Bones - Episode 9.04 - The Sense in the Sacrifice - Review

Many Bones fans will be sighing in collective relief after Monday night's episode finally put the Pelant storyline to bed.  Season 9 is sure off to a wonderful start, especially since the writers aren't shying away from bringing on major changes, developments, and even closure to elements that have long needed them.  

Prometheus: The team's attempt to draw Pelant out was brilliant, but did anyone else feel as if the absurdly gifted villain would immediately realize the deceit?  If anything, the gang definitely succeeded in getting their foe to come out and play, but it's too bad that it cost poor Agent Silver Fox Flynn his life.  That entire opening, from the set-up of the Jeffersonian's staged body to the discovery of Flynn's, was utterly chilling and excellently portrayed.  And the investigation to determine what kind of man Flynn really was comprised some of the more suspenseful and effective scenes the show has had.   For a show that has had some filler episodes in the past, this season is refreshingly light on such fluff.

Pelant's obsession with Brennan was creepy as hell, and I think we probably all had a bad feeling when Bones decided to go pull out past evidence in the archive room alone.  Between that and her choice to go confront Pelant at his hideout, rolling solo again, later in the episode, I have to say...it's not just that Brennan's probably not watched many horror movies (we all know you don't go places alone in these situations), but it's more that she's insanely, admirably, gutsy and independent. 

 It's intriguing that Pelant would use toy weapons in his various attempts to "seduce" Brennan, such as the grenade in the archive scene.  This showed that Pelant was avoiding doing harm to Temperance, but also revealed a childish side to him which indicated he might be vulnerable at last. It was great to see that his concentration on stalking Brennan had made the baddie sloppy in other areas.

That's the only explanation for how Pelant wouldn't have realized that Booth would be in the building and closing in on him much more quickly, in that final confrontation scene.  While Brennan's plan to keep Pelant alive was understandable, it was a bit of an eye-roller after everything that's happened.  So it was cool that she backed off of that immediately when Booth's life was at risk.  

Neat work, Jeffersonian crew!  Throughout "The Sense in the Sacrifice," we saw the team as on-task and ingenious as they can be while working through first constructing the fake-out body, then the analysis of Flynn's remains.  That Angela's monitoring of Pelant's warehouse gave the team a bird's-eye view of Booth and Brennan's new engagement was sweet and cute...although it was interesting to see Angela as happy as can be, seemingly forgetting that she's been incredibly rude to Booth for quite a while (her suspicions now having been disproved).  I wonder if that whole issue will ever be discussed again...I suspect it can hardly go unmentioned, since some closure would be nice in that area.

Re-engaged!  How adorable was Brennan's retort, "If I say yes, will we get married?"  I loved that Booth was a little nervous and very excited as he explained the reasons for the engagement debacle (yes, Brennan suspected that Pelant was at fault) and popped the big question.  But I really kept wanting them to go outside because I was worried about what other traps might be set off at any moment within Pelant's fortress!

As fans, it's awesome that we got two different proposal/acceptance scenes for this fantastic couple.  This latest (and certainly definitive) proposal may edge out the first just because we now don't have the impending doom of Pelant's schemes hanging over us.  But seeing Brennan propose last season was very special, too, because it was such a huge step for her as a previous non-believer in marriage.  Between that move on her part and Booth's joyful reaffirmation of their soon-to-be-wedded status, it's been a lovely batch of episodes for Booth/Brennan shippers!

Were you satisfied with the conclusion of the Pelant saga?  Are you thrilled that B&B are altar-bound?  Share your impressions of this episode in the comments!