TV Review: Bones Episode 1.11

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

From FOX: When a woman’s burned body is found in a car with signs that her child was kidnapped, Brennan and Booth suspect the father, Carl Decker. But things get complicated when Decker turns out to be in the witness protection program. In two days he is scheduled to testify before a grand jury that his company has been sending defective body armor to Iraq. Decker suspects his former bosses may have had his wife killed and kidnapped his son in order to keep him quiet. When a shocking clue is sent to Booth as a warning, Brennan is able to use the clue to pinpoint the kidnapper's location and must race to save the boy’s life.

My Rating: 4 out of 4

On tonight's episode titled The Woman in the Car, following a horrible television interview in order to promote her novel. Booth comes to Bones to help him identify the body of what appears to be a woman burned in her car. It also appears from the crime scene that her child was kidnapped. Bones gets to work on the case, and Booth begins investigating on his own. While all this is happening, a review on the team is being done to see if they pass for clearance by the State Department. Everyone is questioned, except for Hodgins, because he has already had a check done on him in the past - unknown to him.

As for the burn victim, Bones makes a quick guess from the bone structure that the woman is an Eastern European immigrant. Angela goes to work analyzing the bone structure and matching it up to the pictures Booth gets that match European immigrants. They find their victim, and they learn she has an eight year old son. She is also estranged from her husband. They go to look for the husband at his address, and there is no sign of him. The house even looks empty. However, they do find two U.S. Marshals.

They soon find out that the boy's father, Carl Decker, is set to testify before a grand jury against the company he worked for, KBC Systems. He states that they willingly made faulty body armor that when used in combat resulted in the death of thirty soldiers. The Justice Department doesn't want the man to know his wife has been killed and son kidnapped because it might make him not testify. Since he was in protective custody, he didn't kidnap his son.

Booth questions the woman's sister, and he learns that the couple was having marital problems because she believed Carl was having an affair. She found motel receipts for visits once or twice a week. He also questions the company, and they tell him to look elsewhere. Meanwhile, Bones is still working on the victim. The team finds part of male ear and her mouth, and they also discover electrocution is the case of death.

Booth tells Bones about what he has found, and they use the security footage from the motel and a program Angela uses to find out who Decker has been meeting. Turns out to be a man. Is he having a gay affair? Once Booth posts the picture of the man Decker had been meeting, they find him, and it turns out it was the man's Justice Dept.. The contact tells Booth that Decker has gone off when he couldn't contact his son that morning. Bones and Booth try to figure out where Decker went, and Bones asks Booth what he would do if it was his son.

If it was his son, he'd go after the people responsible for his kidnapping. He then takes Booth back to the company, and they arrive just in time to catch Decker. With Decker back in custody, all is well, except it really isn't. Decker won't testify unless his son is safe. He is taken back into custody, and Bones and Booth get back to work on finding the son.

Booth gets a package delivered to him, and it the boy's finger. Booth gives the finger to Bones, and they use the finger to determine where the boy is. Booth leads a team to the location they determine, and they do find the boy. Once Booth uses the keyword Decker gives him, the boy goes to him, and father and son are reunited. As for the security review, it is disbanded once the State Department contact interviews Brennan. She asks one question, and Brennan makes one call. With that call, the review ends, and the State Department woman has to turn in her notes.

Another great episode of Bones, and no Lost this week, so perhaps it will do better in the ratings race. Last week, it came in a distant second, with a huge drop off in the ratings from the previous hour that contained American Idol. This show is straight forward medical and legal drama. The characters are quirky and fun. They pull you in each week, as we learn more about them. Bones is just a good show period. It is one of my favorites, that's for sure.