The Change In The Game - Season 6, Ep 23
Birthday boy Justin is not enjoying his party at the bowling alley. He doesn't want to take turns. He's the birthday boy, and he wants to bowl now! When a skeleton appears in the pinsetter, a terrified Justin cries that he'll behave.
At breakfast Angela douses her food in hot sauce hoping to induce labor, while worrying that her child could be born blind. Meanwhile, Booth and Brennan arrive at the bowling alley. There is an extreme amount of insect and maggot activity. The alley has been closed for ten days to resurface the floors. Behind the lanes, Brennan and Booth see the body smeared across bowling pins in the pinsetting machine. Brennan determines that the victim was dead before being ripped apart. She also notices defensive wounds. This man was murdered. Later, at the lab, Wendell finds repetitive stress markers on the skeleton, which indicates the victim was a bowler. Angela confirms with her findings: the victim was wearing a bowling shirt with his name on it, Jeff Fowler. His team name was Thunderballs. Angela, still hoping to induce labor, suggests a bumpy car ride or a rollercoaster. Hodgins tells her to stick with the hot sauce.
The victim, Jeff Fowler, was an accomplished bowler with many accolades. It transpires that his team, the Thunderballs, is Max Keenan's team. Booth and Brennan meet with Max, who is in a wheelchair due to a sex-related injury with his 36-year-old lady friend. He explains that Jeff called himself the Closer, while everyone else called him the Gloater. Max doesn't think anyone on the team will talk to the FBI. They are all in the middle of a tournament. Booth is a bowler, however; he and Brennan can go in undercover, with Brennan posing as his girlfriend. Max notices something different between the two of them. Why are they being so nice to each other?
Max arrives at the bowling alley with Booth and Brennan, who are undercover as Buck and his fiancée, Wanda. Max introduces 12-year-old bowling prodigy Amber Tremblay to Buck and Wanda. She disapproves of Booth's rented shoes. Max reminds her that Jeff Fowler also rented his shoes. Amber thinks the team is cursed: Jeff was killed, and Max is injured. Amber is the only good player left. This offends Hercules Maldonado. He is a champion! Booth quickly impresses the team by bowling a strike. As Brennan cheers, opposing team member Tina Winston tries to hit on her. Amber tells Tina to back off, and reminds Brennan not to fraternize with the other team. Alison Rose and Blake Swenson of rival team Strike Force! approach, and also incur Amber's wrath. Tournament Director Tod Balacleets walks by, telling Booth he must sign in before the preliminaries can begin. Max says that everyone calls him the Raven.
At the lab Hodgins examines red flakes that were embedded in the victim's skull. Wendell believes the extensive bone damage will make it difficult to determine cause of death. There is a fracture to the nasal bone, but how could the victim die of a broken nose? Hodgins discovers a rattling in the skull. Wendell finds bone shards inside the head. Whatever hit the victim caused fragments from inside his skull to fly into his brain.
At the bowling alley the tournament is in full swing. Amber records stats on her laptop, prognosticating that at her rate of improvement, she'll eventually be a world champion. Strike Force! Wins, however, and Amber stalks off to the video arcade. Booth confers with Brennan and Max. There's no clear suspect yet. Max points out that Hercules Maldonado only made the team because Jeff died. Brennan asks Hercules about how it feels to fill Jeff's shoes. Hercules has his own shoes. Jeff always rented. It was a superstition: he had lucky rental shoes, lucky lane #12, and a lucky beer mug. It was ridiculous. Hercules doesn't need superstition. He has God. Alison flirts with Booth when Blake Swenson comes by. Blake points out that Alison is interested in him. She also liked Jeff Fowler. All the women did. With Jeff out of the way, Blake is going to be getting all the female attention around here.
At the lab the Squints try to determine the murder weapon. Angela runs different options through the Angelatron, including a 2x4 and a hammer, while she continues to eat food drenched in hot sauce. The weapon has to be something with rounded edges. Suddenly Angela's water breaks. Hodgins tries to remain calm, but Angela's screaming sends him running to get the car. Where are the keys!? At the hospital, Angela is irritable as she suffers through contractions. She tells Hodgins to shut up, and calls the doctor names. Dr. Sherry Banno takes it all in stride. She leaves Hodgins to coach Angela. Wendell pops up on video chat to ask Hodgins how to read the mass spectrometer results. Hodgins helps him, believing a bowling ball could be the murder weapon. Wendell also needs help operating the Angelatron. Angela tries to talk him through it, but she has another contraction.
