BONES Recap: ‘The Source in the Sludge’

Hey BONES fans, let’s welcome the show back to Monday nights! How did you like this episode, “The Source in the Sludge,” with Freddie Prinze Jr. reprising his role as CIA agent Danny Beck?  I liked it for the most part; the case was interesting with compelling suspects and a sympathetic victim, the squint interactions were plausible, and the bicker/banter/work balance for Booth and Brennan was just right. Let’s discuss!

THE CASE

The Scene of the Crime: Two guys attempting to “plant” fish in order to win a fishing competition stumble upon a canvas bag holding a skeleton.  Booth, Brennan, Cam and Hodgins examine the area and skeleton and determine the victim was a woman whose body had been there for approximately 4 days.  They begin to move the canvas bag, and water and a lamprey eel escapes.  Yikes!

The Victim: After identifying a pin in the victim’s leg due to bone surgery, the team traces the serial number from a shipment in Afghanistan. The victim is Sari Nazeri, a teacher who also helped American forces locate terrorists. She was a proponent for education and wanted to be a role model for younger women; she emigrated from Afghanistan to the US with her brother, Aziz.

The Case Progression: Booth and Brennan pay a visit to Aziz, who is shocked to learn Sari is dead. B&B meanwhile are shocked when CIA agent Danny Beck is in Aziz’s home. Aziz accuses Danny of not protecting Sari, and Danny admits to Booth and Brennan that Sari was recruited by the CIA and helped identify a high value target, Ibrahim, whose location was bombed.

At the FBI, Booth, Sweets and Caroline talk with Danny, whose initial hesitance to offer up information annoys them. Danny insists that Ibrahim is dead from the bomb blast, so he can’t be in the US to enact revenge on Sari. Booth is more suspicious, knowing that unless there is a physical body identified, it can never be official that someone is dead.

At the lab, Brennan, Cam, and Daisy determine that Sari’s body was violently dragged, but there is no evidence of bone fracturing or a weapon. Angela pulls up information on Derek Johannesson, the US guard on duty when Ibrahim’s location was bombed.  When Booth and Danny, he says he didn’t have much interaction with Ibrahim, but reveals that people referred to him as The Chameleon — he could blend in anywhere.

Cause of death continues to elude the Jeffersonian team. It seems Sari was tied up for several days before she was killed; there is evidence she attempted to escape her bindings. Hodgins analyzes lamprey droppings and finds a piece of fiber, possibly twine, that includes traces of blood, tissue, and morning glories. Since Aziz is a landscaper, this makes him a prime suspect.

Booth posits this scenario to Danny, who doesn’t buy it. Booth feels like Danny isn’t telling him the whole truth; Danny admits that Aziz and Sari did fight sometimes, but nothing above the normal brother/sister way. Brennan informs them that Aziz’s credit card report lists a recently purchased disposable cell phone used to make calls to Afghanistan, to an Ibrahim supporter, Jamal Ahmad. Danny is surprised, which makes Booth even more suspicious. But Danny insists that Sari was his asset, not Aziz. Booth wants to question Aziz. Brennan wants to come along, and when Danny thinks it might be too dangerous, Booth agrees. Brennan basically tells them to shove it, which was AWESOME!

Aziz runs when they ask him about the phone calls. When they catch him, he admits he was trying to go back to Afghanistan. Danny is shocked, stating that Sari would never want that. When Booth suggests Aziz would never be readmitted to Afghanistan, Brennan posits that if he killed his sister, it would prove his loyalty. Aziz insists he didn’t kill Sari and accuses Danny of not doing his job to protect her and not noticing warning signs that Sari’s behavior was erratic.  Booth and Brennan sort of gang up on Danny as well, and when Danny accuses Brennan of being unhelpful, Booth takes her side — as it should be.

Booth grows increasingly annoyed, sure that Danny knows something he’s not telling them. Sweets and Caroline caution him not to just go out and arrest a CIA agent, but he’s not hearing it. He knows things can happen in a war that people aren’t proud of, but he wants to know the truth.

