Bones Episode 6.03 The Maggots in the Meathead

ACT 1

A crusty old man combs the beach late at night, searching for loose change. His metal detector finds a cross on a chain. Jackpot! Crusty pulls until he unearths a skeleton! He pockets the chain. This guy won't be needing it.

Just as Booth and Hannah finish making love, the sound of Hannah's cell phone kills the mood. Her boss wants her on an assignment: breakfast at the White House. She needs to go home since she has no clothes at Booth's Apartment. Booth watches her leave regretfully...as his cell phone rings.

Cam is already there when Booth and Brennan arrive on scene. She notes that the victim is decomposing at an accelerated rate. There are maggots everywhere and they are jumpy. Booth decides to get some coffee while Brennan and Cam ID the victim. Before Booth can leave, Cam has an identification: Richard Dominick Genaro. She found his wallet with the remains.

ACT 2

Having returned from some down time in a mental institution, Cam welcomes Fisher back into the fold. Hodgins arrives to help and has to quickly catch the jumping maggots, known as cheese skippers. They've likely ingested stimulants. Cam reports that the victim was mostly muscle - only 4% body fat. Fisher notices tooth veneers and a depression fracture in the cranial vertex. Translation: someone hit him on the head.

Angela and Brennan watch footage of the victim, Ritchie the V, on the Angelatron. His muscles bulge, his smile blinds and the music causes deafness. L'il Frankie Costello joins his friend in the workout video. Brennan notes that these men are "Guidos." She has learned quite a bit about life by the Jersey Shore after watching a documentary. Angela tells Brennan that reality television and documentaries aren't the same thing.

At the FBI, Booth informs Janine Genaro that her son is dead. She blames L'il Frankie for any trouble that might have come Ritchie's way. They were both kicked off the high school football team for using steroids. Ritchie was sharing a house down by the shore with friends. Her son was a good boy. She wants justice.

Brennan joins Fisher on the Forensic Platform. She tells him that those with the highest intelligence often suffer meltdowns. Fisher is touched. They determine that the victim suffered damage to the brain when the cervical column was forced into his skull. His brain would have bled out. Fisher found concrete embedded in the skull, which he gave to Hodgins.

Booth and Brennan drive to the Jersey Shore. Brennan shares her new fascination with the "Guido tribe." Cam and Hodgins call from the Lab. They know why the maggots were jumping: ephedra from energy drinks. Hodgins estimates death occurred between 40 and 52 hours ago.

Hannah calls Booth while he and Brennan walk along the shore. Booth tells Hannah she can move all her stuff into his apartment. Brennan is surprised about how casual he was about asking Hannah to live with him. They come across a party, L'il Frankie in the midst of it. Partygoers toss each other over the balcony into a pool below. Perhaps this is how Ritchie died?

ACT 3

Frankie Costello immediately hits on Brennan, inviting her to Club Elegante. Booth puts a stop to that. Frankie last saw Ritchie on Thursday. Ritchie went out with Peppy to creep on broads. However, they were each wearing the same t-shirt and had an argument. Frankie insists they made up. Brennan informs him that Ritchie is dead. Frankie falls to his knees, screaming. Soon everyone knows Ritchie's fate.

Booth and Brennan have lunch with Sweets at the Diner while searching through printouts of Ritchie's text messages for clues. They all seem to be random letters. Sweets gets the task of decoding all the messages.

Hannah finds Brennan at the Lab. She wants to talk. Booth wants them to move in together and she is going to do it. But she wants to get him a gift. Can Brennan give her any ideas? Brennan knows that Booth wants a vintage rotary phone. He's been looking for one for ages. Hannah thanks Brennan but Brennan has one last piece of advice: she wants Hannah to be as serious about the relationship as Booth is. She doesn't want him to get hurt. Hannah assures Brennan that she is very much in love with Booth. She is glad Booth has such a dedicated partner and friend.

In the Bone Room, Fisher muses while examining the skull. Is it strange that violent death doesn't depress him? Cam and Fisher discover there were two injuries to the head. He didn't take a swan dive onto the pavement. He was likely struck. Hodgins determined that the concrete was called Minutecrete.

