S09.E24: The Recluse in the Recliner

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Season finale!

 

The team investigates the death of a man who had offered Booth information on a possible government cover-up related to a previous case, but was killed before their meeting took place. As Booth and the Jeffersonian team dig deeper into the burgeoning conspiracy surrounding the man’s death, it’s evident Booth may be in over his head, and his future with the FBI is put in question.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghAxtFGmDlc

[immortalfrieza]

I figured the Deputy Director had something to do with this. He shows up all the time episode after episode but does absolutely nothing? Got to be one of the villains.

 

My love for this show hasn't slowed down a bit the last few seasons, and episodes like this are why.

[WendyCR72]

For all of the robot tics Brennan has had, I do think Emily Deschanel brought her A-game tonight.

 

And poor Booth. Remember his JFK/government freakout in S5's "Proof in the Pudding"?

 

Finding out he worked for a dirty government organization designed to uphold the law will kill him.

[Mama No Life]

Well that was at least entertaining. If we could do more drama and less of their light-hearted caper episodes, I'd be more invested.

So was the thing the dr wanted to talk about just the arrest? I thought they were going to say Booth was paralyzed or something.

Poor house....I don't think Wendell is going to feel like rebuilding it any time soon. :(

I wish DB and ED could just part their lips a fraction when they kiss. They kiss like brothers and sisters.

[joanne3482]

Shouldn't Bones have been arrested too? Or has the investigation not revealed that she had shot as well? 

[Geoff Z.]

Maybe it's just because I saw it for the first time last week, but I thought that the plot of this episode had an amazing amount in common with the last hour of "Skyfall". It's not necessarily a bad thing, since I loved Skyfall, but the parallels are striking:

1.) A hard drive is decrypted only to infect the protagonists' computer system.

2.) A protagonist is embarrassed/berated at a legislative committee hearing due to the release of classified material.

3.) The protagonist retreats to his home to face the unavoidable assault from faceless black-clad goons.

[Kristen]

The Recluse in the Recliner? That used to be my nickname. Hiyoooo!

 

Seriously though, this episode was pretty decent.

[taanja]

Ahh. I kind of miss this show. Ever since it moved to Friday nights...?? I stopped watching. I kept meaning to play catch-up but alas... nice to know it's still on the air.

[ddawn23]

Maybe it's just because I saw it for the first time last week, but I thought that the plot of this episode had an amazing amount in common with the last hour of "Skyfall". It's not necessarily a bad thing, since I loved Skyfall, but the parallels are striking:

1.) A hard drive is decrypted only to infect the protagonists' computer system.

2.) A protagonist is embarrassed/berated at a legislative committee hearing due to the release of classified material.

3.) The protagonist retreats to his home to face the unavoidable assault from faceless black-clad goons.

4) The antagonists use inside knowledge of the protagonist's organization to exact the most damage possible.

 

Shouldn't Bones have been arrested too? Or has the investigation not revealed that she had shot as well? 

Wasn't she being arrested at the end?  I thought she was...

[FineWashables]

I enjoyed this too, but didn't we already see this plot already on this show a few years ago?  Throughout most of it, Mr Washables and I weren't clear as to whether we were watching a rerun or not.  (Didn't see Skyfall, so it couldn't be that.)

[Heather Lynn]

This is going to sound contradictory but, while I enjoyed this episode, the ending was ridiculous. The story of agents delivering a warrant...warrants are always delivered by SWAT teams right? This just so happened to a high profile agent that was just publically accused of killing a citizen in his suburban home where he lives with his wife and child? I can usually suspend disbelief but this is pushing it. If this had happened in a remote cabin, I can understand the lame cover story but really? And to arrest Bones, who entered her destroyed home to find a man with a gun over her husband, for shooting the "agent" is just pushing things. That said, since Pelant didn't rise from the grave to coordinate the whole operation, I'll be back next season. The wrap up better be as good as the gun fight.

Edited May 23, 2014 by Heather Lynn

[LakeGal]

I felt like I was watching 24.  I expected Jack Bauer to show up.

 

There was lots of excitement in the finale.  But I don't want to watch another storyline where they have to clear their names.  It has been done to death on this show.   

[7kstar]

Haven't watched but one ep this season.  I liked it but I wasn't expecting anything so the tension worked. 

