BONES Recap: 'The Mystery in the Meat' - Give Me My Remote : Give Me My Remote

BONES Recap: ‘The Mystery in the Meat’

November 23, 2013 by  

Hello, BONES fans! The show gave us a little trip down memory lane…at least for those of us who were served “mystery meat” in our school cafeterias. It also provided several laughs, an interesting case, drunk!Brennan, a reconciliation, and some new character interaction dynamics in the squint department. All in all, it was a fun episode, making BONES 2 for 2 on Friday nights, in my opinion.

There’s more to discuss, so let’s get right to it!

THE CASE:

The Scene of the Crime: A high school bully confiscates a bowl of beef stew in the cafeteria, but when he takes a bite, he finds a human tooth. Another spoonful provides an eyeball. “IT’S PEOPLE!” he shouts, and “ewwwwwwwww” we all reply, some more delightfully than others.

Booth, Brennan, and Cam arrive to the high school and quickly ascertain that the human remains are split up into several cans of beef stew. B&B follow up at the processing plant, where the research and development director, Susan, tells them they’ve collected the remaining cans of stew from the batch. They are shipped to the Jeffersonian.

The Victim: Howard Compton, a food scientist who worked at the company that provided the cans of stew. He was killed and then thrown into the meat processor…and then canned.

Primary Suspects:

  • Susan, the R&D employee — Because of Howard’s great success with food products, he is poised to swoop in and get a promotion in Susan’s department. She admits she and Howard didn’t get along, but insists that she didn’t kill him.
  • Howard’s research peer — Booth and Brennan question her in the lab. She has an acute sense of smell and basically pinpoints Howard’s death from Brennan’s presence. She is rational and lacks frivolity of any kind. She posits that Howard was working on something much bigger and got killed over it.
  • Howard’s boss — Sweets questions him, particularly on whether or not Susan is a likely suspect. He says she’s more than likely innocent.
  • Raymond McCants — a creative food supplier who sent Howard threatening emails when Howard fell behind on some deadlines. His “Hot Bacon” edible lubrication was to be a big success.
  • Evelyn Cheevers — a local chemical-free farm representative. She admits to slashing Howard’s tires and being somewhat aggressive with him, but she insists she didn’t kill him.

The Case Progression:

Booth and Caroline question Susan and suggest motive, but her alibi checks out.

In the lab, Oliver finds some partial remodeling on the finger injuries and Sweets and Booth discuss how Howard thought he was being followed. The attacks seemed to intensify. Strong emails, then slashed tires, then physical assault/death.  Sweets brings Raymond in for questioning. He insists that he didn’t kill Howard.

Daisy and Oliver find a stabbing mark on the clavicle, and Brennan later identifies the weapon as a meat injector.

Hodgins finds some flower particles in the slashed tire, and the serrations on the cut lead Angela to suggest a Japanese garden knife. When two bank accounts in Howard’s name point to Evelyn and she has the garden knives for sale, she quickly moves up the suspect list. She tells Booth and Caroline that Howard was funding her research, but that he couldn’t quit his job because (in his words) there was someone he had to expose from the inside. He wouldn’t tell her who it was, considering it safer if she didn’t know.

Booth then speaks with Howard’s lab associate. She insists she would never do something so rash as commit murder and suggests that he figure out who might do that.

At the lab, Angela, Wells and Daisy show Brennan a recreation of the death, leading Brennan to realize the murderer would have been drenched in blood. She also points out a piece of horse bone in the skeletal remains — the canned stew was made of horse and human. Howard knew it was happening and threatened to sue the company.

The Verdict:  

Booth and Brennan bring the company executive back in for questioning and accuse him of selling horse meat to schools. He says it was a quality issue. Booth shows him records of him working with a meat plant in Mexico. The boss said they sold beef, but Brennan points out that they only sold horse meat. They have a warrant to check his hair, and when Brennan sheds her light on it, there are traces of blood spattering.

THE SQUINTS:

I liked Sweets in this episode, and the Booth/Sweets banter was fun and smart, especially when they bonded over lava chips.

Cam cracked me up in this episode, especially at the bachelorette party. I also loved pretty much every Caroline moment (as always).