At the bowling alley Booth bowls a gutter ball. His feet are killing him, and he asks for another pair of bowling shoes. Alison tells them that Blake is a car thief, a compulsive joy rider. Booth recalls that Jeff Fowler restored cars. Perhaps they were enemies? Brennan tells Booth that Wendell believes the murder weapon is a bowling ball. She pokes her ALS light into Blake's bag to see if there are traces of blood, but Alison catches her, and accusations of cheating are thrown left and right. The Raven intervenes, and says he'll keep his eye on the Thunderballs. Max says that Jeff Fowler superglued the Raven's bowling ball to his hand years ago. The Raven never competed again. Booth thinks they should have Sweets question him.
At the hospital Angela is in a lot of pain, but doesn't want an epidural. Wendell is still on video chat. Angela tries to explain how to use her equipment, but Wendell doesn't learn much over her pained explanation and Hodgins' screaming. He'll figure it out alone. Meanwhile, at the FBI, Sweets and the Raven watch footage of the devastating superglue incident. It ended his career. The Raven says he is a respected tournament director now. Sweets presses him. The Raven wanted to be a bowler. The Raven admits that he never trusted his bowling release again, so he couldn't bowl professionally. He doesn't consider his life ruined. He supervises twelve leagues. He has respect. He dates a woman with a step-kid who seems to like him. He also has an alibi: he was bowling at the Granville Lanes.
Wendell believes he finally has the Angelatron working, but when he tries to show Cam, a multitude of images appear on screen, one of which includes Angela and Hodgins getting dressed after having sex in her office. Wendell chats Angela again. Angela panics, asking if they hit "purge," and orders them away from her equipment.
At the Tournament, Booth bowls a 7-10 split. The other team think they're about to win, but Booth manages to knocks over both pins! Everyone cheers... except Brennan, who says that Booth making that shot was statistically improbable. Meanwhile, Wendell discovers that the ball could not have weighed more than five pounds. Back at the bowling alley, Brennan snoops on Amber's laptop. If Buck and Wanda ever have a child, she will not turn out like Amber. Max thinks Brennan is taking her undercover role-playing a little too far. Amber's laptop shows that she improves month to month. There have been some very difficult splits made on lane 12. Amber could have tampered with the lane. Meanwhile, Booth gets a new pair of rental shoes from Malcolm, the manager. The Raven explains that Jeff Fowler never wore socks, and his feet reeked. Everyone hated it. Booth probably got his old shoes. Brennan asks Malcolm how the pinsetters are calibrated. Malcolm explains that computers do it. Brennan surmises that someone got into the computer system, and changed the settings so the pins would set closer together. Fowler was a cheat! Wendell calls to let Brennan know that a child's bowling ball was the murder weapon. Could Amber be the murderer? Hodgins, on video chat, informs them that bowling balls don't flake: they chip, yet he found flakes on the victim. The weapon is not a bowling ball. The flakes are polyurethane that meets national traffic-safety standards, meaning they're from a motorcycle helmet with red sparkles. The doctor lets Hodgins know it's time to push.
Max only knows one person who owns a motorcycle: Malcolm. Brennan shines her ALS light on the helmet: Blood. Booth reveals that he and Brennan are from the FBI. Malcolm confesses. Jeff never washed his feet. He gave Malcolm a fungus that caused all of his fingernails to fall out, and his girlfriend left him for the Raven. He didn't even hit him very hard. Everyone agrees that Jeff was a bad guy. They want Booth to let Malcolm go. Amber screams and kicks Malcolm. He ruined everything! "You are a horrible child!" observes Brennan.
Later, the Jeffersonian team is waiting at the hospital for the birth of Angela and Hodgins’ child. Brennan is lost in thought. In the delivery room, Angela's baby is born. They wait anxiously as Dr. Banno checks the baby's eyes. His vision is fine. They're a family now. Hodgins brings the baby out to the waiting room, and introduces them to Michael Staccato Vincent Hodgins. Brennan slips off to see Angela, and presents her friend with a stuffed bunny. Brennan asks about labor. Angela says it was wonderful. It was a dream. On their way home, Booth and Brennan marvel at Angela and Hodgins' happiness. Shouldn't they be more apprehensive about having a baby? Their lives are about to change. Booth tells her that having a baby is a good thing. Brennan pauses for a moment, and then tells Booth: "I'm pregnant. You're the father." She looks in his eyes, apprehensive... and then smiles as a huge grin spreads over Booth's face.
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