At the lab, Daisy notices a microscopic v-shaped nick on a rib bone. Hodgins and Angela determine that the wound could only be caused by a high end tactical knife — one part of a special issue assigned only to special forces. The evidence against Danny continues to mount up. Booth approaches him on the street later that night, calling for his gun and knife. Danny plays dumb and says he lost his knife in a move. Booth isn’t buying it and tells him that they know that knife was used to kill Sari. Danny realizes he is actually a suspect and gets angry. He admits he gave Sari the knife. When Booth calls him on it, reminding him that he would never give away something that once saved his life, Danny admits that’s exactly why he did give it to Sari. Booth realizes Danny was in a relationship with Sari. He’s stunned but agrees not to inform the CIA.

It turns out the knife wound was not cause of death. Cam cuts open one of Sari’s eyeballs (read: gross) and uses the eye serum to determine that Sari died of dehydration. Booth, Sweets and Caroline agree that Danny likely wouldn’t kill Sari in that way, and that maybe Ibrahim was getting payback on Sari — perhaps someone in his family was also killed by dehydration as part of the bombing. Meanwhile, Daisy and Cam find some skin tissue in Sari from where she bit her attacker. The analysis indicates a Nordic male. Signs now point to Derek, the US guard.

The Verdict: Derek is guilty, but in exchange for his confession that he was working with the terrorist group to make people think Ibrahim was still alive and information on the terrorist network, he will get to walk free with a hefty financial settlement. This leaves a sour taste in each person’s mouth, especially Booth’s.  He confronts Derek as he’s leaving the FBI. Derek is smug, but Booth lets him know that because the military is paying for his rehab, he is susceptible to being court martialed, and because he aided a terrorist, he will be going to jail.

THE SQUINTS


This episode was pretty standard in terms of the squint actions and interactions. Sweets was good on the case, with Caroline adding her greatness as well. And I love how each of them interacts with Booth and how they worked with Danny.
I really liked the Daisy storyline regarding her oral exams — it was nice to see her have a little humility. I thought her interactions with Sweets really worked; the problems in their relationships occurred when she influenced him negatively, but in this case, he was able to influence her positively by encouraging her to just tell Brennan the truth.

I loved that Brennan understood where Daisy was coming from and even admitted that she’d once failed her oral exams. It was a fun moment of camaraderie that Brennan handled nicely by continuing to hold Daisy to a high standard while praising her success in the lab.  I also liked when Brennan told Daisy that a lot of reasons CIA cover-ups go unsolved is because the bodies don’t end up at the Jeffersonian. It was a nice reminder that at the heart of the show, these people are about getting justice for those who normally don’t have a voice.

Cam, Angela, and Hodgins all did their thing. At this point, Cam’s horrified condescension to a lot of Brennan’s ideas (which are admittedly sometimes outlandish) is as regular as Angela’s is. Thankfully in this episode, Angela turned her “emotional realization/breakthrough midwifery” on Hodgins and not Brennan. Comparing him to the lamprey was a stretch, and while I get that they probably wanted to bring the viewing audience up to speed on what happened with his brother, it didn’t work for me.

BOOTH & BRENNAN

I have enjoyed Freddie Prinze Jr’s time on the show, and I hope there is more of it. Like Aldo, Walter Sherman, and (once upon a time) Sully, it’s nice to see other alpha males in Booth’s world from time to time. Booth isn’t really a friendship kind of guy; that was confirmed earlier this season when he and Brennan talked about who their best friends are. But it is still nice when the show does delve into a little more of his personal life, even if it intersects or originates with his professional one.

There was a lot I enjoyed in the B&B interactions in this episode, including:

•    The idea that Brennan would be annoyed that the insurance company would want to charge her more for life insurance (and Booth’s counterargument that maybe their logic is based on the fact that he’s a trained FBI agent).
•    The way Brennan stood up for herself to Danny and Booth, and the way Booth came around and ultimately stood up for Brennan. I liked toward the end of the episode when Brennan arrives to the observation room, and Booth tells her he wants her there because she is his partner, they solve crimes together, and that’s not about to change.
•    The end scene, where Booth brings some good scotch to share with Brennan. It’s a nice callback to other times they shared drinks after a case as partners, and having it happen in Brennan’s office was a nice switch from their living room. I thought it was very sweet.

Okay, enough from me! What did you think of this episode — what worked and what didn’t? Do you want to see more of Danny’s character?  The comments are open, so discuss!