I’ve said before that I like Oliver Wells as a character (and that Daisy makes me nuts), but these two annoying people annoying one another was pretty fantastic. I laughed a lot, and I definitely agree with those online who have suggested that a Daisy/Oliver romance may eventually be in the works. It also led to some fun moments between Hodgins and Daisy, and Hodgins and Oliver. Speaking of those two, their scenes in this episode were epic, none funnier than when they realized the Hot Bacon was a sexual lubricant. So funny!
All in all, I thought each storyline for the squints was pretty great in this episode. The only exception was Angela being on Brennan’s case about Booth being #1 in her life. Angela is married and has a child of her own! A conversation about how it’s important to stay well-rounded in relationships would have been better than the guilt trip she tried on Brennan (including the idea that her marriage doesn’t count unless she has a bachelorette party). The party was fun, though, and exactly what I imagined an Angela-planned party would be like.

Regarding Angela and Booth, I thought this was a nice way to resolve that storyline. Again, Angela talking about making a move on Booth is annoying, because HELLO HODGINS!, but I’m glad that Angela and Booth were able to hug it out.

BOOTH AND BRENNAN:

The scene where Booth helped Brennan when she was drunk is probably up there with some of my all-time favorite scenes. It was just funny, and sweet, and hot and well, great. I didn’t necessarily like how the episode began, with B&B (and then Angela adding her two cents) bickering about this idea that because they were married, everything needed to have deeper meaning. Disclaimer: While I see Booth’s point, I agree with Brennan that nothing much has changed in her life. She didn’t need to let go of her single life; she had done that long ago!

Anyway, I was glad that the deeper meaning idea didn’t last long in the episode, and that it quickly became more about B&B knowing one another well and some definitions in their relationships.

It made me laugh at the end that Brennan doesn’t want to be best friends with Booth, and I took that to mean that she equates “best friend” with “friend-zone,” or in their case, a platonic partner-zone. But I absolutely do believe that Booth considers Brennan HIS best friend, and she probably knows that too. It was a great end scene, both of them secure in their relationship with the other.

Regarding the bachelorette party — I thought it played out perfectly, with Booth encouraging her to go and trusting her, but then also being tense and checking his watch every few minutes because of the “excessive alcohol and flirting.” Good times!

Other great moments:

  • A hung-over Caroline. (And Booth getting her coffee!)
  • Daisy declaring that Brennan et al are her homies.
  • The Hodgins and Wells look-alike discussion.
  • B&B “bathtub” and “puppy” talk, and physical contact.

Enough from me — what did you think of this episode? Were you surprised by the killer? Do you think Oliver and Daisy are inevitable (and if yes, what are your thoughts on that)? How about B&B — did you like their interactions? The comments are open, so speak up!

Filed under Bones

Comments

11 Responses to “BONES Recap: ‘The Mystery in the Meat’”

  1. andrea on November 23rd, 2013 12:16 pm

    Great episode! Loved it and your review was spot on Sara! This season is shaping up to be soooo good! I’m rushing home on Friday nights to see Bones-last Friday I wasn’t able to see it live because I had a “girl’s night” out too and even though it was fun, I couldn’t wait to watch it on the DVR! Keep these awesome episodes coming-I’m sure Bones will get a season 10!

  2. Linda on November 23rd, 2013 12:39 pm

    I too thoroughly enjoyed the episode, and found it impossible to refrain from laughing out loud on several occasions, including the bar fight, and Booth having to rescue his wife and her gal-pals from incarceration due to a drunken brawl. Emily’s portrayal of Bones’ in this episode and especially in the bachelorette party scenes (including her wanting to is a further example of how the character has evolved, from a literal, driven scientist to a more-rounded person, capable of a little “craziness” now and again.

    Like Brennan I agree her life has not changed much from before the ceremony, but she does seem more centered. And the ring on her finger means something to her, although her explanation may be too literal.

    The scenes between Emily and David are always among my favorites and they play off each other so well. The final scene on the sidewalk epitomizes their relationship and calls back to the evening she told him they were expecting.

  3. bountypeaches on November 23rd, 2013 12:49 pm

    Thanks Sarah! Great review. I pretty much agree with everything you said. Overall it was a hilarious episode with some great BB moments. That drunk Brennan scene with Booth taking care of her pretty much is one of the best BB scenes. I agree, Booth does consider Brennan to be his best friend and Brennan knows that too. I also agree the beginning of the episode was a bit off for me. Like you, I agree with Brennan’s point that marriage didn’t change anything between them. I am not too sure if I like Booth’s implication that marriage made their love stronger. I think they were pretty solid as they were and it would have been nice character growth for me to have Booth realize that marriage doesn’t change anything if the couple is already committed– it’s not a big deal but it would have been nice.

