BONES: The Final Chapter – The End in the End

By: Paige Zinaman

Wreckage, darkness, gloom and an overwhelming sense of panic filled the first minute of the final episode of BONES. Nothing could have prepared the team for what they saw or what they struggle with as they hunt through what used to be the Jeffersonian lab for Brennan (Emily Deschanel). Frantic is not the word that describes what the tone is for when Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) yells for Angela (Michaela Conlin) and the pure terror at the thoughts of the wellbeing of their unborn child nor is it the word for when Booth (David Boreanaz) takes to searching across the once pristine lab to find Brennan. Aubrey (John Boyd) and everyone at the FBI is in high alert as the news cast shows the scenes of the explosion as he tries to get a hold of Booth or anyone when Caroline (Patricia Belcher) shows up telling Aubrey she will make sure Christine (Sunnie Pelant) and Hank are safe then yells to Aubrey’s retreating form to make sure he brings their parents back. Aubrey shows arrives at the Jeffersonian while on the phone with Caroline telling her the first responders told him it will take hours to get inside the lab while also telling her the team that went after Kovac (Gerard Celasco) found out the phone was a decoy that was taped to the bottom of a delivery van. Ominous is the tone set for when Booth, Angela and Hodgins continue their search for Brennan who they find unconscious and with glass stuck to her head. Booth encourages Brennan to open her eyes, “Temperance stay with me…there you are.” Cam (Tamara Taylor) is being helped down the steps by Arastoo (Pej Vahdat) yelling for Aubrey. Cam tells Aubrey that the others are still inside and that they tried to go back inside and get them but search and rescue wouldn’t let them back inside. Arastoo forever the optimist tells them that the signal is probably knocked out and that’s why they can’t get a hold of anyone inside. They turn to face the once great lab and that scene brought chills, while also bringing an overwhelming sense of sadness and reality to the situation.

Angela, Hodgins, Booth and Brennan are sitting down and waiting when Brennan asked about Christine and Hank. She tries to get up but falls back against Booth who tells her that they are safe and at the FBI, Brennan starts in coughing and telling everyone that she feels different. Hodgins tells her that it was a huge explosion that there were three bombs maybe more, Hodgins tells Brennan that if Booth had disarmed the one under the platform that they would all be dead. Angela tells her that Cam and Arastoo got out and that they are going to bring help, Brennan tells them that she was looking at something then asks what she was looking for. Booth tells him that it doesn’t matter when Brennan got upset and told him that it’s important turning to Angela and asking what she was doing before the explosion. Angela tells her that she was in her office and Hodgins tells her that they were working on Fred Walden’s remains when Booth says that she had something on Kovac about how she knew how to find him. Pulling a piece of paper out of her lab coat Brennan unfolded it and read over the bones she had written down when Brennan tells the three that she doesn’t know what those mean Angela tells her that yes, she does and that they are bones; Brennan tells them that she just does not understand their significance as Booth tells her they can figure it out later. Brennan becomes increasingly upset, “No Booth something is wrong with me.” She tells Booth as her voice cracks with emotion causing Booth to look at Hodgins and Angela not knowing what to do.

After the talk with Brennan, Booth and Hodgins go in search of a way out only to find that all emergency exits are blocked with rubble. Booth tells Hodgins that there has to be another way out and that he has to get Brennan out asking if there were any other exits Hodgins tells him that there was nothing. Booth starts throwing stuff away from an exit when Hodgins tells him that, “A bomb went off in one of the biggest public institutions in all of DC. Rescue teams have got to already be on their way.” This upsets Booth who then goes off on Hodgins telling him that he doesn’t hear no drilling or anything then tells Hodgins to help him move the stuff. Meanwhile, Angela is sitting with Brennan who tells her that Hodgins and Booth are trying to find a way out. Brennan asks Angela what the stethoscope and beaker are for, Angela tells Brennan that Hodgins says that a beaker and stethoscope used together are almost as accurate as a fetus Doppler; when Brennan seems shocked by this Angela tells her, “Yeah, you taught him that.” Brennan does as Angela instructs as you can see the hesitation and uncertainty on Brennan’s face and actions, Angela asks if she hears anything to which Brennan tells her that it’s not the appropriate device and that she’s not a medical doctor and that she’s not processing at her usual self. Angela asks if that means she can’t hear anything to which Brennan says not yet only to find the heartbeat of Angela’s baby and takes the stethoscope off and tells Angela to listen as she sits down beside her.

