Bones: The Killer in the Concrete

(S02E18) Organized crime in West Virginia? Who'd of thunk it! Oh, and cement is actually an ingredient in concrete. That's good to know.

A satisfying episode all around, especially after some of the soap opera that seeped into last week's show. It was Booth's turn to be abducted this time (Bones was kidnapped way back in 'Aliens in a Spaceship', which aired earlier this season.). Nothing as drastic as being buried alive, like Bones and Jack were. Just your normal, everyday abduction and torture. It was good to get away from the usual 'mystery of the week' format, particularly when many of you out there were solving the crimes halfway through the program.

I'll give it to both Seely and Temperance -- they have nerves of steel in times of adversity. Did you see the look on Booth's face while Gallagher was pummeling him? Stone cold, even when Gallagher showed Seely a photo of his son. Now, there's a man for you! And, I know I'm doing something I said I don't like to do, but those torture scenes reminded me of a first season episode of Angel ('In the Dark') where our hero is tortured by Spike and a friend.

On the family front, Brennan's father (played by Ryan O'Neal) returned, eager to talk to his daughter about her mother. When we first saw him back in December we didn't really get a sense of who this person was, since he was disguised as a man of the cloth for most of the show. This time around we got to see who Max Keenan really is. First, he loves his children very much (he remembers that Bones used to love Snickerdoodles). Second, Max was is a ruthless killer. However, according to his rap sheet, it seems that he killed all of the right people. In other words, he didn't kill for killing sake.

When Booth was kidnapped Bones recruited her father to assist in the search for her missing partner. Although she would be aghast to admit it, Temperance has a bit of her father's ruthlessness in her: the way she bitch-slapped the bounty hunter they found in Icepick's room; her casual dismissal of her father suffocating said bounty hunter; the big lie she told the FBI when she discovered Booth's whereabouts. I'm sure Daddy was quite proud of her.

This week had a number of good scenes that gave me gooselet bumps (not as big as goosebumps). One of them took place amongst the squints of the Jeffersonian. I do enjoy when this team of intellects steps away from their computers to think out a piece of evidence. I'm not too sure why, but when Jack and Zach were rattling off the compounds they found and then pieced it all together I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. While we are talking about the squints. . . Angela's holo-tank made a return visit. It's been a long time since we've seen that technological marvel.

The other scene that gave me gooselet bumps was actually the last scene of the episode, and the best one. It was between Booth and Bones, sitting together at the diner. No fighting, no trying to one-up each other. It was actually two friends talking about Bones' ethical dilemma as to what to do the next time her father shows up. During the conversation Temperance mentions the song 'Keep on Tryin' by country-rock band Poco, a song that her father used to sing to her. Booth knows the song and together the two sing a couple of verses. And, when you see Temperance trying to remember some of the words, and then chuckling when she gets them, it just shows the utterly human side to her. She's this extremely intelligent, analytical woman who's still a little girl inside.

No Bones next week. Hopeful this will be the last break before we head into the homestretch of the 2006-07 season. See you in 14 days.