Rosewood – Half-Life & Havana Nights - Review: “Redemption”
2.9 - “Half-Life & Havana Nights”
Directed by Oz Scott
Written by Diana Mendez
Reviewed by Kelly Anne Blount
Rosie is having a nightmare about the bunker Gerald allegedly held his victims in before their murder. He wakes up to a concerned Tawnya, who listens to Rosie vent about the case. She’s a good girlfriend.
We cut over to Gerald in prison. Mrs. Rosewood shares that they got permission to exhume Elena’s body. She also drops a bomb on him. The coffin was empty. Gerald still has faith.
Donna also tells him that Villa is looking for Gerald’s daughter. He feels terrible for pushing his daughter away and he claims it is all his fault.
Back at Magic City Labs, Donna rolls up her sleeves and is ready to help. I wonder if this would make the case harder to solve, as she is not technically qualified to collect evidence. What do you think?
TMI wants her old roommate to come watch them work in the lab. Could this be the amazing Bones cross-over guest? I hope so!
Ooh la la! Villa and the medical examiner are making out. They make a pretty hot couple!
Interesting, results are in and guess what? There was never a body in the coffin. Well where did her body go?
Rosie and Villa head to the coffin shop (Is that what they are called?) to figure out what happened to Elena’s body, since the mortuary buried an empty coffin. Turns out Elena’s father paid cash for the mortician to bury an empty coffin and her father, a Panamanian diplomat, had her body released directly to him.
Captain Slade is pissed.
Hornstock, Slade, Villa, and Rosewood bring in Elena’s father for an interview.
Turns out, he had her body cremated. Things are not looking good!
SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! TMI’s guest is Doctor Daisy Wick from THE JEFFERSONIAN! OMG! I love Bones! This episode is THE BEST!
Daisy is still super awkward. Love it!
The team tries to see if Elena’s cremation remains share any clues about her death.
As always, the music is on point.
Daisy has found a clue! A piece of a ruby was found with Elena’s body. The team wonders if Michelle, Gerald’s daughter was the first victim, as she disappeared six months before the other two murders.
Looks like Michelle had a fake ID. Rosie and Villa seem to know who made the fake ID for Michelle ten years ago.
I don’t understand why Villa doesn’t arrest the guy who is clearly making fake IDs for underagers?
Before Villa shuts down his party, he does give up goods, and points them in the direction of the person who made Michelle’s fake ID. Lorenzo Verraz made fake IDs that Michelle helped sell to the other victims, Elena and Misty, plus half of their classmates. He is connected to both victims and Michelle Kelly.
Interesting, the fake ID producer isn’t local… HE LIVES IN CUBA!
Rosie and Villa land in Cuba and are hot on the case and find Lorenzo right away. He denies killing the girls and tells Rosie and Villa that they need to come with him.
OMG! GERALD’S DAUGHTER IS IN CUBA! My jaw just dropped to the floor.
Michelle tells Rosie and Villa that life with her father, Gerald, was unbearable. Michelle moved to Miami and then Cuba, with her boyfriend Harley. Michelle says that she can’t go back because her father is a killer. Rosie tells Michelle that her father is innocent. She isn’t buying it.
Michelle does not want to come back to the States. Villa is getting intense with her and it’s not working. Rosie calms the situation down and reiterates that Gerald is innocent.
Gerald is watching the news and sees his daughter back in the States. How did they manage to get her back? Rosie is a good diffuser of intense situations. He must have been magical in this instance.
Villa isn’t feeling Michelle. Rosie tells her to calm down and go easy on her.
Some guy greets Michelle on the elevator. He acts super excited and shocked to see her. She looks pissed to see him. She tells Villa that they had a huge falling out in high school because she was caught shoplifting. She says that Elena and Misty bullied her because of it and used to accuse her of stealing her stuff.
Michelle reunites with her boyfriend Harley. She tells Villa that she didn’t kill the two girls nor did she set up her father. Do you believe her? I don’t know if I do or don’t? Eek!