Booth comes back to Hodgins carrying the other bomb and when Hodgins says he thought Booth defused it Booth tells him that he did and that maybe they can use it to spark it back up and blow themselves out through the wall. Hodgins tells him that the building will not survive another blast, when Booth tells him to stop and that he say, Brennan and that she could have some kind of head trauma that’s causing her to bleed into the brain. This causes Hodgins to get upset and tell Booth, “I watched my pregnant wife get thrown against the wall alright…you’re not listening Booth! It’s too risky! You don’t have to be a hero!” Booth slams the case shut saying he doesn’t need a shrink right now and that he just has to get out, Hodgins tells him that he’s said a lot of things over the years about him being a sniper and that he was wrong and that killing Kovac’s father was the right thing to do. About that time they hear the drilling and the wall breaking down from the search and rescue teams coming through.

As Cam and is helping look over other employees Arastoo tells her to look as the four are being lead out of the Jeffersonian. She rushes over to them as Arastoo and Cam lead Brennan over to a med tent set up, she asks Aubrey about Hank and Christine as she passes. He tells her that they are okay and at the FBI with Caroline until they get Kovac which causes Booth to say that it means they don’t have him yet. Hodgins tells Angela that he’s glad that “little guy” is okay and when Angela asks how he knows it’s a little guy he tells her that he just has a feeling. Cam stays close to Brennan as the Dr. Domick Dupont (Blaine Holtkamp) does a neurological examine on Brennan, when he finishes he looks up at Cam as she tells Brennan she’s going to go over the results with him and be right back. Booth comes over to her asking what’s going on when she looks defeated and says that she doesn’t know, when Booth asks what the doctor said she tells him that she doesn’t know that either. Booth calls for Cam to explain, she tells them that the good news is the CT scan showed no internal bleeding but she has a contusion on the structure of the brain that allows the two hemispheres to communicate. Meaning Brennan’s memories haven’t been compromised but her ability to comprehend complex information has. Leading back to the conversation she had with Beth (Betty White) episodes before who told her to think about her life and what she would do if it was all taken from her. Brennan tells them that she has to get back to work and told Arastoo to stay close in case she needs anything, Booth stops her and tells her she needs to rest. Brennan tells him that the key to catching Kovac is in the lab and the longer they sit out there the more time he has to make his next move.

Booth and Brennan go inside the lab as they walk to the bone room he asks what the plan was. She said that the four bones she had written down are the key to catching Kovac and that she will start there, as they go inside they discover that the blast caused all the bones storage drawers to fly out and spill the bones on the floor. She tells Booth that she will need Arastoo’s help to which he said he’s going to need more than just Arastoo and that she’s going to need all the help she can get. Karen (Sara Rue) comes rushing while meeting Booth, Caroline and Aubrey in the middle of the FBI saying she got there as soon as she could, she asks if there’s anything she could do and Caroline says that there is saying that they have a killer and bomb happy accomplice to catch. Booth looks off into this office and watches Christine and Hank playing with an agent that’s in charge of keeping them safe; when he turns to Aubrey and tells him to get Jeannine Kovac (Brit Shaw) back in when Karen asks if they thought she was still involved with everything and that she saw her tape and she looked terrified. As Aubrey is walking away he tells Karen that she is still their best chance of finding Kovac.

