And why even tie Pelant into the murder, WHAT WAS THE POINT, to get Hodgins back his money, to show Pelant in a creepy video? It made little sense….was this best they could do for NOT!Series finale case EVER?….I am sick to death of Aubrey, never in my TV life have I ever seen a new character get so much air time, to get showcased so much to the deteriment of everyone else…does John Boyd have sex tapes of Stephen Nathan/Writers? must be some reason why he has to be in EVERY FBI scene, when David is onset doing interrogations Aubrey/Boyd does NOT need to be in them too…stop shoving this character down my throat…I feel like 3/4 of this season has been like watching a spinoff show called Aubrey, and going by the 1m Nielsen viewers switching off since S10 premier they arent impressed by it either…Also I felt like the writers were taking shots at Brennan in the field, she did field work for 9yrs with an armed ex-sniper FBI Agent, she is trained in marshal arts, she is NOT a damsel in distress, dont try & justify Aubrey on the show by disrespecting B&B history as partners
I agree wholeheartedly with Amy; I was thinking the same thing about the lack of meaningful B&B scenes in the finale! It has been that way all season! However; since they did not know whether or not this would be the last episode, there should DEFINITELY have been more Booth and Bones TOGETHER! As usual, there was NO romance at all – no hugs, no kiss, no touches at all to satisfy the many disgruntled fans that have been STARVING for some B&B AFFECTION!! It seems more important to them to shove Aubrey in every scene! Never in my life have I despised a character so much! These showrunners are the very best in the business at omitting 99% of the meaningful milestone B&B moments! Their solution to many of these moments is “Let’s do a TIMEJUMP, or simply leave it out of the script!!” I am already disgusted with the beginning of season 11; because once again, we are going to miss out on a wonderful, milestone B&B moment – the birth of their second child!! Most people want to see the emotional, intimate, loving, tender scenes between their beloved LEAD CHARACTERS!!! This is certainty true when fans had to wait for over half a decade to see them become a couple in the first place (NOT THAT WE ACTUALLY GOT TO SEE THAT MOMENT – OR EVEN THEIR FIRST REAL UNINHIBITED KISS)!! Sadly, I now see this show’s identity as “the world of missed (omitted) special moments. Most of the romance that we have gotten to see is between the wrong characters, instead of the two that drew us to the show to begin with. Now, when we see B&B together, it is usually a “ho-hum” scene instead of a meaningful partnership scene, or an “I love you and I am so grateful that we finally found our way to each other after all of the hardships and misunderstanding” scene. There are so many ways that Booth and Brennan could show their love and devotion besides an X-rated sex scene – although some nice, romantic hugs and kisses once in while would not kill them, and it would certainly make a lot of fans happy!! After so many awesome, successful years with David and Emily in the driver’s seat, fans have grown attatched to them, and this 10th season has been a bitter pill to swallow. This should have been one of the best “milestone” seasons any show has ever had, with maximum effort and the best writing ever (to show appreciation to fans). Instead, it appeared to me like “Let’s just pass it off to the supporting cast and get through it”. Sickening!!
So right on with your review. So much about this episode was wrong and really it went along with what was wrong with whole season. The case was terrible and bringing up Pelant again. For a show that doesn’t generally look back and usually lets go of things and more importantly their earlier serial killers, Nathan has a fixation on him that boggles me. The fact that after 20 minutes into the show Booth decided to quit( after not much thought, you are dead on correct that that kind of change isn’t good for recovering addict. I am inclined to believe Booth and Brennan didn’t leave D.C. area). So you would have thought Booth and Brennan would have worked the case more at least at the FBI( they most certainly could have had Emily doing scenes there, sitting down). No we get a total of TWO scenes between the shows LEAD actors and absolutely no emotion between them. No hugging no kissing no NOTHING. When I watched this it certainly didn’t feel like a series finale to me because almost none of the show was focused on Booth and Brennan. Aubry was mostly leading the case and his scene at train was awful, especially when you compare that to what David Boreanaz did last year with shootout at house. Angela and Hodgins story was stupid( really they would give all that money away just because Pelant stole it. Doesn’t Hodgins have a brother who needs care at a long term facility, which costs lots of money? Even their newfound wealth does not justify this plot). Cam was fine but I agree she was a little harsh with Brennan. I did like the scenes with Brennan’s interns but I agree she was never mentoring them to take over for her. Lazy writing that these writers cannot respect Booth and Brennan’s past. And of course you are right on about how the show WILL actually end now that they have done this one. Just not a good episode and if it had been a series finale, it was awful. I am very concerned about this show going forward that Booth and Brennan will be sidelined to supporting characters instead of PARTNERS and a COUPLE who are the CENTER. Hopefully Bones will get back on track and we get a better season. Almost every season of Bones I can watch a lot of their episodes over and over. Not this season. And not for nothing this years ratings really do reflect fans unhappiness. Are you listening FOX and new show runners? I hope so. Terrible end to terrible season