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‘Bones’ recap – The Truth in the Myth

By Wayne Hall Apr 15, 2011, 5:41 GMT

03/19/2011 - Emily Deschanel - 25th Anniversary Genesis Awards - Arrivals - Hyatt Regency Century Plaza - Los Angeles, CA, USA © Tommaso Boddi / PR Photos

If you’re a “myth-killer,” you’d better be certain the myth you’re trying to expose doesn’t come back to bite you.
 
Here’s this episode’s summary from tv.com: “The remains of a man who hosted a mythbuster program are found in a West Virginia wilderness, along with rumors of his death by Chupacabra and the presence of his rival from another show. Things only get more complicated after a video surfaces that puts paid to the theories of the crime. Back at the lab, Vincent Nigel-Murray has returned and combines his duties with working his Step 9, which results in some startling revelations.”
 
First thing to mention is how funny the opening sequence is.  A guy and a girl who have met on the Internet go out looking for butterflies, but find a dead body lurking underneath them. Their reaction was funny and surprising. ‘Bones’ does a great job of mixing humor with the mystery, and this is a prime example of that.
 
Second, Vincent Nigel-Murray’s need to confess his past sins was very reminiscent of the first episode of NBC’s ‘St. Elsewhere,’ in which Dr. Ben Samuels has to go and tell every one of his sexual conquests that he’s come down with a disease. You could do worse than to steal from my favorite medical drama ever. And the squint’s constantly telling his friends that he was having hot sex with the women at the Jeffersonian was a funny running gag.
 
But the vast majority of this week’s episode focuses on the death of a cable ‘mythbuster,’ who specializes in ridiculing those who believe in the odd and supposedly unexplainable.
 
Of course, Brennan loves the concept because she doesn’t believe there are such things as Yeti, the Loch Ness monster or a chupacabra. However, she’s thrown a curve ball by Booth who says he’s actually seen a Yeti. Brennan has to work hard to come up with an explanation for what Booth says he looked at. In the end, though, Booth confesses (much like Nigel-Murray) that he was only trying to show her that just because something can be explained doesn’t necessarily make it real.
 
Again, I noticed how much screen time Dr. Sweets is getting, being used more and more to interview potential murder suspects and using psychology to trick them into revealing things. I still feel Sweets is the most-improved character on the show.
 
But one of the highlights of the hour was seeing Jo Anne Worley, who has literally decades of acting in comedy shows, animation and dramas play a psychic who can communicate with pets. I would have liked it if we had seen more of her, but it was very cool just to see her play an off-center potential suspect. She’s still a lot of fun to see on-screen.
 
The mystery is a good one, and the solution isn’t as upfront as last week’s was. I won’t spoil it, but it makes good sense. This time, we don’t hear the culprit explain why the murder took place--one of the team does that in the restaurant afterwards. It’s good to mix that up as often as one can.
 
Again, another fun hour of intrigue and character--a good ‘Bones’ all around!
 
Next week, the episode is titled, “The Finder.” When the corpse of a security guard is found in Florida's Everglades shortly after the attempted robbery of a piece of a 17th century nautical chart fragment at the maritime museum where he worked, Booth calls on Walter Sherman for assistance in the case. Sherman, whose reputation as a man with an extraordinary ability to locate anything is well-deserved, provides invaluable assistance, but that doesn't help Booth warm up to him. Conversely, Brennan has no trouble working with Sherman's partner Ike as they pair their skills to solve the case.