Hodgins and Angela are walking into her office and was surveying the damaged done when Hodgins says that it’s bad. Angela tells him that her servers are fried when Hodgins asks if she has everything backed up to the Cloud when Angela says that he has been lecturing her for years about how the Cloud isn’t secure when Hodgins says, “And you listened to me? Angie, I’m a known paranoid conspiracy theorist.” Angela tells him that is why she brought a key that she pulled from her pocket that opened a little wall safe that contained a steel framed box with layers of parathion and installation inside that she used to back up all the files that they had in the whole lab. Meanwhile, the “Squints” Jessica (Laura Spencer), Wendell (Michael Grant Terry) and Daisy (Carla Gallo) have come to help Brennan and Arastoo shifted through the remains to find those that match Fred Walden. Jessica shows Brennan a rib that matches their victim and Brennan says she agrees when Daisy steps in to clarify that the rib has sharp and irregular and when Brennan says she doesn’t know what that means Arastoo says, “That’s alright. It just means that rib doesn’t belong to our victim.” Clark (Eugene Byrd) tells them that going through and matching the remains is impossible because there are at least two hundred sets of remains mixed together, Wendell tells them that it’s like excavating a massive grave. Brennan tells them that this is nothing compared to a massive grave site and that she helped exhume over five hundred sets of remains in Guatemala as a result of the civil war with their legs and arms still bound and their eyes covered. Wendell tells her that must have been a horrible thing to witness as Arastoo tells her that she remembers that so clearly and asks if that means she’s getting better. As we see Brennan try and process everything we see the internal battle that is clearing happening inside of her, making this one of the most emotional scenes. She tells Arastoo that she doesn’t know but she remembers things like Cam proposing to him and how Wendell use to carry a cigarette behind his ear to remind him of his father. And that she remembers how proud Clark was when his book was published even though she thought they were mockish, and she remembers how Jessica taught her how to “chirp” when Jessica corrected her and said tweet. She then says to Daisy she remembers fighting off attackers with her by her side. She then says, “I remember the day each of you were hired. I remember the name of every victim I’ve ever identified, I remember just how meaningful this work can be but I don’t remember how to do it. I mean I can’t make sense of the evidence and I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do with this.”

Cam walks in as Hodgins is looking over the bomb that Booth disarmed and that whoever did it combined HMX with some kind of binding material when Cam spotted some finger prints when Hodgins says that they are sadly just partial but it also means that whoever made the explosives did it with their bare hands that could give them DNA from the bomber. Booth interrogates Jeannine Kovac telling her that he’s only going to ask her one last time where Kovac was, she told him that she doesn’t know where he is when Booth tells her that the phone Mark used was a decoy. Jeannine tells him that he knows what he’s going through and that she saw it on the news, Booth tells her that she knows more than what she’s telling them and that she’s hiding someone. When she says that she’s not and that she swears to him, and that two months ago, she found out who her husband really was. She tells him that she doesn’t know where Mark is or what her plans to do next, Booth asks if she’s willing to prove it.

Brennan goes to Angela asking if she was able to find any more imagines and Angela told her that no more than what she already gave her then asked if they triggered anything. Brennan tells her no and then asked if the photos Angela was going through were from Cam’s wedding Angela tells her that they are from the reception and that she was hoping that they may help them find something. They spot a picture of Daisy, Clark and Wendell but they notice a waiter in the background that was carrying Cam’s purse when Angela said that he maybe the accomplice they are looking for. Aubrey had Jeannine set up to take a lie detector test, when he asked the questions Booth and Karen looked on in the adjacent room. She said the last time she saw her husband was yesterday morning when he called, and that she had no idea where her husband is and that if she knew she would tell them. Karen tells Booth that she has no tells that she’s lying when Booth says he couldn’t see anything either, they walk out of the room when Aubrey tells them that she passed the polygraph test. Booth tells him to hold her and that he doesn’t care how just make it happen and that he was going to go check on the kids. Aubrey’s phone started going off alerting him that they got an ID on the fake waiter, as he goes to leave Karen tells him that she’s going with him.

Back at the Jeffersonian, Brennan is in the bone room working alone when Angela comes in pushing a machine on the dolly asking where everyone went. Brennan tells her that she thought she could make more progress if she was alone, but still can’t make sense of anything. Angela tells her to take it easy on herself and that everything will come back to her in time, Brennan asks if Angela brought in a X-Ray machine. Angela said that she and Hodgins were able to recalibrate and that the Squints thought Brennan could use it to match the bones to preexisting X-Rays of the remains to match them. When Brennan looks away, Angela said that it was a crazy idea anyway but Brennan tells her that it was an obvious one and she still couldn’t grasp it. Karen and Aubrey present Booth with the ID of the waiter saying that he was a low-level drug dealer and was found dead in his car. Karen tells Booth that his file shows no signs of violence and that he flunked high school chemistry and that Kovac was still working without someone else.

