Aliens in a Spaceship (2×9)

 

Written By: Janet Tamaro

Directed by: Craig Ross, Jr.

Editorial comment: This is one of my favorite Bones episodes OF ALL TIME. It literally has everything. Intrigue, an interesting case, everyone working together as a team, Booth running in slo-mo, a religion discussion at the end. It’s so Bones. It’s the best of Bones all working together. Sigh. Ok, back to business.

BRENNAN: Oh God. What – What happened? Where am I?

BRENNAN: Ugh. Oh god.

BRENNAN: Hodgins. Hodgins. Are you all right? Can you talk? Your legs. What happened to your legs?

HODGINS: Where are we?

BRENNAN: We’re buried alive. He must have got us.

HODGINS: Who?

BRENNAN: The Grave Digger.

(48 Hours Earlier)

B&B are called to the scene of two boys buried underground. Local police think it’s aliens. Brennan identifies them as humans and Booth finds out they are twin brothers who had been missing.

KIM: The Kent boys were The Grave Diggers third victims.

SANDERS: Third of the six we know of. Uh, all together, four paid the ransom and lived.

BRENNAN: ..and the other one that didn’t?

KIM: Never found him.

SANDERS: That’s why they call him The Grave Digger. Uh, he takes people and he buries them. You pay the ransom and he tells them how to dig them up. You don’t — and uh — you never see them again. You won’t catch him.

BOOTH: All due respect, uh — Agent Sanders – uh, we have the beer vat and the human remains.

KIM: What are two dead bodies gonna tell you that four live victims couldn’t?

BOOTH: Dr. Brennan. She’s pretty good at uh, making dead people tell her things.

Booth knows our girl can do it!

JANINE: You know. Most kidnappers are caught because they start negotiating the ransom. The Grave Digger, simply won’t play.

BOOTH: Really not looking to help you write another book, ya know. Capturing The Grave Digger.

VEGA: Agent Booth. I have seen what this guy does to families. Upclose. Ya know what, dislike me as much as you want but I’m still gonna help ya because.. I want this bastard caught.

BRENNAN: You were kinda mean to them.

BOOTH: Yeah. Thanks.

LOL

B&B talk to the grieving father. Brennan shows compassion. They let the father know there was nothing he could have done differently and it wasn’t his fault.

KENT: God, there’s no way that they deserved suffocation. Is it – painful?

BRENNAN: Like falling asleep.

BRENNAN: Mr. Kent, The Grave Digger lied to you and the FBI.

VEGA: That’s unlikely. He doesn’t play games.

BRENNAN: Mr. Kent, is there any way you could have put together the ransom in 12 hours?

KENT: No way in the world.

VEGA: Which is exactly why The Grave Digger provided Mr. Kent with 24 hours.

BOOTH: His sons only had enough air for 12 hours.

KENT: Oh, my god…

BOOTH: Even if you had ignored the FBI and listened to Mr. Vega, you still wouldn’t have been able to save your sons.

VEGA: You’re backstopping for the bureau.

BRENNAN: There were two of them in that vat. They used up their oxygen twice as fast. The Grave Digger miscalculated.

VEGA: No, he doesn’t do that.

BRENNAN: Then it was never his intention that these boys survive.

BOOTH: He just didn’t care, Mr. Kent.

KENT: So my decision to listen to the FBI – to not pay the ransom…

BRENNAN: If you’d paid the ransom, your sons would still have been dead by the time you got to them.

BOOTH: There is nothing you could have done, Mr. Kent. You are in no way responsible for the death of your sons.

Time for a good ol’ B&B religion talk.

BRENNAN: Had it occurred to you that God, is a lot like The Grave Digger?

BOOTH: Wha…What?

BRENNAN: He lays down the rules. Not way to question him or negotiate. Then it’s almost as though he doesn’t care how it works out. Either you do as he says – make some sacrifices and they’re delivered or you don’t and you end up in hell.

BOOTH: You know what? I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say things like that because I really don’t want to get struck by lightning.

BRENNAN: Do you go to church every Sunday?

BOOTH: Yes, I do.

BRENNEN: Can I come with you?

BOOTH: No. You can’t.

BRENNAN: Why? It might help me to understand.

BOOTH: I am not going to help you disrespect God in His own house. Okay, if you want to do some kind of , ya know, anthropological study – turn on the religious channel.

The team puts together the scenario of the crime.

ANGELA: The leg damage. The fractured pelvis..

BRENNAN: These injuries are classic human vs. car.

BOOTH: Ryan interrupts the kidnapping of his brother…

BRENNAN: ..and The Grave Digger runs him down.

BOOTH: It was a mistake. The Grave Digger is not God, Bones, because God does not make mistakes.

