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The Method in the Madness is the fifth episode of the eighth season of Bones.

Synopsis[]

The Jeffersonian team investigates the death of a woman whose body was found mutilated and discarded in a city garbage can. Meanwhile, Booth invites Sweets to stay with Brennan and him while Sweets searches for a new apartment.

Summary[]

A pair of garbagemen go about their business when one recycle bin reveals a rotting corpse. Back at FBI headquarters, Sweets is sleeping on the couch in his office after having recently broken up with Daisy. "Why don't you come and stay at our house for a night or two," Booth says reluctantly. Sweets agrees. Later Booth and Bones then head to the scene of the crime, where the team examines the remains. Bones determines the victim was a female in her 20s. Hodgins determines, based on larvae, that she has been dead for about 36 hours.

At the lab, Camille determines that the poor woman was eviscerated and flayed while alive. She then suggests that Angela reconstruct the victim's face using her actual face, which lays in pieces on the table. Gross. Later, Hodgins starts a pool betting how long Sweets will last in B&B's house. Camille gives it four days. Angela says a month or even much longer. She then scans the pieces of skin and reconstructs them in the computer. Hodgins recognizes the face. "Someone killed the Them Apples applesauce woman," he says.

Booth and Bones head to the small applesauce business to interview the victim's partner, Brooke. She explains that her dead partner had Lupus and was last seen at the free clinic. Brooke then mentions that a nearby butcher named Adam had been acting kind of "stalkery" lately. So Booth and Bones go to meet the butcher, who is an angry hipster artisan with a lot of large knives. He explains that he had been flirting with the victim, but stopped when a large man came into the store and threatened to hurt him if he didn't back off.

Back at the lab, Camille reveals that the victim didn't have Lupus, after all. She was also found with a wad of cash on her. "Was she selling pills?" Hodgins wonders. At B&B's house, Sweets is folding the laundry (including Booth's Captain America undies) when the FBI agent returns home and demands that Sweets come with him to interview Dr. Reese, who worked at the free clinic. He reluctantly explains that the victim came to the clinic each month to be tested for STDs. That, combined with the cash, leads Sweets and Booth to theorize that she was paying for her small business by prostituting herself on the side.

At the lab, Colin, the resident expert on serial killers, has a theory: the murderer is imitating Jack the Ripper. He even finds a micro-fracture that is inconsistent with the rest of the deep blade wounds. Interesting. Back at B&B's house, Sweets is now using Booth's bathtub. The agent is annoyed. There is a knock on the door and Colin enters to show Bones the micro-fractures. "She was restrained," Bones says. It's looking like torture.

At the lab, Camille finds a strange combination of alcohol in the victim's stomach. Hodgins identifies the ingredients as a old-timey kind of gin that also happens to be sold in another artisan shop near the victim's applesauce store. And who owns the store? Dr. Reese. So Bones and Booth look up the doc's record -- and it shows a few hits for solicitation. Bones notes that one of the most popular theories for the identity of Jack the Ripper was a doctor. B&B head to the liquor store and discover Reese, dressed up like Jack and holding a knife, hovering a scantily clad woman tied to a bed. "Drop it!" Booth yells.

Later, Reese explains that it was all "harmless role playing." He had hired the girl. The bad doctor then explains that he paid the victim to do something similar and, because she was nervous about been tied up, gave her some gin. But Reese insists that he didn't kill anybody. In fact, he had let the victim out of her handcuffs when a "250-pound behemoth" kicked in the door and threw him into a closet. The next day, Sweets apologizes to Booth for taking advantage of his hospitality. "I'm looking for an apartment," Sweets says.

The team examines security cameras near the applesauce place and soon spot a giant man lurking near the victim's house. The man, Willis, is soon brought in for questioning. "I did not kill Jess," he tells Booth. "That girl meant the world to me." Turns out that Willis was best friend's with the victim's father and acted as an uncle to the girl. He practically raised her -- and was just trying to protect her. Willis, a banker, promised that he could get investors for the applesauce company so his "niece" could stop prostituting herself.

At the lab, Bones decides that the wounds on the body are just too precise to have been inflicted by a human. It must have been a machine. Bones and Booth head to the applesauce store and find Brooke making the good stuff. Bones spots a huge blender used to cut spices that would have done the job. Brooke breaks down and admits that she shoved her business partner after the victim said she was going sell out to her uncle. The victim accidentally fell into the blender and was killed. Then, Brooke tried to hide her crime in the garbage.

Case closed, but not the episode. Booth and Bones, relax on the couch after putting Christine to sleep. Sweets then enters and announces he has packed his bags and is ready to leave. Bones then invites Sweets to "celebrate" as the final part of his purging ritual after a break up. So she turns on music and begins to "dance" (awfully). Sweets follows suit. "I feel so at home right now!" he declares. Booth grimaces.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Intern of the Week[]

Recurring Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

Quotes[]

  • Brennan: There's something very odd here.
    Angela: Well yeah but you're gonna have to be a little bit more specific than that for those of us who find this entire scenario odd.

Featured Music[]

  • "20th Century Boy" -- T. Rex

Notes[]

  • Squintern Colin Fisher drops facts, primarily about grusome serial killings, in a similar fashion to the now dead Vincent Nigel-Murray.
  • There is a continuity error since Sweets has no scars on his back.


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