Booth notices Brennan looking in his office and goes to her, he asks if she’s okay and when she asks where the kids are he tells her that an agent took them down to the cafeteria to get something to eat and asked if she wants to see them. She tells him no because she doesn’t want to worry them, Booth asks yet again if she’s okay as he hugs her and she holds on for dear life she tells Booth she just wants to sleep and that nothing is coming back to her. Booth tells her that she has to give it time and that he knows of guys who have come back who have lost their memories and they come back. She tells him that it’s not a simple case of amnesia and that her brain is different, that she’s different; Booth tells her that she’s healing and that she will get better. She ask what if she doesn’t and tells him that her intelligence is all she has and that she may not have had a family but she could understand things that no one else could, and that brain and way she things is who she is. Telling Booth that she doesn’t know anything, sitting down she says, “If the thing that made me…me is gone who am I?” Booth sits down in the chair across from her and leans forward saying, “You’re the woman I love. You’re the one who kissed me outside a pool house when it was pouring down rain. Took me to shoot Tommy guns on Valentine’s Day. That’s who you are. You’re the one who proposed to me with a stick of beef jerky even though you’re a vegetarian. You’re the Roxy to my Tony. My Wanda to my Buck. Who else is going to sing Hot Blooded with me? And we are way better than Mulder and Scully.” This heartfelt speech was relieved of the seriousness and truth when Brennan tells Booth she doesn’t know what that means. He tells her that he doesn’t care if she knows about the bones or if they know how to solve crimes. All he knows is that he wants to spend the rest of his life with her. And that is who she is. His partner and told her to not forget it.

Meanwhile, results come in as Cam and Hodgins wait for it; Cam tells him to run it again just in case it went wrong. When the results came back again Cam immediately calls Booth who is now with Brennan who is reading a story to Christine and Hank. Cam tells him that they were able to separate DNA and that they were a partial match to Kovac and that the DNA was female. When Cam asks if Booth thinks Kovac’s wife is hiding something Booth tells her that is how she passed the polygraph test stating that of course she doesn’t know where her husband is and that Jeannine isn’t Kovac’s wife but is actually her brother. Brennan goes barging in to the interrogation room yelling at Jeannine telling her that it was her this whole time, Booth holds Brennan back when Jeannine told them she’s here to help and that she doesn’t know where her husband is. Booth asked about her brother then, causing Jeannine to ask what he’s talking about. When Brennan said that they know Mark is her biological brother Jeannine says that it’s sick that they would accuse her of incest. Brennan told her to stop lying and that they found her DNA on the explosives, when Brennan told Jeannine that she helped in trying to kill her and her children and that she killed her father. Jeannine tells Brennan that her father’s murder is on her husband’s hands, and that she now knows how it feels to have her father murdered right in front of you. Brennan tells Jeannine that her husband was doing his duty, Booth tells her to tell them where her brother is and no one else has to die.

Daisy tells Hodgins that she thinks they’ve got something. And that some of the bones were lighter than the others and Wendell says that they are the same bones that Brennan had wrote down, leading Hodgins to say that they think if Brennan sees those bones she will recall what happens then telling the Squints that it’s not going to work and that Brennan is just not Brennan anymore and that they need to except that. Jessica asks if they are just supposed to give up on her and Daisy told Hodgins that she refuses to do that because she saw something in those remains. Hodgins tells them, “Okay then it’s up to you to find it. Look Brennan trained you for this exact moment. She’s counting on you….and so am I.” Causing everything to get to work using everything Brennan has ever taught them. Arastoo finds a mark on the tooth and that she was going to do a histological analysis to find out where the victim grew up. They determined that the victim wasn’t chosen at random and that he had something that Kovac needed which was a place to stay and once he got the information Kovac killed him.