ANGELA: Hmm. I don’t know. Putting testicles on the outside – didn’t seem like such a good idea.

And a touch of that Bones humor!

HODGINS: You haven’t figured out the stun gun, then I am this weeks “King of the Lab”, cause I found something huge.

ANGELA: You compete – to be “King of the Lab”?

HODGINS: No….Hey Angela. I, I didn’t know – that you were – this sucks. I’m gonna go, catch Brennan then bolt for the night.

ANGELA: She just left.

ANGELA: Hey.  Could you stop being so weird? Please? It’s making me very uncomfortable.

ZACK: You should give him a chance.

ANGELA: Excuse me?

ZACK: I apologize. I didn’t say anything.

ANGELA: mmhmm.

Love that Zach and  Hodgins lab bromance.

CAM: What do you say we go to New York for the weekend?

BOOTH: Yeah, I don’t know.

CAM: Come on! We’re two adults with no obligations. Let it go to voice mail. We’re not cheating. We’re not hurting anybody, Seeley.

BOOTH: Then why are we keeping our relationship such a secret, Camille?

CAM: Because we work together and we’re professionals and it’s nobody’s business. That’s all. So come to New York. We’ll go to a musical

BOOTH: Talking and singing and talking and dancing and more singing. Ya know, if you want to stop what we’re doing – just say so.

CAM: You can fantasize about pulling out your gun and shooting everyone on stage. You know you like that. Seriously, we’ll do something you like. Like, climbing the outside of the Empire State building or swimming the East River…or…….What? What happened?

THE GRAVE DIGGER: Temperance Brennan and Jack Hodgins have been buried alive. Wire transfer $8 million to the following Grand Cayman account or they will suffocate to death.

Now the situation is critical! Find Brennan and Hodgins!

VEGA: Why is The Grave Digger demanding so much money? It’s doesn’t make any sense.

JANINE: Well, he’s always been reasonable at knowing how much people can raise within the time limit.

VEGA: Has – uh – Dr. Brennan made that much money from her books?

BOOTH: It’s Hodgins. He’s the sole heir to this thing called The Cantilever Group

The team springs into action.

CAM: How are we gonna get our hands on $8 Million?

ZACK: Hodgins is rich.

CAM: He is?

ZACK: “Rich squared to the power of ten times four” is how he describes it.

ANGELA: You’re gonna pay the ransom, right?

BOOTH: Yes. FBI standard ops, they won’t work. Grave Digger operates outside statistics.

CAM: They’ll fire you.

BOOTH: Ah, that’s cool. One less reason to wear a suit.

LOL

 

Cam and Zack discuss the evidence.

ZACK: I did figure out how Ryan Kent died.

CAM: Let’s hear it.

ZACK: He killed himself. He punctured his own carotid artery, which explains the amount of blood we found in the vat. He used a pen. There’s a nick on the inferior angle of the mandible. I don’t know why he did it, I don’t really do “Why”, I just do “How”.

CAM: He did it to give his brother more air – so his twin would survive. That’s why we found them holding each other.

ZACK: How does that help?

CAM: When we tell Mr. Kent that one of his son’s gave his own life in an effort to save his brother, it’ll mean something, Zack.

Brennan performs a procedure on Hodgins to help with his legs. He wakes up to find Brennan tinkering with a phone and the car.

BRENNAN: Hotwiring the phone to the horn so we can send a message.

HODGINS: From underground?

BRENNAN: We get radio reception.

HODGINS: Direct current 12 volt will burn out the circuits in a 4.2 volt cell phone in a microsecond. Better jerry-rig a resistor.

BRENNAN: Smart.

HODGINS: Might work long enough to send a single burst transmission.

BRENNAN: Very short text message. Booth can trace it to a cell phone relay tower.

Brennan decides to use the pricey perfume to help them get out. Hodgins hesitates.

BRENNAN: Hodgins, I will split the cost when we get out of here.

HODGINS: There’s something you don’t know about me. I’m rich.

BRENNAN: Me too.

HODGINS: No. No. You’re – well off. My family owns The Cantilever Group and there’s not many of us left alive. One to be exact. Me.

BRENNAN: Okay. I won’t split it with you.

Back on the surface, Booth is OVER IT with the Grave Digger “expert”.

VEGA: Are you nuts? I hate the son of a bitch.

BOOTH: Why? He’s made you rich.

VEGA: You know what? You just need to deal with the facts. That if you can’t put the ransom together in the time he gave you, your partner is dead.

BOOTH: Here’s the deal, all right. You have a relationship with this guy, what they call symbiotic – you benefit from each other – hmm. So know this. That deadline comes around, and my partner is still underground – I will end you. You understand? Yeah? Three hours to live. Better hurry.

 

He’s so handsome when he’s threatening people for his partner. Aw. 

