Bones - Episode 218 - The Killer in the Concrete

A plot: In Baltimore, the police are on a training exercise when one of their dogs sniffs out a body buried in concrete. Brennan and Booth are called out to investigate and Brennan orders the entire slab of concrete carted back to the lab. The body is identified as Billy Ray McKenna, an enforcer for Melvin Gallagher, the crime boss of West Virginia. I wonder if when all the mobsters have their annual convention, they laugh at Gallagher for running, you know, West Virginia. Even the Rhode Island boss has got to feel a little smug about that. Anyway, Billy Ray was paralyzed by having his brains scrambled by an icepick, then he was buried alive in wet concrete where he eventually suffocated. The icepick to the brain is the signature of Hugh Kennedy, another enforcer for Gallagher. Several years ago, Kennedy was arrested then released on bail. He was being chased by a bounty hunter when his car crashed and burned, a severed leg the only identifiable body part left. The leg is still in cold storage and Booth tells Brennan to analyze it, since it now looks like Kennedy may still be alive. He meets with the bounty hunter, Veleska Miller, who doesn't have any new information to add but does seem to be quite happy to hang around and flirt with Booth. Well, who wouldn't be? He offers to buy her breakfast but then his phone rings. It's Brennan and she confirms that the leg is Kennedy's but it was cut off, not severed in a crash. Brennan thinks Veleska may have had something to do with Kennedy faking his death and demands that Booth bring her in for questioning but when he turns around, Veleska is already driving off with a flippant wave.

Later, Booth and Brennan talk to West Virginia crime boss (hee) Gallagher and his creepy lawyer, Clark Lightner. Gallagher looks a little bit like Ain't It Cool News founder Harry Knowles, incidentally. Gallagher admits to having employed McKenna and says the last Gallagher saw him, McKenna was headed off on vacation. Still, he does allow that after a three year disappearance, he knew McKenna was probably dead, because the man was, as Lightner says, "aggressive." He also admits to employing Kennedy but disavows all knowledge of Kennedy's fondness for brain scrambling via icepick. However, when Booth begins to ask about Kennedy, Gallagher and Lightner look at each other significantly. Dun dun DUNNNNNNNNN.

Thanks to a tip from Brennan's dad, Max Keenan (see B plot), Booth learns that Kennedy is a model plane afficianado and camps out at a nearby field where the hobbyists fly their creations. Stymied by how he's going to pick out the one-legged old man from all the other old men, Brennan suggests he drive into the field where the planes land. All of the other geezers will get angry and advance on him like zombies (she doesn't say that, but their lurches arer totally zombie-like) but Kennedy's prosthetic leg will keep him standing still. Booth spots Kennedy, escapes the elderly zombies, and follows Kennedy to his fleabag motel. Alas, Kenneday sneaks up on Booth and knocks him out cold. When Booth comes to, he's been taped up inside a rug, although he's pleased to discover that his tooth is no longer bothering him (see C plot). Kennedy admits to killing McKenna when the two met again by chance encounter in the cab Kennedy was driving, but says he's retired from being a hitman and just wants to be left alone. He packs a bag, stuffs a gag in Booth's mouth, and scampers.

Brennan, of course, is freaking out that Booth has been missing for 18 hours and is also aghast that an old coot like Kennedy was able to get the drop on Booth. Max, who offers to help her, points out that KENNEDY CUT OFF HIS LEG TO FAKE HIS OWN DEATH. He may be old but he's hardcore, yo. Meanwhile, Gallagher and Lightner, looking for Kennedy, find Booth still trussed up in the rug and knock him out again. Booth won't have to worry about visiting the dentist because he won't have any teeth left if he keeps getting clocked in the face. Gallagher and Lightner take Booth back to an airplane hangar for some light bondage and torture, trying to find out if Kennedy is really alive, but Booth is stoic because their version of torture is lame. He looks at them all, "LOL n00bs," then headbutts Gallagher in the face.

