Bones: “The Foot in the Foreclosure” – Review

With Booth’s grandfather Hank (Ralph Waite) visiting, Booth and Brennan investigate human remains found burned to ash in the bedroom of an otherwise intact house up for sale.

A foot among the remains is identified as belonging to Meg Tracy, a formerly obese PriceCo employee. Realizing there are too many remains for a single average-sized person, Booth and Brennan visit one of Meg’s old haunts, where they learn she was romantically linked to Hugo, one of the house’s prospective buyers.

The facts of the case came together in fairly straightforward fashion, and there weren’t many suspects in the murder. The culprit, the owner/seller of the house, was within reach throughout the case. Booth and Brennan determined that the owner snapped when he found Meg and Hugo having sex on the bed he had shared with his beloved wife. Still, why kill Meg and Hugo and burn their bodies in the house he was trying to sell? Having done that, why not confess to the murders as soon as Booth arrived? Did he really think he’d get away with it once the FBI was involved?

For me, this episode was more about “Pops” Booth’s visit. Much like he did playing the father of NCIS’s Jethro Gibbs, Ralph Waite’s natural manner helped show Booth in a warmer light. While Booth and Brennan normally dance around each other in their dialogue, Hank is able to talk straight to each of them. He not only tells Booth that Brennan is “a keeper,” he also reveals to Brennan alone that he was the one who sent Booth’s abusive father away. Most surprisingly, his presence even got the businesslike Clark Edison to open up, revealing that he became a doctor to honor his own grandfather.

Hank also complicated Booth’s work on the case, showing some signs of senility. He came to the attention of a police officer in the park and accidentally caused a grease fire in Booth’s apartment. At one point, Booth told Brennan he might have to take a leave of absence to care for Hank. Realistically, I knew that wouldn’t happen, but it struck the right emotional chord for the moment.

Brennan hugged Hank at the end, and I got the sense she had really bonded with him. Indeed a very special episode of Bones.

About Gerald So

Gerald So covers THE BIG BANG THEORY, BONES, BURN NOTICE, NCIS, NCIS: LOS ANGELES, and PSYCH each week for BSCreview. His personal blog is If You Want to Know About My Life.