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The Rocker in the Rinse Cycle is the nineteenth episode of the fifth season of Bones.

Synopsis[]

Booth and Brennan investigate a death at a rock-n-roll fantasy camp where the murder weapon is a Gibson ‘57 Les Paul “Black Beauty.”

Summary[]

A body is found in the soapy suds of an industrial washing machine at a hotel, and the team is called on to investigate. After collecting the bits and pieces of the body, Cam identifies the victim as male. After bringing the remains back to the lab, the team finds a hole in the victim's bone which suggests the beginnings of oral cancer. The victim must have enjoyed smoking cigars. The victim also has a lot of compression fractures, which suggests that he was extremely active in extreme sports like rock climbing. The victim is also missing a testicle. The found testicle surprises Booth when they are investigating the crime scene, at which point he thought it was an eyeball.

Meanwhile, Cam is trying to locate a gynecologist for Michelle, and she settles on Dr. Paul Lidner, who seems to be an good choice.

The victim's second prosthetic testicle is found in the remnants from the washing machine, and from the serial number on the silicone, the victim is ID'ed as Richard Cole, millionaire businessman. Richard attended fantasy camps for his birthday every year, and this past year he'd attended a rock 'n roll fantasy camp. The camp is run by Simon Graham, a famous rock star.

Booth and Brennan go to the camp and start investigating. They speak to a purple-haired camper named Gino who points them to Simon. Gino explains that Simon and Richard were fighting with each other. Simon is brought in for questioning. Sweets is asked to observe the interrogation, and says that Simon believes Richard to be a faker and a poser. Richard was said to have blackmailed Simon to perform with Erik Dalton (another famous rock star) or else Simon's nightclub, the Stockyard, would be shut down. Sweets also notes that he's pleased that Brennan and Booth are both happy with their respective partners.

Arastoo and Angela look at a piece of bone Hodgins picked out from the remains. The bone is from a woolly mammoth, and it's IDed as a part of a guitar pick. Erik is shown to have some anger management issues which culminated in him assaulting a fan at a concert years ago. Erik is in his hotel room where Booth and Brennan question him. Erik knew that Richard was a poser and when the man stopped coming to practice, Erik wasn't too concerned. When Erik's violent past is brought up, he points out that he's been sober for two years. There's signs of a struggle in the hotel room, and the carpet contains blood. Erik says that the fantasy campers got a little rowdy in the room. He allowed them to stay there, however, when he left to meet his girlfriend.

Michelle thinks she'll get along with Dr. Lidner, which relieves Cam. Then the doctor calls Cam in to talk with her in private, and he asks her out on a date. She accepts gladly.

Richard appears to have been beaten to death, and Angela and Arastoo attempt to figure out the murder weapon. Cam says the sample of blood from Erik's room contains two types of DNA, the victim's, and presumably the killer's.

Booth is getting into the rock 'n roll moment, loosening up and wearing his tie (a gift from Catherine) around his head. Having convinced Brennan to join him and sing "Hot Blooded," despite the disastrous consequences last time they listened to it (he got blown up), Booth and Brennan get up on stage. While she plays electric guitar to Booth's vocals, Brennan receives a message, the other person's DNA has been ID'ed. It's Fred Keaton, and he's brought in as a suspect. Fred is a camper who wanted to be discovered as a great guitarist. During the interrogation, he explains a reporter from Rolling Stone had come up to him, telling him he was going to put Fred in a story he was writing. Female groupies had come fawning over him and Fred became very excited about the prospect of becoming a rock star. Only it turns out it was all a big prank concocted by Richard Cole. Yes, that was Fred's blood they found. He'd gotten in a fight with Cole, but he didn't kill him. Fred had left the camp instead, to do "damage control" with his wife.

Angela, as the daughter of Billy Gibbons, gleefully IDs the murder weapon as a rare Les Paul guitar, worth over a quarter of a million dollars. She is appalled that someone would use one to kill someone else. A local guitar dealer says that a young woman with a pierced eyebrow came to him with the guitar. The woman happens to be Bebe, who says she went into Richard's room and stole the guitar because she was mad at him for breaking up with her.

Sweets thinks that Richard was more enamored with the life of a rock star (with its focus on girlfriends and glamour) than the actual creation of the music. And since the culprit returned the guitar to its place after bludgeoning Richard with it, the culprit must care a lot about music. Arastoo and Hodgins take apart the guitar (Angela can't watch), checking for clues. Meanwhile Cam goes on her date with Dr. Lidner, and has a good time. Michelle is okay with her mother dating, but she's not okay that the man happens to be her gynecologist. She requests that Cam try to find her a new one.

The guitar has been cleaned completely and restrung, however, after taking it apart, Hodgins sees that there is a piece of purple hair on the guitar. Gino is performing at the fantasy camp concert at the hotel, but after he leaves the stage, Gino is taken to jail, claiming that it was worth it. After the case, Brennan and Booth are at Founding Fathers, as they celebrate the successful closing of another investigation and their ongoing partnership.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Intern of the Week[]

Recurring Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

Featured Music[]

  • "Hot Blooded" - Foreigner

Notes[]

  • Michael Des Barres has not only been an accomplished actor since the 1960s but he is indeed an authentic rock singer known for having fronted several bands (Silverhead, Detective, Chequered Past, Power Station) as well as writing "Obsession", a hit single for Animotion. He is also a British marquis.
  • Josh Todd is the lead singer of Buckcherry.

Quotes[]

  • Brennan: It appears that our victim was in the habit of injuring himself annually in a variety of risky behaviors.
    Cam: So the guy with one gonad actually had balls.
  • Sweets: So you two seem to be handling dating very well. I'm impressed.
    Brennan: You've known me for two years, Sweets. You should expect to be impressed by me.
  • Booth: You hear that?! This is our song! Remember? "Hot Blooded"?
    Brennan: Last time we sang that song, Booth, someone tried to kill you.
    Booth: Yeah, but it was fun up until the blast, right? Come on!


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The Predator in the Pool
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The Witch in the Wardrobe
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CharactersSeason 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12
CategoriesMain Characters ·  Relationships


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