While the squints adorably try to get on the plot by figuring out that McKenna was killed in a taxicab, Brennan and Max head over to the model airplane field. They talk to one guy who isn't exactly forthcoming but when Max steps on his plane and threatens to crush it, the guy quickly gives up the name of Kennedy's motel. They go over there and run into Veleska in Kennedy's room. She attempts to evade them but Max awesomely takes her down by literally pulling the rug out from under her. Unfortunate plastic surgery aside, Ryan O'Neal friggin' rocks as Max. Veleska admits that she helped Kennedy fake his death and says she's now looking for him to make sure he stays disappeared or she'll go to prison. While Max questions her, Brennan finds a tooth on the floor and realizes it belongs to Booth. Losing her shit, she punches Veleska and demands to know where Kennedy has Booth. Brennan takes the tooth over to the lab to confirm that it's Booth's and when she heads out again, Angela insists on going along since Brennan doesn't have any back up. Acting squirrely, Brennan finally admits that she's got help, someone worse than Kennedy. Angela knows right away who she's talking about and she's shocked, but lets Brennan leave.

Back at the motel, Max has dragged Veleska into Kennedy's room and is in the middle of smothering her with a pillow when Brennan returns. Brennan is appalled but Max says he's not going to kill Veleska, he just wants to encourage her to talk. Veleska again says that she helped Kennedy fake his death, since he was smarter than her and told her she could help him or die. She says that nobody was in the room when she arrived and she has no idea where Kennedy or Booth are. Max and Brennan leave her handcuffed to the bed since someone will find her in a couple of days when the rent is due. Heading back to the lab, Max doesn't think Kennedy has Booth since he's retired. He reminds her about Gallagher, the other big player in the one West Virginia melodrama that doesn't involve excessive inbreeding. While Max waits in the car, Brennan returns to the lab and asks the squints to help her figure out where Gallagher is holding Booth. They eventually determine, based on materials found on McKenna's shoes, that Gallagher probably has Booth at an airfield. I think the idea here is that McKenna used to be Gallagher's enforcer so Gallagher's current enforcer, Lightner, probably uses the same location for torturing and killing people. But it's still kind of a leap and I think it's a testament to how much fun this show is that I really don't care about the occasional sloppy plotting. Anyway, Brennan calls the FBI with Booth's location, then she and Max head over there. They bust in just as Lightner is searing Booth's thigh with a red-hot screwdriver. Booth tips his chair over, sending Lightner flying where impales himself on the same screwdriver he was using on Booth. That karma's gotta sting a bit. Gallagher goes running out the back but he's arrested by the arriving FBI swat team. Max, seeing that he's got to leave quickly, asks Brennan for the keys to her car. As the battered, bloody, and still tied up Booth hilariously tells Max that he's under arrest, Brennan says the keys are in the ignition. Max kisses her forehead then takes off just as the FBI enters the hangar.

B plot: It's the one year anniversary of when Brennan laid her mother to rest and Max is in town to honor the occasion and re-connect with his daughter. Brennan is not happy to see him and even calls the cops on him a couple of times, but he slips away before he can get caught. He's trying to bond with her, bringing her snickerdoodles (her favorite cookies as a child) and reminding her that he used to sing Poco's "Keep on Tryin'" to her. He also tells her to look at his police record and she'll see that he's not such a bad guy after all. Booth brings it to her and points out that all of the people Max killed really kinda deserved it, so maybe she should give him a break. She's shocked by Booth's attitude and he says that he'd definitely arrest Max given the opportunity, but that she isn't constrained by the same responsibilities. She's still wary but when Booth goes missing, she asks Max for his help. They end up making a pretty good team and part on good terms. Before he leaves, he writes her a note saying that he wants to tell her some things about her mother. He also leaves her a glass figuring of a dolphin, her mother's favorite animal. Later at the diner, Brennan shows the note to Booth and he advises her to listen to what Max has to say. She also mentions the song Max used to sing to her and Booth knows exactly what song she's talking about. He starts singing it then Brennan joins in and I think my heart exploded at the cuteness of them singing to each other.

C plot: Poor, pitiful Booth has a toothache and he spends half of the episode whining about it while Brennan and Cam tell him to stop being a big baby and go to the dentist. Brennan even hilariously pokes around in his mouth herself, because in her spare time she practices a bit of dentistry. When he's knocked out by Kennedy, the rotted tooth comes flying out and it's actually the clue that tells Brennan that Booth was at the motel. She refers to it as "Booth's tooth" and I laugh and laugh because I have the sophisticated sense of humor of a three year old.

Best line of the episode: "Your dad's a psycho, by the way." - model airplane dude. "You have NO idea." - Brennan.

Best scene of the episode: Brennan and Booth singing to each other in the diner, of course. However, Max's sweet little kiss on Brennan's forehead is a close second.