Angela walks in on Hodgins and Cam and is shocked to find all new equipment, she asks them what department they stole them from when Cam tells her that all of it was donated by the biochem lab in Georgetown and that they were the first ones calling when everything happened. Hodgins was able to determine the area Kovac would is in West Virginia. Booth and Brennan head out to the place Kovac is staying telling her that when they get there Brennan needs to stay in the car. Brennan tells him, “Where you go I go.” Booth tells her that what she told Jeannine was still his decision, that they make the choice every time you pull the trigger and that he takes responsibility for it. Brennan tells him that she knows and that’s why she stands by him. When they arrive Booth tells Aubrey to take a group and he will take a group and that they will hit the house but not before they have support from the chopper. Aubrey tells everyone to look out for trip wires because Kovac knows his explosives and they could trigger one. Before they head off Booth and Brennan exchange quiet “I love you’s” and a quick kiss. When they get in position the chopper comes in causing the accomplice to come out shooting hitting one of the agents before Aubrey took him down. As this is happening Kovac hops in the jeep preparing to get away when he drives towards Booth clipping his hand causing him to lose his gun. Brennan pulls Booth up and out of the way as Kovac starts to drive for him again to get away when he tells Brennan that he can’t get his gun. The chopper blocks Kovac from leaving so he fires at Booth and Brennan who are running to get away from the bullets, when Booth collapse from the pain in his hand Brennan tells him she knows what’s wrong and all she had to do was pull it causing him pain before it left and he could move his hand their victory was short lived as Kovac turns around the corn coming at them Booth pushes Brennan back before taking a shot at Mark and hitting him straight in the head causing the jeep to lose control. Before the car could hit Booth, Brennan leans up and pulls him down as the car goes into the huge ditch and explodes.

Cam comes baring coffee and tea for Angela, Hodgins, Brennan and herself telling them that she just got word that the crew will be in to clean up and rebuild and that she’s going to need them to pack their stuff up in boxes which is why they have caffeine. Angela asks Brennan how it went at the doctors and she tells them the damage is almost gone and that she’s going to be alright. Angela asks Cam if they will change it much, she tells her that they will try not too but they know how it goes. Hodgins says that everything changes to which Cam breaks the mood and tells them to get to it.  Booth is in his office when Caroline comes in giving a huge berating him for going and trying to get himself killed again. Aubrey comes in with a plant that is going in the new office saying he has the same promotion but staying in DC when Caroline asks about Jessica he tell her they broke up. Aubrey goes to leave when Karen stops him saying she delivered two buckets of fried chicken to his office because she heard about his break up when Aubrey asked if she was hungry they go to his office together. As they continue to clean the lab and pack we are shown various things that they’ve had throughout the twelve years that’s a great trip down memory lane but also a little sad to watch. As Cam and Brennan were walking Brennan told her that her boxes were labeled and asked Cam if she wanted to tell Hodgins and Angela the good news when they heard Angela yelling for Hodgins that she found something. Coming out Angela and Hodgins show them the project they’ve been working on, it’s a children’s book that Hodgins is writing and Angela is drawing the pictures for telling everyone that it’s based on them. Cam tells them that Arastoo and her aren’t going to Europe that they are going to Mississippi to pick up their boys that they are going to adopt. Telling Hodgins and Angela that while she’s gone for interim director Hodgins congratulates Brennan before finding out he is actually going to be the director causing him to roll around saying “I’m Kind of the Lab!”

The episode comes to a close with Brennan sitting on a bench outside the Jeffersonian and just staring at it. As walks up to her and takes a seat next to her and they start talking when he asks if she’s ready and she tells him almost. He tells her the building will only be shut down for a couple of weeks. Brennan tells him that the Jeffersonian is a special place to which he agrees and then asks her what’s in her bag. He pulls out a picture that he thought came from Christine only to smile when she told him Parker gave it to her eleven years ago and told her he liked her. He pulls out Sweets (John Francis Daley) book that he wrote about them, she tells Booth that she wished he was there. When he asked about the broken clock she told him that it stopped when the bombs went off and that the lab reopens she’s going to put it in her office as a reminder. When he asked why she would want a reminder of when she almost died she tells him, “Because I didn’t.” Booth and Brennan bicker like they always have and walks through the Jeffersonian garden.

Brennan says that the Jeffersonian is a special place and she’s right. It’s special because it brought to life these characters and passion for a field that not many knew about and for the past twelve years they showed female empowerment and love in all the right ways. The Jeffersonian and the characters hold a special place in all of our hearts and we can’t thank the cast and crew enough for all their hard work and dedication to make every episode truly magical. Thank you for twelve amazing years and two hundred and forty-five alluring stories that have been told.