Brennan and Hodgins’ message gets through.

BOOTH: Does it mean anything to anybody?

CAM: They’re getting low on oxygen.

ZACK: Hypoxia leads to mental confusion.

BOOTH: It’s Bones. It means something.

ANGELA: Did you try just dialing the number?

BOOTH: I tried all the dumb guy, normal stuff. Okay, that’s why I’m here talking to the Brain Trust. All right. Think! Eggheads. Work it!

CAM: Booth. They’re not cops!

BOOTH: We’re running out of time.

ZACK: Minor correction. Dr. Brennan and Hodgins run out of air in….4 seconds. We are out of time.

 

Hodgins and Brennan get extra air from the trunk. Hodgins is losing hope.

HODGINS: If the ransom was paid, we’d be out by now. Why prolong the inevitable?

 

Booth is NOT giving up. He has faith, baby.

ZACK: You’re forgetting something. Brennan and Hodgins are out of air.

BOOTH: Great. You wanna give up, huh? This is Bones we’re talking about and Hodgins. You really think they didn’t find a way to extend their air supply! Hell, they found a way to send us a message to ask us for help and you want to give up because of math.

Brennan has one last idea.

BRENNAN: Airbags.

HODGINS: They aren’t actually bags of air.

BRENNAN: I’m not looking to extend our survival underground. I’m looking to blow our way out of here.

HODGINS: Using the explosives from the air bags? That could definitely kill us.

BRENNAN: So will doing nothing.

HODGINS:  Anyone you wanna say goodbye to?

The team can’t figure out the text message.

CAM: Can I make a suggestion? See, this is exactly why I was sent here. You guys are brilliant, but you won’t make intuitive leaps.

ZACK: You mean ‘jump to conclusions”

CAM: That’s exactly what I mean. This is a message from one of them to one of us. Specific. Focused. Who was it meant to get to?

BOOTH: Easy. Brennan’s cell to mine, right? The message was for me. We have an understanding, we work together.

ANGELA: We all work together. She’s my best friend. And Hodgins – Hodgins –

CAM: She’s right. We should assume the message is from Hodgins not from Brennan.

BOOTH: Why?

CAM: Because they’re buried alive…

ANGELA: And Hodgins is all about dirt.

BOOTH: Okay. Great. The message is about dirt, but who’s it to?

ZACK: Angela. Hodgins is all about dirt and Angela.

ANGELA: But it’s numbers, Zack. It’s for you.

They figure out the location and race to it. Brennan and Hodgins do their last idea.

BRENNAN: Ready?

HODGINS: Yeah. Dr. Brennan. It’s been a privilege.

I found this recap on thetvmouse.com and I couldn’t say it better, so:

Angela has a heart to heart with Hodgins.

HODGINS: He’s out there, Angela. He buries people alive. I have to catch him. If I can figure out the exact alloy of aluminum, then maybe I could – maybe we could. Plus the bit of –of – bumper sticker that Brennan found in my leg…

ANGELA: We’re gonna catch him, okay. I promise you. We’re gonna start tomorrow. All of us, together.

HODGINS: I can’t sleep, Angela.

ANGELA: I thought that they gave you something for that?

 

HODGINS: Yeah?

ANGELA: Yeah.

HODGINS: Okay. You know I’m good for that crutch money.

Booth has allowed Brennan to accompany him to a church.

BRENNAN: What did you ask for?

BOOTH: That’s between me and a certain Saint. Although, I did ask for a little help finding The Grave Digger.

BRENNAN: Good move. What’s that smell?

BOOTH: The candles. And I said thanks. You should try it sometime.

BRENNAN: If I were going to pray, I would have done it just before we set off the explosion.

BOOTH: And you didn’t?

BRENNAN: No. See, if there was a God – which there isn’t –

BOOTH: Shhhh. Do you see where we are?

BRENNAN: And if I were someone who believed he had a plan…

BOOTH: …which I do…

BRENNAN: Then I’d be tempted to think He wanted me to go through something like I went through because it might make me more open to the whole….concept.

BOOTH: Mhmm. It obviously hasn’t.

BRENNAN: I’m okay with you thanking God for saving me and Hodgins.

BOOTH: That’s not what I thanked Him for. I thanked Him for saving…all of us. It was all of us. Every. Single. One. You take one of us away, and you and Hodgins are in that hole forever. And I’m thankful for that.

BRENNAN: I knew you wouldn’t give up.

BOOTH: I knew you wouldn’t give up.

This is a glorious episode. Like, it’s perfection. I even like Cam in it because it shows where someone in her position really would be an effective boss. I like everyone’s interactions with each other. There is humor woven within the very serious events happened. Hodgins and Angela get together. B&B have their moment at the end. Everyone gets to show off their strengths.

What do you all like about this episode?!