The Proof In The Pudding - Season 5, Episode 12
Government agents put the Jeffersonian on lockdown, and demand that Brennan and her team determine a cause of death for unidentified but highly classified remains; as the team begins to suspect they're investigating a famous presidential assassination, Booth's boss helps him break into the lab and find the truth; and a frustrated Cam worries that Michelle may be keeping a big secret from her.
It is Friday evening, and Booth has just left. Cam rushes into Brennan's office holding a pregnancy test. Is Brennan pregnant? Brennan assures Cam she is not. Perhaps Angela is? Cam certainly hopes so, because Michelle was here earlier and she does not want to be a grandmother. She barges into Angela's office, and asks if the pregnancy test is Angela's… not realizing Hodgins is standing there. Embarrassed, Cam leaves without getting an answer.
Mr. White of the General Services Administration prevents Sweets from leaving the lab, and puts the place on lockdown. He informs Cam that he has taken over, and nobody leaves until they figure out the cause of death for the remains they've brought in. It's a matter of national security. Sweets surreptitiously calls Booth, who promises to help. Cam and Brennan open the body bag to reveal a skeleton, each bone placed carefully in its own mold. Mr. White only wants them to determine cause of death; determining the victim's identity is "priority zero." He also provides them with a silver case of particulates. No destructive testing is allowed, and no one will enter or leave the lab. Mr. White and his men will observe the entire time. Booth confronts the GSA in the Jeffersonian Parking Garage. He wants an audience with Mr. White. Mr. White finally arrives, but he won't give Booth any information. He requests that Booth go home. Booth complies, but he hasn't given up.
Brennan determines that the victim is male and older than 39. He suffered from spinal degeneration and osteoporosis. She locates a bone graft, a repair to a screw hole. Blunt force trauma to the skull could have been caused by a high-velocity gunshot. There is also evidence of scratching on the skull, as though a metal grid was dragged across it. Cam calls Hodgins to analyze the particulates. He must not degrade the samples. Brennan believes she can date the bones if she compares them to specimens in bone storage. At the diner, Booth explains the situation to Andrew Hacker. Andrew won't help Booth get inside, but he won't stop him either. Sweets calls Booth to report his observations: the unit has likely been partnered together for some time, and they don't like working for Mr. White. They treat the body with great deference. Booth thanks Sweets, and hangs up.
Angela and Hodgins quietly speculate. Could the remains belong to Jimmy Hoffa? D.B. Cooper? Hodgins, who has found a pink thread, encourages her to do a facial reconstruction. Brennan and Cam return from bone storage, and tell Hodgins that the victim died in 1963. Hodgins asks if there is a nick on a right rib near the third thoracic vertebra. Brennan confirms that there is, and adds that it was likely caused by a bullet. Pink wool, bad back, 1963, bullet, head wound: Is this JFK? Hodgins reminds them that after JFK was shot, the funeral home dressed him with a wig. They used wax and metal mesh to hold it in place. Cam remembers the crisscross pattern on the skull. Suddenly they hear a gunshot and shattering glass. It's Booth, shooting his way through the lab's glass doorway. The guards tackle him. Mr. White is not pleased.
Brennan tells Booth that they have the bones of JFK, and Michelle is pregnant. Mr. White interrupts. Booth may not leave the building. Booth is perfectly content to stay and cause as much trouble as he can. Cam is about to call Michelle, but Angela stops her. The pregnancy test belongs to her, not Michelle. She didn't answer right away because Hodgins was in the room. With the cat out of the bag, she now confesses to Hodgins that she is pregnant. She tells him that it is not the right time, and Wendell is not the right guy, but Hodgins knows she will keep the baby. She has always wanted children.