 

I saw the arrest as lame cover and only idiots would buy it, not that it looked believable but the destruction to the home...if that hits the news should be harder to explain.  But then I watched the A Team and many old shows that weren't meant to be realistic but just be a bit of entertainment.  So under that vein, I was entertained.

 

I might try to watch a few eps now to see if I like any others.

[publius]

I enjoyed the finale, it sure was exciting!  After watching the boring Castle finale, it's good to see Bones still trying to entertain the fans.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

This episode had me rolling my eyes so far back that I'm pretty sure I was looking at my own brain.

 

First we see Bones yelling to the ER staff that they have to let her into surgery BECAUSE SHE'S A DOCTOR. I know that she thinks she is the awesomest awesome that ever awesomed, but does she really think a PhD in forensic anthropology makes her in any way qualified to be in an OR? I realize she was upset and she just wanted to make sure that Booth was okay, but STFU with the "I'm a doctor" businses. If you want to say that in an academic setting, fine, but this is the exact reason why so many people get annoyed with non-medical doctors saying, "But I'm a doctor!"

 

Next we had to listen to Booth be snippy to Hodgins at the burnt trailer. "Save it for squint night at the improv, bug boy!" Seriously? You think that's funny? Or funnier than what Hodgins said? Because it wasn't.

 

Then Hodgins said that the victim's nipple ring was made out of high grade stainless steel which is not common for piercings. I don't know where Hodgins has been getting all his piercings done, but the piercing shops I have been to only offer high grade stainless steel for ring piercings.

 

When Booth's phone rang during his lunch with the deputy director and the congressman, he said he had to take the call and the congressman said not to worry about it but to put his phone on vibrate the following day. I get having to take a phone call when you're in the middle of an investigation, but why did Booth assume he had to leave lunch before he even answered the call? Couldn't the lab just have been calling with a brief update? Then they cut to him in the lab with Angela saying she hadn't finished getting all the information off the chip. She couldn't have finished running the faces through facial recognition before she called him?

 

If their continuing investigation was supposed to be a big secret, then why did Bones and Booth start talking about it really loudly in a stairwell right after he got blindsided at the Congressional hearing? You can't see who else is on the stairs around the corner, let alone a few floors up. Any of those reporters or someone from the FBI could have been listening to them admit that they were still looking at the FBI.

 

If Bones went to all the trouble to write "we know how they got to Hadley" on a tiny piece of paper and then go to Booth's office to hand it to him, why didn't she write an actual explanation? To me that's the equivalent of those status updates people post on Facebook when they're fishing for people to ask them more questions.

 

While I understand Bones not wanting Booth to take on three Delta Force guys on his own, she had to know that her argument was not going to win him over. Even if you're good with a gun, that doesn't mean you're any match for three highly trained Delta Force guys. Did she think they should just leave Christine upstairs while she and Booth fought them off? When Booth started setting up all the charges and pouring gasoline, I thought damn, I hope they have good homeowners' insurance because he is aiming to fuck up their house something fierce.

 

The gunfight was a bit anticlimactic since we knew from the opening scene that he would get shot. It felt like David Boreanaz just wanted a chance to have a big shootout and play with a bunch of guns so he had them come up with this scenario. Did Booth really think that asking, "Who are you? Who sent you?" would work? "Well, since you asked so politely, I will tell you everything you want to know!"

 

When Bones said earlier in the episode not to use phones, I thought finally someone is thinking. Then she let the intern tell talk to her about the Delta Force guys when he called her cell phone. Dude! The first thing you need to do when you suspect that your phone lines are not secure is GO BUY SOME BURNERS. Even if they only had three (one each for Bones, Booth, and the lab), that would have sufficed.

[webruce]

Yep ElectricBoogaloo, don't they watch Detective shows?? I hate that all these bad guys use burner phones. But when the heros don't think about it??? Surprise Brennen didn't yet at or hang up on Fisher.

Well what a start, Booth shot up and in ER. Brennan frantic and can't get in room with him. Well I thought maybe that Deputy Director Victor Starks was in on something that wouldn't get Booth the promotion and transfer to FBI Germany. We later see there is a mole in the FBI and he has very powerful friends. Well then we meet Congressman Efran Hadley and I said right away, that actor plays bad guys.