Back at the lab, Daisy is being awesome, as always. I miss her and Sweets. Sigh…
Donna is concerned that Michelle hasn’t been to visit Gerald yet. Rosie tells him mother that Villa thinks Michelle could be the killer. She doesn’t think that’s the case.
Results are in! Elena was drugged just before her death. Why wasn’t this included in her file?
Looks like someone covered up Elena’s test results!
Ha ha! The fake ID maker’s friend comes into the bullpen pretending to be hurt. When his lawyer asks who injured his client, Villa boldly says that she did.
Turns out the allegedly injured man is no injured at all! He tricked his lawyer into coming in to the station, because his lawyer was the lawyer who handled Elena’s case. They want to know why he didn’t present the results that Elena’s killer had drugged her. Ooh! The lawyer said there was another person they thought might be guilty of the murder due to the same MO with the drugs. Guess who the other potential suspect was? The lawyer’s godson. The lawyer didn’t want to drag his godson’s name through the mud, so he never mentioned him as a possible suspect. Dannnnng!
Villa and Rosie grill a life guard, the man who allegedly drugged girls with the same cocktail that was found in Elena’s system. He admits to seeing Elena the night of her death and that he gave her drugs to help her, “calm down.” He said she left on her own will and walked home. Well, tried to walk home, but she never made it.
Villa really thinks Michelle could very well be guilty. This is upsetting to Rosie and Donna.
Rosie is having more nightmares about the case.
He and Villa head down to the bunker with a radiation detector. It turns out that Elena wasn’t killed in the bunker, as her remains do not have any signs of radiation.
The team is trying to figure out where Elena was killed. She was held somewhere for three weeks before her body showed up on the soccer field at school. Ooh! The team figures out that Elena was killed at the boat house. They begin testing for signs of a crime scene.
Donna and Michelle have just cracked the code! Michelle says that she knew about the bunker and that Misty and Elena were wearing her clothes and jewelry. Someone gave them her possessions. But who? Who would have had access to the girls and Michelle’s clothing and jewelry?
Rosie and Villa show up just in the nick of time, or did they? Harley, Michelle’s boyfriend is holding her with a knife to her throat. He was the one who convinced Michelle that her father was guilty of murdering Elena and Misty. Eek! The murder weapon was hiding in plain sight the entire time. Rosie ends the intense situation with punch to the face and saves the day!
Aw, the ME brings Villa a nice cup of coffee and opera tickets. He admits that his mother is sick with early onset of Alzheimer’s. Villa hasn’t agreed to go yet; she needs to think about it. She does admit that she lives with her mother too.
OHHHH my gosh! As the police are escorting Harley to jail, Elena’s father bursts through the crowd and shoots Harley. Harley dies and Elena’s father, who has diplomatic immunity, is going to be sent back to Panama for the trial.
Okay, this next scene has tears in my eyes! Gerald is getting dressed in his prison cell in her REGULAR clothing. He is getting released today! Donna, Villa, and Rosie are waiting for him. The moment he walks out of the prison grounds is super powerful! Both his lower lip and mine are trembling. He’s a magnificent actor!
Gerald thanks Donna for saving his life. She says, “We saved each other.” Gerald and Rosie hug, followed by Gerald and Villa. Okay, now the tears are really flowing, Michelle shows up and says, “Hi, Daddy!” This scene and the music accompanying it are both perfect. I love everything about it.
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My Thoughts:
Loved this episode! Gerald walking through the gates at the end was my favorite part! How about you? I’m especially glad he and his daughter were reunited by truth and honesty.
The writers did a great job again with the banter between the cast. They add just enough zing and humor to create the perfect environment for solving crimes.
I also really enjoyed the crossover with Daisy's character! The cast fangirling over Dr. Brennan was awesome too!
Aw! Bummer! Just saw that Rosewood is getting ready for a holiday break. Boo! Good news, though! Rosewood will be back soon and on a new night, Friday night!
Let me know what you thought of Half-Life & Havana Nights in a comment below and thanks for reading my review!
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