    I think Angela’s comments were in a slightly different tone. It sounds like Brennan had been not spending a much time with Angela because of how Booth felt. Angela was trying to reconnect with Brennan with the marriage talk. But Brennan was keeping her distance so Angela was feeling a bit insecure thus the “Booth’s comes first” comment. It was good of Booth to realize that his grudge over Angela was causing Brennan and Angela to drift apart and that although she hurt him she was only putting Brennan first. Glad Angela apologized and they were able to sort out their issues.

    The bachlorette party was epic. Caroline escalating things in a way only she can and Cam trying to be the voice of reason was the best. Cam had the best lines. I wish we had seen Brennan hung over as well as callback to the 100th.

    Bones is still going strong so hopefully we will get our season 10!

  4. andrea on November 23rd, 2013 2:10 pm

    I think the reason Booth saw marriage as really “changing” their relationship was that now he and Brennan are together in the eyes of the law and the church and that fact is very important to him. Their love is as strong as ever-marriage didn’t “change” that. He may have been exaggerating to say that the air seemed fresher, sex more passionate, food better, etc. but I thought it was very romantic and cute. Even though Brennan kept coming up with “logical” responses, I think she liked what he was saying-after all at the end of the episode she called Booth a “Very romantic man” !

  5. Jo on November 23rd, 2013 3:38 pm

    Andrea, I agree with you 100% I loved it.

  6. andrea on November 23rd, 2013 9:10 pm

    Thanks Jo!

  7. EL on November 25th, 2013 11:54 am

    Remember in The Male in the Mail in the final scene, Brennan says to Booth: ‘We’re sharing our lives for the time being’, a definite ‘this could be temporary’ statement. And several times she’s pointed out that so-called love may have temporal limits. Her whole-hearted commitment to marrying Booth was her public acknowledgement to him and to the world that this was not a temporary relationship but a life-long one. And Booth, who (we have been told) considers living together without marriage a mortal sin realizes that Brennan has now freed him from any religious guilt on that score. Booth has been ready for years for marriage and a family and Brennan has given him both.

  8. FF on November 26th, 2013 10:21 am

    The opening scene of this episode was massively irritating to me. I hate when the writers write a B & B scene as Booth with all of his feels trying to crack through Brennan’s unfeeling robot armor. And this from the guy who wrote The Bond in the Boot – come on.

    Thankfully, the bachelorette party made up for all of that. When I saw how they were all dressed, I was prepared for some cringeworthy secondary embarrassment, but it was legitimately funny, and that, combined with the scene when Brennan is stumbling through the door with Booth, will probably make my top 5 Bones scenes of all time. Emily and David played off of each other in that scene so perfectly it almost made me wish Brennan got drunk more often. 😉

    Also – I was surprised at how much I didn’t hate Daisy and Oliver in the same episode together. It worked really well having them both there.

  9. seb on November 28th, 2013 8:48 pm

    The post-bachelorette party scene was awesome… fantastic acting by ED and DB. Season 9 has definitely been one of the best so far, other than episode 7, it’s firing on all cylinders.

    I go back and forth on Daisy. She was bearable in this episode, good in S9E1 (the fireman jokes), and some of the lancealot comments from previous seasons were funny, but 99% of the time she’s just terrible. Basically, the writers need to handle her character with kid gloves.

    This show really deserves a better time-slot, maybe Thursdays post X-Factor. I’d settle for anytime other than opposite NCIS or Big Bang Theory.

  10. Sophie on December 1st, 2013 6:16 pm

    This episode was just fantastic. I’m loving the continuing theme of using more than one intern per episode which we’ve been seeing more of these past few seasons.
    I had never even thought of Daisy and Oliver together! I liked him more than usual this episode, but I really love Daisy (shh, please, I just do) and still harbor hopes that she and Sweets will get back together.

  11. Chiara on January 27th, 2015 1:50 pm

    The bachelorette party was hilarious, I loved it! And Booth taking care of drunk Brennan was so cute and funny, especially when he says that if they try to do that thing they did in the bathtub she would drown.

    I did not like the Angela/ Booth apology scene. I wish Angela would have given more of a genuine “I was wrong about you” speech especially because they have known each other for a long time. Also, if she was putting Brennan “first” she should have trusted her and given Booth the benefit of the doubt. But that’s just my opinion.

    Hodgins and Oliver made me laugh so hard!

    Overall, I really enjoyed this episode!