By Kimberley Veart
Before its Thanksgiving hiatus, Bones offers up an episode to tug at the heartstrings. Daisy (Carla Gallo) returns, heavily pregnant and about to give birth to her child with the recently departed Sweets. The Jeffersonian team is concerned about her during this vulnerable time, especially as she seems to be acting strangely, preaching the spiritual birthing practices recommended by her doula to the sceptical squints.
Daisy is at work to help solve a crime of course, which this week was a body found in a fracking pit. The team discovers that acid is eating the remains, which sends Brennan into a panic about the evidence being compromised. She looks on in horror as Hodgins makes the risky decision to dump baking soda on the remains, which does ultimately save them from further decay.
Identifying the victim occurs quickly due to evidence of a rare surgery on the skull, as the episode title suggests, he was a crossword puzzle maker. We learn that Cam is apparently a huge fan of his crossword puzzles, even having his autograph. Untangling the victim’s life proves difficult as there are many secrets being kept, from his own suffering of Alzheimer’s to his assistant using his accounts for gambling. Of course the mention of gambling means the episode has to have at least one scene to remind us of Booth’s gambling addiction struggles. This storyline seems a bit over used and tacked on at this point, but it does give Aubrey a chance to be assertive and challenge his superior.
Angela is very concerned that Daisy might be having a nervous breakdown, and charges Brennan with telling her how ignorant she is for believing all the spiritual advice from her doula. Brennan performs this task a little too eagerly, perhaps. Things take a turn when Daisy starts having contractions at work, and the whole team rushes to be with her at the hospital. Shouting and letting it all out at last, Daisy quickly gets rid of the doula and insists that her Jeffersonian family is all there. Booth makes a couple of efforts to escape, looking supremely uncomfortable and awkward which is quite amusing.
Brennan comes through as her key support, talking Daisy through the case to distract her. They put the pieces of the puzzle together, figuring out that the killer must have been a relative of the victim. Aubrey, holding down the fort at the FBI, finds the victim’s son. He turns out to be the man they had previously brought in for questioning thinking he was a stalker. It is discovered that when the victim didn’t remember his biological son, who had been adopted as a baby, a confrontation occurred leading to the victim’s death. It is all too tragic when Aubrey has to break to the son that his father had Alzheimer’s.
In the theme of father and son relationships, Daisy finally has her baby naming him after both Booth and Sweets, calling him Seeley Lance Wicks Sweets. The episode closes with the teary-eyed team looking on as Daisy offers Booth, as godfather, the first hug.
Review Score: THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
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