The Body and the Bounty is the fourth episode of the sixth season of Bones.
Summary
A decomposing skull, hands, and hair are discovered in the trash by a couple who were dumpster diving for free food. The team is called in to investigate, and the victim is identified as a bounty hunter. Hodgins finds insect samples and traces of BBQ sauce in the hair, which shows where the victim was before his death. The rest of the body is found by a cadaver dog in the location specified shortly thereafter.
Meanwhile, Bunsen Jude the Science Dude, (A parody of Bill Nye the Science Guy) the host of a popular children's science show aimed at kids is tries to convince Brennan to appear on his show but Brennan refuses, thinking that she wouldn't appeal to kids. Jude then makes her an offer: if he's able to help solve their current case, she goes on the show. Brennan agrees to the deal but she is still skeptical.
Jude thinks that the cause of death was something small like a bullet entering right into the victim's heart, but there is no tissue damage to indicate a projectile. The cause of death turns out not to be a bullet, but a piece of the victim's rib. Jude and Hodgins then build rib replicas to figure out what kind of weapon would be able to create that much damage. Later Brennan notices that the ribs on the victim were injured, but had healed somewhat. He was hit in the chest at least a week before his death. Finally Jude builds a potato gun, which seems to match with the victim's injury.
Booth and Brennan discover that the victim was tracking down a dangerous criminal named Charles Braverman, and they suspect that he killed the bounty hunter. Braverman has a wife named Molly, so Booth and Brennan go to speak with her, thinking that they should warn her that Charles may go after her. However, once they're at Molly's, they spot Braverman, who escapes out a window. Booth gives chase but his way is blocked by a bounty hunter named Janet, who is also after Braverman.
Later Booth receives surveillance footage of a bar fight where the victim was hit in the ribs with a pool cue. The culprit is discovered to be the victim's boss, who accused him of cheating. The boss also has proof that Molly is not as innocent as she seems, and is helping Braverman of her own free will. Recalling that Braverman was injured when he leapt through the window, Brennan reasons he must be at a hospital getting medical attention somewhere in the area. As Booth and Brennan arrive at a hospital to apprehend Braverman, they run into Janet, who uses a beanbag gun to take him down. Figuring the beanbag gun to be a close match for the velocity of a potato gun, she killed the victim because they were both after Charles and she wanted to keep the reward money all to herself. Afterwards, Brennan shows up on Jude's show to recite the Scientists' Motto.
Cast
Main Cast
- Temperance Brennan - Emily Deschanel
- Seeley Booth - David Boreanaz
- Jack Hodgins - T.J Thyne
- Angela Montenegro - Michaela Conlin
- Camille Saroyan - Tamara Taylor
- Lance Sweets - John Francis Daley
Guest Intern
- Professor Bunsen Jude - David Alan Grier
Guest Cast
- Gregory Gering - Thomas Kopache
- Dylan - Greg Cipes
- Maggie Magregor - Kathy Byron
- Soleil - Mimi Michaels
- Molly Braverman - Corinne Reilly
- Janet LeBlanc - Lisa Marcos
Notes
- Bunsen Jude is likely based on Bill Nye, "the Science Guy", who hosted a similar children's show in the 1990s which won nearly 20 Emmy Awards.
- Bunsen Jude is mentioned again in The Bikini in the Soup, when he calls Brennan and asks her out for Valentine's Day, but is turned down.
- The "The Lab" sign in the background of Bunsen Jude's set is the same sign seen in the "The Lab" nightclub owned by dream-Booth and dream-Brennan in The End in the Beginning
I don't know what that means
Quotes
"It's a barbarity that clarity is a rarity." -Bunsen Jude the Science Dude
"Bring merriment to your experiment." -Camille Saroyan