Angela munches Saltines in her office when Cam enters. Cam wants her to run a search of weapons made with Minutecrete but wait...is Angela pregnant? No one eats crackers for pleasure. Angela admits the truth but asks Cam to keep it a secret. Hodgins want to make a big announcement at the right time so no one can know.

Booth and Brennan arrive at Club Elegante. Booth talks to Terror, the bouncer. Does he know where Peppy is? Terror isn't sure. All the Guidos look the same. Booth joins Brennan inside the club. They spot Peppy Dio, throwing a bag of ice around the club. Clinton, the ice man, chases after him, angry that his goods have been stolen. Peppy won't stop for the FBI, but he does stop to get into a fight.

ACT 4

At Club Elegante, Clinton tells Booth that these guys are always messing with his ice. It isn't free, despite what Peppy thinks. Booth sends Clinton away but they are not done with Peppy. Peppy explains that neither he nor Ritchie use steroids anymore. Ritchie did have a stalker but Peppy doesn't know her name.

At the Lab, Angela determines the weapon had a curved edge. It was some sort of concrete cylinder. Meanwhile, at the FBI, Sweets has decoded the text messages. Ritchie the V texted a lot of women. A week before his murder, Ritchie exchanged over 200 text messages with a woman named Marie Galasso. They slept together once but Marie wanted more. The messages got ugly. Marie told Ritchie he'd be sorry and that he was going to die.

ACT 5

Marie Galasso tells Booth that she loved Ritchie. Ritchie was going to school to be a therapist. She certainly didn't kill him. All she knows is that the trainer at the gym was selling steroids and Ritchie busted him. Now he works as the bouncer at Club Elegante.

Sweets swoops into Booth's Office and shuts the door. Is Booth moving in with Hannah? Sweets is worried that this will alter their dynamic. He doesn't want Booth to jump into anything too soon but it's too late. Hannah is bringing all her stuff over tonight.

At the Lab, Fisher finds small plastic slivers in the bone fractures. Hodgins will try to identify it. It could help them determine a murder weapon.

Booth and Brennan confront Terror at Club Elegante. Terror lost all of his clients and his job because of Ritchie but he doesn't want to talk. He shoves Brennan and threatens Booth. Booth calls his bluff. He is ready to fight so Terror backs down. He allows Brennan to look in the storage room. She finds yellow plastic containers filled with concrete that act as barriers outside the club. This doesn't look good for Terror.

ACT 6

In the Interrogation Room, Terror admits that Ritchie turned him in. He lost everything. But he didn't kill him. He doesn't want to give up his alibi but he has no other choice. Terror likes musicals and he took his mother to see Billy Elliot. It was a beautiful performance.

In Angela's Office, Angela shows Hodgins and Fisher that the buckets of concrete aren't the murder weapon. The murder weapon was actually filled with concrete and covered in plastic...but they still have no idea what it could be.

At the Diner, Booth relates to Brennan that Terror's alibi checked out. Brennan realizes that the victim was last seen on Thursday but his body was found on Monday. Cam reports that the body only took two days to decompose so what happened to the other two days? Brennan needs to consult with Fisher.

In the Autopsy Room, Fisher confirms Brennan's theory: the victim was frozen for two days. It caused micro-fractures on the skull. Cam has her own brainstorm now: this victim was put on ice, metaphorically and literally.

Brennan explains to Booth that when a body is frozen slowly, decomposition speeds up as the body thaws. They approach Clinton, who is smashing ice with a yello whiffle ball bat filled with minutecrete. It's the murder weapon. Booth realizes that Clinton killed the wrong man. Peppy tormented Clinton the night Ritchie and Peppy wore the same shirt. Clinton concedes that he was just trying to make a living. Everyone around here looks alike.

Hannah hosts a girl's night with Brennan, Cam and Angela at her new apartment. They drink wine and giggle when Booth arrives. He notices that Angela isn't drinking any wine...and puts the pieces together. Angela makes Booth promise to act surprised when Hodgins tells him. Booth spies the phone from Hannah and is overjoyed. Brennan is happy to see him enjoying the gift but sad that all the credit went to Hannah. She excuses herself after sharing one last look with Booth.