When Journalist Wesley Foster called Booth with information I knew something would happen. Finding his chard remains in a fried Airstream camper wasn't good. He was a conspiracy blogger, so I figured Hodgen's had to know about his work. Mr Fisher was back to help, but I didn't care for his profanity on cases. But they finding a nipple ring flash drive was like wow. Hodgen's knew how to finally get all the info. off it. It was nice that Angela had put Pelant proof software on the computers. To bad he wasn't there to play games with the FBI/Governments corrupt computer guys now. The team also had help from Sweets and Caroline.

At the committee meeting on Booths nomination for advancement Congressman Hadley turned on Booth.Questions about his snipping an American over seas. And rest of committee, Margaret Pace, Ronald Jacobs, and the others didn't side with Booth. Then the new reporters wanted answers. Half surprised Booth didn't say anything. But we find out some big Cabal big wig was pressuring Hadley to shoot down Booth. Surprised he wasn't being watched then in the parking garage. The McNamara case was a big one I guess.

Booth getting ready told Bones, " Bones , I love you!" Brennan's reply, "Don't you die, ok!" I figured when Booth sent Brennan to Max's that she wouldn't make it there. But who had the kid when Brennan came back and was wife possessed as she took down 2 Special Forces Agents?

But the battle of Ranger Booth and 3 Delta Force assassins was a good battle. The poor house but. Like C-4 being in house and blowing up door and ball glove on wall. My son said you can't detonate it by shooting it. And the gas/dish soap mixture in the vase to burn the vest off a Agent. But it was a good battle right up to the Booth neck bone snapping finale. Sorry had to say that.

Then the rush to the hospital. I was surprised we didn't hear PD sirens in back ground when Brennan was checking Booth and saying don't die. My wife kept telling her to call 911.

Then after the almost dieing in ER and Brennan there alone, the team comes in. But no Fisher?? Then Booth and Brennan are arrested because Booth shot the 3 Agents bring a warrant to his house????? Please! Definitely was a nail biter.

Edited July 26, 2014 by webruce

[immortalfrieza]

It was nice that Angela had put Pelant proof software on the computers. 

It would have been much nicer had Angela put some software like that in all the team's computer long before Pelant got shot dead and thus possibly avoiding Pelant making the entire team his B****H his entire arc. Even an attempt would have been better than what we got. As it was they basically did jack to stop that mustache twirling uber hacker bad guy until it was finally time to fill him full of lead. This was the reason I wasn't in the least bit surprised they didn't get burner phones or anything during this episode, if the plot needs the team to be stupid in order to progress they will be. They didn't even do that when Pelant was after them either.

 

Then Booth and Brennan are arrested because Booth shot the 3 Agents bring a warrant to his house????? Please!

I am really looking forward to seeing the prosecution and the Deputy Director try to explain how Booth is the criminal when those 3 agents burst in in full assault gear, shoot and blow up most of his house, and then nearly kill him. Self defense couldn't be more blatantly obvious on this one, so the DD will have to be pretty damned thorough in destroying the evidence to have anything resembling a case. I just hope they prove Booth's innocence and take the Deputy Director out in an episode or 2 and don't have him antagonizing the team the entire season like Pelant.

Edited July 26, 2014 by immortalfrieza

[webruce]

Well hopefully Caroline will be Booth's lawyer. It will take a lot of hiding and evidence destroying to make it look like 3 Agents in suits came in and Booth started atrtacking them. He blew up all that in his own house to stop 3 Agents from arresting him? Yes i don't want it to go all season, but it shouldn't be solved in a couple episodes. If that was the case then all the prep work with the McNamara sceme and hiding would make it look like anyone could have solved it with a little bit of trying. Pelant must have stumbled onto the evidence as he hacked many computers. But why didn't the 3 Agents with special arresting skills go after him? That probably would have kept Bones and Booth from finding out about the Ghost Killer. With their connections and power they would only have to do, "Palant is suspected holed up in this old warehouse??" "Boom" Todays news shows that a old warehouse on Lincoln Ave. had a gas leak and blew to kingdome come, no one was in building at the time." "Police say it was an accident!" But instead of Agent Booth being after him it could have been a much bigger covert affair. That would hide the evidence better of a Ghost Killer.

Edited July 27, 2014 by webruce