Angela's facial reconstruction doesn't really look like JFK, though in truth facial reconstruction is not an exact science; there's a lot of latitude. Brennan finds a possible entry wound on the back of the skull. Some skull fragments are missing, so she cannot determine an exit wound. Booth asks her to look at the right temple. JFK's exit wound was in that location. Brennan does so. Booth is right. Booth wonders if Angela can recreate the shooting so they can rule JFK out. The Squints and Booth watch an animation from the Justice Department of JFK's assassination. Hodgins doesn't think they can trust it because it is based on the official record. He believes there was more than one gunman. Booth believes that if he had the rifle, he could prove that there was only one shooter. Hodgins takes the bet. There is a replica of the rifle right here in the Jeffersonian.
Cam and Brennan determine the diameter of the entry wound: 6.5 millimeters. It is a match to the rifle that killed JFK. Booth elects Brennan to help him convince Mr. White to let them run the experiment. Brennan explains that they need permission to shoot a cantaloupe. She does it in the most complicated terms she can manage, making it impossible for a confused Mr. White to refuse. He also hands over his sidearm with one bullet. Booth prepares for the experiment, but at the last second pulls out the rifle. He aims, and fires two bullets in succession, one into each cantaloupe. Mr. White is not impressed, and reprimands the Squints for their stunt. When he leaves, Hodgins explains that Booth made the shot, but he still doesn't believe that Oswald could. He was a lousy shot; Booth is a great shot, and the conditions in the lab were perfect. It wasn't a real-life situation. Even Angela agrees, and Brennan points to scientific evidence on the skull that suggests there was a second gunman. Booth, upset, walks out and goes to his office. Brennan joins him there, and he explains that if there were two gunmen, that means the government covered something up. They lied. Before Brennan can dig deeper, Hacker calls. A congressional committee is trying to get permission to exhume JFK. They want to see what modern science can determine about his death, and there are many parties interested in the outcome.
Hodgins tells Angela that he's made a decision. He will be there for Angela and the baby. Wendell is young, and still in school. Hodgins can be there for Angela instead. He will marry her, move in with her, whatever role she needs him to fill. He leaves her alone to think about his offer. Cam explains why Booth is so upset. He has killed about fifty people for the US government. If they lied about JFK, maybe they lied about the reasons those people needed to die. Mr. White arrives to inform them that their services are no longer needed. They can all go home. Brennan protests. They results are inconclusive, and she wants to further test unexplained calcification on the bones. Mr. White tells her to pack up the remains for transportation. Cam angrily tells him to tell his bosses, for future reference, that they don't do half-truths here.
Cam informs a relieved Angela that she is not pregnant. Cam retested the sample, thinking the test belonged to Michelle, and found that it was a false positive. Booth needs to know if these remains belong to JFK. He handcuffs Mr. White to the railing so Brennan can run one more test. Brennan grabs the bones and runs while Booth takes out the other two men. The Squints stare in amazement. A moment after everyone is subdued, Hacker arrives with reinforcements. He is too late to save the day and impress Brennan, but makes a great entrance; oh well.
Brennan places the radii into tubs of pudding. One of the bones sinks while the other floats. She explains to Booth that the healthy bone sank while the other bone is riddled with osteomyelitis. JFK never had this condition. The bones do not belong to him. Booth hugs his partner, relieved. Hacker arrives with White. They've reached an agreement: their reports "should be very carefully worded. As in, there should be no words in them." At the diner, the team eats and regroups. Sweets thinks the whole situation was a test. Maybe Booth was being tested after his surgery? Or Cam to see her leadership skills? Hodgins tells everyone that he heard a congressional committee wants to exhume JFK. They could have been preparing the Squints for that situation.
Angela tells Hodgins that she is not pregnant, but thanks him for being there for her. She will never forget his offer. The two smile, and walk off arm in arm, more comfortable with each other than they've been in a long time. Meanwhile, Cam pulls Brennan aside. Was she aware that JFK had scarlet fever as a child? Scarlet fever can cause osteomyelitis. Brennan says this is a rare occurrence, a one-in-a-hundred case. It's statistically unlikely that it was JFK. Cam tells her she is a good person. Booth arrives, and she and Brennan walk off together, happy to be free in the open air. They don't notice a TV in a store window display tuned to the news. The headline: "Congressional committee denied motion to exhume President John F. Kennedy, citing 'respect for the family'."
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